Monday, March 5, 2012

All hail to the long run

This week I ran 75 miles:

Wednesday: 7 miles @ 7:27 pace and paced my daughter in a 2.9 mile leap year race
Thursday: 2 mile warm up, 40 mins tempo, 2 cool down. 11 miles
Saturday: 8 miles @ 7:26 pace in hard rain at 6:30am

I *think* I'm getting better at my long run. I tried so hard this week to nail it. My goal was 7:15 for 12 miles and then drop the hammer to maybe 6:45 pace for 6 miles. It was a good 18 miler but went more like this:

Mile 1: 7:07 um, not a good warm up mile.
Mile 2: 6:55 Awe jeez, I know where this is going.
Mile 3: 6:46 LaBella, cut the shit and cool it.
Mile 4: 7:06 Ok, I can do this. Getting closer to 7:15
Mile 5:j7:09 I'm doing it!!
Mile 6: 7:05 ok the new 7:15 is 7:05. ok?
MIle 7: 7:11 Maybe I can still bring this down...
Mile 8: 7:06 F that idea...lol
Mile 9: 7:05 I like this pace
Mile 10: 7:07. I could do this shit all day.
Mile 11: 6:57. ok slow down so you can hammer it at mile 12
Mile 12: 7:05. Um, hammer time. Wake up...
MIle 13: 6:57 ok a soft mallet hammer..
Mile 14: 6:56 I take this negative stuff pretty seriously. lol
Mile 15 6:55 This marks my entrance into the WIND tunnel of hell 
Mile 16: 7:16 Total devastation. I felt fine but could not move into the headwind
Mile 17: 7:08 This took major effort
Mile 18: 7:25 F**k this. get me home!
AVG 7:04 pace

My goal at mile 15 was to get my average under 7 but that wasn't going to happen with these conditions. I kicked myself shortly after taking my glutamine, creatine and protein and gatorade. Another long run in the bank. 7 weeks until my first marathon!!!

AB UPDATE!!!
So the newest advice I'm receiving is to get off my bosu ball and get on the floor. Because nothing else is working I am giving it a shot.

I'm getting stand up abs, kinda?

This was after a 6:30am 8 miler in torrential downpour.
It doesn't capture the 50 degree rain but trust me!

And one more random photo: Please tell me I'm not the only one that takes off their running sunglasses and gets excited at dried sweat..lol.. Boo-yahhh! Disgusting but proof of hard work!

Happy Running friends!
LaBella xoxo

10 comments:

  1. I'm sure 100 people have told you this but you're sabotaging any chance you have at a good marathon. If you're slowing down at the end of long training runs there is a reason...it's called racing. Being type-A is fine but you need to be smart too. If you think a 7:00 pace marathon is realistic you should do your long runs at 8:00 or slower. The benefit of long runs has nothing to do with how fast you do them. I'm guessing it will take a couple marathons to convince you, best of luck.

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    1. I see what you're saying.

      From what I understand, there are 2 types of long runs. (I could be wrong. I am def'ly not the expert here.) One being the easy long run and the other having specific paces. My last 3 weeks of long runs have been with specific paces.

      The reason I bombed the final 3 miles this week was because I turned into a field that had headwind of easily 25+mph. I weigh 102lbs on a fat day. There is no way in hell I could run sub 7 into that. I would have trashed my legs for a good 2 days. So I did what I thought was best and called it a day.

      My coach is the head cc and assistant track coach at West Liberty in Ohio. I am not half assing my training. Every split you see above was written a week in advance. I have faith and trust my coach. So far I'm very pleased with my training. Who knows, I may hit the wall and walk at mile 20. I don't know. I do know I LOVE my training.

      Thank you for your advice.

      Delete
  2. Yeah get off the ball, and up the weight. I use a 25 lb weight for abs. Works like a champ. Oh and check out bodyrocker.tv with Zuzana. Great ab stuff!

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    Replies
    1. Cool. I'm using a 25lb kettlebell now. I'll check that link. Thanks

      Delete
  3. I don’t think you know what you are doing, you are going to self-destruct. Long runs at marathon race pace prepare you most directly for the demands of the marathon. The principle of specificity of training states that the most effective way to prepare for an event is to simulate that event as closely as possible in training. The closest way to simulate a marathon, of course, is to run 26.2 miles at marathon pace. Unfortunately, long runs at marathon pace are very hard on the body. If you run too far at marathon pace, the required recovery time will negate the benefits of the effort. Similarly, if you do long runs at marathon pace too often, you will greatly increase your likelihood of self-destructing through injury or overtraining.

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    Replies
    1. I see what you're saying. I have slower long runs. I do agree with the time on feet principle. The last few long runs I've done are geared towards pace miles. I try my hardest to nail my paces. I'm not perfect.

      I guess the bottom line when I stand back and look at my training is that I enjoy waking up and running. I love every mile I run. Yes, I'm marathon training but to me that's just another run. I look forward to the training. Hopefully I'm not losing my racing edge. lol.

      If you told me to run 8 pace 4 out of 7 days in pursuit of a low 3 marathon I would be miserable. I can't do that. I do what feels good and makes me happy. I enjoy the sport.

      I'm just doing my thing. Please don't attack me. As a runner have some respect for some else's training program. I would never in a million years go on someone else's blog an as ANON and rip them. It just makes no sense to me.

      Delete
  4. Well I'm not an anonymous user but I can certainly say that you are training hard I know cause I run close to those splits ... I've told you before that you run too fast but I'll wait for you to run your first marathon... In the meantime keep on trucking!

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  5. looks like I'm gonna pass on Eugene... I'm not in the greatest shape

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