I have been doing a lot of thinking about my running, training, and racing since Indy. And on my 4 mile run today with Mike, we discussed it some. I think there are a few changes I need to make if I really want to consistently break 4 hours and eventually draw closer to the dream goal of a Boston Qualifying time. Here are some thoughts:
If you have read my blog for awhile, you will know that when I go on a long run, I usually run it at marathon pace. This really isn't hard for me to do for a 20 miler. But all the coaches and experts say that you should run them slower. They say that the time on your feet is more important than the distance. I have always felt that if I could do these longer runs faster, I would become that much stronger. I am less convinced of this now so next year and the remainder of this year, I will try to run my long runs at a slower pace. It will probably feel really slow to me, but then again, it should feel a hell of a lot faster than, say, miles 23 through 26 of Indy. I plan on still doing a few longer runs faster, maybe even some 3-1 runs where I run slow the first 3/4 of the run and pick it up for the last 1/4 but I will give it a try.
I am also going to try to run even longer in hopes that my muscles will become stronger and less apt to tire toward the end of a race. I did do a 26 mile training run about 2 months ago before WhistleStop and I think I will do more. I may go up to 28 but I will do these runs slow like I stated up top. I might wait until spring to do these, maybe not. We will see.
I am not sure these are good ideas or bad ideas. I just know that I need to change it up some. I know I am capable of running a faster marathon and I feel I "could" run as fast as 3:30 if I train properly and pull it all together on race day
It is good to have goals. Set your goals high . . . then shatter them!
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3 comments:
I think running slower so that you are on your feet for more time without stressing yourself is a good idea. For each of my marathons, I ran my 20 milers too fast and I couldn't recover in time for the race. When I train for my marathon next fall I will slow it down. It will give me more time on my feet and less to recover from. Good luck shattering those goals!
I ran all of my long runs for Chicago between 10:30 and 11:00 pace, and then I pulled out a 9:30 pace on marathon day. I'm a big believer in the whole thing about doing your long runs slower. If you run most runs at marathon pace, you fatigue yourself and can't necessarily do it on race day. But that's just my opinion.
Good thoughts, Bill
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