Leading up to the Indy 1/2 in May I really didn't have any sort of training plan. I just ran base mileage over and over again. Every day 6 miles. A few longer runs of 9-13 miles on the weekends leading up to the race. In my 5 and 10k's leasing up through the fall and winter prior I saw my times drop, set PR after PR but that came more from experience of racing than anything else. In the months leading up to Indy I was so afraid that I wouldn't finish the race, I only was concerned with getting in mileage every day.
Since then, my attitude has changed a bit. And I have wound up listening to my body a little more. This was more or less a neccesity after some mini breakdowns leading up to Indy and a few weeks of doing nothing afterwards. Now, it isn't always about the 6'er every day, cause really whats the point.
Take today for instance. After my 6'er yesterday I just wasn't feeling it today. I had a ten on Sunday, followed that up with a 4, a day off and then the quickest 6'er of the month which included hills. My quads today, not good. I knew it when I woke up. I knew it at work, and eve the customary 3 pm mocha did little to help my quads, (true to the science of nutrition, but not superstition.) At any rate the old me would have grounded oit a 6'er over the hills and just put in useless miles at far less than race pace. Instead, I stayed on the flat grounds, and put in 4 at 7:05 pace today. To put that in perspective my quickest 6'er earlier in the week was 7:03 pace. The thing is, the 6'er if attempted today wouldn't have been at that pace. It wouldn't have been close.
Earlier in the week I picked up a book from the library Run Faster: From the 5k to a Marathon by Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald. I'm not one so much to read training books, I'm too stubborn to follow training plans rigidly. But as I read through the first few chapters of this book the whole philosophy is adaptive training, which requires a paying more attention to your body than your plan. That's extremely simplified, but I'm only two chapters in, as I said.
One mantra that's already been repeated is keep your training schedule in pencil. It's good advice. As I said, had I run 6 miles today at least 2 woulda been garbage miles. I know that from how my quad reacted to the mini inclines I had today (damn you, drawbrige!) But instead I got in 4 good miles. This is shit that I've been doing for the past few weeks and has resulted in what have been breakthroughs in my training times. We're talking 30 second drops in my splits. Not bad.
That all said, it's not an excuse not to push your body to its limits in training, and that is the delicate balance, and the difference between results and stagnation. I'll likely continue to read the book and see what I can gain from it.
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2 comments:
what is your post run recovery like? do you eat soon after, take in fluids, sodium, etc.? I wonder if some of your leg pain is from not recovering well?
then again, even on my rest day, all of a sudden I have a pain in my calf. bullshit.
my recovery likely isn't what it should be. i don't eat until usually 90 minutes afterwards, which is a poor move, i know. i definitely get in fluids and whatnot though. i should pay more attention to sodium, since right now I pay nearly no attention to that.
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