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How much will Vacation help........if any (Read 693 times)

    I'm a mailman, I walk 5 days a week carrying a mailbag. Total distance per day is about 11km and it takes about 3 hrs. I do most of my training runs within 4 hrs of finishing my walk. I have 5 weeks holiday coming up shortly. Could I expect improvement in running times or do you think my fitness level will deteriorate since I'm no longer walking in the AM.

    "The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling." - Lucretius

    TJoseph


      I don't think it will make a lot of difference if your running stays the same. Depending where you take your vacation, you may still be walking a lot. Are you planning to run more, less, or the same during your vacation? Tom
        Currently I'm following a 20 week Marathon training program (Week 10 completed today). My vacation starts Aug 18th (Beginning of week 15). Vacation ends beginning of week 20. I wish it was the end of week 20, but it isn't a perfect world. So I will be on Vacation for the heaviest 3 weeks of training and the first 2 weeks of my 3 week taper. I'm thinking my training times will be faster with the same perceived amount of effort. Since I will hopefully be running quicker than now, I don't think I'll lose fitness. If I were to maintain the current training times I think I would lose fitness just because of the fact I wouldn't be putting as much effort into it. I suppose I could run more to compensate for the missing walk. I hesitate to do this since I may be running too much now. I am following a program for advanced runners ......... which I am definitely not.

        "The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling." - Lucretius


        A Saucy Wench

          I would be cautious about running faster - even if it seems easier - injuries are made that way. On the other hand...your body may be used to the loosening and warming of muscles all day long and may not appreciate being dumped into running without its usual warmup. You may want to take walks anyway to keep your body happy. Not 11K with a mailbag necessarily... I walk a lot in the summer - not as much as you do, but I find my between run recovery is MUCH better when I have my 2-3 mile walk than when I dont. Like yesterday I did my Saturday 10 miler at 3pm instead of my normal 6 am and then took my walk and my long run this morning was awesome.

          I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

           

          "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

            Thanks for your thoughts. Posties will never be able to shed the "Neuman" image I guess Big grin. What I do is quite the workout. Picture carrying 2 ten lb bags of potato's. walk up and down residential streets delivering one potato to each door. When the bags run out grab two more bags and carryon for 3 hours. Most guys tend to do this as quickly as possible because once you have finished your walk, you are done. No clock to punch no need to return to the depot. Just go home. That's how we get the cliff Claven image..sitting in bars all afternoon. Anyway it is a workout, I'd compare it to an easy 10k run. Not as fast, but you are carrying weight and you are out there for 3hrs. It's not a stroll in the park Big grin

            "The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling." - Lucretius


            A Saucy Wench

              Thanks for your thoughts. Posties will never be able to shed the "Neuman" image I guess Big grin. What I do is quite the workout. Picture carrying 2 ten lb bags of potato's. walk up and down residential streets delivering one potato to each door. When the bags run out grab two more bags and carryon for 3 hours. Most guys tend to do this as quickly as possible because once you have finished your walk, you are done. No clock to punch no need to return to the depot. Just go home. That's how we get the cliff Claven image..sitting in bars all afternoon. Anyway it is a workout, I'd compare it to an easy 10k run. Not as fast, but you are carrying weight and you are out there for 3hrs. It's not a stroll in the park Big grin
              Confused Where did you ever get the idea someone was comparing you to Neuman?

              I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

               

              "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                Sorry, I read your post as just take a walk while on vacation....and all would be the same. When I tried to relay the fact it is quite a workout I'd be missing. No harm Big grin

                "The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling." - Lucretius