run, rest, eat, bitch, buy things, cross-train, blog, repeat.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Deluded. So Freaking Deluded.

So, Saturday went spectacularly awful. I ran a hilly half marathon. And I died at about mile 6.



I could blame the time of day:11am is a WEIRD time to run.

I could blame the unexpected warm temperatures: Sunny and 60 degrees in February? Bliss! But, also pretty brutal.

But, I think most likely is that I am just still not in any kind of shape, endurance-wise. During and after the race, all I could think about was how I've been doing the work and my endurance just isn't coming back. Wahhhhh. Whine. Blah. Woe is Me.



But, this morning, as I started to write this post about how disappointing and frustrating it is to get back into shape, I was looking back through my log and um. Well. The evidence is there. And it's not supporting my argument. Stupid Log.

Let's break it down:

I've had the following mileage weeks since Dec 1:
38, 40, 39, 48, 40, 50, 37, 45, 26, 38, 37 for an average of 39 miles a week. 

OF COURSE I'M NOT IN FUCKING SHAPE.

Now, should an average of 39 miles a week garner a half marathon race performance of DYING at mile 6 or 7? No way. I think being out of shape was ONE factor, but based on how awful I felt after the race (couldn't drive home, thought I was going to puke and die for about an hour after the race, and I almost had a serious blackout and had to sit down in the tub in the middle of my shower. FUN TIMES) I don't think it's the reason I died so early. I think likely my nutrition was fucked.

But, does an average of 39 miles a week mean that I should be easily knocking out 15 mile long runs? Also, No way.

The data doesn't lie. And neither does DNA. I'm not an "athlete." I can't just run 3 days a week and get into shape or even stay in shape. I have to put in a ton of freaking work and miles to get anywhere in my running. So, yes... I am running most days a week again. And that's great and an awesome step to building a base, again. But, I'm not running the type of mileage that FOR ME garners much of an endurance base.


Ugh. So, what does that mean? Well, the simple answer is that, I just need to run more miles and more often. And stop complaining to everyone that I'm working so hard and not getting any of my endurance back. It's not rocket science.

But, I'm considering a different tactic.  So, I'm running a marathon in about... 4 weeks. BWHAHAHWHAHAHAHAHAHAH. And my main concern has been building my long run up to a respectable distance. Because, DUH. That's what you do, right?

But, I think... for a couple of these 4 weeks, at least, I'm going to try a different tactic. I'm going to try to beef up my overall mileage and scale back my long run mileage.

For instance of instead of a week looking like this:

M: 6 miles
T: 5 miles
W: 3 miles
Th: 8 miles
F: 3 miles
Sa: 15 miles
Su: Off

Maybe, I'll try this:

M: 6 miles
T: 7 miles
W: am: 6 miles pm: 6 miles
Th: 9 miles
F: Off?
Sa: 10 miles
Su: 10 miles

I think back-to-back mid-length long runs would be a HUGE gain for me right now. I also think that two-a-days will help, as well.

So, while it sucks to realize that maybe I haven't been working as hard as I thought I was (or as hard as it feels like), at least I've actually realized that um... I'm not doing what I really need to be doing. And the next step... is to fix it.


5 comments:

Carina said...

Sounds like a Hanson's plan w/ the double mid-distance wknd days, and I know that works for a lot of people. I think that plan only goes up to 16 or 18 miles? Or 2:30 for time? I can't remember, but like I said, it seems to work for many, so why not? I'd pretty much kill for you weekly numbers -- I'm hanging out in the low 30s and that does not mean results for me either.

Dolly said...

Ah man, I'm also having some WTFery happening with my running...

I'm feeling frustrated and burnt out(?) because I feel like my running has become stagnant.

I hurt my hip trying to do speework for a 10k race. I don't have any distance races on the calendar until the fall, and I don't know what to work on Speed or Endurance...

Running for fun sounds great- If it were just that easy to apply.

I'm jealous that 39 miles per week is low for you. I try to keep my mileage in the low to mid 30's and when I'm half marathon/ marathon training I'm lucky if I can get close to 45 per week.

I just started reading 80/20 and maybe I'm running too many of my training runs too hard. I don't know...

I miss having a training partner to bitch about all of this stuff.

Gracie said...

Dude, that sucks.
I don't really think 39 miles is that bad for a half. I think I've run full marathons on that, truth be told! But I am one of those low-milage types. The time, though, could definitely contribute, IMO. My one later marathon (10 am start) completely messed with my nutrition - and 11 would be worse. You're done with breakfast; you are either starting to get hungry or you missed your morning snack and are absolutely starving! No way. I bet that's the issue.

Amy said...

Carina- Yeah, I've always been interested in doing Hanson's plans. But, man, when you look at them they always look so daunting with so much mileage in consecutive days. I am totally stealing their theory of maybe you don't need the 20 milers... we will see how that pans out.

Dolly: Pretty much everything you said, I could say... Yup, I hear ya. I do think a LOT of people run their training runs too hard (I probably don't run mine hard enough, truth be told). But, you always see people who's race times are not that far off from their training times. And it always leaves me scratching my head a bit. Interested to see how you like 80/20 and if you apply any of it to your own training!

Gracie: i agree, 39 miles for a half isn't bad at all! When I trained specifically for a half, I was in the 30-40 range and I actually loved that. But, for me to survive a marathon, I need a bit more than that. I think 50 is probably my marathon sweet spot.

And as for the weird start time. I always wonder how Boston's start time would mess with me.

Meredith said...

Personally, I can't run all those miles. I get injured. Plus, I just don't have the time. I believe it's more about what you put in the miles than the miles themselves. I follow a pretty low mileage plan - I haven't hit 50 miles in a week in YEARS!!! But, the miles I do do contains sprints, tempos, fartleks, and rarely just junk miles.