30 km yesterday, longest run since Ottawa, and I was a little nervous about what it would be like. Amazingly enough, it turned out to be the easiest 30 km I have done so far. Not long ago (two weeks?), I noticed that someone on the RR Forum, J, had race times that were faster than mine, but LSD times that were the pace I aspire to. I contacted him, he agreed to go for a long run together, and yesterday we met downtown and did just that. For once, my LSD was really an LSD, not a "start slow, quickly get to about 5:00 min/km pace, think about slowing down, slow down a little, quickly get back to 5:00 min/km pace, slow down a little, maybe a little more slowly get back to 5:00 min/km pace, lather, rinse, repeat..." J is much more disciplined about pacing than I am, was wearing an HRM and paying attention to it, and we actually stayed consistently at a pace somewhere over 5:00, but under 6:00. Overall, it felt great. At the 28 km mark, where J was at his front door, I still had the energy to pick up to something like a 5:00 min/km pace for the 2.4 km or so to the Y, where I was meeting DH. And that is not typical - usually near the end of my long runs I have much less left in the tank.
At the same time, the heat and sun made it a tougher run. Not as bad as it could have been - both temp and humidity were worse during the week - but definitely noticeable and near the end I couldn't wait to get inside, or into some consistent shade, and get a break. It's that smothering feeling of the sun coming at you from above, and reflecting back from the running surface. When you're not in the shade, there's just no relief. It's August, and even if September is a warm month we are moving steadily away from the solstice, so there is an end in sight. But for the past month or so it seems like every long run has been sunny, hot, and humid, and it's getting old, fast!
It will be interesting to see how this week's LSD goes. It's supposed to be 34 km, which will be challenging, and then the next week drops again. I am going to try and keep to a 5:30 min/km pace (need to borrow DH's Garmin), no matter the instinctive temptation to hit the "normal" 5:00 pace, and then pick it up for the last few. Now that I've actually managed to do that once, my body has some idea of how that feels.
At the same time, I do want to run some LSDs faster and may keep the shorter ones closer to race pace. The program I'm following this time around has mid-week runs that never get above 15 km and so theoretically it should be okay to run the LSDs with a little more intensity. At least within my own mind...
September 30 will be here before I know it, but so far I am feeling quite relaxed about the actual marathon. Not surprising, because the only thing truly riding on it is my own desire to run a good race. Already (amazingly) have a BQ for 2008, whereas originally I thought this would be my one and only shot at it. It would be great to pick up a BQ for 2009 (in case 2008 is a disaster or something), but my plan right now is to run Vancouver in 2009 and it would be way too close to Boston to do both. I'm nervous about another unexpected muscle seizure, but can't do more for that than I am already (stretching, ART, attention to form). If I stick to the training plan the basic energy should be at least as good as it was before Ottawa. And so on.
If I know myself, as the day gets closer the nerves will build, and full-fledged Taper Madness will appear. But unlike prior to Ottawa, this time I've got the underlying comfort of knowing I've done/survived the distance before and therefore have some belief that I can do it again.
Providing no injuries between now and then, of course. But at the moment (fingers crossed) my body appears to be feeling quite good. My left hip hasn't troubled me in weeks. My right hip benefits from an ART treatment every few weeks, and I'm using the ITB foam roller on it, but it's okay. By the end of yesterday's run my legs were telling me that I'd asked them for a lot, but that's normal. No major stiffness or fatigue today, or hesitation about tomorrow's scheduled run. However, I can't take these things for granted and am on the alert for signs of things that need attention before they turn into injuries.
One of the nicest things about running with J yesterday was the distraction from the various messages from my body. Not long ago I read an article about new runners vs old runners, written (IIRC) by someone who does running clinics/classes. He was talking about how he encourages new runners to zone out somewhat, essentially because everything about running is so new that if they paid attention to every little muscle reaction they'd want to quit. But with experienced runners, he encourages them to pay a lot more attention to all the little messages, and adjust their running accordingly. I can see where he's coming from, but sometimes it's just a real pleasure to be distracted and to just run the distance. A lot harder to do when you're on your own and the distance is long. And I believe that after all this time, if there was something major happening that I needed to pay attention to, that message would get through.
