Every morning now, when I first get out of bed, I do a careful physical inventory. One of the first thoughts that goes through my head as I begin to sort the day ahead is what my running goals for the day are. As I walk around the house I begin to semiconsciously check those goals against what I'm feeling - knees OK? Check shins? Check Ankles?
Today I feel pretty good physically. I this is the second week of my newly modified workout regime and I'm still very curious as to whether it will be sustainable. I think, for me, the slow steady progression of 10% increase in overall mileage per week might not be such a good idea as making a small advance, holding and normalizing on it for a few weeks and then stabbing forward again.
What do you think? Its this marathon training heresy? Courting disaster? Pretty durned ordinary?
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3 comments:
10%/week means that for the average person your body is under constant, yet sustainable stress. It means that you are pushing yourself forward into new territory at a rate determined by "the professionals." After years of coaching ordinary human beings "the professionals" decided that increasing mileage at that rate resulted in injury-free running for the majority of the people they worked with. There are a bunch of folks that can increase more quickly, and there's a bunch of folks who have to take it more slowly and the only way to know what group you're part of is to start somewhere and see what happens. Starting at 10% is a good rule of thumb because it is where men and women who know what they're doing (as opposed to guys like me who know next to nothing) start the people they train. That's one of the reasons I decided to run Las Vegas. I now have years of experience and thousands of people against which I can judge myself and my abilities. As a 42 year old I'm finding that I'm pushing the outside of the envelope and going longer or faster on any given day means I have to pay for it later. If I stick to the 10% I seem to be able to hang in there. The only way to know is to do it. And remember, the goal is to make it to the end of the marathon. The only way to run 26.2 is to pace yourself. The goal is the same throughout your (our) training. Pacing. Running today with the knowledge that you have to run again tomorrow, and the day after that, etc.
Drew,
Glad to hear from another person headed to Las Vegas.
So far, I've been tracking my weekly mileage for a total of five complete weeks.
Jun 27, 2005 17.85
Jul 4, 2005 20.70
Jul 11, 2005 16.78
Jul 18, 2005 22.20
Jul 25, 2005 23.94
My increases have been:
week 1 - two: +16%
week 2 - 3: -19%
week 3 - 4: +32%
week 4 - 5: +07%
for a net increase of %34 increase or about 8.5% per week.
So I guess by one measure, I need to step it up a bit. On the other hand I'm currently ahead of the Higdon schedule. I think I'll run the same miles this week as last and see how my body responds.
SD
I can't believe you haven't posted the turtledash as an upcoming run!!
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