So I rolled out of bed and went to the stupid cold track on Tuesday. It was ten degrees warmer than Sunday, but I layered up - short sleeves, long sleeves, jacket for the drive, hat and gloves. I ended up shedding the long sleeves and hat for the workout portion, but I kept the gloves on.
The workout wast 5x1k with jog across the field between each rep. I felt ok, but I was, again, pretty slow - running between 4:03 and 4:09! That might be residual race fatigue...or I am actually just getting slower.
I stayed after for a cool down, drills, and stretching, so I got to see the sunrise.
Advice, please: muscles feel strong, joints feel like they usually do (dreadful), endurance is good, speed is nonexistent. What should I do? Coach me!
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| My cute little track at 6:45 am. |
Advice, please: muscles feel strong, joints feel like they usually do (dreadful), endurance is good, speed is nonexistent. What should I do? Coach me!
If it's any consolation, my track times are slower than they were at the end of the summer. I was bummed out for a bit, but my coach really doesn't seemed concerned and always tells me to focus on "effort." He also told me that on chilly days like we've been having, you're just not going to be able to go as fast, so that could be what's going on with you as well. The past few Tuesdays have been Brrrrrrrrrrr.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but think that there's perhaps a natural slow down that occurs at the track as you pick up your weekly mileage (especially those 18-22 mile long runs). Accumulative fatigue is real! The only other thing that I can think of is that you might need to go even easier on your easy days. I know when I ran with a run group in DC (one that was wildly successful with some super fast/talented runners), the coach was always harping on people to SLOW DOWN on their easy days.
I wouldn't be surprised if temperature matters. Performance improves when it gets colder, but only to a certain point (I want to say I remember it being 42?), and then it starts getting worse again as it gets colder.
ReplyDeleteI read your race report and I think you're being a little too hard on yourself. I agree, I think the temp was the main factor ... a "feels like" of sub freezing is fairly abnormal for you coast-dwellers, isn't it? So I think that's the main culprit. But when I race slower, I try to take an objective look at my training and ask myself if I really trained that much harder than previous races I ran at that pace. For me, sometimes my expectation is a little unrealistic based on the depth of that race's training. I have "target times" that I hit during training that are usually a good indication of how I'll race, and I have to examine if hit those times during the build up to the race.
ReplyDeletePlus, it seems the older I get, I have to train much much harder, simply to keep the previous year's results. It's like I have to put in twice the work, just to stay at the level I want to be. Of course, you're not ancient like me, but with your surgeries not allowing you to train over the past few years, I think it will most likely take you more work from here on out to get to your desired level.
But I think you're probably in better shape than you think you are right now, based on how your body felt after the race. You're right ... if you don't feel "race sore", you probably had quite a bit left in the tank, which means in different conditions, you're probably capable of much faster. I wouldn't beat yourself up too much about it. Although I would be doing exactly the same thing, ha.
Definitely not sore after this race, but I think I am struggling to gain speed. I figured that since a rather fast 20 seemed pretty easy, I could shave a few minutes off my half time. But I think I actually didn't improve my speed at all!
DeleteI think it would be way more of a red flag if you felt like it was max effort and were really tight and sore ... just keep pushing your training as much as your body will allow - you're training seems to going well overall, so I think there will be faster races in the near future.
DeleteI think it's just a factor of time. I feel like it hasn't really been that long since your second surgery and you hadn't fully gotten back to speed after the first so it will just take longer.
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