What is the logical next step for your running?

• 0 • Running

logicalnextstep

 

I see it all the time on the active.com community message boards for running, or in conversations between runners.  Someone will ask how they should be training for an event, and someone else will rattle off all kinds of advice about how many miles they should be running a week, how much strength training they should be doing, how to determine the pace of their intervals, tempo runs, long runs… AHHH!!!  SLOW DOWN!!!

These are all great conversations, but there’s a question you need to ask first.

Where are you as a runner NOW, and what’s your end goal for this race?

My training just to complete my first half marathon is VERY different from the training of someone working to improve their time for their 7th half marathon.

When I trained for my first half marathon, I did no interval workouts, no tempo runs, no strength training.  My only goal, and it was challenging enough, was to increase my weekly mileage by adding a mile to my long run every other week until I could run 13.1 miles.  That was it.  If someone had come in and told me that I should be running 35 miles a week and doing track repeats regularly in order to train for a half marathon, I probably would have cried.

Guess what?  I met my goal.  I felt elated, ridiculous, amazing.  I had a specific end goal, complete my first half marathon, and I knew my abilities going in, which was to run 10 miles a week with my longest run being 6.2 miles.

Maybe I could have added track repeats also, and it would have helped my running, but I wasn’t at a place in my running life when I could manage more than one high intensity workout a week.  Focusing on slowly lengthening my long run was enough for me at that point.

Whenever you’re adding something to your training, it’s important to be realistic about what your entry level running ability is.  If you add too much intensity or volume to your training too quickly, you increase your risk of injury or burnout.

So before you ask someone how you should train for an event, before you look up a training schedule, think about where you are now and what you’re trying to accomplish.  Then think about what the next logical step is.  Maybe it’s to run 15 miles a week every few months and THEN start that half marathon training plan you have your eye on.  Maybe it’s to add speed workouts each week until you’re used to them, and then increase your weekly mileage.

There’s plenty of great advice out there… but you can’t add it all at once.  Start slow, choose smart, run well!

I ran the fastest mile of my life! What it Means:

• 6 • 13.1 Training, Running

 

I’ve been favoring 400 meter repeats for my track and interval workouts, because they don’t scare me as much as longer intervals.  I know that in about two minutes, I get to stop.  I can do anything for two minutes, right?!  I find 800s much more difficult, 1200s practically undoable, and have a huge mental block when it comes to 1600s.

To motivate myself and break though my fear, I decided to make it really fun.  I had never, in two years of running, run a timed mile.  I knew that my curiosity to see how fast I could run four laps around the track without stopping would outweigh my fear about pushing myself for longer intervals.

Could I run a mile in under 8:30, my 400 meter interval pace?  Under 8?

I was thrilled, shocked and pleased to discover that I can run a mile in 7:45!

miletime

I ran a mile and a half to the track, rested [fought with my playlist] for a few minutes, and then ran my mile.  The first two laps were great – they were hard, I could see my time was good, I didn’t need to stop, my optimism was through the roof.  The third lap was all right, but nearing the end of the third lap I was thinking about making it my best 1200 meter repeat ever rather than continuing.  Only the thought that I might make it a mile in under 8 kept me going, and towards the very end, I saw that it was 7:52 average pace and SPRINTED to try to get it down to 7:45 (which sounds so, so much faster).

After a decent amount of recovery time, during which I stood around watching myself sweat (if you’ve never done this, it’s neat), I ran two more 800 meter repeats and then jogged home in time to shower and pick the boys up from their 2 hour camp session.

What this means: I found a race prediction calculator at Runner’s World that calculates “equivalent finish times” based on how fast you’ve run a set distance.

racepredictions

 

AHHH!!!! It predicts that it’s possible for me to run a sub two hour half marathon!

This is exciting… BUT… that’s predicting a finish time for someone who has TRAINED for that distance, and adequate half marathon training usually involves more mileage than I’ve been doing.

I’ve been using the Run Less, Run Faster training plan to help me plan my runs, but here’s the problem.  That’s a reduced mileage plan because you’re supposed to have high intensity for all your runs AND do cross training two times a week.

I’ve been doing modified versions of the interval and track workouts, keeping the heart of the recommendation intact but usually doing a 3-4 mile tempo run when the book calls for 6-7 miles.

I’ve also been going to one spin class a week… but I haven’t been rowing.

