When I first started running I was a strong believer in quality over quantity. I used the FIRST plan, ran 3X/week, maxed out @ 30 miles and BQed on my first marathon. It worked for me.
In more recent years I started to increase the quantity. I did this over several years such that I maxed out @ 80 miles (for one week) during my last marathon. I also believed that going all out at the end of the run is the way to go. It worked for me.
Now with Tim I am training very differently. For example, this week I ran every day, 73 miles total, only in my aerobic HR zone (aside from a recovery run set to max at the lower end of my aerobic HR). In fact, most of my runs since the beginning of February were like this. No speed (aside from a TT), only few strides. And I got faster. My aerobic pace now, the pace that I seem to be able to hold forever averages at 7:45, consistently over the past few weeks. When I started to increase miles after my injury, at the beginning of February, my aerobic pace was close to 9. Of course, I am not saying that my improvement is due entirely to aerobic running; I am aware that my base has not gone away for the few weeks when I was injured. But, it is amazing to me that simply aerobic running is working so well in not only bringing me back, but also improving my aerobic pace in one month flat. I am really excited to see what I can do once we add speed.
Which brings me back to training methods...I continue to believe that most methods work, high mileage, high speed, HR training. But I am starting to believe that I can train smarter, less "all out", and maybe achieve more than I was before. Time will tell. Racing will tell. For now, I am really having A LOT of fun running and being coached. Best thing ever for me, I think.
Here is what I have been doing for the past few weeks..
14 comments:
Are you being coached just for running or for tri's too?
My friend is training/is being coached for ironman mont tremblant and has been using heart rate, it is very slow but he has seen great improvement.
It sounds like you are having a blast and doing well too!
Definitely try to find the maple Greek yogurt. I have some in the freezer right now.
Glad you're enjoying the process and seeing some improvement! :) I think the key is developing all aspects of your fitness so changing things up and developing different systems at different times is the underlying theme. All this aerobic base work is different for you b/c your body has not fully adapted to it yet... so you see improvement. Once you're fully adapted to it and you move on to doing some harder stuff I think you'll be very pleased with how your body responds and adapts to the hard work. You'll be able to kill yourself with hard running in the morning and by noon you'll forget you even worked out that day. :)
I am really excited to see some data here! It looks (with the graph) like there is a lot more variety than what you are saying you have been doing- But I guess progression can just mean very easy to easy..? Truly thrilled to see that you are having some big benefits from the aerobic zone!!
THis reminds me a bit of where I was at right after Boston, running easy at 9:30+/-. Then after the 5k I did in June I readjusted. I would have been happy to have someone interpret my HR data for me..still could use that!
Easy+ strides..this is speed work in small packages-- Truly speed building but with lots of recovery time and not taking a huge toll on the body. Love it.
I can't wait to see where all this takes you this spring!
Raina, my progressions have been from warm up to easy to moderate:)
@ Tami - for running. No tri-s for a while:)
'Easy with stride' I like the idea of making it's own separate category.
You're making some great gains and it's motivating to read!
I get the feeling you have so much natural talent, that any training plan WOULD work for you! I don't necessarily believe this is the case for everybody. I also believe in periodization so your seeing lots of great improvements and results now because your still ramping up a little in the phase. When your body becomes adjusted to it, you'll start seeing that bar chart (winch is awesome btw) change colors. I'm excited to see how this plays out!!
And thanks for your tips. I am delivering in a hospital. I've heard about the LCs they will have on hand so I will not hesitate.
And yes, my mom (and sister) got stretch marks so I think it's probably in my future as well :( I'm mostly ok with it, but if I can avoid, obviously i would like to. I'm actually more concerned with veracious veins. My mom has lots of those but she wasn't active and had five kids so I'm hoping to escape that with a fit pregnancy and wearing lots of compression.
@ Runforwine - thanks! Not sure about talent, I do have the "hard work" though for sure. Also, stretch marks are so worth it in the end...
@ Adrienne - It is supposed to be "easy with strides", just forgot the s. Ha.
I saw this last night and really wanted to read it right then but glad to get here today. So smart here...I'm so glad you are sharing this information...it makes me trust my plan a bit more and not get antsy for faster paced runs when my plan doesn't call for it. You're chart was perfect for my level of analytical interest...just enough simplicity, color and wording to keep me interested and able to follow. :)
@ AManda, you are doing awesome! The 30K was the proof right?
There is a lot of research done on training at a base pace until you no longer see improvements and then adding speed work in, repeat base/speed each time you don't see improvements. I think it's Dr. Phil Maffeton's philosophy.
Keep being strong, girl!! :)
I definitely agree with you that having a good base and continuing to maintain, even add to it will help with speed...but I think that can only increase your speed to a certain extent. I have stayed away from FAST running because I'm nervous of injury/not being able to go fast...but now I know I need speed if I want to be fast, not every run though..only once a week.
I think the most important aspect of a training plan is believing in the plan!!
I can't wait to see how your training continues, it sounds like it's going awesome so far and that you will only continue to get better and better!!!
good luck!! xoxo!
So all your easy running is around 7:45 pace now? That sounds crazy! You are going to unstoppable.
Just as an FYI, I looked into that 5K in April. It's not the same course and looking through past results the times are really slow...
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