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Am in week 1 of a HM training plan and have to do a 2-mile "easy" run today. It just seems like it's not worth putting my trainers on for that! I've planned my route and I keep wanting to add huge loops to make it longer.
Please can someone explain why a gentle 2-mile jog will make me run faster?
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Train too hard and you will break down. This means watching your distance as well as your pace.
Slow runs are good for building stamina. If you think you've already got plenty (ie. you think you're fitter than is assumed by the start point of the plan), then you may be ok to extend the distance here, but you shouldn't be extending the distance at a faster pace. Once you've got the distance, it might be appropriate to run that distance a bit faster, but I'd be wary of diverging too far from the plan.
Its up to you if you do it or not, just remember that the training plan has been put together by people with a lot more experince than doing just 2 HMs.
All miles run in training count towards building a bank of stamina and endurance, be they easy or hard.
You might have done a better time in your HM if you had, Marty.
Do you think the people who put schedules together throw those in just for the hell of it? Easy runs are to assist recovery, and help build endurance as you are running on tired legs.
Why not try following the schedule, Sophie, and see what happens? Otherwise, why bother having a schedule?
Wilkie, you're right of course, although I think part of the problem I have with the schedule is I am not really at the beginning in terms of where my finess is and am almost having to take a step back from where I am in order to start it, iyswim?
Schedule has 1 or 2 2-mile easy runs a week throughout though, so obviously the experts who divised it feel that they have some intrinsic benefit, rather than just being a means of building up to longer, harder runs, and I wondered what that could be.
Is is just a question of addding miles onto your legs in a way that's unlikely to lead ot injury?
I am injury-prone and have done quite a bit of walking in training for my previous races (have done four halves and 1 marathon) - I suppose this has much the same effect?
<ponders>
Thanks for the feedback, everyone.
Well i'm on for a sub 90 min HM in September, so I am happy with my progress. I think that sticking to a plan can be too regimented and can also detract from the pleasue of running. I think a slower run than normal may be beneficial, but the so called easy run seems pointless.
Also, not all plans work for all people. I tend to run no more than 30 k a week and not more than 3 runs, now this is in no HM plan is it, but it works for me. In fact, I think running more often would be problematic for me body, the idea of regularly running over 50 miles a week is just not an option. So yes, look at plans (of which there are pnety), digest the informtaion and find out what works for you.
So i would always urge people to be prepared to divert from the plan if necessary, these are suggested itinerarys, they are not set on stone!
Thanks again.
Zanzinger, how do I get a correct schedule then?
I used the RW automatic schedule generator thing and this is what it came up with based on my last HM time (which admittedly was almost a year ago, but was a PB for me). I think I'm fitter now than I was then, though.
Sophie, easy runs can be hard to do, in that running that slowly can be difficult to do.
However, as the schedule progresses, the pace should increase, and you will add in harder sessions. This is when the easy ones start to look attractive!
I'm two-thirds the way through a marathon schedule, and I look forward to my easy runs now
Zanzinger, I will report you if you continue with this ignorance. Running and how people bodies function to the best of their abilities is not an exact science, it is different for each individual, these are my opinions and they are based on my own running experience, which is not that bad. I have not said DO NOT DO AN EASY RUN have I, I merely questioned it, that is what these forums are for, that is why people ask questions, there can be more than one answer you know. You have had issues I am afraid.
You need gentle run or dare I say the word Jog !!! days to keep the muscles supple but give them time to carry on repairing. if some of your run days are gentle run days you'll get less injuries.
re a correct schedule, adapt the schedule you have slightly and you should be there. Consider how much fitter you are now than a year ago, thats why the current schedule isnt hard enough for you.
If 2 miles seems to easy increase it to 3 etc etc as long as you follow the basic principal, take rest/gentle run days when it says, then you should be on to a winner.
good luck
Right, I am cheating slightly by doing three miles, but will do the slow thing.
Sold to the lady in the rather fetching pink tights
Thanks again all, please don't have a row on my thread, kthxbai.
Sophie, I didn't initiate a row, but do expect people to be courteous and consider each other opinions, to state that someone knows nothing is out of order. We can all pick select comments out of context and then query them, this is not really an intelligent thing to do whilst hiding behind a keyboard and I would expect better from people posting on this kind of forum.
I merely say that sometimes a rest might be a beneficial as a slow run. These plans give guidance, they do not work perfectly for everyone and may need tweaking for maximum benefit. This will be part of the learning process about how you own body functions that will probably last years. I think that advice is subjective and there to be questioned. Does this sound like a statement of someone that knows nothing?
Zanzinger, I never said it was pointless, I questioned it's merits. And no, walking is not pointless, FACT. I was actually saying that the underlooked concept of rest may actually be beneficial also. I run less miles than many and achieve times that are probably comparable with people that run significantly more, so I think my advice may help some people.
Running and the biomechanics are down science, how indivduals react is not the same for everone though. Just like some people need 6h sleep, some 10h, we are all different and to suggest that someone whose body functions in a different way to yours is utter ignorance.
Please refrain from being so rude in the future, question what I say by all means but selecting parts out of contect and that saying I know nothing is out of order. And I will report you if you keep stating I know nothing because it is not acceptible behaviour in a forum like this, please get some manners. Just learn to accept different opinions without such a banal response, it makes you look foolish.
This is quite funny, as I had a very similar argument with a person very like zanziger on a similar subject!
I think it was about training at 8mm, but the nub of it is very similar to the above, and it is something that I only really "got" over the last year...different levels of effort for different sessions really improve your overall times.
The major difference for me was running my long runs at the given pace, even when I felt comfortable running faster, and then saving my efforts for those sessions which called for them, which I joined a club to do alongside better runners.
This year I ran my local half in 1:38, over a minute faster than my previous pb set 4 or 5 years ago. Also this year I have pb'ed at mara, 5k and 10k.
Not earth shattering times, but good improvement by running far less miles in a more structured way.
Oh dear, it's gone downhill in the time it took me to type that post.
You comment on my pace really does make you look silly. I am fast enough to please myself, and that is the what is important.
You dwell, on one point I have mentioned (were we disagree a touch), and say (based on that) I know nothing, now please get some manners.
Ah, nothing like a good flame war.
I've done 8 HMs but I'd rather not offer advice on training schedules, I'm just not qualifed to do it. That be, if you don't find easy runs useful, it's your own prerogative.