So while my mile time might predict that race result, it’s working on the assumption that I’m adequately preparing to run a half marathon, when I’d probably do better racing a 10k.

I’m still going to be adequately prepared to run the half marathon – don’t get me wrong.  I’m getting in my 10 mile runs, planning a 12 mile run for this weekend, and will absolutely finish my half marathon running AND smiling.

But I don’t think I’ll be RACING it to the ability predicted for someone who can run a mile in 7:45 and then MAINTAIN that level of athleticism for 13.1 miles.

Don’t get me wrong – I am very excited about what that chart says.  It’s a dream of mine to run a half marathon in under two hours, and I’m going to keep working towards it.

That chart predicts better race times at every level than I’ve run… and since I haven’t run a 5k without the jogging stroller in about 9 months, it makes me eager to race again and see how much progress I’ve made.

I can tell you one thing for sure.  I couldn’t have run a mile in 7 minutes and 45 seconds at this time last year.

Those track repeats are making me faster.  🙂

How To Determine A Realistic Training Schedule

• 1 • Motivation, Running

Are you over-committing your future self? There’s this really annoying thing I do to myself all the time.  I schedule a babysitter, or sign Will & Andrew up for a few hours of camp, and then I start day-dreaming about how I will use that time.

I’ll meal plan!  Get ahead on the laundry! Do my running! Move a few boxes out of the basement and into the attic! Go to Whole Foods with no one screaming for a bagel!  Read a couple chapters of that new book with coffee!  Write a blog post!  Go to spin class!

It’ll be SO AMAZING.

Except I’ve now day-dreamed about 5 hours worth of things I’d like to do with only 2 hours of time.

What really ends up happening is I empty the dishwasher and clean up from breakfast for half an hour, throw laundry in the washer, waste ten minutes on twitter, and then realize I only have an hour left and have to choose ONE thing to do.

Well, the same thing can happen to us when we look at training plans and schedule our running.

Will you be able to run when you think you will?  When you’re looking at the plan online, it’s easy to think “I’ll get up early and run!  I’ll run with the jogging stroller!  I have the kids in preschool, so it’ll be easy to run then!”

When it actually comes time to do it, you realize that you’re exhausted and the last thing you want to do is get up at 5 a.m. and run, or your house is destroyed and you have no plans for lunch or dinner and you’ve got ten errands to run that’ll take you 1/16th of the time without kids, so no way are you running while they’re at preschool this morning.

This fall, I have Andrew in preschool for a few hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.  It’s tempting to look at the calendar and think “Great! I’ll do all my running then!” But what about all those other things I’d like to do without kids?  Am I going to spend all my free preschool time running?  Better to schedule some of it with the jogging stroller, some with a babysitter, some on the weekend when the boys can have Daddy time.

The trick to determining a realistic training schedule: Think about your training schedule as though it’s present tense.  Look at a week on the plan, and figure out how you would do it if it were THIS week.  Would you get up tomorrow at 5 a.m. and run?  No?  Then why do you think you’ll be willing to do that in October when you’re penciling it in?  Would you, if the kids were gone from 9-12, spend two hours of that running and half an hour stretching and showering?  If you would, great, if not, then figure out what you need to do to make it realistic.  Maybe you would spend that time running provided you didn’t have an empty fridge.  Can you grocery shop in the evening when the kids are sleeping?  In the early morning while your partner feeds them breakfast?

What can you do to shift your responsibilities around so that the time you’d idealistically spend running, you can REALISTICALLY spend running?

Keep track of the reasons you’re not running: It might help to come up with your plan for when you’re going to run, and then keep track of whether or not you actually when running, and if not, why.  Then you can trouble shoot the reasons you’re not running.  Were you too tired to get out of bed?  Too sore from running back to back days? Too overwhelmed by household obligations like meals and laundry?

Maybe long run day is also “slow cooker” day, or maybe you need to get up an hour earlier every day in order to be able to fall asleep early enough to run early mornings on the days you want to.  (Think of what you could accomplish in that hour on the days you don’t run!)

All right – you’re armed with a recipe for success.

I’ve got to run – my babysitter is only here for another two hours and I have to get 4 miles in, clean out our basement, fold two loads of laundry, clean out the refrigerator and send some e-mails.

20140820-111119.jpg
What my house looked like at the time of the writing of this blog post.
(I much prefer them to destroy the house than each other!)

