Long run with fast finish. I'm a little bit disappointed with today's run, as it didn't match up very well with the goal in terms of the paces. After a couple of down days, yesterday's effort, and yesterday's poorer than normal recovery, I didn't have high expectations for this run. I was advised I might be pushing the limits of my ability to recover, so the workout that I initially planned to do like this:
10 miles steady (145 avgHR), 7 miles at current MP (152-154 avgHR)
Turned into this:
10 miles comfortable (~6:30), 3 miles at 5:55, 4 miles at 5:46 if feeling good.
Not a huge change, just taking a bit of stress off the beginning and providing the option of adding some stress at the end if everything goes well up to that point.
I hit the first ten miles in 1:05:44. With a first mile of 7:09, the rest averaged to 6:31 (6:27-6:33), with the avgHR at 139 (138-141). This part of the run had an edge of effort to it, none in the legs, some in the brain, most of it in the lungs, which hit me around mile seven. Overall it was comfortable, as it should have been.
Starting into the final seven miles, I felt better very quickly. My legs immediately rose to the occasion and seemed eager to drop the pace. The respiratory effort increased slightly, but smoothed out somewhat over the first few miles. The pace was a bit faster than 5:55, but I was trying to hit it right, and came close. 5:49(152) | 5:54(152) | 5:51(152)
Then I screwed up. Mile thirteen felt a bit tougher, but compared to the last time I did this workout, I was in good shape. Heart rate for the previous few stayed at the low end of my MP range (152-154), so I figured things were going well enough to do the 5:46s. I hit the first one too fast, tried to slow down, then hit the second too fast, tried to slow down, noticed I was not slowing down about halfway through, and decided to say screw it, stopped worrying about the pace and tried to maintain the effort to the finish. I failed at that, too. 5:41(159) | 5:40(160) | 5:39 (161) | 5:27(162)
Last year I would have been excited about this, but today I was mortified. Running faster than necessary doesn't make you faster, faster. It's simply excess. Excess effort, excess fatigue, etc. My biggest concern is that it could lead to excess recovery, which means giving away time, giving away quality workouts while you wait for the body to adapt and recover.
I was somewhat relieved to see that I recovered to 120HR in :57, five seconds faster than the previous time I did this workout, and to 110 in 1:38, twenty-eight seconds faster than before. Additionally, the hardest part of the run today was holding back. It was night and day compared to last time when I could really feel the weight of fatigue as the run progressed, and I fought through several of the late, faster paced miles. Today I was fighting my legs, trying to stop them running away from me. The final two miles today were probably the best in terms of feeling comfortable, powerful, and controlled, and I don't think it's a coincidence that they were the only two miles in the whole run that I just let go on, forgot the watch, and tried to key in on what felt right.
We'll see how quickly I recover from today's effort. Hopefully I didn't overcook myself. Several hours after the run, I feel like going for another one. Another good sign. Have a good weekend, all. Cheers!
Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury
3 comments:
Great workout Eric. It pays to forget the watch and use effort instead. Andrew and I will try to emulate your effort (not the speed!) in the morning on our 21 miler.
I looked up 'mortified'
Dictionary says to humiliate or shame, as by injury to one's pride or self-respect
Last 7 miles 5:49,5:54,5:51,5:41,5:40,5:39,5:27
mortified?
When the legs want to go, I don't care if you wear a HR monitor or not, get on the wagon and go for the ride. Check your emails, order pizza on your cell, wave to your neighbors, let the legs go.
I never liked the HR monitor. Never have, never will. It has ruined middle/long distance running. I'm glad you didn't slave to it when you decided to 'screw it'
Don't worry about 'simply excess, excess effort, excess fatigue'. Go for a 4-miler recovery run this evening if you're worried so much about it.
That was a fantastic workout.
Your run today was something I just could not do when I was at the same point without going anaerobic after 4 miles or so. I would guess that your stamina is really coming along with results like these. I'll take feeling like you're holding back over feeling stomped on by the effort any day.
Well done, enjoy the weekend.
Post a Comment