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long slow distance

I may be on to something…

September 3, 2012 by Kristy 11 Comments

Happy Labor Day! Hopefully you are outside soaking in the last day of summer and not stuck inside because of the rain. It’s pretty miserable in Philly today.

I recently read 2 interesting articles backing up 2 of my non-traditional training habits: (1) not eating before long runs and (2) running long runs at or near marathon pace. I blogged about this awhile ago so I’ll spare you the details on why I do what I do.

The first article was mentioned on Miss Zippy’s blog and it advocates fasting 3 hours or more for runs lasting more than 60-90 minutes. For many of us AM runners, that means getting up around 4AM to fuel (or earlier). The author says don’t sacrifice sleep in order to get your pre-run meal in, as long as you begin fueling shortly after you begin running AND you adequately refueled for recovery after your last run.

I have done training runs up to 26 miles without eating before. I don’t get hungry, my stomach is happy, and my performance is better. I always begin fueling with Shot Bloks after 4 miles and drink chocolate milk afterwards for recovery. It’s the whole cycle of not eating before, fueling soon after, and fueling for recovery that makes it work. When I do eat on race day, it’s always 3 hours before start time.

The second article was in the September issue of Running Times. Renato Canova, coach to the elites, advocates high-volume goal-paced training. While this obviously isn’t a ground breaking idea, Canova maintains that traditional tempo runs are too short (and, thus, have no connection to the marathon) and the long run for the marathon is too slow.

While I agree and certainly do my long runs near marathon pace, I also think there is a place for LSD runs, especially for beginners. I would say 25% of my marathon training runs are done at LSD pace.

Other highlights from the article…

  • Canova has his runners do 17- to 24-mile runs at roughly 95 percent of MP. These closely stimulate the demands of the marathon in terms of speed, distance, and psychology. I could not agree more, as long as you are recovering adequately.
  • The author dubs Canova’s Golden Rule as follows: to fulfill your potential as a marathoner, you need to progressively extend the distance you can run at your goal pace, over a period of months and years. Wow. Yes and yes! This doesn’t happen overnight, not even for elites. When I was trying to BQ, I aimed to knock 15 seconds off my goal MP with each training cycle.  Baby steps.

Enough science talk. This weekend I ran 13 miles – my first long run since the 50K and I was pretty beat up afterwards. I was thinking of running a 5K on Sunday but, between the humidity and my tired legs, I scrapped it. I did manage to return to barre today after a 5-month hiatus!

And I’ll leave you with 2 random pictures from this weekend…

LDW_1
The lighting was better in the parking garage…

LDW_2
Yes, so random but Bruce Jenner doesn’t even resemble himself anymore. For a second I didn’t even know who this was until I saw “Bruce Jenner”.

Did you race this weekend? Do you eat before long runs? Do you think Bruce Jenner resembles a cat?

Laid Back

June 21, 2012 by Kristy 11 Comments

That’s my approach to training for this 50K. More miles at a relaxed pace…no muss, no fuss. Physically, it has been smooth sailing. Mentally, it takes some getting used to.

DSCN1517
Hawk, perfecting the art of laid back

I figure out my training for the upcoming week on Sunday, so my plan is created on a week-by-week basis. This allows me to adjust if my legs are feeling especially tired and work my runs around whatever I have going on that week.

The 3 most important things I’m focusing on for 50K training…

Pace
Mentally, this is what I struggle with the most. Compared to my last few training cycles I feel as if someone flipped the switch entirely pace-wise. To put it into perspective for all you numbers people like me, last summer I ran a 22-miler at 8:30 pace and my 17-miler last weekend was done at 9:39 pace. One minute and 10 seconds slower per mile! I have the best intentions at the beginning of a run but find it hard to remain slow once I zone out and autopilot kicks in.

I know I should probably go even slower – no faster than 10:00 pace – but it’s a work in progress. The more I slow down, the more beneficial it will be for me come race day.

Back-to-back long runs
I’m doing a long run on Saturday followed by (at least) a 10-miler on Sunday. My weekend mornings are almost consumed with running, which is OK in my book.

