Monday, July 16, 2012

Comfy + Hills + Speed + Long = 49 Miles

Just a little peek into my recent running......
I usually just run whatever feels reasonable or whatever I'm in the mood for.

However, this past week, I tried to be more deliberate about some of my runs.  I loosely followed the training plan for my marathon training team and made sure to do a dose of hills, speed-ish, long, and plenty of "comfy/recovery/easy" miles.

Monday:  COMFY 7 miles at 8:07 pace
Tuesday:  COMFY 9 miles at 8:15 pace
Wednesday:  REST
Thursday:  HILLS plus COMFY 9 miles total, average pace of 8:12
Friday:  FAST 3 miles at 7:01 pace
Saturday:  COMFY 3 miles at 8:03 pace
Sunday:  LONG 15 miles at 8:08 average pace

Total 49 miles, which I think is an all time high?  I don't think I've ever gotten up to 50.  Leading up to my 3:26:53 OC Marathon, I averaged 32 miles per week, so this was definitely on the high side of my range.

I also ran 6 days last week, which I NEVER do!

So this week's high mileage was probably just a blip on the radar...we'll see if I keep following the training team's schedule through the fall.  I might start feeling suffocated and rebellious.

Do you run by feel or do you try to plan your types of runs??
I usually run off-the-cuff-ish but I'm going to try to make sure I get in a couple deliberate runs per week...I'd like to try to add some more speed work.

18 comments:

  1. That is a great week of running. I almost always just run for enjoyment and add in long runs and bump up mileage when I think I need to.
    One time I'd like to follow a real plan and see what the outcome is, but it is so nice to just it because I want to!
    I'd like to see what you could do with a structured plan, too!

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  2. I slowly crept over 40 MPW but I rarely get into the 50's. I do like to have a general training plan, but I don't follow an actual written guide. i will try to find one that works for me in the future, though.

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  3. I usually try and stick to my plan, however I am not sure if I have found my perfect training plan yet. When I was training for CIM my highest mileage was close to 36 miles. CIM was my marathon PR (3:21). Training for Eugene my highest mileage was close to 60 and I ran a 3:25 or 3:24 (honestly wiped that race from my memory!). Of course, I trained for Eugene while having compartment syndrome so my time ideally should have been closer to a sub 3:15. I am thinking if I hadn't trained injured the higher mileage would be better for me, but I can't confirm that. Three of my weekly runs were "easy miles" bases off of my threshold test. They were nice to have considering the two workout runs were always super tough and the long run was usually really long (20-24 miles every week). Hopefully once I get healed and start training again injury free I will know!

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  4. I create a plan, but rarely stick to it. I do ensure I get at least one long run a week. Fabulous week of running, congrats.

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  5. Holy crap! That's a lot of miles for one week! Nice!

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  6. That's a busy week! I usually plan the types of runs that I do when I am following a training plan but if not I kind of just do whatever feels good on that day. Nice work!

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  7. Great job on the mileage this week! If I get over 10 miles thats a good week for me : )

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  8. Nice week! Seems like you do well with running on random feel. Not sure that I could do that, I generally would have to follow some sort of schedule each day or else I would kind of feel lost.

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  9. that is great mileage and fast!
    I need a plan always

    right now I am king of off it because injury...and I find it hard

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  10. I love training plans and always need to have one. I enjoy checking off the run after I finished it. Are you running the color run on Saturday?

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  11. I just started my fall marathon plan. But all summer I bumbled around without one, and I tried to do at least one speedier run and one long run per week. Long meaning 10 miles. I like having the plan, but my legs stayed uninjured all summer, so there's something to be said for just running what you feel like.

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  12. Nice mileage. I pretty much plan my long runs but fly by the seat of my pants for the rest. If I plan, something will inevitably happen rendering my plan totally useless. I've quit tempting fate.

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  13. nice work! its so great to get out and run what your body feels up to...with a little push every so often. keep it up!

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  14. This time around I am sticking to a plan. I am running a lot more miles than I am used to but I am also doing a lot more really easy runs and recovery runs. We'll see if it makes any difference come race day :)

    Nice week girlie!

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  15. It's crazy how fast you run without a "real" plan! However, I think it keeps you healthy and your body not too tired...instead of being focused on what you "have" to do, you do what your body feels like. I think that's really important since we have random schedules, and sometimes a schedule workout needs to be modified because of a crazy/tiring shift.

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  16. Right now I don't really have a plan except not push too hard until my foot is healed from the marathon, then I will have to look at a fall marathon maybe :) Great job with all your miles! I have added in biking this week and

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  17. I wasn't really done commenting there...

    and I have also been doing more cross training HIIT workouts.

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I love hearing your thoughts!