Modifying a Training Run That Isn’t Going Well

• 3 • 13.1 Training, Running

About a month ago, I had a really bad run.

Maybe it was the lack of coffee.  The fact that I’d gone to bed at eleven, and woken up at 5:15.  Eating gel for breakfast when I usually have toast.  Maybe going from 10 – 15 miles of jogging a week to 20 miles of intensity focused training was catching up with me.  Could be the heat.  It was hot.  Humid.  Hadn’t slept great because of it.  But my shins kind of hurt.  I woke up with my legs feeling tired, not refreshed and ready to go.

Whatever it was, this tempo run was NOT going well.  I knew I was in trouble when my warm up mile was a solid minute per mile slower than it normally is.  (I can tell a lot by how quick my warm up mile is – if I’m holding back, it’s a good sign.  If I can barely muster up a jog, it’s going to be a tough morning.)

1 mile in to my 5 scheduled miles of Mid-Tempo paced running, I stopped the watch, took a drink of water, and tried to figure out what on earth I was going to do.

I knew I wouldn’t make it those 5 miles.  It wasn’t lack of motivation, it was physical, my legs were too tired, my feet and shins and thighs complaining far too soon.

My Options:

A) Turn it into mile repeats stopping every mile to recover and hope I could meet my target pace and mileage, albeit with breaks

B) Add 10 – 20 seconds per mile to my target pace or run as fast as I could manage with the target base as my ceiling for how fast I would go

C) Cut my run short

D) Some combination of the above

 

What I Decided:

I decided to try B) by slowing down but making it a more challenging pace than a long run would be.  I figured that turning it into mile repeats was redundant since I had done intervals two days before – this was supposed to be a moderately difficult, sustained effort.  To keep with the purpose of the tempo run, it made the most logical sense to focus on my effort instead of time and try to complete the run without recovery periods by modifying the pace.  Since you’re supposed to modify your pace to accommodate heat and humidity anyway, this was actually a logical step.

What Happened:

I slowed it down, I made it one more mile, I stopped three miles away from home and admitted defeat to myself and walk jogged all the way back home for a total of six miles which was not a good feeling.

While I was walking home, I realized that I was lucky to have made it through four workouts without feeling this way yet.  I’d had four good training runs, run a very successful 19.5 mile week last week, and been hitting my targets and recovering well.

Maybe this was a fluke, or maybe I just need a little more rest because I’m ramping up so quickly.  I still got some miles in, I didn’t  feel injured, just fatigued, and I still had 14 weeks between now and my next half marathon.  I have time, I’m not demoralized, I made a good effort to modify my training plan intelligently when it became clear the run wasn’t going well, and I’m going to keep training.

Where I go from here:

I was concerned after that run that maybe I’ve ramped up into this half marathon training plan too quickly.  I’d been running fewer miles than this per week, and they’d all been easy miles rather than half intervals and tempo runs plus a long run with a pace goal.

I think the fact that I hit my targets four workouts in a row shows that it’s not too far a stretch, but I don’t want to risk injury, so I’m going to reduce my long run this week from 9 miles down to 4 so that I still get out there and run, but it’s not such a high mileage week.

It makes sense for me to cut out some of the long run miles, because long runs are the one aspect of this half marathon training plan that I’ve been doing on and off for a year.  I have much less experience doing intervals and tempo runs, so I’d like to make sure I’m rested and ready for those two workouts.  I won’t skimp on my long runs over the course of training, but that’s an area I’m more confident and prepared in.

Moral of the Story:

Some runs stink.  Ask ANY runner – sometimes runs don’t go well.  Often it’s just a fluke and you don’t need to do anything, but if you’ve recently ramped up your training or changed some part of your routine, take it into consideration as you plan your next few runs.

Remember while you’re on a run that isn’t going well that you don’t have to choose between all or nothing, you can modify your plan to still get a few miles in, or you can head back to give your legs some rest so you’ll have a fresh start for your next run.

Realizing that run doesn’t define you or your training is smart – but so is paying attention to what more than one bad run in a row might be telling you.

Hoping my next run goes great!  If not… I’ll figure it out from there.

