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February 28, 2005
Busy Busy
This is such craziness. I have so much going on right now and we are leaving for Europe on Friday morning and I am busier at work than I have been in a year and a half! I like it though. The only trouble is that I am going to need to get up at 6:00 and run every day this week because I really do not have time to be running after work.
So here is the weekend of running. Saturday I ran like a crazy person, although I was not quite as crazy as some of my running friends. I met 3 people at 7:00 am at the location of our workout. We ran about 6-6.5 miles. Then at 8:00 we had practice where we did a warmup, cooldown, strides, and 8 x 800 meters at 10k pace (these were 3:30-3:20 for me). Damn at the end I was tired! The three people I met ran for another hour after practice but I was toast. That was about 13 miles (may have been slightly longer but I'm going to call it 13).
Sunday we were going to ski and I had no running planned but we didn't go to bed until midnight so waking up at 6:00 was just not in the stars! Instead we went to the zoo which was a lot of fun. We saw many cute animals, lots of fish in the new Tropical Discovery area, and tons and tons of monkeys! I love monkeys. My stomach has been bothering me for days (at the party we went to for RRB Saturday night, it was so swollen and it really hurt), so when I ran Sunday evening I knew it could be troubling from a stomach perspective, and it was. I ran for 10 minutes before I had to make a pit stop, then ran for 20 more minutes, had another pit stop, and then ran home. It was a 40-minute run which I am logging as 4.5 miles. I am really happy with my mileage from last week which is 58.5. This is good because the next two weeks will be very short due to being in Europe. I'd like to run 45 miles or so this week and 30 miles next week. Hopefully I will not eat too many french pastries!
This morning I knew I would set a good tone for the week if I got up, and a bad tone if I didn't. So I drug myself out of bed (is that right? or is it 'dragged'? No idea), and ran my 8 mile loop. I was a bit slow as I expected but in a cool twist of fate did not have to stop for a single traffic light the entire run so I still made reasonable time in my quest to get to work before 8:30.
So my friend V. and I were discussing marathon training on Saturday and I want to see what different people think about this question: How many 20+ mile runs do you need to run in order to run a decent marathon? If you have input please comment. We really do not know - my answer right now is one or more and that's just because for my marathon this past fall I didn't run any, and that was definitely bad.
That is the news for today - now it is back to the grindstone!
Posted by barb at February 28, 2005 09:29 AM
Comments
The 20+ mile run question is a good one, and I don't think anyone really knows. For one, it varies depending on the individual (I imagine), and it also depends on your definition of "decent" with regards to the marathon. I think I did 1-2 before my first marathon and three before my second. But so many other factors go into marathon performance, and I think the 20s are sometimes overemphasized. Having said that, if I were really going to train for a marathon and try to run well, I'd want to go in with 4-6 20+ mile runs, I think.
Have an awesome time in Europe! I hope this week isn't too stressful. It's sad how vacations can often create more stress (preparing to leave, catching up on things when you return). Good for you for getting up so early to run!!
Posted by: Alison at February 28, 2005 10:24 AM
First of all-I hope that you have an awesome time in Europe...I am SO jealous!!
Regarding the 20 miler question. My answer is...it depends. I think that some people are capable of running a decent marathon off of 16-18 mile long runs, depending on what the rest of their week is like. Personally, I think some of it is mental, like I need to get into the 20s so that it is not uncharted territory come race day. I think that if I were to train for a marathon now, I would probably do 4 in the 20-22 range...I think....
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at February 28, 2005 05:32 PM
I don't have any scientific answer to your question but I know for me personally...I like to have at least four 20+ milers before a marathon. I think it has much less to do with physical condition for me than just mentally knowing I put the work in and I have several experiences of going relatively long. I'll be interested to see what other people think.
By the way...I LOVE THE ZOO! I like monkeys too. The Monkey House at the Pittsburgh Zoo stinks a little, but those critters are so funny to watch! :)
Have a great time in Europe!!
Posted by: Beth at February 28, 2005 06:01 PM