The pineland 50k is only 20 weeks away. It is time to start thinking about a training schedule. I plan to take my experience in the 25k at Pineland and the 12 miler at Bradbury last year, critique my positives and negatives, pinpoint weaknesses and come up with a plan.
It may seem early to some of you, but thinking back to my marathon run in 2006, I realize how training is a huge key to sucess. In 2006 I trained for the half marathon and just 8 weeks before the race I switched to the marathon. I didn't give myself much time to train properly. I didn't have the type of long runs needed and had to squeeze them into an 8 week schedule.
My goal was to beat 4 hours and dispite my poor training, I did manage 4:01:32. OK, so pretty close but had I trained right, I would probably have realized my goal. As it was, I struggled immensely in the last 7 miles.
It was a very similar situation in the 25K. I made the mistake of viewing it as merely a little longer than half marathon and trained accordingly. I did run on the trails consistantly but most of my long runs were on the road.
This type of training showed it's weakness in mile 10 of the 25K. Up to mile 10 I was feeling very good and running a 9:30 pace (which is what I planned) The last 5 miles kicked my butt big time as I experienced numerous problems with my quads, my calfs,upper body muscles and overall psycological being. It is the first time I thought I would not be able to finish a race due to physical reasons. I did not train nor plan on walking so when I was reduced to walking hills, my body fatigued quickly.
I trained differently for the Bradbury 12 miler and accomplished my goal of finishing with a strong kick. My time suffered though as I "saved" for the kick and felt I didn't put enough effort in the first half of the race. I did however do most of my long runs on trails, my longest being over 12 miles and I trained with some walking in mind.
Thinking of these three races and relating them to the huge step of a 50K, I feel a lot of thought has to go into training. I feel I have no choice other than view this race as a "just want to finish" rather than any "time" goal.
I plan on training as time on my feet moving rather than miles running. I think this will better serve the needed fitness level. Along with that I will incorporate some extensive core and upperbody toning to help handle the balance needed for the technical rolling trail conditions at Pineland.
My first drawback in training is the treadmill. There are cases when I only have time for a short treadmill run and I feel it is not intense enough to help my training.
12/30/08
Tuesday
Treadmill run /core upper body workout
5% grade 3.5 speed
2 lb ankle weights, 5 lb hand weights
run/ walk combo 3 miles
.5 mile cooldown
This was a good workout.....I think I covered the intense part.
4 comments:
Hi Kevin. I'd recommend getting out on your snowshoes this winter for some long walks, like 4 hours or more. Snowshoeing will make your legs strong and will also work your core. It's a good idea to train based on time rather than distance. If your goal was to finish the 50k in 6 hours then I'd recommend getting in a few workouts at least 4 hours long, even if they're really slow. It's hard to know what to expect from your body when you're out there during the race going longer than you ever have before.
There is definitely no good substitute for going out and training on hills, even if you're just walking them. Remember that during the race you'll probably be walking all the big hills right from the beginning so it's good to train your hill walking muscles. And downhill running is important too, you can get really beat up from all the downhill running in the race.
Good luck. I hope you'll join us at Bradbury some time soon.
Thanks Ian,
All great advice from someone who knows the ins and outs of distance running.
I do plan on some long snowshoe workouts.....so come on snow!
My tenative goal was 6 hours so we will see.
Happy New Year Kevin! This photo can't be recent, not if you've gone out and bought a -40 degree coat! I admit, I run across London before sunrise after riding the train in from the suburbs, and I wear a big down coat. It feels great waiting for the train, and I tie it around my waist after the first mile. But I do look a bit like the Michelin man.
Good luck with the 50K - Wow that's VERY long way!
A 50K race, wow, that's amazing. I hope to be able to build up to that distance in the future. Good luck! Ana-Maria
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