RW Forum Six - Sub 3:30

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  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    AA... Good luck tomorrow. Run like the wind!
  • I know I had a week off last week but......

    ........ Are recovery weeks really necessary or are they a cop out?
  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    My legs say they are necessary image
  • Def necessary!

    Been to the pub and had 2 halves of lager and 1 glass of wine - very good for me! Back home and had pasta and meatballs! Feeling strangely nervous - its ages since I ran with a number all serious like! Will report back tomorrow!! image

    PS - weather in Wokingham looks dry for the morning if a bit windy image

  • Good luck AA, looking forward to the race report image

    Agree, I feel I need a recovery week for the legs and my sanity!

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    We'll all be with you in spirit AA image
  • OK, but, if you run a long SLOW run slowly, it shouldn't be a hard session. I'm just thinking that on a recovery week lots of us choose to drop back to HM distance and then run it faster. Would we be better off doing 18-20 but just jogging round really slowly?
  • I've just remembered going on a communication / management course a few years ago where we talked about the word BUT, and how it completely cancels out everything said before it. You should replace it with the word AND.

    E.g. "I hear what you are saying but..." means "I am not listening to you".

    So anyway, my previous post meant to start with OK and if you run.....
  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭

    ah, right, but.... is it better to run a shorter distance faster to get used to running faster image

    My long run this week was 16 with 12 @ MP, but, I mean... and,  my long run next week is just 14.  I had been thinking along the same lines as you Mr Spoons.

  • Definitely necessary, and a long-slow run is still a hard session. I think the benefit of running slightly faster when dropping down is psychological and not a bad thing. It reminds us that our legs are still peppy while we're rebuilding for the next phase.

    I always intend to run on holiday but never manage it. My boyfriend hates it and always makes me feel selfish for contemplating it. 

  • I always think if a long slow run is a hard session, that's because it wasn't slow enough. I can run 26 miles in 4.5-5 hours without feeling tired and be good to go the next day. I can run 13 miles at MP and be tired the next day. Don't get me wrong, I like running fast and love churning out mile reps at 6:30 pace. I'm an advocate of MP work in long runs. I'm just not sure about the 13 mile LSRs which a lot of schedules have. I don't quite understand their role.
  • Hi All

    To my mind a 1/2M distance fast in a recovery week is not recovery, recovery to me is cut back miles and reduce the pace, However I'm not a big fan of recovery weeks. Each to their own I say. If I'm marathon fit then i can certainly run 26 plus in 4-30 ish without feeling tired the next day but a raced 1/2M will leave me sore the next day.  Going back to the original question I believe that if you want to recover drop the miles and the pace. So run 13 miles slowly, micro muscle tears start at around 8 miles so running long and slow isn't going to help you recover.

    AA: good luck today, uncoventional tapering in the pub, I thought it was only me who did that.

  • Minni - thanks for hosting such an interesting and welcoming thread. Well done on such a good MP run, must have increased your confidence.

    AA - good luck with the race today.

    DD - If you're not a fan of recovery weeks how do you approach rest? Is it that you're able to train at your current volume that you don't need to cut back occasionally to recover, or instead do you take a rest day or lighter week just based on when you're feeling tired?

    Had a good week this week. I've noticed an improvement in the speed I'm able to get at lower HRs but I'm much slower than I should be at tempo pace and speedwork. I'm expecting that to improve though the more quicker work I do. 10 mile run planned for later which with the runs I've done the rest of this week will give me my highest mileage week since Christmas.

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    BecsA wrote (see)

    I'm expecting that to improve though the more quicker work I do. 10 mile run planned for later which with the runs I've done the rest of this week will give me my highest mileage week since Christmas.

    Great positive attitude there BecsA - love it. Good stuff.

    I did the dreaded 800m reps today.  I did a ran a slow 3k warm up to the chosen piece of road.  When I got there, by complete luck, I spotted a club mate heading toward me.  Great!  I hung around for him and knew he would be easily persuaded to join me.  So, 4 x 800m with 3 mins recovery: 3:11, 3:28, 3:19, 3:30.  There was a slight wind, which was behind on 1 & 3 but head on 2 & 4.  I knew the first one was too fast; the third one felt the easiest and the last the hardest.  The last was ever so slightly up hill too.  3k warm down.  Glad its over.

     AA .... looking forward to your race report. 

  • I agree DD.

    If I need rest, I rest.

    I have a rest day each week, and do a couple of recovery runs. Unlike most people, my recovery runs help recovery because they are 3-4 miles @ 10mm pace. Most people do 6 mile recovery runs at 8mm pace. Then they get surprised they need rest.
  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    Mr Spoons, I've done the same as you with the recovery runs this time around and I can really feel the benefit of them.  I often find them tiring when I'm doing them though image
  • I'm  big fan of rest days - but then I only run 4 or 5 days a week!

     Wokingam half - 1:38:43 - I am pleased in that I had no idea what to expect, the wind wasn't good in the last few miles. But I struggled badly for a couple of miles, even felt like I was going to be sick/

    Splits :

    7:31, 7:21, 7:22,  7:24, 7:22, 7:28, 7:29, 7:34, 7:35, 7:43 (hill & wind), 7:54 (strugling now), 7:36 (picking it back up) 7:26 (glad I was nearly there!!)

