Selena
Mileage/Time: 3.1mi/32min.
I'm throwing out the 10% training rule. I found this random article online, and the author has some valid pointers on why following that rule can short-change your potential. Instead, I'm going to go by the article's axiom: "Listen to your body!!!" This rather vague concept needs elaboration, though...
Sure, we can "listen to our bodies" and surrender after some sloppy trotting because we're tired, our gait feels jangly, it's too hot outside, etc., but is that really listening to our body? Or is it more so listening to evil thought-demons? See, I'm really good at listening to the latter, but not so good at the former. In the past, I've ignored tiny aches that quickly metamorphed into a stabbing pain called a stress fracture. I've run the exact same cement course, oblivious to my body's reaction to the sidewalk's cant (that slight slope of the surface to aid in rainwater draining) and acclimatization to the routine-ness But now I'm going to be a better listener; I'm going to tune out those inconsequential thought-demons and turn up the volume on those bodily, physiological clues. Am I sweating because my muscles are happily singing in searing work, or because my joints can't take this much pounding yet? I think diversifying my running course, my distance, my speed will all be in aid of this.
The author offers some pointers on how to increase distance without the 10% rule, and I like his/her tactic:
Week 2 : 3 - 4 - 3 - 4. Total = 14 miles
Increase of two miles. More than the 10 % rule, but that's fine, you are only increasing your mileage on two of your four runs.
Week 3 : 3 - 5 - 3 - 5. Total = 16 miles
Again an increase of two miles. Again more than the 10 % rule. By the way, see the hard/easy principle starting to shape.
Week 4 : 3 - 3 - 3 - 3. Total = 12 miles
Cut back to 75 % of your training load. Twelve miles suddenly feels a lot lighter than three weeks ago !
Week 5 : 3 - 5 - 4 - 6. Total = 18 miles
Increase one of the shorter runs so that your shorter and longer runs don't get too far apart
Week 6 : 4 - 5 - 4 - 7. Total = 20 miles
Again an increase in one of the shorter runs as well as in the longest run. Keep in mind that your longest run can be in somewhat lower intensity than the other runs. You are trying to cover distance here, not trying to get there as fast as possible.
Week 7 : 4 - 6 - 4 - 8. Total = 22 miles
Steadily increasing with 2 miles per week we are already doing ten miles more than six weeks ago !
Week 8 : 3 - 4 - 3 - 5. Total = 15 miles
Again a significant cut-back in the fourth week. Give those legs a fresher-upper.
Week 9 : 4 - 6 - 5 - 9. Total = 24 miles
After the rest week you are fresh again and add another 2 miles to your mileage.
Week 10 : 4 - 6 - 5 - 10. Total = 25 miles
And you have done it. 25 miles per week."
I'm synthesizing this plan with my run/walk thing (to prevent the flare up of past injuries) and with some workouts I remember doing in high school cross country:
- Fartlek Training: If you can find a good stretch of empty road with electricity line poles demarcating even intervals, trotting to one pole then sprinting to the next, rinse, repeat, is a great way to get in a short workout without sacrificing a good energy push. This can also be done for longer distances without the sprints.
- Hills: this was a sorta derivative of Fartlek in which we'd find a good, quarter-mile hill, and then run up it as fast as we could, trot back down to the bottom, rinse, repeat. Brutal, but great for the ass.
