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Should I dial back the mileage for a week? (Read 1325 times)

    I've been back in my shoes for almost exactly 3 months now and while I am making gains in both my mileage and pace I am starting to worry that I am pushing myself to hard.

     

    Last night I went out for a 6.2 km run that I have done a few times now and by the 3rd km I was done.  I had to walk and then I could only run another 2 before I needed to walk the rest of the way home.

     

    I have run the entire distance previously. I don't mind having some walk breaks if needed I am just getting back into it and I expect that.  What bothers me is the amount of tenderness in my shins and how tired my muscles are at the start of the run. 

     

    Should I be taking a week with lower mileage to rest?  How much less should I do?  How often should I take one of these weeks?

    My sport's your sport's punishment

     

    2012 goals

                  

    100 Km month         150 K month      200K month

    5K run    10K run     20K run              30K run

    sub 30 min 5K         sub 55min 10K

    Scout7


      It's not the mileage, it's the effort.

       

      Run at an easier effort level, you should be alright.

        It's not the mileage, it's the effort.

         

        Run at an easier effort level, you should be alright.

         

        +1.  If your honest-to-goodness-easy pace starts regressing when running easy, then you should cut back the mileage.

         

        As a general rule-of-thumb, having a "cut-back" or "drop-back" week every 3-5 weeks isn't a terrible idea, either, especially if you're feeling tired.

        "When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem." 
        Emil Zatopek


        Feeling the growl again

          According to your log, you rarely run under 10min/mile so that must be a solid effort for you.  You recently ran 3 consecutive runs in 5 days under 10min/mile.  The only two non-easy runs you've logged recently were back-to-back at the end of this stretch.

           

          A few days later now, you are feeling beat up.  From the perspective given by your log, this is not surprising.

           

          Make sure you always have a couple easy runs between workouts.  Slow down your easy runs a bit.

          "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

           


          Why is it sideways?

            Like Scout said, the reason you are sore is the workouts you did, not the mileage per se.

             

            If you are just beginning as a runner, you should be very cautious about the introduction of workouts. Your first goal as a runner needs to be establishing consistency. You should be laser focused on that. Once you've established consistency, you can work on other elements and aspects of training.

              According to your log, you rarely run under 10min/mile so that must be a solid effort for you.  You recently ran 3 consecutive runs in 5 days under 10min/mile.  The only two non-easy runs you've logged recently were back-to-back at the end of this stretch.

               

              A few days later now, you are feeling beat up.  From the perspective given by your log, this is not surprising.

               

              Make sure you always have a couple easy runs between workouts.  Slow down your easy runs a bit.

               

              Yup I'm fat and slow.  I plan on being not so fat and not so slow in the future.  I've been going out to hard.  Unfortunately my gps app doesn't upload here but my first 2-3 km I've being running at a  5:30 km  pace (not mile I'm not crazy enough to attempt that) and then I slow down because I have to.  I will try to run a more even pace and give a true easy run or two a week. 

               

              One of my goals is to run a sub 30min 5k at the end of April and I keep racing myself to get there.

               

              Thanks for the input.  I just feel so slow when I back off the intensity but I guess its better to start off slow and keep going than burn out fast and give up.

              My sport's your sport's punishment

               

              2012 goals

                            

              100 Km month         150 K month      200K month

              5K run    10K run     20K run              30K run

              sub 30 min 5K         sub 55min 10K

                If running long, forget the pace for the first mile or two, they should be used to warmup.  The last mile (before any cooldown) should be your fastest without straining.  This will be a much more enjoyable pace strategy and leaves you feeling refreshed/high after the run rather than trying to run fast from the start, and I am sure can help avoid injuries a bit as well.  


                Why is it sideways?

                  Yup I'm fat and slow.  I plan on being not so fat and not so slow in the future.  I've been going out to hard.  Unfortunately my gps app doesn't upload here but my first 2-3 km I've being running at a  5:30 km  pace (not mile I'm not crazy enough to attempt that) and then I slow down because I have to.  I will try to run a more even pace and give a true easy run or two a week. 

                   

                  One of my goals is to run a sub 30min 5k at the end of April and I keep racing myself to get there.

                   

                  Thanks for the input.  I just feel so slow when I back off the intensity but I guess its better to start off slow and keep going than burn out fast and give up.

                   

                  I think it's awesome that you are fired up. Take a bit of time to browse the logs of folks around here. You will find many different paces and types of runners.

                   

                  The successful runners will have a few things in common:

                  1) They know how to run easy.

