Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Dissapointing run

2/21/09
Saturday

Even though I planned a long run for Sunday, ran tempo and speed runs during the week, I just felt like running this morning. I went down on the treadmill and ran a three mile hill workout. It is the longest I have run on 10% grade and actually it felt pretty good. I increased the pace as I went along and used hand weights while running to work on core.

3 miles 10% grade @ 3.5-4 speed
splits: 11:42, 10:30, 9:40 (9:14Kick)

2/22/09
Sunday

My body remembered yesterdays hill run this morning and not in a good way. I felt a bit more lame than I planned and experienced a small shutter when I looked at the temp outside. Though 17 degrees is not seriously cold, my body complained at the thought of running in the cold this morning.

I originally planned a 14 mile run at 9:10 to 9:20 pace. A little fast I think for this stage of my training but it was only a plan and subject to change. I convinced myself to suit up and hit the road after I spent a few minutes deciding wether to hit the road, the trails or just the treadmil.

I didn't feel that good, wasn't extremely excited to be out running and I felt quite tired. I thought perhaps I would settle in and in the end be glad I ran.
I left the house at 7:30 Am and by the time I finished the first mile, I knew that a 9:10 pace would be out of the question.

I encountered a lot more ice on the roads than I anticipated and a surprising amount of morning traffic caused me to run a bit more cautious than normal at this time in the morning. I knew I was going run much slower than planned and doubted I would make the planned 14 miles.

I figured I would just ramble along until I felt I had enough and then head home. I usually run a similar loop when running long on weekends so I could compare my speed and energy. Today instead, I decided to head in different direction.....sort of a way to fool my brain so I wouldn't harp on feeling slow and tired.

I decided on a 10 mile run and then perhaps a 2 mile cooldown if I had any energy left. It was nerve racking as I ran a 10 mile race two weeks ago and comfortably ran 9:15 pace after a 5K warmup.

My splits were all over the place and stopping at 5 miles to suck down a gel didn't help the stats. I only averaged 80-84% of heart rate and honestly should have felt like I was on an easy sauntering jog.

In the past, I would normally run 8 mile long runs at about 8:30 pace. Funny how my training this year has me feeling dead tired at 9:30 pace. It is so hard to get used to running slower and my brain was not satisfied with the pace as I look at my stats. Problem is, I am not sure I could pull off a run that fast now. I think I am getting too used to running slow.

I somehow labored through the first 5 miles then sort of zoned out for a few miles and pushed a bit on the last two. I did get 9 miles in with a kick and then jogged a
two mile continuation/cooldown to finish off the run at 11 miles. Not quite the 14 miles I wanted but still a pretty good workout and honestly, I felt like I had run 20 miles. Technically this was an 11 mile run as I continued two more miles after kicking at the end of nine.

Splits:

9:51 --- 134 av-- 181 max.
10:05 --- 138 -- 146
9:36 --- 142 -- 149
9:25 --- 143 -- 149
12:30 --- 125 -- 150
9:55 --- 140 -- 146
9:09 --- 145 -- 150
10:14 --- 145 -- 150
10:30 --- 141 -- 160 (8:45 kick)

two mile
10:13 --- 139 -- 146
10:31 --- 139 --152 (9:11 kick)

I guess the splits tell it all, the body was tired, beat and not into a long run this morning. I was glad as I walked a half mile cooldown on the way back to my house that I forced myself out to run. Honestly though, it should not have felt this tough.

2 comments:

Jamie Anderson said...

It happens. As I'm sure you already know, take it easy the next few days. No doubt you'll rebound.

Also, spring is less than a month away... more days of great running weather just around the corner!

Two said...

Yeah, I agree with Jaime. You are doing a great job pushing yourself with simulated hills and speed, so it probably is your body's way of telling you to back off a little. I also sort of like training runs that feel like junk because it is good mental preparation for the later stages of endurance events.

Another thought is that sometimes stacking the building block of a workout on your training pile is more about doing it, rather than how elegantly you do so.

From what I can see you seem to really be setting yourself up well for a successful race at Pineland Farms!