On the subject of distractions while running, my Running Buddy and I went out for about 6 km on Wednesday morning. That was a very nice run - just estimating the distance by time/feel of pace, having a chance to catch up on what's happening in his life, letting him pick the route. Anyway, he was suggesting that I consider running in Masters events, because they are often held in interesting places and he thought it would be very enjoyable. And then he uttered the fateful words, "And I could easily see a medal in your future".
Hmmm...that's really not me and what seemed like a possibly good idea lost some of its appeal when actually considered at length. As J was saying yesterday (in slightly different words), among people who love running, there are racers and there are runners. He's a racer, and I'm a runner. Since my first half marathon (when I had no idea what to expect), I have never gone into a race without some kind of time goal. But it's purely a personal goal, based on whatever expectations and hopes I have at that time. It's never a general goal, to place or to beat anyone else. But it seems like signing up for Masters events would at some point involve having to be more competitive, and training for a more competitive performance, and being even more nervous and wound up on race day. Which would take the fun out of running.
So I don't know. It's a great compliment but not sure it's too appealing.
Having said that, I'm about to make a 180 and talk about the semi-speedwork I did on Friday. On Tuesday I tried running flat-out-fast-as-you-can-go 200 m intervals, and it was awful. Managed 3 or 4 before I said, "This is horrible, I feel like crap and still have 8.5 km to go", and just reverted to running a steady run at race pace. But on Friday I decided to try running intervals that were faster than race pace, that were not too comfortable but not excruciating, and see what they were. The results for four 1600 metres (approx one mile), with a 400 m recovery lap in between, were: 7:11, 7:35, 7:31 and 7:32. The first was the fastest because I was pushing the hardest (!) - backed off a little for the next three. So overall I was very happy with those results, especially considering that it was smoggy and humid and it didn't feel like a particularly great run. I'll try it again when things have cooled off a little and see if I can get below 7:00. That would feel amazing.
In other news, DH seems to have resolved his various leg and foot issues that he's been having since ATB at the end of March, and is building distance for the half on September 30. My guess is that he'll have a very good run and probably a new PB - less than 2:15 and maybe even less than 2:10. It will be interesting to see.
At the same time, the heat and sun made it a tougher run. Not as bad as it could have been - both temp and humidity were worse during the week - but definitely noticeable and near the end I couldn't wait to get inside, or into some consistent shade, and get a break. It's that smothering feeling of the sun coming at you from above, and reflecting back from the running surface. When you're not in the shade, there's just no relief. It's August, and even if September is a warm month we are moving steadily away from the solstice, so there is an end in sight. But for the past month or so it seems like every long run has been sunny, hot, and humid, and it's getting old, fast!
It will be interesting to see how this week's LSD goes. It's supposed to be 34 km, which will be challenging, and then the next week drops again. I am going to try and keep to a 5:30 min/km pace (need to borrow DH's Garmin), no matter the instinctive temptation to hit the "normal" 5:00 pace, and then pick it up for the last few. Now that I've actually managed to do that once, my body has some idea of how that feels.
At the same time, I do want to run some LSDs faster and may keep the shorter ones closer to race pace. The program I'm following this time around has mid-week runs that never get above 15 km and so theoretically it should be okay to run the LSDs with a little more intensity. At least within my own mind...
September 30 will be here before I know it, but so far I am feeling quite relaxed about the actual marathon. Not surprising, because the only thing truly riding on it is my own desire to run a good race. Already (amazingly) have a BQ for 2008, whereas originally I thought this would be my one and only shot at it. It would be great to pick up a BQ for 2009 (in case 2008 is a disaster or something), but my plan right now is to run Vancouver in 2009 and it would be way too close to Boston to do both. I'm nervous about another unexpected muscle seizure, but can't do more for that than I am already (stretching, ART, attention to form). If I stick to the training plan the basic energy should be at least as good as it was before Ottawa. And so on.