    Legs are feeling really tired now, but just had my milk and eggs on toast!

    Hope everyone's long runs went well.

  • Hi All. did a 17 mile long run this morning - average pace of 8:48. So at the faster end of the P&D long run pace recommendations. I did push the pace at the end though in line with their recommendation.

    Felt really good on the run, my niggle in my foot appears to have reacted well to icing over the last couple of weeks - and I felt nothing on this run. In addition, I did 45 minutes on the cross trainer yesterday in place of my recovery run to rest the foot even further and it seemed to pay dividends today.

    AA - well done on your race - I don't have anything scheduled until March!

    Onwards and upwards!

    Cheers, Ant
  • kfc.kfc. ✭✭✭
    Just back from 17 hilly, muddy, wet and windy miles on the south downs. Thats a proper long run done, and 44 miles for the week. Felt strong and fresh at the end, and was able to up the pace for the last 5. Very happy with that.

    AA - great time, and good work to pick it back up for the last few miles. What do you think caused the bad patch?
    Minni - sounds like a good speed session. Got a sneaking feeling I may need to try some of those soon...
    BecsA - glad you had a good week too.
    Ant - great long run, join me basking in the self satisfied glow!
  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    Oh well done AA! Great splits! Everything's looking good for you in come April. Wine time tonight...!

    Ant... That's a nice strong 17 miles. And good to see the foot is behaving.

    9 weeks to go .....
  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    KFC ... Cross post. Another one with 17 under their belt. I bet it was hard on the hills but the fact you finished strong shows you still had plenty in the tank. Good on ya! image
  • AA: Stonking time, very impressed that you were able to pick it up again. Well done

    Ant / kfc Nice long runs there

    Minni: Good on you for getting those  4 x 800's done. If we can get you to 8 or 10 of those at that pace in the next 6 weeks the job will be done. They always feel awful at the time but the smug factor afterwards is immense.

    Becs: I dont schedule rest days they just happen, either life gets in the way or i'm tired. I seem to average 3 rest days a month on average. I find with IM training that I can handle a lot more hours than I could with Ultra training, I did 15 hours of training last week and 14 the week before that without feeling tired.  Will almost certainly take a day off this thursday pre 1/2M which will be 11 or 12 days since the last which seems to be a reoccuring theme.

    Recovery runs: you should feel better at the end than at the start, keep them short and slow, very slow. Try running with a HRM and keeping to 60% MHR thats how slow you should be its around 10min/miles or slower for me.

  • AA - congratulations, what a fantastic run!

    Ant + kfc well done on your 17 milers, good feeling to get the long runs in the bag.

    A very gentle 3 mile recovery run for me today. True Mini we are nearly half way there with the training now.
  • Minni - nice 800s, all at sub 7mm pace. Could you manage 10 of them?

    Kiwi - half way there, 9 weeks to go. PANIC! - I feel a long way from ready....
  • Forgot to mention - saw Liz Yelling doing her warm-down when I was at 11 miles - think she won it. Looked so cool and collected!image
  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    Mr Spoons wrote (see)
    Minni - nice 800s, all at sub 7mm pace. Could you manage 10 of them?

     er....no!

     Liz did win, about 1.13 I think.  Just in front of the likes of you and me AA !  I watched Paula warm up before the GNR a few years ago and I was in awe.  She was warming up twice as fast as I could run flat out!

  • Minni: I reckon you will do 8 x 800 before your marathon, you did 3 last week, 4 this week...... They do get easier quite quickly the body responds well to being stressed, I think you will be suprised just how quickly you are able to handle intervals.

    When I started speed work I used to think the way your posting, no way could I do 10 reps, at that time my 1K reps were around 4-20min/k and that was a eye bulging effort, but 3 years down the road I find myself chatting whilst running 1K reps at about 3-40 min/K or sub 6 min/mile pace. It will come.

    Was just over on the SSX 3-15 thread, I feel for UD, she is most certainly not getting the support she was promised, Whilst Kryptonite is getting loads of support from Steve but dissapears off on holiday for three weeks mid training, bizarre. I have never followed these threads in past years but it certainly seems a bit hit and miss and the lack of comment from anyone in RW towers is equally strange.

    Was out on the bike pre dawn, swim at lunchtime and club run tonight, packing it in as tomorrow is DD1's 7th Birthday and Dad needs to be around!

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭

    Just a quick question. 

    I'm on a recovery week and the longest run is 14 miles.  I also have 3 x 8 miles to fit in (one of which is 5 x 800m).  

    This week has the potential to go belly up as far as running time is concerned.  I can probably fit in one of my 8 miles today (usually my rest day), later on.  But, I feel really tired and I've been for a massage first thing.  AA - is it advisable to run 8 miles the same day as a sports massage?  I'm wondering if, due to the tiredness, I should rest today and hope I can fit the rest in from tomorrow onwards, or should I bite the bullet and just get one of them done.   

  • If your posting that your tired then you are, so rest.  With some creative thinking its nearly always possible to make a hour somewhere in the day, so I'm sure you will manage to run tomorrow sometime.
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