Going Long

I had another great run this past Saturday as I cranked out 16 miles.  I was able to keep the pace slow enough to give my legs a solid workout.  The purpose of the long run is build endurance and stamina in the legs; speed is developed during the midweek workouts.  You are supposed to do these long runs at about 2 minutes per mile slower than you actually can do them.  Let me tell you it is difficult to run that slow, but the benefits are huge.  If you run too quickly at a distance like that during training, your body can't recover quickly enough by the next workout two days later.  Without the recovery, the workout would have been a waste of time.  Another component is that staying on your feet that extra amount of time actually gives the legs and connective tissue a huge endurance test.  My total running time was just under 3 hours.

This week is a recovery week and I'm scheduled for only three six mile runs as so I'm fresh for the 18 and 20 milers over the next few weeks.  It's gonna be great!

Running Unplugged

I did something extremely ususual this morning - I ran a route without my GPS watch or any other watch for that matter.  On my way to San Francisco for a conference I just forgot to pack it.  I ran from my hotel at Market and Montgomery down Market to the clock tower at the Embarcadero.  From there I ran down the Embarcadero just past Fort Mason to the lawns just on this side of the Golden Gate before coming back.  I think that's about 6-7 miles round trip.  It was very freeing to just run without all the analysis.  Also, it was very fun to see the city early in the morning.  There were runners everywhere!

Going Fast

The reason that I am not faster than I am is that I just about always treat each of my workouts as though it were a race.  Of course, this leads to overtraining since the body can't recover quickly enough before the next workout.  This past Saturday's run was no exception.  I had a blast running with Darren and Brian from the Runner's Zone in Anaheim Hills, but they are much faster than me!  They decided to go long with me and we did 14 miles, but at a pace which was 1.5 to 2 minutes faster than my training pace.  I managed to hang on and just about PR'd the half marathon which was fantastic!  This is why I run.  I can't believe I trained for two marathons before I started running with a group.  Yes I overtrained, but it was sooo worth it.  Maybe I'll slow down next time.