Believe it or not -- I actually got my butt outside yesterday to do my long run! Usually I have no motivation to do this and push it off until Sunday. This week I was motivated by three things: the fact that if I ran on Saturday instead of Sunday I would get a bonus point in my motivation plan for doing 5 workouts this week, the fact that I could have a super lazy day on Sunday with no plans if I ran on Saturday instead, and the fact that I could pig out on bad food with little guilt at the board game party I was hosting later that night. Besides that though, I really had a hard time wanting to get out there.
It was a rather uneventful run except for the fact that in the first six miles I had this immense urge to pee and was pretty sure the public bathrooms were closed. I realized this as I ran by the Boathouse and noticed a white piece of paper on the door (which I assumed said they were closed for the season). Not really sure what to do about this since I had a whole 12 miles to do. When I got to 72nd street, completing my first loop I figured I could run across the transverse to see if Bethesda Fountain bathrooms were open or wait until I finished the lower loop and cross to the Bethesda Fountain on the east side. I really didn't want to add on the extra .5 miles it would take to do this if I opted to go right then, but I felt like I didn't really have a choice. So I ran to the plaza only to find a big sign saying they were closed for the season and I should try the Boathouse. Grrrrrr. So I ran another .2 or so miles and once again noticed the sign. Freakout! But before a total meltdown I decided I should probably get closer and READ the sign before I assumed what it said. And lo and behold, it was only telling me to keep the door closed because the restrooms were heated. YES!
Now I had another dilemma. Do I do the lower loop? Backwards or forwards? I didn't think I could add on anything to my 12 miles because my legs were already feeling tired. And I HATE the lower loop. I will do anything to avoid it. So I ran back and forth on the transverse until I got to 7 miles. Crazy boring, I know, but better than that lower loop. I don't even know why I hate it that much. It's fairly flat compared to the rest of the park, it's definitely very scenic, and it is only 1.6 miles.
Anyway, this meant that I had miscalculated and at the end of my run I still had .21 miles to go. I know, I know, just skip it, right? But no, I didn't feel like I could say I ran 12 miles unless I actually did. So I ran down .1 miles across the transverse and .1 miles back (again avoiding the lower loop completely.)
Afterwards I felt SO SORE...like running a half marathon sore. This is kind of crazy since I was keeping kind of an easy pace (according to my watch 10:42, but that was wrong since I kind of forgot to stop the watch during the whole bathroom debaucle.)
At any rate, I feel like I'm totally in for it now. So I did what I have been avoiding for a month and a half...I signed up for my first post-pregnancy marathon: the Flying Pig.
It makes me nervous to think about committing to this, but here I am!
Showing posts with label long slow distance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label long slow distance. Show all posts
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Monday, April 12, 2010
12 miler
This is it! The longest run of the season before the half marathon! I was definitely excited to do the mileage, but still a smidge sore from a 4-miler I did during the week while I was traveling in Philly. Seems my calves had it in for me.
Luckily, we had a whole group to tackle this task, which always makes running more fun..A bunch of my friends are doing the More Half Marathon and we decided to run it together...EASY, and then reward ourselves with brunch.
It's amazing how much faster it all goes when you are chatting. There were 4.5 of us (Donna only did 6 miles with us because she is not actually running the half) and we never ran out of conversation :)
We also maintained about a 12 minute mile because it was Bess' first 12-miler, Gina said she hadn't really been training like she should and I was nursing super sore calves. Guess what? It totally worked! I was sore up until the evening, but after that, I was fine! I was so amazed. I also told Gina that running at that pace seemed a ton less daunting even though it took a lot longer.
Gina said that taking your long runs at a much slower pace is actually a very crucial part of the Pfitzinger plan
which is an intense plan that is heavy on mileage but promises extraordinary results. Gina used the plan to get her first sub-4:00 marathon in NYC last year and ended up smashing her goal! I had told her that if it worked for her then I was going to try it for my next marathon. (So I guess I have to try it now).
But I was very intrigued by this whole long slow distance thing. I mean, Coach Ramon ALWAYS tells us to do this, but the fact is, I run my long runs not THAT much differently than my goal pace for the marathon.
Anyway, we were all proud of ourselves when we finished, and walked another half mile to brunch, where I rewarded myself with a stack of pancakes and a plate of cheese fries (gotta have the sweet AND savory!)
Luckily, we had a whole group to tackle this task, which always makes running more fun..A bunch of my friends are doing the More Half Marathon and we decided to run it together...EASY, and then reward ourselves with brunch.
