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Monday runs... (Read 286 times)

II Run II


    For every Monday I can remember, the runs have been extremely unpleasant.  My legs feel terrible (like today, they felt like something was tightly tied around them), and I frequently cramp and stuff, which makes the runs really hard.  I think it's because I take Sunday off and do nothing.

    is that the cause, or is it something else?  if it is the cause, what are things I do to prevent that from happening?  Help would be greatly appreciated because I have a time trial next week on Monday.

     

     

    Speaking of time trials, I've been running 40-50 miles a week for the past couple of weeks.  Is it possible that I can break 12 minutes in a 3200m race?

    joescott


      Not sure about your Monday runs, but if you suspect that it's because you are taking Sundays off it would be an easy enough experiment to see what would happen if you run an easy 3-4 miles on Sunday.

       

      It's impossible to say if you can break 12 in a 3200m based just on your mileage alone.  Sounds like you are a young cross country runner, maybe?  (But that's just a guess).  Don't know how fast you ran races in the spring.  Don't even know yet if you are male or female.  Is it possible?  Yes.  For a lot of people this would be easy.  For others it would be a stretch.  But we can't tell without knowing more about you.  In any case, good luck!

      - Joe

      We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.


      Latent Runner

        Not sure about your Monday runs, but if you suspect that it's because you are taking Sundays off it would be an easy enough experiment to see what would happen if you run an easy 3-4 miles on Sunday.

         

        It's impossible to say if you can break 12 in a 3200m based just on your mileage alone.  Sounds like you are a young cross country runner, maybe?  (But that's just a guess).  Don't know how fast you ran races in the spring.  Don't even know yet if you are male or female.  Is it possible?  Yes.  For a lot of people this would be easy.  For others it would be a stretch.  But we can't tell without knowing more about you.  In any case, good luck!

         

        Ummm, back in the day when I was a high school cross country and track runner I was only training maybe 20-25 fast miles per week (you know, ladder drills, repeat miles, repeat quarters, fun stuff like that), and that kind of training yielded 3200 meters in about 9:30, and this was nearly 40 years ago.  In this day and aged, even a descent middle-school runner should be able to run under 12 minutes.

         

        To the OP, give us some more data to go on, age, height, weight, years running, types of running workouts and the pace you do them in, that sort of stuff.

        Fat old man PRs:

        • 1-mile (point to point, gravity assist): 5:50
        • 2-mile: 13:49
        • 5K (gravity assist last mile): 21:31
        • 5-Mile: 37:24
        • 10K (first 10K of my Half Marathon): 48:16
        • 10-Mile (first 10 miles of my Half Marathon): 1:17:40
        • Half Marathon: 1:42:13

          Just a thought, but: making your running log public (assuming that you log your running here on RA) is always a good idea if you're looking for feedback about your training.

          Julia1971


            I have the same problem - I have trouble doing quality runs on Mondays.  I've been guessing it's sleep related.  On the weekends, I tend to sleep in and stay up later.  So, that first workday can be a rude awakening.  Does your schedule change much from the weekend to Monday?  Right now, I'm doing a canned schedule so my workouts are already planned for me.  But, when I make my own, I usually make Monday an easy day and make Tuesday the first hard day of the week.  If you can't change the day, maybe try keeping your routine the same over the days leading up to the Monday time trial.  A lot of runners find they feel flat after off days, too.  So, you might want to make Sunday an easy day instead of an off day.

            joescott


               

              3200 meters in about 9:30

               

              shipo, you da man.  You were better than I have ever been.  And I am quite certain that when I was an incoming freshman in HS and even starting my sophomore year I could not break 12:00.  I wasn't running 40-50 mpw, either, but still I don't think we can assume that the OP is anywhere near 9:30 right now.  In fact, since he/she doesn't even know what to expect, I'm guessing he/she has not yet raced 3200m, and upon that inference I'm thinking maybe he/she is an incoming freshman about to see where he/she stacks up on the CC team this coming Monday.

              - Joe

              We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.

                It is interesting that someone posted on this subject, because I almost did too. Maybe there was just something odd yesterday, but traffic seemed to be crazy all weekend, (especially on Monday). I teach classes in the evenings, and we had a big testing Friday night. I didn't get home until 10:00 so I took a late night run. I never realized how dangerous it is to run down a county road, while everyone drunk, is trying to sneak home without taking the highways... I found myself off the road NUMEROUS times avoiding vehicles.

                 

                Then, last night, (Monday), I found crazy traffic again. I live in a small rural community and can normally do a long easy run and pass 2-3 cars total. Last night, I did a short 4 mile and was passed by 28 cars and an Amish buggy. Where did everyone come from? Unfortuantly it screwed up my pace. Cry That wasn't a fun way to end a Monday.

                   

                  Ummm, back in the day ... 3200 meters in about 9:30

                   

                  Either you were a relatively rare talent, your memory is a bit fuzzy, or by "about" you mean "plus or minus 45 seconds".

                   

                  In all of Massachusetts high school track in 2013 there were 12 boys who ran faster than 9:30 for 2-miles (we don't run the abominable 3200 here). In 2012 there were 15. In 2011 there were 14.

