Monday, October 15, 2007

NEVER BEEN SO GLAD

Well, I feel like I’m back.

I had a nice 12 mile run on Saturday and got to listen to a bunch of TCM and Chicago stories. All of the stories made me think of a line by Nathan last week; I’ve never been so glad to NOT run a marathon.”

That run gave me 55 miles for the week on 6 runs, plus an additional 32 miles on my mountain bike while watching TCM. Yesterday I had a great 15 mile trail run in Lebanon Hills. I ran for 2 hours and I think I saw 3 people. Since I didn’t run last Sunday, that means I have 70 miles in my last 7 days. More importantly, every run felt good. My spirits are high and my legs feel good. Even my knee that usually gives me problems when I crank up the mileage has been feeling good.

This morning the weekend mileage caught up with me a little as I felt fairly tired. I still manage to run an easy 8 miles.

When I think about feeling so good lately, I’m reminded of a comment Norm made to me; “Always train for a marathon, but never run one.” That way you get the benefits of training for a marathon without actually having your body take the pounding. Usually at this time of year I’d be taking a week or two to recover. Since I’ve already done that this year, now I’m ready to roll.

Speaking of being ready to roll, check out this great article on Team USA Minnesota coach Dennis Barker and his thoughts regarding Jason Lehmkuhle’s training for the Trials.

Quote of the day;

“There's a fine line between running great and not at all. The key for me and Jason is communication. It's my job to tell him when I think he can go harder, but also to make sure he doesn't dig himself into a hole that he can't get out of. I think that's what Bill Squires did for Dick Beardsley. My training philosophy for all distances is based on two principles: a high volume of quality aerobic running, and multi-pace training. The basic principles apply to everyone, but you need individualization of volume, specific workouts, and recovery to keep runners injury-free and mentally fresh.” – Dennis Barker referring to coaching Jason Lehmkuhle

5 comments:

Runner Susan said...

I'm glad you're glad!

Anonymous said...

I think you mean "Always train for a marathon..."

Chad said...

Anonymous, that's exactly what it says in my post.

Anonymous said...

Funny, must be my computer, it reads, "Allows train for a marathon..."

Chad said...

Wow, that's a classic case of seeing what you want to see. I swear it said "always". Thanks for clarifying for me.