Tuesday, November 25, 2008

congratulations to all the 3-Day Walkers over the weekend!

I wanted to shout out to all those women (and men) who walked sixty miles over the weekend here in San Diego. Laura and I saw the group on their final leg on Sunday and everyone looked to be in good spirits. As we ran past them we smiled and said "way to go" and "good job." That is definitely something I want to do someday. The fundraising is the only thing that gives me pause. I see how much some of you TNT runners struggled to raise money. It would have been easier when I was working-- more contacts with disposable money. Hmmm.... we'll see. I am definitely impressed by all those people out there making that kind of commitment to fight breast cancer. Hopefully, my daughter won't have to worry about it...


Laura and I ran eight on Sunday down at Mission Bay. We started right as the 3-Day'ers were getting going for the day and quickly ran ahead of them. At the end of the loop, we had to run on Mission Bay road instead of the path, since there was a sea of pink that would have been difficult to navigate through. Thank goodness I had a running partner yesterday. I felt pretty darn sluggish. My time was pretty good for feeling so heavy and slow. It really helped having Laura there to keep me from slowing down (she offered, but my ego wouldn't let me). Also, it was so nice to chat. The time flew by. Neither of us touched our iPods. Even though I felt like my legs were lead, I looked at our splits and we ran much faster than I thought. The overall pace was around 9:20 (there is some question because I had to switch the Garmin from cycling to running after 1.3 miles *oops*). That is faster than last week's run and I was chatting the entire time. Plus, the very last 3/4 mile was run under a 9-minute mile pace. Woo hoo!


So... I have pretty much decided NOT to go to Las Vegas. :-( It is not good timing. We have a lot going on in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Plus, spending extra money right now is not the wisest decision. We spent a freakin' fortune on plane tickets flying up to Portland for Christmas; not to mention the floors.... It is time to be responsible. If I was in tip-top shape and poised for a big PR, however, I think I would be sure to justify running the half marathon. But alas... I don't think it is in the cards (ha ha).


So... I registered for the Carlsbad Half Marathon here in San Diego in January. I have printed up a training schedule from Runnersworld and am promising myself to actually run more than once a week. I really want to get the Triple Crown medal this year. It means running Carlsbad, La Jolla and AFC.


Question: When a training plan tells you to run at a slower pace than you normally do, how important is it to follow the plan. On my RW plan, the tempo runs are suggested between 8:53 and 8:59, so it looks like it is prepping me for a sub-two-hour half. The suggestion for long runs is a 10:23 pace. If I run faster than that am I risking over-training?? Do you all follow those training plans closely or do you use them as a general guideline??

Thanks! And everyone have a GREAT Thanksgiving! I know there are a lot of us running races (I am running a 5K myself). Good luck and happy running!!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm bummed you're not coming to Las Vegas! That would have been fun. Oh well... I understand the funding and time issues!

I am actually considering doing the Carlsbad Half. It's the weekend after I do PF Chang's, but my brother-in-law is probably entering the Carlsbad race because he was inspired by me. I figure I should go support him. If nothing else, I'll just drive there to cheer him on, so I could cheer for you too!

I'm totally doing a 3-day some day. Yeah, the fundraising is intimidating but my goal is to do it with my mom and I want to be able to cover the fundraising for BOTH of us. She's beat the disease twice and she's totally my inspiration to keep moving.

My TNT coaches always harped on us to slow down on long runs. I never did and I'm not sure if I suffered because of that or not. It's hard to slow down that much though!

Aka Alice said...

Hooray. I'm doing Carlsbad and am considering the triple crown too! I'm in the same boat with the training also...trying to get more than two runs a week in...it's tough in the winter...

Anonymous said...

I've heard the long runs you are supposed to do anywhere from about 45 seconds/1 minute to 90 seconds slower than you normally run. That is from my colleague who is part of a running group, is 58 years old, and has run a ridiculous amount of marathons. He is now starting to have trouble with his knees, but it's taken a long time for him to get to that point. He ran 14 races this year as part of some network of races, that may have had something to do with it.

With long runs, you definitely want to start out even slower at the beginning, our TNT coach used to tell us that over and over and over. My running partner pretty much always ran at the same pace, however she's been injured now in some way, shape or form, since August. Coincidental, maybe, but she also didn't cross train a lot like I did, until she had no other choice.

I would do the longer runs slower, and then do the tempo runs at a "tempo" pace based on what your normal pace is, and then keep up with the speedwork you started a while back.

sorry for the book!

Marathonman101108 said...

Good luck with your 5K run tomorrow.Just remember that when you're finished, you've earned the right to eat more turkey. Well, if you don't use that excuse, I certainly will. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

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