Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Week #11 Feeling Good

Yesterday Morgan and I ran 4 miles up the Clearfield mountain, and then came 4 miles back down. I have run a lot of hills, but I have never run uphill continuously for 4 miles. It wasn't too hard, but our pace was pretty comfortable. Next time, we want to go longer and faster.

To date I have run 311 miles total. My longest run has lasted for 2 hours and 28 minutes and was at least 15 miles long. I have officially started doing speed work, which is nice because it breaks up the runs. A basic marathon training plan consists of two short runs, two medium runs, and one long run per week. The short and medium runs stay at about the same distance, but change in how the distance is acquired-hills, intervals, AT runs, etc. The long runs increase, and this is predominately how more mileage is added on each week. To increase mileage in any training plan, the rule of thumb is to increase your weekly mileage by 10% for three weeks. On the fourth week you go back down to the beginning. And then you start where you left off and keep increasing. For example: Week one-30 miles, Week two-33 miles, Week three-36 miles, Week four-30 miles. That's one series. Then on week five you would begin to increase again, starting at 36 miles. This is what I try to do. Sometimes things don't work out the way you plan. Some weeks I need an extra rest day, weather may not permit certain workouts to be done, I may have another obligation that prevents me from getting a workout in, etc. I have learned to be flexible, stay focused, and do the best I can to stay on track. Ultimately, I just don't give up. It is better to do a little something, than nothing at all.

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