Thursday, June 22, 2006

Week #1 update - 122 days to go

To those who posted comments on the last entry, thanks for the interesting dialogue on the subject of lunch with co-workers. Balancing the social aspect of work with running and diet is a challenge. Leah, Running Rabbit and others all weighed in. Lots of opinions on the “lunch crew”. Balance is key. I think I will make a rule to go out to lunch 1x per week with the crew.

Also had a lot of good feedback on strides. Never even heard of them before the Pfitz book.

By the way, I can't believe how many power & hoo-ah bars I have been eating. I never ate these this often before. What is up?

I'm definitely out of the beginner marathon category, with the way that I am acting. I always felt like I was doing something new the last few years, but not now, I feel like I can plan my diet, sleep and know how my body will respond. Well, that is for now. When mileage creeps up to 50+, we'll see what I say then.

Quick update on this morning’s training…

6:00 AM CDT – 9 miles – General aerobic run – Sleep was good – hydration good -- Humid conditions. Temp was manageable at about 70.

All and all, the run was pretty standard. No problem. Knocked out the miles as planned.

Time: 1:09:25 – DISTANCE WAS ESTIMATED AT 9 MILES

Question for the Pfitzinger training plan followers: How fast should we run our “general aerobic run”? The Pfitz book talks out of both sides of the mouth saying in paraphrase: “if you run fast, you should run at x pace – or if you run slow…” SO tell me, should I run faster or slower? I ran today at right around 7:43 per mile for 9 miles.

Given my 10-mile race pace of 7:10 from last weekend and my marathon goal of 7:15 pace, the 7:43 seemed like a general aerobic training pace. My heart rate avg was 158 or approx 83% of max HR. Sound good or too fast?

Training progress check: Feeling light years ahead of my prior marathon training efforts. Knowing I’ve done 4 runs at 9+ already in the past 3 weeks – one of which was a strong race performance – I feel really good. Doing 7 and 9 milers on Tues and Thursday’s has been do-able for me. I’m on the right program for now. I feel like I will crush my PR at this pace.

Tonight, we’re going on a long weekend with the in-laws to Raystown Lake, PA. A family reunion of sorts. It’s where my wife used to go with her family as a kid on vacations. There will be lots of boating and eating. Having to explain to family members that I need to get up early to beat the heat for a 12-miler this weekend will be fun. I think they think their daughter married an obsessive goal-junky (hint: none of them run).

I have no idea with the running terrain will bring in the local area there, so it will be a bit of an adventure.

Weekend plan:

Fri – Rest, read, boat, and eat and sun and sit and talk
Sat – 4 mi recovery – target pace of 9:30
Sun – 12 mi long – target pace of 8:20-8:40 per mile
TOTAL FOR WEEK #1: 32 miles

I don’t get back until Monday evening, so good luck everyone this weekend on your long runs. Stay strong and go long.

5 comments:

Triseverance said...

Wow lots there I will give you my take.

I would google McMillian's running calculator and look at his training paces. I have found they work pretty well for me. 158 is the high end of the aerobic heartrate. But you said it was humid and that will bring the HR up. Sounds like you are at the fast end of the range. Per McMillan your long runs should fall between 7:46 and 8:46. From what I have it is counter productive to go to fast for these runs.

Keep up the good work!

LeahC said...

I think you are good for the aerobic runs. I have a goal of 8:15-8:23 for the marathon and try to keep my GA runs around 8:45-9:00. I then try and do my long Sunday runs between 9:00-10:00 minutes.

SRR said...

Yes my in-laws don't run, neither does hubby. Little do they know I run so I don't have to be near them...well not the hubby, but maybe the in-laws! **hee hee hee**

LeahC said...

TAG you're it!!! go check out my blog :-)

Chad said...

Ryan, I never worry about the general aerobic pace too much. My gut says you're running a little too quickly - at least for me - but every one is different.

I'd say a ball park figure would be MP + 60 seconds.