Saturday’s LR is done on the same hilly route I use for marathon training. Sunday’s LR is done on trails.

Volume
I hope to max out hopefully in the 60s for mileage. This will all depend on how my body adapts though. Doing no harsh speed work definitely helps, as this was the reason I never went over 55 miles per week during marathon training.

Here’s what my training looked like last week.

MON:  5 miles, Garmin-free
TUE:  8 miles, 9:22 pace
WED:  rest
THU:  5 miles, Garmin-free
FRI:  barre  rest, I just couldn’t get out of bed!
SAT:  17 miles, 9:39 pace
SUN:  10 miles, 9:42 pace

I see plenty of this in my future, just much slower Smile

DSCN1495

And, no, I don’t miss track workouts one bit!  Slow and steady wins the race this summer.

Weekend Routine

February 27, 2012 by Kristy 21 Comments

Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day.  My weekends are pretty much the same from one week to the next and, naturally, they revolve around running.  Eat, sleep, run…repeat.

Friday night
Going out on a Friday night is definitely not happening since an early morning long run beckons.  Ever do a long run with little sleep or a hangover?  It’s not fun.  So my Friday nights go a little something like this:  pizza for dinner if I’m running around 18-22 miles the next day, getting everything ready for my long run (clothes, fuel, etc.), watching House Hunters International with Matt, and a 9:00-9:30 bedtime.  Whoa, that’s living life in the fast lane, folks.

Saturday morning
I generally get up around 7:00 (sadly, this is sleeping in).  I get dressed and get on my way.  I don’t eat before any of my runs, so I don’t have to worry about factoring time in for digestion and what not.  Then I drive to my hilly long run route and hope for the best!  I’m going to have to alter my routine in the next few weeks to prepare for Boston’s late start (closer to 11AM for me – eek!).

I always have chocolate milk waiting for me in the car so I can drink it while I stretch.  I drive home, stretch some more, do my PT exercises, foam roll, take the longest, hottest shower, and the finally eat breakfast.  By this time it’s usually 11AM.  Phew!

If I am planning to go out, Saturday night is usually the night to get wild and crazy since my Sunday run is easy.  If I can stay awake until 11PM, it must have been a really fun night.

Sunday morning
I “sleep in” (i.e., don’t set an alarm) and bang out an easy run just to give the old legs a good shake after Saturday’s long run.  I also figure out my training schedule for the week ahead so I can do this all over again!

It’s funny how drastically different my weekends are now as compared to my 20s!

My long run this weekend was interesting.  We had a wind advisory so, instead of killing myself by adhering to a certain pace, I made it a LSD run.  No lie, the wind was intense.

running in the wind

It was nice out though – about 40 degrees and sunny.  Around mile 15 the sky got dark and the temps started dropping.  By mile 16 I was running in a full-on snowstorm.  I couldn’t believe it.  As soon as I finished running, the sun came back out and the snow stopped.  Those last 2 miles were not fun.

photo (10)

I finished 18 miles in 2:44 – 9:07 average pace.  Not bad considering the crazy wind.

Do you fall into a routine when training?  Kudos to you if you can manage to have a social life too.  Training and going out were much easier…when I was younger!

Did you run in the crazy wind on Saturday?

Weekend Recap: Running

February 11, 2012 by Kristy 6 Comments

I know it’s odd to write a weekend recap on a Saturday but I’m done with running for the week (I’m taking a barre class tomorrow, which I’m sure will sufficiently kick my butt).

Funny how running works…on Tuesday I was nervous and not feeling confident at all.  Then I had great runs yesterday and today and now my confidence is starting to come back.

FRIDAY
Since I had already planned for my 20-miler to be a long, slow distance run, I knew I could get in some marathon-paced miles on Friday without adversely impacting Saturday’s run.  My plan was to run 6 miles at MP.  I felt great and the miles seemed easy.  Turns out they were faster than MP – 8:13, 8:13, 8:08, 8:08, 8:05, 8:08.  Sweet!  Gotta love when that happens.

