Snow during the week, especially during rush hour = bad.
Rather than struggle through another few inches of fresh snow this morning, I just ran on the treadmill. And rather than just slog my way through another easy run, I took the opportunity to run a progression run. I started at 8:30 pace and worked my way down to 6:30 pace. In the end it was a 10 mile run in 75 minutes.
Last night I grabbed Ron Daws’ Self-Made Olympian off the shelf. I jumped to the 'Base Training' chapter and came across this sentence;
Once you hit the target mileage and can hold it fairly comfortably week after week, then begin to vary the efforts and make wider variations in daily mileage.He goes on to tell the story of when Ron Clarke trained under Arthur Lydiard. Clarke and two other runners would do their long runs at 7:00 pace. Eventually, their maximal aerobic pace increased, so 7:00 pace was too easy. Clarke started going faster, but the other two runners stayed at the same pace. The racing standards of all three improved for awhile but Clarke’s improvement continued.
So I think that’s where I’m at. I’m able to handle 80-85 mpw fairly comfortably when I run the majority of my miles at 8:00-8:30 pace. I think I’ve gained enough fitness in the last 8 weeks to be able to drop the pace.
Daws also has a chapter called 'The Schedule' and in it the second paragraph says;
Suppose that it is the beginning of December, and you decide to prepare for a major effort at the Boston Marathon the next year. This means you have roughly 19 weeks to get ready.You can bet I perked up a little bit when I read that. And sure enough, I looked at the calendar and next week we’ll be 19 weeks from Boston. Later in the book he spells out exactly what Steve Hoag’s training was like prior to his 2:11:54 at Boston in 1975. Heck, the race day is even the same in 2008 as it was in 1975, April 21st. Not that I’d be able to follow Hoag’s plan, but it’s nice to have as an outline.
Quote of the day;
“I can’t tell you in a book how to be sure you are going fast enough without overdoing it. You must learn by trial and error. But if you err too far, you may have to wait until another season to put to work what you have learned.” – Ron Daws, Self-Made Olympian
6 comments:
Chad,
Where did you find a copy of that book. I can't find it anywhere.
thanks
Hi!
Hey, what are your thoughts about treadmill running vs. outside? Just as good? Better? Not as good? I rarely, if ever, ran on a treadmill before but now with the weather and JayZ it is becoming necessary to do lots of my runs on it. I know you live in a climate that's even colder than mine so I thought I'd see what your opinion was.
I bought my copy when it first came out in 1977. It cost $3.50. I've read that book at least 15-20 times and as recently as 2 months ago. It has been the basis of how I trained for many years w/ few exceptions. I actually met Ron in person at a 10k in Youngstown, Ohio at Mill Creek Park. I knew he was coming and had my Dad drive me out there. That was in 78' I believe. He may have been pushing the book, I don't recall. He beat me that day.
You can find this book in minneapolis public library? it was on shelf the last time I checked.
Chad,
What type of glove/mittens are you going with for these single digit and below temps?
Thanks
Pete, I think I got it at www.abebooks.com awhile ago.
Sara, I'll take running on the treadmill over not running at all. Seriously, I think it has it's advantages and disadvantages. You should still try to get out on the roads a couple times a week. I'd also suggest making use of your hill function. The nice thing about t'mills is that you can control your workouts more precisely than you can outdoors, especially during this time of year.
Double, I could probably go back to the last time I talked about Self-Made and you probably said the same comment. I do remember paying "top dollar" for this book and then seeing $3.50 on it once I got it in the mail.
Mike, right now I wear thin gloves underneath some lobster mitts. Once it gets colder I'll use a thin pair of fleece mitts underneath a pair of rawhide choppers. It looks goofy, but they're toasty warm.
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