Sooooo my black belt test is in less than two weeks.
Good times!! :D
PS, I am not even joking about the crowd sourcing part. But first, a little context:
Week of 3/25 Grand Total: 38 miles
- * 24 easy
* 14 long
Monday 3/25:
- Lunch time - Yoga.
- Evening - Karate.
Tuesday 3/26: 4 easy Rest. For some reason my stomach was really upset this evening, so running just was not going to happen.
Wednesday 3/27: Karate. (Lunch meeting at work, so no Pilates.)
Thursday 3/28:
- Lunch time - Strength work.
- Evening - 8 easy. My post-race-week runs usually universally suck, but this run felt pretty good - 8:49 pace.
Friday 3/29: 8 easy. Same route (basically), but felt a little harder, which didn't surprise me since I'm not used to running > 6 miles on back-to-back days. So kind of surprised to see an 8:42 average pace when all was said & done.
Saturday 3/30: Karate + 8 easy. Same route yet again, and this time I *really* felt worn out (which I'd expected). And yet....8:36 pace?? Running is weird.
Sunday 3/31: 14 long. As I've mentioned before, running from my house down through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach & back is a near-perfect 14 mile loop. I'd planned on making it 16 by adding in a one-mile out-and-back stretch on the way home, but about 5 miles in I started having some yellow flag-type pain in my right foot that never went away, so instead I just made it 14. It feels okay now, but the last time I had disconcerting foot pain like this, I ended up exiled to not pool running for a month so I was not inclined to push it too much.
Also more karate. Cuz....yeah.
So here is where I need your expertise. (If you don't have expertise, no worries; you can totally just make stuff up. That's what I do.)
I got a 14 mile long run in this weekend, which is good, but not great. Next weekend I'm supposed to do an 18-19 mile long run, but we'll be in Paso Robles which means I will be running precisely no miles on Saturday or Sunday. Here is my current plan (by which I mean "plan") for next week:
Monday: 4 miles between work & karate. That's kind of the best I can do on karate days.
Tuesday: Big ass 11 mile track workout.
Wednesday: Finish getting my taxes done between work & karate. I *could* get up at like 5:45 & run maybe 4 miles, but that's absolute best case.
Thursday: Run 8 miles? Run 10 miles? Get up at 5:45 & run 4 miles, then run 10 miles after work?
Friday: Run 8 miles? Run 10 miles? Get up at 5:45 & run 4 miles, then run 10 miles after work? GET UP AT 5:30 AND RUN 6 MILES, THEN RUN 12 AFTER WORK??????
Seriously. Help me out here. I've been out of town too much lately & I really have to do *something* to make up at least the spirit of endurance-building. What's my best bet in terms of making up the long run? Do back-to-back shortish-long runs accomplish the same thing? Am I better off getting up early & pulling a double day?
I leave my fate in your hands.
Sorry I can't help you out with your long run question. I usually will just try and make the long run work at the same time. Even if it means getting up at 4:30 am vs. 5:30 am. Did you google the topic and see what other people have said?
ReplyDeleteI have no frickin' idea, but since you already said you don't mind people making stuff up, here goes nothing. My first choice would be to do the original planned long run in one go, regardless of how you fit it in... even if that means running late into the evening. My second choice would be to do a double, like 6 miles before work then 12 after. My third choice would be to do 2x 10-mile back-to-back runs... though given the fact that you did 3 x 8 miles just fine last week, I'm not sure that this will benefit you all that much.
ReplyDeleteIf you need any accountability for evening runs this week I'm free most days -- Thursday would be best with your schedule, it seems. We can meet as long as you don't mind going relatively slow (think 8:45-9mm). Seriously, text me & let's make a plan.
ReplyDeleteAs for the long run, I would suggest breaking them up into double days. Your legs will still get the benefit of working while they're tired. I think you'd get more benefit from that than doing shorter back to backs...
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ReplyDeleteI know nothing but the option that sounds the best to me (relatively speaking) would be 4 miles am and 10 miles pm. Sounds grim but sounds tough as well, like it would be a challenge but do-able and would build endurance and mental stamina.
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