If I know myself, as the day gets closer the nerves will build, and full-fledged Taper Madness will appear. But unlike prior to Ottawa, this time I've got the underlying comfort of knowing I've done/survived the distance before and therefore have some belief that I can do it again.
Providing no injuries between now and then, of course. But at the moment (fingers crossed) my body appears to be feeling quite good. My left hip hasn't troubled me in weeks. My right hip benefits from an ART treatment every few weeks, and I'm using the ITB foam roller on it, but it's okay. By the end of yesterday's run my legs were telling me that I'd asked them for a lot, but that's normal. No major stiffness or fatigue today, or hesitation about tomorrow's scheduled run. However, I can't take these things for granted and am on the alert for signs of things that need attention before they turn into injuries.
One of the nicest things about running with J yesterday was the distraction from the various messages from my body. Not long ago I read an article about new runners vs old runners, written (IIRC) by someone who does running clinics/classes. He was talking about how he encourages new runners to zone out somewhat, essentially because everything about running is so new that if they paid attention to every little muscle reaction they'd want to quit. But with experienced runners, he encourages them to pay a lot more attention to all the little messages, and adjust their running accordingly. I can see where he's coming from, but sometimes it's just a real pleasure to be distracted and to just run the distance. A lot harder to do when you're on your own and the distance is long. And I believe that after all this time, if there was something major happening that I needed to pay attention to, that message would get through.
On the subject of distractions while running, my Running Buddy and I went out for about 6 km on Wednesday morning. That was a very nice run - just estimating the distance by time/feel of pace, having a chance to catch up on what's happening in his life, letting him pick the route. Anyway, he was suggesting that I consider running in Masters events, because they are often held in interesting places and he thought it would be very enjoyable. And then he uttered the fateful words, "And I could easily see a medal in your future".
Hmmm...that's really not me and what seemed like a possibly good idea lost some of its appeal when actually considered at length. As J was saying yesterday (in slightly different words), among people who love running, there are racers and there are runners. He's a racer, and I'm a runner. Since my first half marathon (when I had no idea what to expect), I have never gone into a race without some kind of time goal. But it's purely a personal goal, based on whatever expectations and hopes I have at that time. It's never a general goal, to place or to beat anyone else. But it seems like signing up for Masters events would at some point involve having to be more competitive, and training for a more competitive performance, and being even more nervous and wound up on race day. Which would take the fun out of running.
So I don't know. It's a great compliment but not sure it's too appealing.
Having said that, I'm about to make a 180 and talk about the semi-speedwork I did on Friday. On Tuesday I tried running flat-out-fast-as-you-can-go 200 m intervals, and it was awful. Managed 3 or 4 before I said, "This is horrible, I feel like crap and still have 8.5 km to go", and just reverted to running a steady run at race pace. But on Friday I decided to try running intervals that were faster than race pace, that were not too comfortable but not excruciating, and see what they were. The results for four 1600 metres (approx one mile), with a 400 m recovery lap in between, were: 7:11, 7:35, 7:31 and 7:32. The first was the fastest because I was pushing the hardest (!) - backed off a little for the next three. So overall I was very happy with those results, especially considering that it was smoggy and humid and it didn't feel like a particularly great run. I'll try it again when things have cooled off a little and see if I can get below 7:00. That would feel amazing.
In other news, DH seems to have resolved his various leg and foot issues that he's been having since ATB at the end of March, and is building distance for the half on September 30. My guess is that he'll have a very good run and probably a new PB - less than 2:15 and maybe even less than 2:10. It will be interesting to see.
posted by Jogger Barbie | 5:47 PM
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