15 miles in a cool room

Posted on June 18, 2006 by threlkeld

Today was my long run day. It’s been about a week and a half since my last long run, and that one was a wonderful 14 miler in the pouring rain (which gave me a chance to road test some waterproof gear I’ve purchased recently; with the exception of my feet — unclad in waterproof apparel — I stayed dry!).

I got up this morning to discover that at 7:30AM it was already 76 degrees outside, plus there is a Crappy Air Alert going on. I believe the forecasted high for today is 92 degrees, with a UV index of 9 out of 10. Blech. (Many thanks to Joe Garland for his information about the trail runs and Thursday evening 5Ks…I may check those out yet. But for days like today, the treadmill is a lifesaver for those of us who wilt in the heat.)

So 8:00-10:40AM this morning found me chugging along on the treadmill in our tiny air conditioned third bedroom. It’s funny: When you start a 3-ish hour run you wonder how you’ll put up with the tedium. But I had an MP3 player loaded up with podcasts, and the Japan-Croatia World Cup match at 9:00 (too bad it was such a boring game), and the time passed quickly.

Snacks consumed during the run included an orange juice/water/salt mixture (I fill a 20 oz bottle halfway with o.j., top it up with water and add a quarter teaspoon of salt — very refreshing); a Trader Joe’s Sweet, Savory and Tart Trail Mix bar; and a ton of water.

I made this one a progression run, since I want to try to get into the habit of running negative splits for my races. I started out slow (at a 63% heart rate) for the first 5 miles, faster (68%) for the next 5, faster yet (75%) for the next four, and finishing off at a speedy pace (80-82%) for the last mile. That last mile…

…wait…wait…

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!

South Korea just scored against France to tie!

Sorry.

Ahem.

Where was I?

Oh, yes.

…that last mile flies by when you’re running faster (and know that you’re almost done). Top it off with a luxurious lukewarm bubble bath, followed by a delicious glycogen-load burrito, and that’s a darn nice way to start off your Sunday. Especally if you plan to spend the rest of the day lying on the couch watching a bunch of men with thunder thighs kick a ball around.

Filed under: eating, training | 3 Comments »

Don’t overtrain. Just don’t!

Posted on June 4, 2006 by threlkeld

This week I was reminded of what “overtraining” means.

Work demands have meant lots of last minute changes to my training plan. This past week, I somehow managed to schedule “hard” (or “quality”) runs two days in a row. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice this and paid the price.

On Tuesday, I did a hard tempo run. A few miles easy, followed by 20 minutes at 5K race pace, followed by a mile or so easy. Fine.

Then, on Wednesday, I’d somehow managed to schedule a 14 mile “cutdown” run. This is a long run that’s done at an easy pace, but ends at a faster pace. This helps you build the sort of speed endurance needed for longer races, as it teaches you to leave some energy in reserve.

For the first few miles of this run, my legs felt like wood. My leg muscles felt very tight and fatigued from the get go. I waited for the pain to go away. After about six miles, I was able to relax a bit, but running still hurt. I finally threw in the towel at 10.5 miles.

Then (yes, I’m this dense) I remembered that just 24 hours ago I’d done my tempo run. No wonder I felt like dog shit! No recovery time!

On Thursday I felt awful, especially after waking up for half the night due to leg pain. I was walking like a spastic all day and going downstairs was a challenge. By Friday afternoon I felt fine again and did an easy 9 mile run that evening.

So this is a reminder to check your training plan (or run log) and make sure you’re not scheduling two “hard” days in a row. Doing this regularly not only results in pain, but also raises your chances of injury. And it makes you mighty cranky too.

Filed under: training | 3 Comments »

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