Saturday, December 22, 2007

SUB-3

Since I had Thursday and Friday off from work this week and since family is coming in today, I decided to treat the last two days as my weekend. Thursday I ran 12 miles with the middle 8 miles progessively faster as I dropped from 7:30 pace to 6:40 pace. Given that this was run outside, as opposed to the treadmill, I was really happy with how easy the two miles at 6:40 pace felt. After the run I thought, "For December 20th, I'm pretty fit." Then I immediately thought, "Let's not get carried away."

Yesterday was one of those days when everything you plan comes together. With a day to myself I wanted to get in another long run before the holidays officially arrive. The weather worked out great with temps in the low 30s. I ended up running for 2:59 and calling it 22 miles. A few people have told me I should try to get in a 30 mile run sometime. I'm not sure if I'll get there, but this is a step in the right direction. I'm trying to break out of the mindset that 20 miles is enough prior to a marathon.

Quote of the day;
"People want to be good - right now. They think that a couple of months of training should put them in great shape. It doesn't happen overnight - you're changing tissue: heart, circulatory system and muscle cell tissue...The most important thing in athletic improvement is consistency." - Dennis Barker

9 comments:

Andrew said...

I'm thinking about running some over distance long runs this time around too. Later in the cycle though.

You're doing great.

Runner Susan said...

20 is not enough, I say go for 30!

Kel said...

You're going to turn into an ultra runner if you're not careful ;)

Evan Roberts said...

The thought of you having done 22 yesterday kept me going at points in 20 today. Thanks!

A 30 mile run is lots of fun with good company, and all due respect to Ron Daws' statement about how can you race 26 miles if you can't run 30, but ... my question would be, "what problem with your marathons requires the over-distance run?" 22 with 15 at marathon pace might be even better. All grist for discussion on a long run!

Ryan said...

Glad to see you are keeping up your top-notch form.

On a side note, I'd be interested in a future post about how you've managed your training while balancing your daddy duties. I've got a major life change coming.

Chad said...

Andrew, I don't know if I'll get over distance, but definitely over duration.

Evan, you're one of the people talking about 30 mile runs, now you're saying 22 with 15 at MP - make up your mind. :) BTW, given how conditions changed overnight, I'm guessing my 22 was easier than your 20.

Ryan, congrats on the "major life change". There's a reason I run at 5 AM and it's not because I enjoy getting up so early - it's best for the family.

Anonymous said...

22 with 15 at MP is a very hard run, in my opinion, and probably comparable to (if not harder than) a 30+ miler in terms of the effort and recovery time. I think they both have their place. I would not do more than one of either of those in a month, myself.

Overdistance works for some people. If you have not tried it, you would not know if it "works" - though in my mind, it's hard to call any run wasted. But some are humbling learning experiences...

Anonymous said...

I've been wondering about over distance long runs too. Last cycle I did an 18 miler with 15 at mp. It was the 1st time I've tried it and I found it challenging but satisfying. I felt like it gave me a lot of confidence, but when the race came around I could not muster the speed. So I figure I blew it on a training run or I needed more endurance.

Evan Roberts said...

Quick comments in reply about the 15 at MP run.
1) You shouldn't do much more than 90-100 minutes in total at MP for the workout. If that gets you to less than 15, that's OK.
2) Doing it by myself I've found it better to do it as 4 x 6km, and take a 3 minute jog in between to take on fluids etc than straight through 15 miles. With others (perhaps as part of a half-marathon) I'd do it straight through.
3) Once a month is about right for this workout, perhaps at 12, 8, and 4-5 weeks out from the marathon.