I ran the 50 Furlong this past Saturday, with a slow slow time of 1:05:47.
I had an off week this past week. I was in no mood to run and my body seemed to be telling me that it needed a break. I was having a hard time recovering from my runs. My legs felt constantly fatigued. I ran 6 miles on Wednesday, and had plans to do 14 miles on Friday (with walk breaks) on Friday. Unfortunately, I only got to mile 10 before I had to quit. My legs were fatigued and though the walk breaks helped me get to 5 miles easily, the latter 5 were just as much a struggle as before. Moreover, I ran it in my new shoes which were rubbing in all kinds of wrong places. I knew I had rubbed through the skin on my heel by mile 6, but I kept going for 4 more before I decided to quit for good. It was a rough 10 miles.
I had originally planned to do the 14 miles training run and skipping the 50 Furlong (or watching it as I ate a cheeseburger and drank a beer), but since I had only done 10 miles on Friday, I decided to run the 50 Furlong (in my old shoes, of course). The temperature on Saturday was fairly warm in the upper 30s though there was quite a bit of headwind on the parts of the route back.
The 50 Furlong is put on by the Hash House Harriers. 50 furlongs is the distance and it's 6.25 miles or roughly 10k. It's a small race, at only about 50 people total. Technically, it's a PR for me since it's the first race of that distance, but I'd be a bit embarrassed to list it as such. I ran it very slowly, at about 10:30 min/mile. I hadn't fully recovered from the 10 miles the day before, and I started to feel that fatigue by that first mile. Moreover, the race course is SO incredibly hilly. I ran the first couple of hills, but I had to walk up the rest of the hills. The course was fantastic for training, but man, as a race, it was so mentally tough. I feel like I've gotten soft with all my indoor running on flat tracks. I need to get back on the road and run the rolling hills. If only the weather would cooperate!
It's the Get Lucky half marathon this Saturday. I'll do a couple of 10k loops around the Arboretum this week, but I'll generally keep it light. I think one double digit run a week is sufficient. Hopefully, I get right back onto my training schedule next week.
Showing posts with label walk breaks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walk breaks. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
Long runs and walk breaks
Yesterday's 12 mile long run went okay. Lately, I've been doing all my runs at the SERF on their tiny little .10 mile track. I used to never have the patience to run more than 4 miles on the track, but with some earphones and streaming Pandora, it's now enjoyable and preferable in fact to the icy, snowy roads through the Arboretum. Snow, I'm SO over you.
What's also nice about the track at the Serf is that 9.5 laps is a mile, which gives me a nice way to pace through my shorter runs. A lap a minute makes for 9:30 min/miles. Looking back on my race results from last year, that's about the pace I ran Black Earth, and roughly the pace for the Madison Mini. It feels like the right pace for me. Of course, I have no hopes of actually keeping this pace for the full marathon. But one can dream.
Yesterday, I did the first 6 miles at roughly 9:30 min/mile, but the next 6 miles was much more of a struggle and my pace fell by the wayside. Clearly, I'm still not pacing as well as I need to be for the long runs. Also starting around mile 6, my big toe and little toe on the left foot was really REALLY bothering me. I was feeling blisters forming on both, and I start to limp a bit through my run. I thought about quitting early, but I soldiered on. Afterward, I examine the foot, and the little toe was actually blister free, but the big toe has a blister/callus. I think it's still deciding which it wants to be.
I'm supposed to do a 14 mile long run next week, but I'm a bit concerned at this point. My foot is telling me that I need some recovery time, and my body is starting to feel the fatigue. But I can't afford at this point to slow the training. So I started reading around online about training plans. One thing that struck me in particular is Jeff Galloway's style of training for a marathon, i.e. incorporating walk breaks into the long runs and on race day. He suggests lots of walk breaks early and at a ratio of about 3:1 for a a 10 minute pace. The theory is that the walk breaks paces you better early in the race/long runs, gives you recovery time during the run and lets you keep to a strong pace at the end. Some 3:30 marathoners swear by walk breaks.
A ratio of 3 minutes run to 1 minute of walking seems incredibly incredibly slow. But I don't know. I might try this for the 14 miler and see how it goes. Normally, I'd take the week off before a big race, but I don't have the luxury with the marathon, so I need a better and faster way to recover. I'm thinking that I might not stick to the 3:1 ratio, but do more of a 4:1 ratio.
What's also nice about the track at the Serf is that 9.5 laps is a mile, which gives me a nice way to pace through my shorter runs. A lap a minute makes for 9:30 min/miles. Looking back on my race results from last year, that's about the pace I ran Black Earth, and roughly the pace for the Madison Mini. It feels like the right pace for me. Of course, I have no hopes of actually keeping this pace for the full marathon. But one can dream.
Yesterday, I did the first 6 miles at roughly 9:30 min/mile, but the next 6 miles was much more of a struggle and my pace fell by the wayside. Clearly, I'm still not pacing as well as I need to be for the long runs. Also starting around mile 6, my big toe and little toe on the left foot was really REALLY bothering me. I was feeling blisters forming on both, and I start to limp a bit through my run. I thought about quitting early, but I soldiered on. Afterward, I examine the foot, and the little toe was actually blister free, but the big toe has a blister/callus. I think it's still deciding which it wants to be.
I'm supposed to do a 14 mile long run next week, but I'm a bit concerned at this point. My foot is telling me that I need some recovery time, and my body is starting to feel the fatigue. But I can't afford at this point to slow the training. So I started reading around online about training plans. One thing that struck me in particular is Jeff Galloway's style of training for a marathon, i.e. incorporating walk breaks into the long runs and on race day. He suggests lots of walk breaks early and at a ratio of about 3:1 for a a 10 minute pace. The theory is that the walk breaks paces you better early in the race/long runs, gives you recovery time during the run and lets you keep to a strong pace at the end. Some 3:30 marathoners swear by walk breaks.
A ratio of 3 minutes run to 1 minute of walking seems incredibly incredibly slow. But I don't know. I might try this for the 14 miler and see how it goes. Normally, I'd take the week off before a big race, but I don't have the luxury with the marathon, so I need a better and faster way to recover. I'm thinking that I might not stick to the 3:1 ratio, but do more of a 4:1 ratio.
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