SATURDAY
We got “snow” overnight.  This is my kind of snow though – sticks to the grass and trees but leaves the sidewalks and roads just wet.  It pretty much “snowed” the entire time I ran so I put my hood up and hunkered down for 20 miles.  It was really beautiful out.  No wind, wasn’t too cold, and everything looked so pretty.  I love LSD runs – no pressure, just fun.  I finished in 2:59 (8:57 average pace).

Fun fact:  A year ago, I was in San Fran for my birthday and I ran 15 miles.  I remember being so happy that my average pace for a long run was 9:00; that was huge for me.  And now a year later, it’s my LSD pace.  Hooray for progress!

I am so ready to celebrate my birthday.  I’m not-so-patiently waiting for Matt to come home from the airport.  He was away for 2 weeks (again).  Boo.

I hope your weekend is off to a good start!

Lehigh Valley Marathon: Week 10 Recap

August 10, 2011 by Kristy 9 Comments

8/10/11
7 miles easy / 1:05 / 9:17 avg pace

Thanks for your comments on my running etiquette post.  The verdict?  Those guys were in the wrong and total creepers!

I had to double-check which week I was recapping.  It’s all starting to mush together towards the end.

MON:  7 at marathon pace
TUE:  8 speed
WED:  8 easy
THU:  REST!
FRI:  15 long
SAT:  5 easy
SUN:  10 tempo

53 miles for the week and 6 days of running (normal for me is 5 days per week).  I figured I’d give it a shot but I really prefer 2 rest days.

I was looking over an old post I wrote at the beginning of this training cycle, where I laid out my plans for changing things up and doing things different.  Overall I’m doing pretty good:

  • increase overall mileage — CHECK
  • switching between hill repeats and track workouts — decided against this since I need the speed work to BQ and my long runs are plenty hilly.
  • trail running — CHECK.  Every tempo run has been done on a trail.
  • long runs (do some at LSD and some at MP) — CHECK.  Thanks to the humidity, the choice as to which runs were LSD was made for me 🙂
  • cross-train (yoga and strength train) — FAIL!  I haven’t been to a single yoga class yet and I went to 1 strength training class.
Somehow, I always imagined that running alone could transform my body into this…
 (via)
I’m delusional but I can dream, right?  I know it takes a steady dose of strength training (and good genes) to look like Kara.  So yesterday I did an at-home, completely made-up, 20 minutes of ST.  And it only confirmed that I need to go back to a class. Baby steps, right?

Unrelated question of the day:  what do you use to track your runs?  Daily Mile, etc?  I’m thinking of ditching my excel spreadsheet for something more high tech!

Random Thursday

July 20, 2011 by Kristy 13 Comments

7/21/11
8 miles easy / 1:17 / 9:37 avg pace

Time for some random thoughts!

  • Check out my post on the Lunch Break Blog (thanks Mike for letting me ramble about running on your blog!).
  • I would be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly nervous about the heat and tomorrow’s long run. Obviously this will be a LSD run and the perfect opportunity to test Operation Hydration!  If I can refrain from entering “stage 2” dehydration on the hottest day of the year, I’ll consider it a success.
  • Blog search term that completely cracked me up this week:  how did Kara Goucher get pregnant? Well…
  • This is more of a rant. I do my easy runs on a popular paved bike trail; usually early weekday mornings. Last week I had to do an easy 10-miler on Saturday and, even though I knew what I was in for, I was still annoyed. The trial was occupied by about 90% bikers (yes, I know they are called “cyclists” but I still say bikers) and 10% runners. The trial is roughly 6 feet wide. Know where I’m going with this? Groups of men (Lance wannabes) going way too fast, families of four going way too slow, and tons of unnecessary “on your left” calls.  Since I generally don’t bust out figure 8s when running, why is it necessary to (often scream) “on your left” when I’m clearly hugging the right, running solo, and in a straight line?  I understand and expect a verbal warning to be given under certain circumstances (say, approaching an intersection or a group of runners) but not all. the. time.  And don’t even get me started on the bikers who use bells…
Do bikers bother you on a run?  
Do you have any funny blog search terms to share?
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