Hiya!
My plan for today called for 9 miles with 3 at race pace, so I ran easy down to the gym and ran 3 at pace on the treadmill. Turned out pretty well considering how grumpy I was when I woke up. Thank goodness for running - relieves the stress of the week. Tomorrow, short run and house prep for plastering.
What's your plan for the weekend? A
Recalculating...
Hi Ayola! Your workout entry for today shows it went VERY well. Good for you!
One of my current goals is to run a 16-miler once a month until I can do it painfree. Today was March's attempt. I figured it would take me 3 hours and I finished just under that. I wanted to run in the pace range of 10:40-11:10 and ended up averaging 11:05. Quite pleased with those end results, given that I didn't look at my watch while running. I wanted to go as slow as necessary to ward off the right glute and leg pain that plagues my long distance attempts. The glute pain started up in the 11th mile, but it wasn't constant and in the last couple miles it wasn't even a problem (they were my 2 slowest, hmmm.). So it was a good run actually. The course I picked was a 4-mile out-and-back, to run twice. I'd never run it before and assumed it was flat - which it wasn't. It was downhill out and uphill back - which is reflected in my mpm pace.
Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done.
Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.
Happy: great run! And congrats on the results of the run: no pain (or hardly any). How will you be supporting your 16 miler once a month with other runs?
Ayola: nice when a run puts you in a better mood. I love those runs.
I finished February with a pathetic 44 kilometers monthly total to my name. However, that's more than I have been running in the past six months. Goal for March is 75 kilometers. And I already did 25.9 of them, so 75 seems quite doable
Yesterday was a short 2.5 kilometer run with the dogs in the rain.
Today was 8.2 kilometers on my new running shoes at a reasonable pace. Why are running shoes so darn expensive? And why are they twice as expensive in Europe as they are in the US? And how come Asics won't allow for international shipping? I'm now ordering an extra pair online and have them delivered to a friend's US address (free shipping), then have them forwarded to my address (reasonable shipping fee).
Anyways, I'm well on my way to a 10 kilometer 'long" run with two or three 5 kilometer runs on weekdays. Which is the goal until I finish school (July). Then I can focus on long distance again.
DutchieRun the day, or the day runs you.
Dutchie: Your game plan of a 10K LR and 5K weekly runs sounds very doable. Good luck! with that and with school...and the rest of life's challenges. Sounds like you've figured out the cheapest way to get shoes online. Do none of the usual vendors ship internationally? Is Amazon.CO.UK an option? http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_kk_3?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aasics+running+shoes+womens&keywords=asics+running+shoes+womens&ie=UTF8&qid=1362948862
Yesterday's run was a "success" compared to my previous attempts, that's for sure; and it wasn't even my slowest, so that shows progress too.
So at the moment my sequencing plan for the weekend LR goes like this:
None next week due to St. Paddy's Day 10K, then:
12 - 14 - 10 - trail HM - 10 - 16 - 10 - 14 - 12 - 16 -10 - 14 - 12 - 16 - 10 - 14 - 12 - 16 - 10 - trail HM - 10 - 12 - 16
If anyone wants to suggest any modification, I'm open to suggestion.
My challenge is including a Tempo Run. It takes a lot out of my legs, so I have to skip it the week before the 16. I probably shouldn't do it the week after depending on how hard the 16 was. I'll play with it and see what I can do with the least impact to the game plan. My goal for the Tempos is a 8:40 or better 10K time sometime this year; with 8:30 mpm being the ultimate goal.
MTA: I just came across this article which is not limited to trail running. Obviously it's a speed workout that could apply to anyone.
http://www.trailrunnermag.com/training/speed/article/286-the-fabulous-4-minutes
I'm thinking of trying it out. I'm curious to see if I would recover faster from it versus an extended tempo run.
PS: "with 8:30 mpm being the ultimate goal." Looks ridiculous in writing...so far fetched...oh well, doesn't hurt to reach for things.
Puke: How did the Tarawera Ultra go for you??
Pretty good week. 7x800m at 10k pace on treadmill Tuesday, moved furniture and covered floors for plastering Wednesday, easy run Thursday.
On Friday the plan was to run 5 miles with 20 minutes at tempo/ HM race pace or faster. Didn't quite get down to that pace by feel, Im going to have to find my Garmin for the next try. But it was a beautiful morning with big fluffy patterned snow flakes.
