Ultra Cowboy
You know, you would think after 2 years of training for a 50k I would have a plan that works. And for the most part...it does. I've finished my 50k's
What I have been disappointed in though, is my adherence to a training plan during the week. In the past I've had a 5 day a week running schedule. looking back I may have only ran 5x less than half of the weeks. Friday was the most frequent day I played hooky.
As it stands, My Week looks like:
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday- 3-4-5 mile "Fun run" After work on pavement (Evening)
Thursday- 6-7-8 mile Trail run (Night)
Fri- ????
Saturday - Rest
Sunday Long Trail Run 13-26 miles over 13 weeks (Morning)
Monday "Long" run 8-10 mile (evening)
So what would you do on FRIDAYS? In the past I've had 4 miles scheduled.
Weekly PLANNED mileage goes from 26-45
build 2 weeks, cycle down 1 week- repeat...
Wed, Thurs and Sundays are usually with a group and seldom missed. Monday and Fridays take some discipline....
your perspective ?
WYBMADIITY
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Refurbished Hip
I think you need more overall mileage. Why are you doing runs as short as 3-5 miles? Can you increase that, or is that a group thing? Adding in a 5th day will help. Even with a 45 mile week, a 26M long run will be over 50% of your mileage.
Running is dumb.
What is your objective? The way I read your post it is to adhere to a training plan, but that's surely not it :-)
3/8 Way Too Cool 50k WNS
4/19 Tehama Wildflowers 50k
MM The Wed night runs are a "Group thing"
Thursday night usually depend on what the people I 'm running with want to accomplish. They are 50 and 100 milers that just want headlamp time on the trails. The way I read it you would have me build Friday up to a mid-distance run? 8-10 miles?
Chnaiur,
I can't really say a plan didn't work if I don't follow it, right? I guess I was asking if I should even plan a Friday run if I'm gonna skip it every couple of weeks...I'd rather plan conservatively if that makes sense.
I'm doing a climb-filled 50k in mid October and (on paper) your training isn't all that different than mine. I do a long run on the weekend (20, 20, 26, 26.5 over the last month), and a speed (or hill) day mid week, the rest of the week is padded out by easy group runs (that I’m usually leading for the beginners in our club).
Earlier in the summer I was logging more mileage during the week (10+ almost every time I went out), and built a good base on that. I'm sure it made me stronger, but it just wasn't sustainable once the weekend long run got serious.
Inside of two months before a goal race, for me, the long run is where its at. I’m fine pounding myself and running tired the rest of the year, but I’d rather stay uninjured, have more energy, and get through the long run strong. That’s where all the confidence gets built.
http://www.valleyrunningclub.org/
Uh oh... now what?
When I was pretending to train I used a 5-day run week.If I rotated (slid?) it to fit your five days...
Tuesday: restWednesday: 5-8 miles easyThursday: 12-14 milesFriday: 5-8 miles, playing with speedSaturday: restSunday: long--don't know miles, 4-6 hours mostlyMonday: 4-5 miles, easy recovery
Since you seem committed to the group runs, the Thursday/Saturday
changes don't seem like they would fit. If you decided to commit to
one 50k with a more strenuous training cycle, maybe you could tell your
running buddies you will be "right back"...
rgot
Faster Than Your Couch!
Maybe it helps to figure out why you don't run on Fridays, and what would help. Maybe a running buddy? An early morning run (even if it's just a few miles)?
You might increase Wednesday's run in length, aiming for 5-15 miles, depending on time available, and the weather conditions.
I'd try to get 5-12 miles in on Fridays, but that's just me. Maybe a gym workout is more to your liking.
Sunday's long runs look good, if it was me, I'd try to get in 18-22 miles "usually", and some runs above 25 miles (1-5, depending on what you can do, just to work on the long-term nutrition and hydration, to test out gear, to figure out how to deal with wet feet and blisters, etc.).
Monday doesn't have to be very long in my opinion, maybe 6-12 miles, whatever you can do after the long run on Sunday. Don't overdo it, you may even rest if you have some nagging in joints or muscles.
If you try to keep your weekly miles in the 35-50 range, and get some longer runs in, you should build endurance, regardless of whether you run 4 or 5 days a week. Speedwork every now and then won't hurt, too.
Run for fun.
Occasional Runner
It's a lot of over thinking maybe? Here is my list of rules for becoming "better".
- Run frequently, daily if possible
- Mix up terrain, speed, effort and training surface.
- Run hard when it feels right
- Run easy when you need to recover.
- Log miles. A lot of them.
- Play with speed.
- Learn to walk fast. Really fast.
- Run on tired legs and learn to deal with it.
- For every hour of running, devote 30 minutes to focusing on nutrition. Learn how to fuel.
- Stop worrying about a plan. A lot of people only use their plan as an excuse for failure because "it" somehow failed them.
- Most importantly, run because you love to run and it will come to you.
If it's hard to run on Fridays, why not schedule Friday off and run on both Saturday and Sunday? You can do longer runs on Saturday and Sunday, a little back-2-back thing. After those two longish days in a row you can also take Monday off and run Tuesday.
Funny, the above sounds a lot like what I do each week. LOL.
tbd.
I really appreciate everyone's perspectives. One thing in the winter that has quite a bearing on run times is when/if my daughters have sports practices. If I'm not coaching, I can't stand watching practice so I run during practice. Depending on what days the practices are I'll fit that time (55 minutes per practice) into my running schedule.
Will run for scenery.
lace_up : I'm curious what you mean by spending 30 minutes per hour of running focusing on nutrition. Are you just saying to become very educated and pay attention, or is there something specific you do for all those hours ?
Stupid feet!
Stupid elbow!
I'm essentially saying that you need to devote a large percentage of your "training" time to focus on nutrition. That includes experimentation during your runs, reading literature, working on aid station strategy, developing and training with your strategy for fuel delivery systems (hydration packs, handhelds, fuel belts, lumbar packs, etc.), refining and defining exactly what works for you on different terrain, distances and weather conditions.
Runners spend a lot of time focusing on the run and nutrition takes a back seat or is developed in a random manner. Even the best runners can be well trained and still be ill prepared because the still don't understand proper nutrition as it relates to all potential variables.
If you spend 10 hours running i n a week, I would recommend an additional 5 hours to be devoted to the things I mentioned above. Obviously, some of those hours overlap if your nutrition training is being done during the run, but some time still needs to be devoted to more formal education from reliable sources.
This is a rule I try to live by and it has paid dividends.