                  2) Their training is sustainable and consistent over months and years.

                  3) There is a lot of variation between the paces that they run, day to day.

                  4) Like Happyfeet said, experienced runners never run faster at the beginning of the run than at the end (you can't see this in the log of easy runs, but if you look at the interval work of experienced runners, you will always see this in their interval paces.)

                  5) Training is training, and racing is racing. You don't mix the sacred with the mundane.

                   

                  Ours is an endurance sport. What are the qualities of the endurance athlete? Patience, toughness, consistency, determination, responsiveness, flexibility, and more than anything else the willingness to do what it takes to continue to improve.

                   

                  Sometimes doing what it takes means backing off and taking the long view. You run today thinking about how this work sets you up to run tomorrow. Instead of looking at the end of April, you ask yourself questions like: what kind of runner would I like to be 3 years from now? And what kind of attitude would it take to get THERE.


                  an amazing likeness

                    I think it's awesome that you are fired up. Take a bit of time to browse the logs of folks around here. You will find many different paces and types of runners.

                     

                    The successful runners will have a few things in common:

                    1) They know how to run easy.

                    2) Their training is sustainable and consistent over months and years.

                    3) There is a lot of variation between the paces that they run, day to day.

                    4) Like Happyfeet said, experienced runners never run faster at the beginning of the run than at the end (you can't see this in the log of easy runs, but if you look at the interval work of experienced runners, you will always see this in their interval paces.)

                    5) Training is training, and racing is racing. You don't mix the sacred with the mundane.

                     

                    Ours is an endurance sport. What are the qualities of the endurance athlete? Patience, toughness, consistency, determination, responsiveness, flexibility, and more than anything else the willingness to do what it takes to continue to improve.

                     

                    Sometimes doing what it takes means backing off and taking the long view. You run today thinking about how this work sets you up to run tomorrow. Instead of looking at the end of April, you ask yourself questions like: what kind of runner would I like to be 3 years from now? And what kind of attitude would it take to get THERE.

                     

                    Someone needs to sticky this.

                    Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

                      Someone needs to sticky this.

                       

                      +1

                       

                      Training is training and racing is racing.  Don't mix the sacred with the mundane.  Damn that is good. I just found my new mantra! 

                       

                       

                      Do I get points for knowing that I don't know? 

                       

                      My long term goal is to FINISH the Around the bay 30K next March then to move on to a full marathon the year after.  Then where ever my feet take me.

                       

                      Thanks to all of you.

                      My sport's your sport's punishment

                       

                      2012 goals

                                    

                      100 Km month         150 K month      200K month

                      5K run    10K run     20K run              30K run

                      sub 30 min 5K         sub 55min 10K

                        Yup I'm fat and slow.  I plan on being not so fat and not so slow in the future.  I've been going out to hard.  Unfortunately my gps app doesn't upload here but my first 2-3 km I've being running at a  5:30 km  pace (not mile I'm not crazy enough to attempt that) and then I slow down because I have to.  I will try to run a more even pace and give a true easy run or two a week. 

                         

                        One of my goals is to run a sub 30min 5k at the end of April and I keep racing myself to get there.

                         

                        Thanks for the input.  I just feel so slow when I back off the intensity but I guess its better to start off slow and keep going than burn out fast and give up.

                        Let me guess; you have a loop or a set course, approximately 6.5k, and you'll go out and, if you feel good or feel like pushing, you push the pace.  If you feel challenged, you might turn that into fartlek or interval.  If you struggle, well, THEN that turns out to be an easy run...

                         

                        Almost all your runs are approximately 3.5 miles and you blast out the first 2-3k at 5:30/km pace when your GOAL is 6-minute/km 5k in a month?  Something doesn't add up here, does it?  You ran 4.7k EASY on 3/18 at 9:44 (per mile I assume) and then turned around 3 days later (your next run) ran 6.2k TEMPO at 9:58 pace...  The day before that easy 4.7k run was another EASY day at 9:58 pace 5.4k....

                         

                        Jeff, as usual, had a really good list of things that good runners have in common.  I'd add one more there; they sit down and plan the pattern of training.  It's called "Hard/Easy".  They have, usually, something like; they go long but at easy pace on Sunday; Monday might be short easy or fast easy; Tuesday might be another long run but not as long as Sunday; Wednesday is either easy recovery day or another fast but short...  Their long-short ratio is USUALLY 3 to 2.  If their long run is 90-minutes, short fast is about an hour.  Easy recovery run can be shorter than these; maybe 45 minutes.  They run 5k in about 13-14 minutes.  They do the long run on Sunday over 2 hours.  Your target race is 5k in 30-minutes and your training run is about 30-minutes.  