Today I did a light elliptical workout at the gym instead of a run; feet and calves and ankles are cranky, did some stretching in preparation for 12 miles tomorrow. 24 mile week working my way up to 30 mile weeks.
Dutchie: sneakers are ridiculously expensive here in Canada as well, I can get some brands (mizuno) delivered through running warehouse.com ( I still have a US credit card) but not aasics or moving comfort for workout gear. I usually stock up when we go on vacation or if i go home to New York. Boo on corporate profits!
Pukekura - I hope that ultra went well!
Happy - I like the layout of your long runs.
happy Saturday, A
Sounds like you had a nice solid week, Ayola - good for you! Bet it makes you feel good. Good luck with your LR tomorrow. I want to hear how it goes.
I ran the local 2nd annual St. Paddy's Day 10K today with hope of taking a measure of my progress. Well, phooey on that! It was windy, rainy, stormy! Only the first mile was on pace. Then the route turned and went along the Strait and the headwind was so strong it stopped me in my tracks more than just a few times, slowing my pace considerably. It was tiring running into that the whole way out. I tried to take advantage of it on the way back and float through the air when it was gusting into my back. It helped, but my legs didn't have much oomph left. The finish had us crossing a slippery bridge with 2 right angle turns; so even if you had anything left, it was unsafe not to take it slow. I got 1st of 3 in my AG anyway and had no sideache or leg cramps - so there's a sign of progress; and of course now 2 hours later the sun is shining! What a day!
long long day at the office. 16:45 for 102 km, about 2 hours longer than i was hoping for. But the course was much tougher than everyone expected. So I am pretty happy with just a finish. I tell everyone that I run ultras to test how far I can push my body. Yesterday I think I just about found the limit. With 25 km to go I was ready to pull the pin at the next aid station as there was 5 km of solid climb to go once I left there. But the thought of the DW waiting at the finish line, and the bollocking she would give me if I stopped was enough to get me through :-) Will try and describe the race in more detail soon, once my head is cleared.
“Attitude is the Difference Between an Ordeal and an Adventure”
Goals 2016
Do stuff
Imminent Catastrophe
That's awesome, and I know how tough that section was--that you had to do twice! Congratulations.
"Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"
"To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain
"The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.
√ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015
Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016
Western States 100 June 2016
hThis made me chuckle. Ya gotta love Snoopy!
Today's run was a 15-mile hill workout. OMG that wore me out, almost 2500 ft of elevation. It's all on paved road so I don't have to worry about tripping (which I am prone to). But it's almost nonstop up/down/up/down, some pretty steep. Great training for Tahoe. Yesterday was a 6-mile run on the treadmill (due to severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the area) with the middle 4 at a hard pace. Getting ready for Boston.
Sounds like a couple solid workouts, PerfesserR.
I took four days off this week since the boss is away. It's been nice to get up and go running instead of going to work I'm having trouble working up any enthusiasm today though. I just don't have the oomph for a tempo run. Maybe I just need more coffee or maybe today is the day to try out that 4-minute speed session. I probably could do 4 minutes of my 8 miles at a faster clip. The sun is actually coming out and it's not raining, despite a forecast that predicted the exact opposite. So I best get changed and out the door. DH just left for a job interview and I want to get back about the time he does.
Russ - That hill training will come in handy at Boston. I'm just planning on 1 more week of hard workouts then starting my taper. 20 hilly miles this weekend is my last quality run.
Puke - Impressive effort. Looking forward to the RR.
Happy - Congrats on the AG award and on the pain free running. We can work on the oomph later.
Just slogging through the last couple of weeks of training here. Boston can't come soon enough for me. I'm starting to get burned out on all this mileage. I'm not really a 45 mile a week kind of guy.
Boston can't come soon enough for me.
It's right around the corner!!! So excited about the Big Day for you guys!
Glad to hear I can work on building some oomph later - I sure didn't have it today. I ended up adding two miles to make 10, but I couldn't have sped up to save my life...well maybe if that was really the case. I think I'm just tired from carrying a lot of worry and concern over people close to me in dire straits. I hope that's it, but I am a little bummed about my slow progress...I'm probably just not doing enough speed work.
Russ - That hill training will come in handy at Boston.
...and Big Sur. The way this Spring is going we'll be running in snow in Boston.