Becoming a Real Runner

shels4ever wrote: »

won't be around for the run tomorrow the leg needs a few more days of tlc.

No worries Shels, TBH I had forgotten about our run and had already organised another one with Woddle before I saw this

10 miles @ 8'37 pace (146). I had some vague thoughts of running this a bit faster today, but realised right from the start that that wasn't happening. Several niggles in the legs and a general dead feeling. This run was a bit of a struggle TBH. I sweated a hell of a lot out there today as well, it was very muggy. Weighing myself before and after the run, I had lost 2.2 kg :eek:

WTD 4 runs 41.7 miles

Month|No. of days Runnning|Miles
January|28/31|256.3
February|24/28|236.9
March|23/31|221.9
April|22/30|150.2
May|25/31|198.5
June|24/30|173.2
July|28/31|269.4
August|4/4|41.7
Total|177/217|1574.6

Group run this morning, but there were only 6. I was hoping for 2 pace groups but we ended up running together for the first 6 miles at just over 10 min/mile. Sped up a little for the second loop, and then ran the last 4 on my own at 8 min/mile to bring the average pace back down a little.

Total: 18.3 miles

Weekly total 6 runs 71 miles

Biggest training week of the cycle so far. I thought eh HM on monday would take more out of me but I feel quite fresh now. It's probably just as well that I have ran the last two runs quite slowly, I have a stag next weekend so plan on getting my first 20 miler in early next week.

Month|No. of days Runnning|Miles
January|28/31|256.3
February|24/28|236.9
March|23/31|221.9
April|22/30|150.2
May|25/31|198.5
June|24/30|173.2
July|28/31|269.4
August|6/6|71
Total|179/219|1603.9

Plan: 12 miles w 7 @ LT pace
This is the hardest run in the plan for me, never mind when you've done 34 miles in the two days previously. I was nervous about this one, I actually didn't sleep much last night thinking about it :eek:. I was thinking of every excuse in the book not to do it, even during the warm up I was saying, maybe I could make it a GA run and do the LT tomorrow :rolleyes:. Feckit, I was wearing my racers and no time like the present.

3.2 miles warm up @ 8'35 pace. A quick stretch and drink of water. I changed the garmin to only showing HR. I figured if I go out too hard I would pay for it over 7 miles, the plan was to keep the HR in the 168-170 zone and not allow it to get too high above 170 on the uphills.

Off I charged and it wasn't too bad. The first few miles were worst as always, but by the end I felt fine. Some of the mile splits were better/worse than others due to being uphill/downhill or into the wind/downwind. Mile 5 in particular was very slow but it had the worst conditions (60ft rise and into the wind) and it wasn't too hard to pick up the pace for 6 and 7. Splits: 6:52 (160), 6'48 (168), 6'53 (169), 6'48 (168), 7'15 (172), 6'47 (169), 6'40 (169) total: 7 miles in 48 minutes-6'52 av pace 168 av HR

Cool down: 1.9 miles @ 9'11 pace.

Total 12.1 miles

Really happy with the session. The pace was a little slower than the LT session a few weeks ago, but that was only over 4 miles and my legs were a lot fresher.

Really looking forward to the easy 9 miles tomorrow :pac:

WTD 3 Runs 46.1 miles

Month|No. of days Runnning|Miles
January|28/31|256.3
February|24/28|236.9
March|23/31|221.9
April|22/30|150.2
May|25/31|198.5
June|24/30|173.2
July|28/31|269.4
August|9/10|117.1
Total|182/223|1650

donothoponpop wrote: »

Always good to nail that session, nice one!

You did yourself no favours by running a 13 miler the day previous- hardly a "recovery" run. Far to long for that, in fact at that pace it's probably the definition of junk miles. (But thats being hypercritical: it important to keep up the social side of running in groups too).

Unasked for advice!

I tend to disagree with you about the pace of recovery runs. In My Opinion a recovery run is defined as having a fastest possible pace, nothing is too slow!!
I would normally do my recovery runs at 8'50 mile+ and if tired I would often run them at 9'30/mile. P&D prescribe recovery pace as <75 % max HR, for me that's <139, so yesterdays 131 av Hr fits the bill perfectly.

For me junk miles are the ones with no definitition. e.g my aerobic pace is about 7'50-8'50 min/mile, recovery pace is 8'50+, Interval/race pace is 6-6'40 min/mile. LT pace is 6'40-7 min/mile and MP is 7'10-7'20. Therefore Junk Miles (in My Opinion) would be 7'20- 7'45 pace (i.e they tire me unnecessarily without achieving anything).

Granted I shouldn't be doing 13 mile recoveries, but as I said I am away from friday-sunday so I want to get all my miles done for the week. The only option was to merge the two recovery runs I felt.....


Nice to have a bit of debate, if anyone has any opinions feel free to shoot!

donothoponpop wrote: »

No problem with the pace- the whole idea of a recovery run is to get blood moving around your tired muscles, to aid their repair/recovery, so the slower the better... but at 13 miles, you're probably doing more damage than repair, I'd only have an issue with the length of the run.

Having said all that, I've been guilty of "merging" missed sessions together. It's not ideal, and goes against the plan. But there can something said for the mental boost in keeping up weekly high milage, or hitting the peak numbers.

It'll set me up well for the spring Ultra season, 13 miles will be a short run through the winter

Are you going to do the Donadea 50k again this year? Maybe you can finish it this time and officially become an ultra runner

donothoponpop wrote: »

Plan is to sit on your shoulder throughout the race and take you on the last 100m;)

If you want to have a chance, you'll have to kick a bit earlier than that

chinguetti wrote: »

Meno, just a question. Do you ever drop a run from your plan and not cover that mileage later?

As you have done so many miles already this year, you don't have to play catch up like alot of people so you have the miles in the legs i would guess.

Just curious as i do less miles in a month than you do in a week and i've never been faster up to half distance this year. For someone who has done 5 marathons (is it 5?) and an ultra this year, do you think a lighter training programme would be of any/no/some benefit?

NO, I am an obsessive compulsive.

Also I eat so much crap that I need to run a lot just to keep a steady weight.