Tuesday
Planned: 3 mile run
Actual: 3.5 mile easy run
Killing time between work and Bible study
Wednesday
Planned: Social run
Actual: 3 mile walk
Still sore from our hike on Monday, Kelly & I decided to walk as an active recovery
Thursday
Planned: Intervals
Actual: 3 X 1600
Planned called for 8:31-8:48 pace. Decided to shoot for the slower
end, to ensure I got through all 3. Ended up with 5 miles total after warm up & cool down. Splits: 8:35, 8:34,
8:22 - I'm faster than I realized!
Friday
Planned: rest
Actual: rest
Saturday
Planned: 12 mile run
Actual: rest
Didn't do anything but 12 oz curls and walking around Nashville.
Sunday
Planned: rest
Actual: 12 mile run
Didn't expect this run to be good, given the 12 oz curls & dinner of 1/2 an order of stadium nachos and a hot dog at the game. Surprised myself - ran this easy at a 9:33 pace!
Monday
Planned: 4 X 800
Actual: Cycling class
Shifted the schedule around a bit to allow our bodies to recover from the long run before going straight into intervals. Will tackle those 800s today.
In less than 2 weeks, I'm running a half marathon. I'm already getting nervous/excited about it. I've gotten so much faster these past couple of months, I have no clue what pace to shoot for (or how to pace myself through the early miles). Any wisdom you'd care to impart?
My only advice for the half is to not go out too fast. Definitely don't want to burn out in the first half of the half! Other than that, I'm super excited for you!
ReplyDeleteYou have been killing it you speedy mcspeedster! Good for you!
ReplyDeleteNachos...eat more nachos. ;)
ReplyDeleteWow - you've been killing it this training plan. I'm not sure what advice to give you either - wear your garmin and really watch your pace in the first couple miles as you warm up, but if you feel good, let the feet fly.
ReplyDeleteOh, and make sure you fuel the night before with nachos and beer. That clearly works for you :)
SO amazed at your time! You are doing awesome!!
ReplyDeleteObviously, I have no advice for you. But if you can do 12 miles easy at 9:33, then you should do amazing!!
ReplyDelete12 miles at 9:33 on nachos and beer? i'd say you're on pace to do something amazing. I wouldn't be surprised to read that you knocked out your half in less than two hours. (that's probably not a new thought for you... you're no dummy). It's not likely that you will gain much more in readiness over the next two weeks. my advice is to take it easy training-wise. (easy midweek runs of 3-4 miles two to three times a week and one last weekend run around 5-7 miles) you can make a big difference on your performance by fueling well. I'm not sure what your carb strategy is pre-race. but you might consider doing a carb depletion phase before your loading phase. This does two things 1) It offers your body an opportunity to run out old glycogen stores. As I understand it, the longer nutrients have been stored in your body, the harder it is to burn them off. If you deplete your current stores and then replace them with fresh, and super-high quality stores (think whole grains) then you will have more accessible nutrients to burn. 2)taking a couple of days completely carb-free also forces your body into fat burning mode. If you know the explanation for "hitting the wall" feel free to skip the next paragraph.
ReplyDeleteWhen you hit the wall it's generally because your body has run out of glycogen stores that are readily available. your body then shifts gears to start burning fat stores and this (unfortunately) takes some time. Those 5-10 minutes (in my experience) can feel like an eternity, but you typically feel great when you come out on the other side of it.
carb depleting makes it easier on your body to shift into fat burning mode when your glycogen stores run out. of course, you'll spend a couple of days eating wheat thins and whole wheat pasta like its your job, but eventually that will run out. If you depleted your glycogen before loading and made your body go to fat burning mode just a few days before the race, its easier for your body to remember how to do that and the transition will happen much easier, thus (hopefully) resulting in you not bonking.
Of course, if you've never hit the wall in a half this might not help you much, but It has become a tried and true method for me to handle my nutrition before races, particularly when i really want to perform in top notch manner. Good luck!