[wyrillco]

So we do our long run by time each week. And then they assign us other workouts during the week. Our long run was about 6 miles last week, or 1:20. Then on Tuesday, we were supposed to do a hard six miles. Does that seem like too much? I felt like it was, and I'm a little concerned I'm going to injure myself.<br><br>
If my long run was 6 miles, should I turn around and do that distance again on Tuesday?<br><br>
I usually run about 12-15 miles a week, and from Saturday (long run) to Tuesday I ran ~14. I have a 40 minute run scheduled today, and that seems a lot more right to me.<br><br>
Any thoughts from the veterans? My knees are a little achy right now, too.

 

[augie09]

If you feel like your leg's aren't ready for a hard 6 miles, just run a hard 4 miles or a slow 4 miles and see what you feel like then. (ps. i am no veteran. just finished my HM schedule and now on full schedule.) I<br><br>
I've seen schedules that only go by time ran each day, others that go only by mileage. This schedule with some timed runs and other distance runs sounds confusing to me. Are they expecting you to be running farther during your 80minute long runs?

 

[Nettie]

It is my personal opinion that a lot of those run for time schedules assume people can run at a certain minimum speed and because I feel like I exceed said minimum speed, I don't follow them. I always feel like I'll be underprepared.<br><br>
At any rate, you've definitely gotta listen to your body on what you need to do for that Tuesday run. Maybe you might try doing a slightly faster than long run pace for 60 minutes instead.

 

[tigger]

If your long run is currently 6 miles I would not see you doing a hard 6 miler just 3 days later. It doesn't make sense to me.<br><br>
Normally I try to make my longest run about a half hour longer than my second longest run, and my second longest run is about a half hour longer than my regular run, which in turn is about a half hour longer than a recovery run. As an example, I am currently running 120 to 150 min long runs, 90 to 120 min mid week runs, 60 to 75 min easy runs, and about 45 min recovery runs. (Due to VRAA I am actually not doing recovery runs.)<br><br>
My ratios don't work real well with your shorter durations, (you would be doing a minus 30 minute recovery run!) but you can sort of get the picture and adjust your schedule accordingly. But I wonder....how did you feel after your 80 minute run? Could you have gone further? How did you feel the next day? Two days later? If you recovered easily then you are probably running a little short on long run day as it is.

 

[wyrillco]

After my 80 minute run I felt tired, but ok. I felt a lot worse after the run on Tuesday, which I cut short to 5 miles. I did a tri on Sunday, which should have been a rest day, and I took my rest day on Monday instead of running 40 minutes.<br><br>
I'm just worried I'll get injured. I'd rather never run a longer distance than get injured and not be able to run my pitiful 12-15 miles a week!

 

[tigger]

I don't think injury will be a factor until you get up to 30 miles per week or so. From there upwards the risk increases unless your body is fully ready to go farther. The real benefits of long runs don't begin to kick in until you hit 90 min or so. If you only felt tired then I would suggest you keep running for another 10 or 15 min next time.<br><br>
You want to get the most bang for your buck, and right now I think you should go for aerobic improvement through longer runs. Forget about the hard stuff. Maybe once per week you could run 20 min of your 40 min run at a faster pace. Get up to where you still feel comfortable, but also feel challenged by the pace. You should be somewhere around a pace that you could hold for an hour. Do that once per week for 20 min, and run all of the rest of your time at an easy pace, with varying distances. Try to run hills if possible, but if not then just run where you can enjoy the scenery.<br><br>
Do you have any goals for this HM?

 

[wyrillco]

My goal is to finish. I'm a slow 12mm runner, sometimes a little quicker, but not more than 11mm.<br><br>
It's definitely a matter of time on my feet at this point. Last week's run was my longest ever.

 

[tigger]

Be proud of how well you run! I average around 10:30. I race a little faster than that. My HM PR is 1:57 and change. I am sure I would run about the same as you if I ran your mileage. It is because I run more miles that I can run a HM faster.<br><br>
As for your goal...if you just want to finish then I suggest you consider run/walk on a 4/1 schedule. You will be able to run much farther without feeling the stress of a long run. After a couple of HM's you should have enough experience to switch to all running.

 

[wyrillco]

I have considered the run/walk thing. But I'm signed up with a group and no one else does that. Hmmm...<br>
Thanks for the input! I may try that on Saturday.

