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Monday, October 8, 2012

Running long

This weekend was apparently a fantastic running weekend. Tons of friends and bloggers had great races and I've been loving the recaps! There is nothing quite like a race recap to get me in the mood to run. It's almost as good as spectating - maybe better, since you can get up later.

Saturday I ran my first long run of this marathon training cycle (which will be just that this time, no "marathons as long runs" and such crap this time) and the longest run since the Boston Marathon in April! Insane! What a long break!

My loose plan called for 16 miles, last 20 minutes hard, whatever that means. The last 20 minutes of all long runs are hard, right? We were actually in Bay St Louis, Mississippi this weekend for a visit with our godchildren, so I had an entirely new place to run. The only problem was that I forgot my Garmin! Luckily, I was able to borrow my husband's GPS so I could gauge distance.
Bay St. Louis bridge. Top Right: bridge after Katrina. Top left shows wide running/biking path. 

I decided to break the run up into segments that would allow me to pass the house for water. I don't like carrying a water bottle, and Audubon Park's public fountains have me spoiled. I ran a 4-mile route over the tall Bay Bridge onto the beach in Pass Christian, then turned around to make an 8-mile loop that landed me back at the house. The bridge has several raised sections that gave me some rare hill running, and the area on the beach is always beautiful but very windy. At the house I grabbed some water and half a gel. I wouldn't normally have gel for a 16-mile run, but it had been so long since I'd run this sort of distance that I wanted to play it safe. I ran back on the bridge for a 5-mile loop, then grabbed another sip of water and the rest of my gel and headed to the road along the bay for a fast final three miles. I figured 20 minutes was close enough to 3 miles for my purposes, and I gave myself a break from the inclines of the bridge and most of the wind by running along the bay. It was still very windy, but it was tail and headwind instead of relentless side wind, so it seemed easier. I ran a 6:41, 6:51, and 6:49 (guess which way was the tailwind?!) and wrapped up with a 7:22 average pace. I liked that, but even better, limiting my water stops meant I ran for 1:58 but I was only out of the house for about 2:02. Sometimes I get a little water-stop crazy and waste tons of time.

That run, plus an 8-miler on Sunday, put me at 61 miles to wrap up week one of training. Couple of thoughts on that:
1. I skipped a day and I still hit 61 miles. Who wrote this plan, Caballo Blanco?!
2. I think I'll start thinking of my weeks as Monday to Monday to match Dailymile, my running tracker, instead of Saturday to Saturday like my plan is written.
3. I feel fantastic minus injury pain and weird calf soreness. The calf pain I'm attributing to running further in flatter shoes than I'm used to. My plan for this cycle is to get my miles up there and keep them there - it seems like the injury is bothered more by inconsistency than regular high miles.
4. I might end up cheating on this plan. I realized it has no rest days. What the heck! When am I supposed to sleep in? I skipped Thursday last week and it felt lovely.

Thoughts? Should I build in a rest day?




15 comments:

  1. i recently read Running with the Kenyans-great read-yes-you should build in a rest day-the Kenyans do pretty much nothing but sit on rest days...and they are ok at running!

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  2. Hey you! Congrats on the week of solid mileage and feeling good overall. This makes me happy. Your long run sounds awesome. I ran 8 miles today and it was the longest run I've had in two months. Excited to be back to running more. Maybe that means I'll be better at reading running blogs again too. :)

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  3. Wow--nice week! You have come back so quickly and so strong. Way to go!

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  4. Wow. Week 1 is 61 miles?! What does your plan peak at?

    Glad you're back at it!

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  5. Holy crap. 61 miles? You are clearly not easing back into training! Ha. I hope the pain stays away!

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  6. Ahhh... a long run on a new route...that must've put a spring in your step. :)
    So glad you're feeling whole enough, again, to put in all those miles.

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  7. I say build in the rest days. I can do one week, maybe, without a rest day, but I know for me, my body needs one day. I don't even cross train on that day anymore - probably because my miles are higher than they've ever been, which is about equal to your week 1 of training;-) That's a great week!

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  8. Awesome and amazing that you can go out and run 16 miles @ 7:22 like that! Are you using/reading Hudson?

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  9. Nice run!! And great week of mileage. I definitely like a rest day..I think it's really beneficial..mentally and physically (I usually tend to have a great run the day after a rest day).

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  10. How cool that we both ran long runs for just under two hours! Nevermind that you ran 5 miles more than I did :P

    Nice job!

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  11. Uh, YES!!! Take your rest day (or more if needed) and don't look back! I look at a rest day as an important day in my training. It helps prevent injuries, aids in recovery and helps keep things in perspective.

    Great job on 61! you are BACK!!

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  12. You are a rockstar! First long run in your training cycle and you are busting out sub 7 minute miles and a 7:22 average. I don't think you have lost too much fitness. Awesome!!! What plan are you using? I generally have a "rest" day that is shorter, easy paced (No Garmin) super slow miles. My body likes that better than days totally off. But if I feel really run down or sick or whatever then I will take a total rest day once and a while (usually that happens once every two months or so). So glad you are feeling awesome!!!

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  13. Wow! 16 at 7:22 and finishing like that at this point...NICE NICE! I didn't use much of a written plan this last training cycle (although I had a general progression of workouts somewhat mapped out). I took a rest day if I felt like it and I didn't if I didn't. I hate resting when I feel like running and my body feels good. I hate running when I feel like laying on the couch-ha! Who are you using? Hudson? I have a sweet sense that you are going to have NO trouble getting your peak marathon fitness back!! Excited to watch!!

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  14. wow!!! and yes, please take a rest day.

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  15. I have found calf pain to be related to my adductor/tendon injury. A really good massage that works the whole kinetic chain from head to toe can loosen the calves

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