Hard Runs

As you may know, I am training for the Omaha Marathon, which is on September 26th. Most of the training plans I've seen (including the one I received from the coach of the running club) set out 5 runs each week. I have a really hard time running 5 days a week. Sure, it's tiring, but mainly I suffer from "burn-out" when running that much. I hate when I get to the point of dreading my workouts...and when I have to lace up my sneakers that often, my dread just starts to consume me.

I've figured out that 4 runs per week is much more manageable for me. In order to feel prepared for my marathon, I've decided to focus on making my runs quality runs. I've read a lot about marathon training and have learned that key runs are:

• track repeats
• tempo runs
• long runs

I had already incorporated long runs once a week, so I decided to try out the others. On Tuesday, I hit the track!

I came equipped with a plan:

• 10 min warm-up
• 20m high knees, 20m butt kicks
• 4 x 100m strides (speed up to 90% sprint over 100 meters)
• 3 x 1600m at 8:00 pace, with 1:00 RI (mile repeats at 8:00 pace, with 1:00 rest in between)
• 10 min cool down

This. Was. Hard. I knew I could run a mile in 8 minutes, and the 1st mile wasn't too bad. The 2nd was hard. I ended up taking a 2 minute rest before starting the 3rd, and definitely most difficult, mile. I kept checking my Garmin during the 1st 2 laps of the 3rd mile, and I couldn't seem to get my pace under 8:25. I knew the further I got, the harder it'd be to bring my overall pace to 8:00. At the half way mark, I thought to myself, "How much do I want this? How hard am I willing to work?" I started envisioning a crowd of supporters cheering me on and pushing me to go faster. I zeroed in, buckled down, and made it across the finish line in 8:01. I couldn't believe it!!

According to the FIRST program, you should aim for each repeat to be at the exact same pace. We're talking 1 or 2 seconds in variation, not 3 or 4 seconds...yikes! It also prescribes that your pace should be "...realistic and challenging, but not so difficult that you are unable to recover (for your other quality runs.)" I did my 3 1600 repeats in:

• Mile 1 - 7:59
• Mile 2 - 7:58
• Mile 3 - 8:01

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself! But like I said, it was really DIFFICULT! I was literally grunting across that finish line. Made me feel pretty hardcore.

No time to enjoy the pretty blue sky until the work was done.

Look out, track, I'll be back for you next week!

On Wednesday, I tried my hand at another key workout, the Tempo Run. Tempo runs are usually medium in length, where the middle chunk of miles are run at a pace slightly faster than your marathon goal pace (or a "comfortably hard" pace.) This trains your body to be able to sustain faster paces over longer periods of time. It also raises your lactic threshold.

According to Runner's World, you can find your perfect pace for tempo runs, by adding 30-40 seconds to a recent 5-K pace or 10-15 seconds to a recent 10-K pace. I also used a table in the book Run Less Run Faster (also put together by Runner's World) which is also based on 5-K times. All of this info pointed me to a tempo pace between 8:35 and 9:00. I was aiming for closer to 8:30, but just couldn't pull it off. However, I was really consistent over the 3 mile tempo portion of my run!

• Mile 1 - 9:27 (warm up)
• Mile 2 - 9:51 (warm up)
• Mile 3 - 8:55 (tempo)
• Mile 4 - 8:56 (tempo)
• Mile 5 - 8:54 (tempo)
• Mile 6 - 10:00 (cool down)

Another hard run! I was pretty sore on Thursday after these back-to-back workouts. As long as I can stay uninjured (knock on wood!), I can definitely  see how these types of runs will be so beneficial to my marathon training. I'm ready for the challenge they will bring!