It's amazing how much faster it all goes when you are chatting. There were 4.5 of us (Donna only did 6 miles with us because she is not actually running the half) and we never ran out of conversation :)
We also maintained about a 12 minute mile because it was Bess' first 12-miler, Gina said she hadn't really been training like she should and I was nursing super sore calves. Guess what? It totally worked! I was sore up until the evening, but after that, I was fine! I was so amazed. I also told Gina that running at that pace seemed a ton less daunting even though it took a lot longer.
Gina said that taking your long runs at a much slower pace is actually a very crucial part of the Pfitzinger plan
which is an intense plan that is heavy on mileage but promises extraordinary results. Gina used the plan to get her first sub-4:00 marathon in NYC last year and ended up smashing her goal! I had told her that if it worked for her then I was going to try it for my next marathon. (So I guess I have to try it now).But I was very intrigued by this whole long slow distance thing. I mean, Coach Ramon ALWAYS tells us to do this, but the fact is, I run my long runs not THAT much differently than my goal pace for the marathon.
Anyway, we were all proud of ourselves when we finished, and walked another half mile to brunch, where I rewarded myself with a stack of pancakes and a plate of cheese fries (gotta have the sweet AND savory!)
Monday, July 13, 2009
Pacing/Negative Splits
I have been really working on negative splitting my long runs lately.
On the 4th of July we had a "timed run" instead of our usual mileage run. We were running along the West Side Highway and the goal was to do 60 minutes out and 60 minutes back. I had been going out a lot more than usual that week because my sister was in town so I was really hoping to just do 10 minute miles. Lauren said she was going to do the same thing, so we decided to stick together. We started out with two other (fast) girls though, and I had to hold back from the group at about mile 3. They were doing 9 minute miles and I just didn't feel up to it. So I ran alone most of the time. When we got down to the Financial District (almost the bottom tip of Manhattan) the girls had all passed me on the way back. Pttt. Disheartening. But oh well.
Then, when I had about 4 miles to go I see Lauren just about 100 feet in front of me. What?! No way! She was WAY ahead of me. She pulled off of the trail to get water and I passed her, assuming we would catch up before we hit the park. Nope. She was no where in sight even as I was waiting at stop lights to go across town.
I actually finished with a 1:55! (A whole 5 minutes faster on the way back!) I was pretty impressed with this because I had walked for water breaks 4 times on the way back and didn't stop my watch. I felt great and had a lot of energy.
So, when I had set out to do a 10:00 pace I actually finished with a 9:23 pace. Nice.
So this weekend I set out to do a 9:30 pace. I really do think that I am going to benefit from going nice and easy on these long runs. I think I just need to get the long miles in and worry about time on Tuesday night speed workouts.
Once again, the group broke away from me. But you know what? I actually finished in front of them. I had a ton of energy at the end of my run. I could have done 5 more miles on pace, no problem. I did my 12 miles in 1:48 (a 9:00 pace flat). I was impressed with myself. :)
I guess I needed to listen to my coaches all along about long SLOW distance and negative splitting. But, in my defense, if you want to get a 9:00 pace, would you REALLY want to start your workout doing a few miles at a 10:00 pace? It doesn't seem like it would make sense, right? Besides, I am just stubborn. I am one of those people who needs to figure these things out for myself.
I have a 4-mile race this weekend. I am going to concentrate on getting a ton of sleep this week and trying to NOT let my mental state get the best of me on race day.
On the 4th of July we had a "timed run" instead of our usual mileage run. We were running along the West Side Highway and the goal was to do 60 minutes out and 60 minutes back. I had been going out a lot more than usual that week because my sister was in town so I was really hoping to just do 10 minute miles. Lauren said she was going to do the same thing, so we decided to stick together. We started out with two other (fast) girls though, and I had to hold back from the group at about mile 3. They were doing 9 minute miles and I just didn't feel up to it. So I ran alone most of the time. When we got down to the Financial District (almost the bottom tip of Manhattan) the girls had all passed me on the way back. Pttt. Disheartening. But oh well.
Then, when I had about 4 miles to go I see Lauren just about 100 feet in front of me. What?! No way! She was WAY ahead of me. She pulled off of the trail to get water and I passed her, assuming we would catch up before we hit the park. Nope. She was no where in sight even as I was waiting at stop lights to go across town.
I actually finished with a 1:55! (A whole 5 minutes faster on the way back!) I was pretty impressed with this because I had walked for water breaks 4 times on the way back and didn't stop my watch. I felt great and had a lot of energy.
So, when I had set out to do a 10:00 pace I actually finished with a 9:23 pace. Nice.
So this weekend I set out to do a 9:30 pace. I really do think that I am going to benefit from going nice and easy on these long runs. I think I just need to get the long miles in and worry about time on Tuesday night speed workouts.