                   

                  I would suggest to you that the huge majority of incoming high school freshmen male or female cannot run sub-12 for 2 miles. My daughter is going into her junior year and has not cracked 6 minutes for the mile yet, and she's at least an average runner.

                  Runners run


                  Latent Runner

                    A rare talent?  Hardly, I ran a 9:27 (which was not a school record) in the 1975 league track meet when I was a senior, and I got 4th place; one guy broke 9:00, and the next two were under 9:10, I was still on the curve when the third place guy crossed the line.  At the Michigan state track meet that year, I didn't even qualify to run in the faster of the two 2-mile races; I ended up 5th in the consolation race.

                    Fat old man PRs:

                    • 1-mile (point to point, gravity assist): 5:50
                    • 2-mile: 13:49
                    • 5K (gravity assist last mile): 21:31
                    • 5-Mile: 37:24
                    • 10K (first 10K of my Half Marathon): 48:16
                    • 10-Mile (first 10 miles of my Half Marathon): 1:17:40
                    • Half Marathon: 1:42:13

                      Not sure about your Monday runs, but if you suspect that it's because you are taking Sundays off it would be an easy enough experiment to see what would happen if you run an easy 3-4 miles on Sunday.

                       

                      It's impossible to say if you can break 12 in a 3200m based just on your mileage alone.  Sounds like you are a young cross country runner, maybe?  (But that's just a guess).  Don't know how fast you ran races in the spring.  Don't even know yet if you are male or female.  Is it possible?  Yes.  For a lot of people this would be easy.  For others it would be a stretch.  But we can't tell without knowing more about you.  In any case, good luck!

                       

                      I tend not to be able to squeeze in a Sunday run and Mondays tend to be a wildcard for me.

                       

                      I can do a longer interval or a tempo on a Monday night as a second run (a.m. run being easy). But for me, taking Sunday off, then going hard on a Monday morning is a bad idea. If you are going to do this, I would do an overlong warmup.

                      "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus

                      DaBurger


                        A rare talent?  Hardly, I ran a 9:27 (which was not a school record) in the 1975 league track meet when I was a senior, and I got 4th place; one guy broke 9:00, and the next two were under 9:10, I was still on the curve when the third place guy crossed the line.

                         

                        Where? California?  Those sound more like 3k times to me.

                         

                        MTA: nvm

                        Know thyself.

                         


                        Latent Runner

                          Michigan, and no, we didn't run 3K races in 1975.

                          Fat old man PRs:

                          • 1-mile (point to point, gravity assist): 5:50
                          • 2-mile: 13:49
                          • 5K (gravity assist last mile): 21:31
                          • 5-Mile: 37:24
                          • 10K (first 10K of my Half Marathon): 48:16
                          • 10-Mile (first 10 miles of my Half Marathon): 1:17:40
                          • Half Marathon: 1:42:13
                          NikoRosa


                          Funky Kicks 2019

                            I usually feel better on Mondays.  I almost always take Sunday off as well.  My bad running day is usually Wednesday, for no apparent reason.  My guess would be that you are eating differently on Sunday, maybe more junky foods, and it is affecting your performance the next day.  Or maybe you are staying up later, not getting a good sleep.

                             

                            I don't think it is a good idea to turn a rest day into a sloth day either (not saying you are doing this).  Spending the day on the couch, unless you are really sick, is not going to make your rest day better. I feel better when I am active on my rest days, doing yard work or taking my dogs for an easy hike.  Nothing too strenuous, but enough to keep the blood flowing.  If I spend my rest day just sitting around, I feel like crap and also get a bit depressed.

                            Leah, mother of dogs


                            Feeling the growl again

                              A rare talent?  Hardly, I ran a 9:27 (which was not a school record) in the 1975 league track meet when I was a senior, and I got 4th place; one guy broke 9:00, and the next two were under 9:10, I was still on the curve when the third place guy crossed the line.  At the Michigan state track meet that year, I didn't even qualify to run in the faster of the two 2-mile races; I ended up 5th in the consolation race.

                               

                              I hate to break it to you, but 9:27 is and always has been a rare talent.  If there were 4 of you that or faster in a LEAGUE, not state meet, in Michigan no less, that is absolutely freakish.  Given that the Michigan state meet record set in 1974 for the 2-mile is 9:00.4 for Class A (the others a good bit slower), I'm a bit stunned a 9:27 guy couldn't even make the field.

                               

                              While I went on to split 9:50 during a 10K in my late 20s, I was a HS junior before I could break 12:00 for 3200m.  I would absolutely agree that mileage alone tells us nothing about how fast someone can run 3200m.  I was running mid-15s for 5K off 80-100mpw and I know people who were doing similar work running 18s.

                               

                              As for running on Mondays, it woudl sort of depend what you were running Saturday and Sunday.  That makes all the difference.

                              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                               

                              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                               

                                A rare talent?  Hardly

                                 

                                "Why I started running: 

                                I entered an intramural cross country event in 9th grade and

                                beat the school's top miler; the track coach insisted I join the

                                track team."

                                 

                                Okay then. But hey nice backintheday story.

                                Runners run

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