Forums >Racing>Is sub 3 possible for me in 9 weeks? 16 weeks actually
Bacon Party!
FFS, when's the race?
Liz
pace sera, sera
Today I did a threshold run (I still don't know what the difference between threshold and tempo is), 7 miles with 3 faster pace: 6:37, 6:45 and 6:10. I am quite pleased with the result. I didn't feel that I pushed hard, probably only the last half mile. It is the first day that I feel my energy is climbing up.
5k - 20:56 (09/12), 7k - 28:40 (11/12), 10k trial - 43:08 (03/13), 42:05 (05/13), FM - 3:09:28 (05/13), HM - 1:28:20 (05/14), Failed 10K trial - 6:10/mi for 4mi (08/14), FM - 3:03 (09/14)
Feeling the growl again
A 20-25min tempo run is going to be about at threshold. If you run a longer "tempo" you will no longer be at threshold as you'll have to slow down.
You're doing it right...tempos are meant to be a solid, fast run, but not leave you overly drained.
"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
Mmmmm...beer
Next weekend, 14th.
-Dave
My running blog
Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!
I had a good last long run today. I tried to hold back a bit. I think the pace was not bad.
Ready?
Ready, go.
Not quite. I had two-day rest. I was going to run on Sunday (after Saturday 12 miles), but I was too tired due to a long day work. So I didn't run. Then yesterday I followed the plan and ran 2 x 0.75mi @ 6:20. It was good rhythm and I felt comfortable enough. However, my calves were surprisingly tight/sore. I didn't expect that. This morning I still feel sore. I didn't get that when I trailed the 10K (ran 4 miles @ 6:10). I couldn't figure out why. It can't be too long rest, can it?
Here is yesterday's workout.
I read somewhere saying the reason keeping the intensity but reducing the quantity during the race week is to keep the fitness level up because every key workout miss is a 1% drop, in my case, 4s/mi drop. :-)
I don't believe you can put a percentage on it, but yes short, quicker work with low volume can sustain your fitness while letting you rest up. The week before a marathon I'll do stuff like 30-60sec fast tempo paced sections with full recovery. It takes very little effort but helps your legs feel fresh.
I read somewhere that there is a boarding school for wizards in Scotland that nobody can find. And if your kid is a wizard and bright enough, he/she may get a an invitation to attend, delivered by owl.
Runners run
Found it. It is in the Advanced Marathoning book: How long should you taper? (page 195). My quote was off. Here is the exact quote:
"Two short a taper will leave you tired on marathon day, whereas tapering for too long will lead to a loss of fitness. When you consider that any one workout will give you less than a 1 percent improvement in fitness, but that a well-designed taper can provide an improvement in race performance of several percent, it is wise to err on the side of tapering too much rather than not enough."
More information about tapering from the same book.
"Various studies have found improvements in performance or physiological measures of up to 16 percent when athletes taper their training before competition, with most studies finding performance improvements of 3 to 5 percent. In studies with runners, the benefit is generally around 2 to 4 percent, which equates to 3.5 to 7 minutes for a 3-hour marathoner."
Thanks Spaniel. I think I was too fast for too long.
MTA: correct the wrong quote.
Those quotes pretty much say the opposite of what you originally said. They are talking about the performance gained from tapering, not the percent of fitness lost from missing key workouts.