                         

                        You seem to run every other day or every 3 days.  Suppose you run 4 times a week (I believe 3 is not enough), one day is a long nice easy run of about an hour--you have gotten up close to an hour.  The pace should be what we call leisurely pace.  Leisurely pace means quite a bit slower than your target race pace or what you think you can run (meaning, NOT "Let's see how fast I can run..." pace).  If your target race pace is 5min/km, maybe 7min/km would be a good guide.  Basically, if you can start out at that pace and, after an hour, can still maintain that pace COMFORTABLY, that's a good easy pace.  One of these can be a fastish run--either fartlek, interval or tempo run.  A good gauge would be; if your target is to run a 5k, start out at near goal pace for, say, 15 minutes (in a case of a tempo run).  Or do interval of, say, 3 X 1km at 5-min pace.  Always work your way UP.  Don't be too ambitious at the start and get disappointed.  Starting out at faster pace than your target race pace for the longer than your target race distance and see how far you can keep up is definitely NOT the way to go about.  Drop that approach right away if you want to do well in the future.  Other 2 days should be a nice easy runs; 30-40 minutes at MUCH easier pace than other workouts; it's called "recovery jog".  Perhaps even slower than 7min/km pace (or thereabout).  "Recovery jog" means, when you're done, you won't be spent or stuffed but rather rejuvenated.  If you collapsed at the doorsteps at the end of the run, that means you FAILED with that particular workout.  Even if you set the fastest time on that particular route, it didn't fulfill the purpose of that workout.  Of course, some people may be satisfied with personally knowing that he/she ran the fastest.  But IF your goal is to do well in the actual race, knocking yourself to see how fast you can run every time you head out is not the right way to go about.

                         

                        Don't worry too much about losing weight at the moment.  Once you get into the right groove of training pattern, your weight will come down naturally.  Forcing to lose weight while trying to establish a good training pattern can be fatal (not literally...).  Believe it or not, doing it the right way, even though it MAY appear to take longer, would even more effective with weight loss in the long run (pan intended?) because, this way, you will be eventually running far and fast...in months later that would burn more calories.  

                         

                        Now, pardon my self-promoting here, our Running Wizard program would do all this for you IF this approach sounds decent to you.  It'll probably seem very slow to you but, if you plug in 60-minutes being the long run at this time, it'll get you up to 2-hour run in 10 weeks.  Speed comes later...IF you choose to train that way (peak for THE race).  For example, at your level right now, your long run should be 8k at 7:32 pace.  If you have to, or feel you'll need to, "dial back", what you're doing is above your head.

                          What I am hearing is that I don't run enough and I don't run smart enough.  I am not going SLOW enough to go fast. 

                           

                          So the new plan is to get out at least 4 days a week with at least 2 of them being slow and easy and one longer. 

                           

                          i also hear that 7 min/km while it is slow is not too slow for someone who is a beginner like myself.  I will also start a plan that I can follow.

                          My sport's your sport's punishment

                           

                          2012 goals

                                        

                          100 Km month         150 K month      200K month

                          5K run    10K run     20K run              30K run

                          sub 30 min 5K         sub 55min 10K

                            Do I get points for knowing that I don't know? 

                             

                             

                             

                            Yes, actually!

                             

                            The Dunning-Kruger effect

                            "Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn.  Climb that goddamn mountain."

                            Jack Kerouac

                              My sport's your sport's punishment

                               

                              2012 goals

                                            

                              100 Km month         150 K month      200K month

                              5K run    10K run     20K run              30K run

                              sub 30 min 5K         sub 55min 10K

                              DoppleBock


                                At the point that you are at - I would not be afraid to go really slow and lengthen a few runs by taking scheduled walk breaks - These are not casual sluff off walk breaks - But brisk walking - Start by walking 2-4 minutes to get warmed up then Run 9 minutes - walk 1 or 8/2.  Doing this once a week to get to 1 hour to, then  90 minutes, then 2 hours.

                                 

                                After you get to 2 hours or 90 minutes or what ever your goal is - then start reducing the walking.  Maybe 18 minutes running and 2 walking - then 19/1 - It does not matter but eventually you want to build you aerobic base and stop walking.

                                 

                                I cannot give advice beyond Nobby or Jeff - But almost every new runner makes the error of running runs too fast.

                                Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

                                 

                                 

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