Once again, the group broke away from me. But you know what? I actually finished in front of them. I had a ton of energy at the end of my run. I could have done 5 more miles on pace, no problem. I did my 12 miles in 1:48 (a 9:00 pace flat). I was impressed with myself. :)
I guess I needed to listen to my coaches all along about long SLOW distance and negative splitting. But, in my defense, if you want to get a 9:00 pace, would you REALLY want to start your workout doing a few miles at a 10:00 pace? It doesn't seem like it would make sense, right? Besides, I am just stubborn. I am one of those people who needs to figure these things out for myself.
I have a 4-mile race this weekend. I am going to concentrate on getting a ton of sleep this week and trying to NOT let my mental state get the best of me on race day.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Faster Than I Thought
This weekend was our first Saturday group training run. On Saturdays we practice LSD, known to marathoners as "long, slow, distance". Ramon reminded us that we should feel good and be able to talk to our neighbor.
Since I am still in my 2-week recovery plan from the last marathon I decided to run with the 10-minute pace group instead of the 9-minute pace group. Unfortunately within this group there were only two other people who planned on doing the longest distance (which was 6 miles). No big deal, just not as fun, because I now like talking while I do my long distance runs.
It was crowded in the park.
Not only was it a Saturday morning, but it was also the Saturday morning on the Healthy Kidney run which is one of the largest NYRR races. It had 10,000 runners. So navigating was sort of an issue.
Ramon told us we had to be two across and no more, but this was exceedingly difficult because my group had a very long explanation of our workout, which meant we left after the 11-minute mile group, which meant we were actually running slower than 11-minute miles. Throw in a bunch of Healthy Kidney runners, who were actually walkers at this point in the race and it becomes a navigating nightmare.
Ramon was yelling at us because we were all breaking the two across rule. When Coach Sandy explained to him why this was happening he told us we should pass. So I did. I tried to stay with the group but it still felt painfully slow. So at the 102nd street turnoff I asked the group if anyone was doing the whole 6 miles. People kind of scoffed at this, like "no way!". I looked around for the other two people that I knew were doing the full loop but didn't see them, so I figured I was free to pace at what felt best to me.
Curiosity got me and I started paying attention to the Healthy Kidney mile markers because I didn't have my GPS with me. I felt like I was doing a steady 10:00 pace.
Unfortunately when I hit the first one, I kind of forgot what my last clock marker read. I guess I was in "the zone". I was either doing a 10:20 or a 9:20, I figured that it was the former and decided to really remember my number for the next mile.
My next mile was a 9:00.
And so was my next mile.
My last mile was a 9:10 but that is because I basically had to walk through the finishing area on the west side of the park because it was so crowded.
The thing is, I felt great the entire time and I felt like I was running easy.
So I guess that clinches it for me. I need to run with the 9:00 pace group. Because even if I am the last one in the group it is better to be in the back of the group than struggling to hold back.
Since I am still in my 2-week recovery plan from the last marathon I decided to run with the 10-minute pace group instead of the 9-minute pace group. Unfortunately within this group there were only two other people who planned on doing the longest distance (which was 6 miles). No big deal, just not as fun, because I now like talking while I do my long distance runs.
It was crowded in the park.
Not only was it a Saturday morning, but it was also the Saturday morning on the Healthy Kidney run which is one of the largest NYRR races. It had 10,000 runners. So navigating was sort of an issue.
Ramon told us we had to be two across and no more, but this was exceedingly difficult because my group had a very long explanation of our workout, which meant we left after the 11-minute mile group, which meant we were actually running slower than 11-minute miles. Throw in a bunch of Healthy Kidney runners, who were actually walkers at this point in the race and it becomes a navigating nightmare.
Ramon was yelling at us because we were all breaking the two across rule. When Coach Sandy explained to him why this was happening he told us we should pass. So I did. I tried to stay with the group but it still felt painfully slow. So at the 102nd street turnoff I asked the group if anyone was doing the whole 6 miles. People kind of scoffed at this, like "no way!". I looked around for the other two people that I knew were doing the full loop but didn't see them, so I figured I was free to pace at what felt best to me.
Curiosity got me and I started paying attention to the Healthy Kidney mile markers because I didn't have my GPS with me. I felt like I was doing a steady 10:00 pace.
Unfortunately when I hit the first one, I kind of forgot what my last clock marker read. I guess I was in "the zone". I was either doing a 10:20 or a 9:20, I figured that it was the former and decided to really remember my number for the next mile.
My next mile was a 9:00.
And so was my next mile.
My last mile was a 9:10 but that is because I basically had to walk through the finishing area on the west side of the park because it was so crowded.
The thing is, I felt great the entire time and I felt like I was running easy.
So I guess that clinches it for me. I need to run with the 9:00 pace group. Because even if I am the last one in the group it is better to be in the back of the group than struggling to hold back.
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