The Dos and Do Nots of Long Runs – Oatmeal Style

• 2 • 13.1 Training, My Running, Running

You’ve probably stumbled across The Oatmeal’s famous cartoon titled “The DOs and DO NOTs of runing your first MARATHON”.  The hilarity can be appreciated even by those of us runners who have not attempted the 26.2 – so if you haven’t read it, READ IT NOW.  (All runners should also read about The Blerch.)

I was running a horrendous long run this morning (that quickly became a bit too short to call a long run) and one of the things that helped me successfully traverse those 5.5 miles that should have been 8 was thinking about coming home and sharing my long run wisdom with you – Oatmeal style.  (Also, it’s difficult to hail a cab in Wellesley, MA.)

The DO and DO NOTs of Long Runs

-inpired by Matthew Inman

DO drink plenty of alcohol the night before your long run.  Sweat releases toxins from the body, so timing your alcohol consumption for the night before a long run is smart, efficient, and healthy.  Obviously alcohol should be consumed in moderation, but if you’re going to reach for that second (or third) glass of champagne to celebrate your wedding anniversary, make it the night before you run long and hard.

DO NOT wave, nod, or otherwise acknowledge other runners on the road.  Certainly do not say “HI!” or “Good morning!”.  Not only would speaking compromise your oxygen levels and reduce your running efficiency, it also makes you look less serious and reduces the probability that other runners will dive out of your way.  Waving at other runners can cause a horrible mental illness called “lack of reciprocal wave anxiety”.  This serious condition (to which some runners are more susceptible than others) can reduce running efficiency by up to 90% as runners waste energy and lose self-esteem analyzing possible reasons for the lack of reciprocal wave.

DO stay up late the night before your long run.  Running is a great way to increase your energy levels.  Make the most of it by staying up late the night before.  If you’re well-rested, are you making the most of the energy boosting qualities running provides?

DO leave your empty gel wrappers in your running shorts while laundering. How else will your roommates or significant other have a weekly reminder of what an awesome and dedicated runner you are?  Every time they peel that little piece of foil from the side of the washer or dryer, they’ll shake their head in awe as they contemplate your athleticism.  This is also a great way to get them clean enough for recycling.

DO stop your Garmin as you pause to drink water, photograph scenery, take a walking break, or dry heave on someone’s lawn.  Hitting the STOP button for any non running activities on your run makes sure that you have a BEST CASE scenario in mind for race day regarding the amount of time it takes you to traverse X number of miles.  If you leave your Garmin running, you will have an ACCURATE idea of how long it takes you to traverse X number of miles.  Accurate expectations lead to under-performing on race day, when you may be tempted to go out at a realistic pace rather than the pace you could run with an unlimited number of breaks.  You can not make up that time later in the race, my friend.

DO train your body to perform in all kinds of sub-prime conditions by running directly after breakfast, or after skipping breakfast and waiting several hours without fuel of any type, and other such strategies.  Don’t cater to your stomach’s weaknesses and give in to professional advice or common sense when it comes to when and what you’re eating before a long run.

DO NOT reduce your pace to compensate for heat or humidity. This makes your body weak, as does avoiding the heat by running in the morning or evening before it gets hot, or using a treadmill to avoid getting heat stroke.

DO NOT carry water because that weight just slows you down.

DO run the same pace for all of your runs regardless of distance.  Because that’s the pace you run, darn it, and if you can’t maintain it, just press the STOP button on your Garmin until you can run that pace again.  Race day adrenaline will delete all those STOPS and you’ll run a seamless half marathon at 5k pace, just wait and see.

DO book a babysitter who needs to leave ten minutes before you can realistically arrive home. Make the incentive real.  Going out for a run when there isn’t much time before a family gathering is also a great idea.  Make sure these runs are out and back runs so there’s no chance of you cutting your mileage short rather than over-exerting yourself at the end.

DO time all your running to avoid irritating obligations such as getting your house ready for guests or taking care of children solo because your significant other needs to “get some work done”.  Print out sheets about how important running is to your health and how much you appreciate the support of your family and have them ready to hand to nay-sayers.  Ask them to think about how they can better support your running while you’re gone.

DO take bad long runs as a sign that you should quit running. A real runner never has a bad day, or even if they do, they still get all their mileage in.  If you’re not able to meet your prescribed pace and distance every time you head out for a run, you should probably take up Zumba instead.

DO NOT actually do any of these things.  Because a runner who looks like this 5 miles into a half marathon should never be taken seriously.  😉

13457329_2