Compare and contrast
On Thursday I had a fab speedwork session, I managed to cover 6.69k in 36 minutes, which works out (mixing my measurement units) at 8:40 miles. By far the fastest I've gone, and I shaved about a minute off my 5k time on the way past it (it was around 27:08 from memory, and I'd only before just got under 28). It felt great, I felt really strong in the fast spells and the recovery spells were what I used to think of as unbearably fast. It really showed me how far I've come, and next week I'm intending to do a "10k race" on the treadmill (no races organised for 7am on Friday unfortunately), and I'm confident of decreasing my PB of around 59 minutes quite significantly. I felt very very good.
Then today, it was long run day. Over the next few weeks leading up to the half marathon my parents are here and I'm away for the weekend in Catalonia (they come tomorrow and leave on Monday, I'm away next weekend, then they're here again the weekend after). So I've been moving my runs around, and instead of this weekend's long session being 10k race I've moved it to next Friday, and I moved next weeks 11 - 12 miler to today (as I can't run long tomorrow either, so it's Saturday rather than Sunday next week). That's the longest run on my training schedule, so assuming I don't just stop running between now and the race, hopefully I should be able to cope with it.
So, I managed a 12.2 mile run in 122 minutes (working out at almost exactly 10 minute miles), but I just didn't feel good during it. I got round, but I didn't get into that comfort zone that I sometimes find on my runs, and it was hard work. Now, I know that a 12 mile run IS hard work, but it seemed a lot harder than the 9 and 10 milers I've been doing recently, and it started feeling hard a long time before I got beyond the distances I've done before. Maybe I ran too fast, I don't know, but then I managed to maintain it pretty much (apart from a horrible hill between 10 and 11 which I will admit to taking a walk break on), and had it been a race I'd have carried on for the extra mile. As it was, however, I ran past my house, had done the required distance and decided to call it a day rather than running any further and having to get myself back that extra mile home.
On my previous long runs I've been feeling that it's surprisingly easy to build up distance, whereas today the doubts about the sanity of this whole thing started setting in. I've got plenty of time I suppose to build up to 26.2, but it's really starting to dawn on me just how far that actually is.
The other thing I want to sit down and think about is what time to aim for in the half marathon. I don't want to get fixated on making a certain time, but I would like to have something to judge my performance by. I've got some race time predictor tables in a library book (and amazingly my 5k time from last July predicts my 10k time from November almost to the second), and I've been looking at them. Based on my previous races I'm looking at about 2:10, and I'd guess that pretty much fits with today's run too. But if I am getting as much faster as Thursday's run suggests then maybe I could do it faster. Who knows? Maybe aim for 2:10 then I'm less likely to be disappointed? There's plenty of time to build up speed in future races...
Then today, it was long run day. Over the next few weeks leading up to the half marathon my parents are here and I'm away for the weekend in Catalonia (they come tomorrow and leave on Monday, I'm away next weekend, then they're here again the weekend after). So I've been moving my runs around, and instead of this weekend's long session being 10k race I've moved it to next Friday, and I moved next weeks 11 - 12 miler to today (as I can't run long tomorrow either, so it's Saturday rather than Sunday next week). That's the longest run on my training schedule, so assuming I don't just stop running between now and the race, hopefully I should be able to cope with it.
So, I managed a 12.2 mile run in 122 minutes (working out at almost exactly 10 minute miles), but I just didn't feel good during it. I got round, but I didn't get into that comfort zone that I sometimes find on my runs, and it was hard work. Now, I know that a 12 mile run IS hard work, but it seemed a lot harder than the 9 and 10 milers I've been doing recently, and it started feeling hard a long time before I got beyond the distances I've done before. Maybe I ran too fast, I don't know, but then I managed to maintain it pretty much (apart from a horrible hill between 10 and 11 which I will admit to taking a walk break on), and had it been a race I'd have carried on for the extra mile. As it was, however, I ran past my house, had done the required distance and decided to call it a day rather than running any further and having to get myself back that extra mile home.
On my previous long runs I've been feeling that it's surprisingly easy to build up distance, whereas today the doubts about the sanity of this whole thing started setting in. I've got plenty of time I suppose to build up to 26.2, but it's really starting to dawn on me just how far that actually is.
The other thing I want to sit down and think about is what time to aim for in the half marathon. I don't want to get fixated on making a certain time, but I would like to have something to judge my performance by. I've got some race time predictor tables in a library book (and amazingly my 5k time from last July predicts my 10k time from November almost to the second), and I've been looking at them. Based on my previous races I'm looking at about 2:10, and I'd guess that pretty much fits with today's run too. But if I am getting as much faster as Thursday's run suggests then maybe I could do it faster. Who knows? Maybe aim for 2:10 then I'm less likely to be disappointed? There's plenty of time to build up speed in future races...
posted by YP at 1:04 PM
1 Comments:
2:10 sounds great if you ask me. judging from what i have read you should be close.
good luck!!
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