the (general) plan
Aug. 26th, 2013 06:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanaramaI am not very good at training plans. I don't like having a set schedule, having to do certain workouts on certain days. I like being able to do a lot of trail running. I don't like speedwork (though I think it's important) and I feel like it tends to get me injured. I like being able to go mountain biking on Saturday and running on Sunday one week and the other way around the next week.
This is why I'm a fan of Brad Hudson's book Run Faster, which is less a set of training plans than a book on how to create a training plan. I don't actually even make a set plan - I just sketch out the basics - but it's worked well for me in my last several races.
This fall/winter, my goal race is the California International Marathon (CIM) on December 8th. I am also going to make an attempt to PR at The Other Half on October 20th. Other races I plan to do are the Run for the Wine 10K, which will be new to me - it's held on the dirt roads of a local ranch and winery on September 14th - and hopefully the Animas Mountain Mug Run, a trail 10K I've run before, which will be on September 22nd this year (if it happens - not clear that it will).
So. Plan. After coming back from England and letting my ankle heal, I ran 31 miles the first week of July. My shortest run was 3.8 miles, my longest 6.5, and I did a slow, tentative trail run on Sunday morning (my running weeks are Monday-Sunday) to test out the ankle on uneven ground. I ran 6 days, with a mountain bike ride on Thursday instead.
The next three weeks I ran around 46 miles in 6 days each week. All easy running with two or three runs on trails - my trails are all very hilly and fairly rocky - and most runs in the 6-9 mile range. The only 'speedwork' I did was hill sprints: at the end of one or two runs, I would go to a steep hill, run as hard as I could uphill for 10 seconds, then walk back down over the next 40 seconds, and then do it again. I started out with four and worked up to eight. This is a strengthening exercise that is pretty easy on the body.
Then it was time to begin my 'plan'. I started adding speedwork on Tuesday, starting with short fast efforts which will move toward tempo running - longer runs at half-marathon effort - as the plan progresses. This is something a guy from the sub-1:40 forum at RWOL suggested, that it's easier to run well-paced tempos if you've prepared by doing shorter faster intervals, and I've found this to be the case for me. It also matches the philosophy in Run Faster.
So the week of July 29th I ran 6x400 on the high school track with two-minute recoveries as part of a 53-mile week. The next week I ran about the same mileage, but 8x400. The next week was 5 half-mile intervals on the marked paved path along the river here. That was three weeks of around 53-55mpw, with trail running, hill sprints, and a little pit of speedwork - and that brings me to the week that finished yesterday.
This past week looked like this:
Monday - 9.3 miles on the trails at an average pace of 11:07 and easy HR. This run was about average in profile for my trail runs: a rapid climb of 250 ft, then a little up and down for a couple of miles, followed by a steady climb of another 300 or so feet. Then back down to the intermediary level, up and down, and then the steep descent home. I also did a set of 6x10 sec hill sprints - would have done more but I was getting hungry!
Tuesday - 10 miles with 6 half-mile intervals at around my 5K pace and 2-minute jog recoveries. Most were 6:52-6:58, but in the fourth interval I desperately needed a bathroom break! I went to a nearby hotel and took care of business, then finished my workout. Overall pace was 8:54 including the jogs, 8:32 without.
Wednesday - 7.4 miles on the trails at an average pace of 10:54.
Thursday - 11.6 miles at easy HR, average pace of 9:03. I ran 3.5 miles with Britt, then the rest on my own. Felt light and fast until about mile 9 when I started getting really hungry! Strides in the last mile.
Friday - 8.3 miles on the trails at an average pace of 11:08.
Saturday - rest day
Sunday - I should have run Saturday, or at least looked at the weather forecast before deciding to rest that day, because it was pouring rain on Sunday! Nevertheless I got myself out and ran 14.1 miles, and it wasn't actually that bad. I mean, I was completely soggy and probably looked hilarious. But I felt pretty good, though my bra chafed a little, boo. Average pace was 9:04, very low heart rate.
