A Racing Experiment
| August 1, 2012 | Posted by Emily under Uncategorized |
For the last 2 months, I’ve been running a lot.
“A lot” being relative of course. Compared to my training partner who routinely logs 100+ mile weeks, or Scott Jurek who considers 110 miles “tapering”, I’m putting up pretty pathetic numbers. But when you look at all the data my garmin is racking up these days, compared to this time last year when 50 miles seemed like an insurmountable total for a seven day stretch, I’m feeling pretty good about using “a lot” to describe my mileage.
I haven’t necessarily been running very fast, in fact, I’ve been running pretty darn slow, with “running” being a kind way to describe my recovery shuffles. My paces are a far departure from where they were in the weeks leading up to Eugene, and not in the good direction, which I’m sure is both an unwanted gift from this super lovely summer of triple digit temps, body drenching humidity, and record breaking heat indexes, and, of course, the result of higher mileage training.
In addition to not moving particularly fast, I also haven’t exactly had much structure to my workouts. If I had a training plan, it would pretty much just revisit the theme from above and read “a lot of miles” on a weekly basis. My overall mileage is higher than ever before with 70, 80+ mile weeks as the norm and even peaking at 92, but speed work, tempo runs, and hill repeat are almost nonexistent.
I’ve consistently done double workouts, a few back to back longer runs, and training sessions that exceed the distance of a marathon. Not to mention running a handful of marathons “just for fun” in the months of May and June.
Basically, I’ve been training more like an ultra runner, than a marathoner, without actually having any clue what I’m doing.
But now I’m ready to put this training to the test and see how I race on the “a lot” method.
So I’m heading back to the races, FINALLY. With a 50k jaunt through Dahlgren, Virginia.
The course is rumored to be flat, which was a huge prerequisite for me, given the lack of any elevation changes in my life lately.
It’s also rumored, or just plain fact, to be hot and humid, which I’m hoping won’t completely kill me since I’ve made a very intentional effort to not hide from the hellacious summer weather.
My taper strategy is to follow last week’s 77 miles with a drastic reduction in road time coupled with some quality untappd time to try and up my mental game before race day. Wish me luck! (…on both on the race and the taper week survival. We all know resting is not my forte. See again: my love for the “a lot” approach to mileage.)
Have fun this weekend! I’m thinking the ‘a lot’ method will do you good, especially if it’s a flat course. Good luck!
Love the opening picture!
speaking of “quality” vs “quantity” of miles when training for a marathon- check out this article which discusses them. i’m also training and trying out the “quantity” plan this summer. lots of speed work, hills, and tempo runs. we’ll see how it goes…!
http://www.active.com/running/Articles/10-Tips-for-Running-Your-Strongest-Marathon.htm
70 and 92 mile weeks? Goodness, I’m exhausted and slow running 55 mpw now. My body just can’t get enough sleep. How do you do it, superwoman :-).
Did the 1/2 marathon there (back in Feb I think). It is flat with only a very slow pitch – it was for trains after all.
What you will find is the trail is all sorts of gravel in sections based upon when it was converted to a trail. Sections of small gravel, big gravel, reall big gravel – as well as dirt areas and even grass.
I read some race reports about the gravel. How problematic/fatiguing did you find it to be? I have no idea what to expect from it!
Trick was to treat the big gravel like water, just run on the edges of the trail where it’s packed dirt versus stone when you get to the bigger rocks. I really is in patches. It’s a great place to get a trail PR since it’s so flat and straight.
And will we be hearing about 100km or 100 miles soon? ;p
Got to love a race course description that includes the sentence “Don’t worry about the Rifle/Pistol Range Impact Area signs.”
Wow wow wow! Good luck!!
Good luck! That sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun! I hope the weather chills out for you.
Training sessions that exceed the distance of a marathon??? Sounds a little whack-a-doodle. I can’t imagine running like that!
[...] this week into an unexpected taper/race week meant I had to get my mileage down real quick like. With rest and light exercise being two of the [...]
Ohh you were running in my backyard! I live less than 5 minutes from the start. Did you like the race?