So I decided to try something crazy, and actually pay attention to the purpose of the runs on my training schedule. During the week, I'm following some sort of combination of my marathon training plan, a 50 mile race training plan that Kara sent me, and whatever the hell I want/have time for. Yesterday I did an easy 8 mile run, and focused on keeping the pace easy. I was aiming for an average of 10 minute miles, and ended up with a 10:06 pace. I resisted the urge to go faster because I would be embarrassed by my slow pace on daily mile.
The point was to see if it would help today's tempo run. The verdict - it made a HUGE difference. I didn't have that lead legs feeling, I didn't feel sluggish, and I felt pretty good the whole time. It was a tough workout (which I measure by nausea at the end, in this case, check!) but I felt it was doable. I need to stop getting so caught up in everyone else's training, and just do what works for me. I've posted that before, but maybe this time I'll stick to it.
My six tempo miles were: 8:31, 8:47, 8:26, 8:48, 8:59, 8:25. I really tried to focus on not using the hills as an excuse, and attacking the uphills and using the downhills to gain speed. While I always love company on runs and prefer to run with friends, doing this run alone was a confidence booster for me - no one (aka, friends or the evil treadmill) was pacing me and forcing me to go faster.
Random thoughts:
1. I knew training for a 50 mile race on top of switching to a new grade level and taking a grad class would be a time crunch. I wasn't prepared for how tired I would be ALL THE TIME. This past weekend reminded me that weekends are no longer for relaxing, they are for cleaning/cooking/laundry/grocery shoppping/lesson planning and grad work, and of course tons of running. But I love teaching third grade and the fifty miler is something I really want to do, so I'm not complaining (much).
2. I spilled water all over the shirt I'm required to wear today, and I was already mad because it's hideous and gigantic. If you have a staff of nearly 100 and exactly four of them are men, it makes total sense to order men's sizes.
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| This is my angry/half asleep/nauseous face. If I ever sign up for match.com I'll use this picture. |
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| This is the smallest size they had. |
Do you do easy runs? Or are you too hardcore for that?
First, please don't try to censor the word "bitch" It makes me feel icky.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you look hot in that shirt. HOT.
We already have the critical part of 50 mile training: the desire to run 50 miles. The rest is just gravy.
That shirt! That's ridiculously big, honestly. On the plus side, you can share with Eric!
ReplyDeleteI've been wearing a heart rate monitor while running and forcing myself to stick to certain zones. Sometimes it's hard to force myself to slow down, but sometimes it's nice to know I can take it "easy." Plus it leaves my legs fresher for my harder runs. I'm trying to get my husband to take easy runs easy, but I think he just wants to run all of them as hard as he can.
ReplyDeleteI do loads of easy runs. Last week:
ReplyDeleteLong: 20.2
Progression: 4.3
Interval: 5
Easy: everything else = 43
Hahaha- it made me laugh out loud about the not wanting to input a 10:06 pace on Daily Mile because I totally think of that all the time! It seems like it paid off for you though, which is AWESOME! Great tempo run girl! :)
ReplyDelete