Total 60.7 miles for the week. Next week I'm taking a cutback since we're going backpacking over the long weekend - I'll probably run around 40 miles - but then it's back up to around 60 for the next two or three weeks. I will try to mostly hover in the 60-65mpw range until marathon taper time.
This is why I'm a fan of Brad Hudson's book Run Faster, which is less a set of training plans than a book on how to create a training plan. I don't actually even make a set plan - I just sketch out the basics - but it's worked well for me in my last several races.
This fall/winter, my goal race is the California International Marathon (CIM) on December 8th. I am also going to make an attempt to PR at The Other Half on October 20th. Other races I plan to do are the Run for the Wine 10K, which will be new to me - it's held on the dirt roads of a local ranch and winery on September 14th - and hopefully the Animas Mountain Mug Run, a trail 10K I've run before, which will be on September 22nd this year (if it happens - not clear that it will).
So. Plan. After coming back from England and letting my ankle heal, I ran 31 miles the first week of July. My shortest run was 3.8 miles, my longest 6.5, and I did a slow, tentative trail run on Sunday morning (my running weeks are Monday-Sunday) to test out the ankle on uneven ground. I ran 6 days, with a mountain bike ride on Thursday instead.
The next three weeks I ran around 46 miles in 6 days each week. All easy running with two or three runs on trails - my trails are all very hilly and fairly rocky - and most runs in the 6-9 mile range. The only 'speedwork' I did was hill sprints: at the end of one or two runs, I would go to a steep hill, run as hard as I could uphill for 10 seconds, then walk back down over the next 40 seconds, and then do it again. I started out with four and worked up to eight. This is a strengthening exercise that is pretty easy on the body.
Then it was time to begin my 'plan'. I started adding speedwork on Tuesday, starting with short fast efforts which will move toward tempo running - longer runs at half-marathon effort - as the plan progresses. This is something a guy from the sub-1:40 forum at RWOL suggested, that it's easier to run well-paced tempos if you've prepared by doing shorter faster intervals, and I've found this to be the case for me. It also matches the philosophy in Run Faster.
So the week of July 29th I ran 6x400 on the high school track with two-minute recoveries as part of a 53-mile week. The next week I ran about the same mileage, but 8x400. The next week was 5 half-mile intervals on the marked paved path along the river here. That was three weeks of around 53-55mpw, with trail running, hill sprints, and a little pit of speedwork - and that brings me to the week that finished yesterday.
This past week looked like this:
Monday - 9.3 miles on the trails at an average pace of 11:07 and easy HR. This run was about average in profile for my trail runs: a rapid climb of 250 ft, then a little up and down for a couple of miles, followed by a steady climb of another 300 or so feet. Then back down to the intermediary level, up and down, and then the steep descent home. I also did a set of 6x10 sec hill sprints - would have done more but I was getting hungry!
Tuesday - 10 miles with 6 half-mile intervals at around my 5K pace and 2-minute jog recoveries. Most were 6:52-6:58, but in the fourth interval I desperately needed a bathroom break! I went to a nearby hotel and took care of business, then finished my workout. Overall pace was 8:54 including the jogs, 8:32 without.
Wednesday - 7.4 miles on the trails at an average pace of 10:54.
Thursday - 11.6 miles at easy HR, average pace of 9:03. I ran 3.5 miles with Britt, then the rest on my own. Felt light and fast until about mile 9 when I started getting really hungry! Strides in the last mile.
Friday - 8.3 miles on the trails at an average pace of 11:08.
Saturday - rest day
Sunday - I should have run Saturday, or at least looked at the weather forecast before deciding to rest that day, because it was pouring rain on Sunday! Nevertheless I got myself out and ran 14.1 miles, and it wasn't actually that bad. I mean, I was completely soggy and probably looked hilarious. But I felt pretty good, though my bra chafed a little, boo. Average pace was 9:04, very low heart rate.
Total 60.7 miles for the week. Next week I'm taking a cutback since we're going backpacking over the long weekend - I'll probably run around 40 miles - but then it's back up to around 60 for the next two or three weeks. I will try to mostly hover in the 60-65mpw range until marathon taper time.