I am going back to running speed work. I have put it aside the last few months. Of course, I did some tempo runs and some track runs when I was prepping for the Austin Marathon, but building speed was certainly nowhere near the core of my training regime. I wanted to build mileage and I wanted to log high weekly numbers during that training period. I made sure I had a good number of fast-ish miles, but I never pushed myself too much.
Monday, I set out on a tempo run. It was probably not the best idea since my 9 mile run on Saturday with Brennan was probably the longest + fastest since the marathon AND I had run 4 good miles on Sunday. While I felt good, I was far from rested. But I wanted to run FAST and needed to get out there.
The problem was that it was windy and I was doing a mile loop. That meant half the mile I was facing a lot of resistance and cold, the other half I was speedy and hot from the sun shinning. After 3 miles at a tempo pace (the first 2 at a much faster pace than I expected, the third at a normal tempo pace), I was pretty tired and knew I needed energy to run up some hills to get back home.
I took today (Tuesday) off, as it is my busy teaching day. (Can I just say that Spring Break CANNOT come fast enough? These students--not to mention ME--need a good break). It was a beautiful sunny, non-windy day. The next couple of days look full of rain, cold, snow, etc. Meh. Of course my rest day was the best weather day of the week.
I want to do a little bit of intervals tomorrow and then take it easy for the rest of the week, as I am running a 20K on Sunday. I do not plan to race that 20K hard, but use it as a chance to work on stamina.
In other news, I am spending more time on Twitter these days. (Follow me here). I get totally overwhelmed with how many tweets are happening all the time, and I have yet to fully figure out all the Twitter etiquette and symbols/hashtags. But (and I swore I would never say this!) I am having a blast!
Has anyone ever done a 20K?
I am looking at an instant PR, but almost wishing it was just a half marathon so I could gauge where I am at based on my fall halves. Oh well!
Exciting that you will be adding speed work back into your schedule. I have been loving doing speed lately! I've never done a 20K either.
ReplyDeleteI get overwhelmed a bit by twitter too, but I'm also trying to post there a bit more.
"A chance to work on stamina" - but you just ran a marathon! Your stamina sounds pretty impressive to me! But I get your point ;).
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I've ever even SEEN a 20k advertised anywhere near me. It seems like it would be a fun distance to run, though.
I love Twitter! I think the important thing to keep in mind is that you don't have to read each and every tweet. When I first got it, I was totally overwhelmed because I was trying to read everything, but you just can't (depending on how many people you follow, obviously). Now I love it, if for no other reason than I find out news way before it hits the news websites (because it's usually trending before anyone's had time to write a story about it).
Yep, each tweet is super intense and hard to follow. I follow mostly runners so I go there for my running news :)
DeleteAnd, my marathon stamina was terrible. I lost my pace group within the first 5 miles. I did not have a Garmin or GPS with me so I have no idea what my individual miles were, but I think they were not too consistent and were all over the place.
DeleteJust use your pace to compare with your pace from the fall. It's not perfect, but 20 vs 21 K is pretty close. :)
ReplyDeleteRight. I am just so afraid I am going to be much slower! oh well.
DeleteTake what the day gives you. Try not to overthink, try not to psyche yourself out. You might be surprised. :)
Deletenever done a 20k - I'd be tempted to just keep running with my garmin to get that half time. hahaha! I'm with you, can't they extend it just a little!!
ReplyDeleteI've never done a 20km but we measure everything in kms here so I can't even comprehend some of the distances you guys do. I think 14 km is long and do when I read 13 miles I have to stop and realize that is not 13 km. if that made any sense...
ReplyDeleteI like tempo runs and speed work more then mileage, I think I'm long run phobic!
I used to be speed-phobic but now I am liking it a lot more!
DeleteI've never heard of a 20k race. That is interesting :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I would definitely use half marathon pace, but at least you will have an instant PR for a 20K, hehe. I've never even heard of that distance but there are a lot of half marathons here.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is cool to have something that is different than a half for my race list!
DeleteI've never run a 20K - good luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm still trying to figure out the whole twitter thing, too!
Nice blog!!
ReplyDeleteI've run every distance from 35 miles on down :-)
Saved me plenty on psychiatrist bills :-)
Your picture of the boardwalk in Atlantic City brings back an old memory of when I was in Medical School in Philly and I flew my plane at 500 feet just out over the water along the length of the Boardwalk!
Much easier than running the marathon, I'm sure!
Thanks, I just did the half in Atlantic City, so it was not painful. I LOVED the course and running on the boardwalk. I grew up vacationing on the Jersey shore so it was a fun way to come back to it. Never flew above it though!
DeleteGood job on your tempo run! I am also trying to mix a little speedwork into my running, as I have a bad habit of just going out and running whatever speed I feel like on that particular day, with no purpose in mind.
ReplyDeleteI actually rearranged my running this week based on the weather forecast. The bulk of the snow missed us today, but we are having 50+ MPH winds. I'm glad I ran on Monday and Tuesday so I could use today as a XT day (normally I do my weekly runs Tues.-Thurs.)
Good luck on your 20K race!!
Thanks! The wind here is intense, too. Only rain so far, but we may get snow tonight.
DeleteI have also been completely guilty with running by feel and no purpose. I love this and it is why I love running, but then I tend to get mad at myself after races when I htink I should have done better. Oh well.
I've never raced a 20k (or any other distance for that matter), but it sounds like a great challenge to switch things up. I wish I had a spring break to look forward to! For now, I'll continue looking forward to spring itself.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to spring is a good thing! My Spring Break will most likely consist of catching up with all the work I have put off for a bit. Whoops.
DeleteWelcome to Twitter! I held out forever and now I love it. You'll get the hang of it quickly. The nice thing is that it's not the time suck that so many other platforms are!
ReplyDelete