 

[altoids]

I'll just add as a side note, that I think that overuse injury can occur at less than 30 miles per week, depending on your fitness level and other factors (age, weight, body irregularities, etc).<br><br>
So listen to your body.

 

[wyrillco]

I'm a heavy runner, too. I mean, I'm working on that, but I suspect that isn't helping.<br><br>
Last time I got my mileage up around 20 mph I got injured. I just worry about it, because not being able to run is not going to help me become a less heavy runner.

 

[altoids]

It's good to find the balance between pushing your body enough to improve and not pushing it so hard that you get hurt. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Smile"><br><br>
My body's limits are going to be way different from, say, Alex's limits! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy">

 

[Hippo]

I think almost everything Tigger said is right on the money. Except for the bit about injury risk and I'm not sure I disagree with him even there.<br><br>
At this point, you get the most bang for the buck with base work. The benefits of speed/strength stuff are almost certainly outweighed by the injury/overtraining risks.<br><br>
If you feel comfortable with the long runs, pushing them up might be the place to explore. and don't be afraid of walk breaks.<br><br>
And FWIW, for my race next Saturday, I would kill to be able to run 12 m/mi! There is basically no chance I'll go that fast, probably more like 15+ m/mi.

 

[tigger]

I was thinking of myself when I set that injury target. I ran 15 to 20 mpw for a couple of years and then in late '99 I ramped up for a marathon. I did it without injury, but maintained mileage at around 40 mpw in 2000 and had a couple of nagging problems that I attributed to overuse. Looking back, I can see that going up to 40 mpw so quickly probably led to inadequate muscles that were easily damaged.<br><br>
When I suggested 30 mpw for now, I was doing it on the basis of those miles being run at an easy pace, without any intervals or other intense running. Those types of training vastly increase the risk of injury, particularly when done by someone who has not done them before. Even now, after 10 years of running I don't do a lot of intervals, or anything faster than threshold pace.

 

[GaRebelRunner]

Sounds like maybe your group is using one training schedule to try and make it fit everyone. You have to be willing to back off if your body is telling you too. Doesn't mean you can't stretch it when it is feeling a little bit of discomfort but it doesn't sound like you are ready for "hard" miles yet.<br><br>
At best maybe consider running a regular 6 mile run Tuesday with "striders" interspersed in your run. Speed up for 15 to 30 seconds and then resume your regular pace. Start out with 3 to 4 of these during your run. Over time you can increase them to 10 or so or even work on Yasso 800's. But I wouldn't push hard miles right now if I was you.<br><br>
I really like the run/walk method for helping extend distance and keeping injuries at a minimum.<br><br>
But it is hard (if not embarrasing) to do when no one else is using it. I ran a half marathon in Warner Robins in January doing 30 second walk breaks every mile. The first time I did that a guy patted me on the back and said, "Come on guy, you can do it." I passed him on the next segment and never saw him again and finished in 1:47.<br><br>
Maybe in some of your non group runs you can experiment with run/walk. Based on your pace, 2/1 would be about right and even 1/1 might be beneficial to you.

 

[merigayle]

any increase in mileage, no matter how big or small it may seem to you can cause injury. When i first started running and was only doing a couple miles a day, i had a bad hip injury due to poor shoes and a slanted road. I think beginner runners are more apt to injure themselves at lower mileage.<br><br>
Anywho, i ran a stupid marathon in the spring as a training run for a 50 miler and injured myself. You never know.

 

[wyrillco]

Thanks all. I think I may just scale back my weekly miles to be easy ones. Just run at my normal pace, and if it feels like too much that day, I may cut back on the miles. I will keep the long runs the same, possibly with some walking. When I do my long runs on my own I do about 30 seconds of walking every mile. It works out well and I feel good at the end. And really, in the overall race, what is 6-7 minutes of walking when it's going to take me 2.5+ hours?<br><br>
Thanks, I knew some folks with more experience than I would have words of wisdom.

 

[witchypoo]

aren't you paying for this training program? what does the coach say? i'd be interested in hearing what s/he recommends, and how they would respond to your question.

 

[wyrillco]

Yes, you are totally right. I need to suck it up and ask. But I don't want to be a wimp. I'll try to talk to my coach on Saturday after my (yikes) 1:45 run.