Hard Workouts
Since my last post I ran a short, easy run on Friday, a double (9 miles in a.m. and 5 in the p.m.) on Saturday, zero on Sunday, and 20 miles after work on Monday. These runs gave me 62 miles for last week and a good 20 mile start to this week.
The long run was scheduled for Sunday with an off day on Monday, but I switched them. Saturday night I just could not sleep. I was awake until 4:00 a.m. A lack of sleep combined with the fact that I had a lot of things to get done made not running on Sunday an easy sell. This week is an easy week for me, so getting back on schedule should not be a problem.
“While it does feel great to bounce right back after a day off and have a great workout, I still believe it’s more important to run tired. You can’t be cutting back before every hard workout and expect to maximize your training.”
I read the above statement on Zeke’s Blog. I think not following this rule is a problem for me. I don’t have any trouble doing the tough workouts or getting in the mileage. I just get conservative about scheduling more than three hard workouts a week or to push the mileage the day before or after a hard workout.
It seems like the more I run, the less I know about running. I guess I’m getting to the point where mileage alone won’t help me improve very much. I need to learn to train smarter. My running life is similar to a training program. First I built the endurance; then I gained some zip by adding a few faster runs. Now I need to bring the two together to get the most gain from my effort.
The long run was scheduled for Sunday with an off day on Monday, but I switched them. Saturday night I just could not sleep. I was awake until 4:00 a.m. A lack of sleep combined with the fact that I had a lot of things to get done made not running on Sunday an easy sell. This week is an easy week for me, so getting back on schedule should not be a problem.
“While it does feel great to bounce right back after a day off and have a great workout, I still believe it’s more important to run tired. You can’t be cutting back before every hard workout and expect to maximize your training.”
I read the above statement on Zeke’s Blog. I think not following this rule is a problem for me. I don’t have any trouble doing the tough workouts or getting in the mileage. I just get conservative about scheduling more than three hard workouts a week or to push the mileage the day before or after a hard workout.
It seems like the more I run, the less I know about running. I guess I’m getting to the point where mileage alone won’t help me improve very much. I need to learn to train smarter. My running life is similar to a training program. First I built the endurance; then I gained some zip by adding a few faster runs. Now I need to bring the two together to get the most gain from my effort.
posted by Bart at 3:40 PM
2 Comments:
"I just get conservative about scheduling more than three hard workouts a week or to push the mileage the day before or after a hard workout."
I guess it depends on what you call a hard workout, but I'm not sure why you'd need more than 3 hard workouts a week. I try to stick with 2 and maybe 1 moderately paced run.
You're right. Hard workout is too strong a description. Basically, what I called hard workouts were a long run, a tempo or race pace run, and mile repeats. The other three or four runs during the week are all at easy or recovery pace.
I just need to push things a bit during one or two of the other runs.
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