It's been unseasonably cool in ol' Carolina this week. Hovering in the Mid-70's, our usual temps are the low 80's this time of year. Running in the cool (or cool for our standards) has been a welcomed change. Don't know if you non-Carolinian's know this but NC weather goes from HOT to cold in about a weeks time...there is no "in between" so this has been a delightful change in pace.
Other then the weather, this week has been fairly uneventful:
Other then the weather, this week has been fairly uneventful:
- Monday - rain
- Tuesday - 4 miles at Fleet Feet (45:58 -almost a minute slower then last week)
- Wednesday - 4.09 miles at Anna's (49:11 - hills, hills, and more hills..)
- Thursday - 4 miles at Lake Pine Community Park (43:57....NEW PR)
- Friday - maybe a 3 mile easy run
- Saturday - ??
- Sunday - Rest
- Monday - 10 mile long run and maybe the Nog run later in the day...just depends
So, those of you more experienced runners....I would like to post a few questions and get your feedback.
- How long do you normal wait between long endurance races, i.e. 1/2 marathons or marathons?
- What training programs can you recommend following to increase speed?
- What cross training do you do and how often?
- Have you tried losing weight during the off season and what programs have you followed?
1. i know there are various "rest rules" out there for recovering after a race. personally i think it depends on each individual. i like to take a few days off and then start running again, very short and very easy. after a marathon i'd take up to a week off, but up to two weeks would be ok too. for a half i'd probably take up to a week off. if i was sore or had aches i'd of course continue to take time off. sometimes a short easy run helps 'massage' your legs (in a sense), or that's my theory at least :)
ReplyDelete2. hmm there are lots of training programs out there! i am currently using a marathon plan from jack daniels' book "daniels' running formula" which also has plans for shorter races. i would recommend starting out with even simpler workouts - fartlek runs, track work (if you don't hate it), etc. the easy thing about those is they are very flexible and adaptable to anyone's schedule/speed. for track work you can pick the length of repeats you do and use a calculator (macmillan running calculator online for example) to determine what paces you should run.
3. umm. i'm bad about cross training. i would bike, if i had that option right now. i'd also attempt to swim if there was a pool i could use. (i'm not too efficient, but it always wears me out!)
4. a lot of people tend to gain weight during marathon/half-m training. i've done both. i gained when i was in the mindset of "i'm running, i can eat what i want". i lost weight (needed to anyway) and maintained by calorie counting while training - i, of course, added calories on each day depending on how many miles i ran.
wow, sorry to be so wordy :) hope i helped with your thoughts on these things! have a great long weekend!