Monday, May 28, 2007

Another 3 today

There was a pretty decent crowd at the park this morning. Sadly, I was a bit sore from my short 3 miler last night but that didn't stop me. I got in another 3 miler at about 14:13 pace. By the end of the run I was feeling good and loose.

One of my problems now is not having a plan. There are certainly times in my running where I'd rather just run and not be tied to a training plan but now is not that time. I'm kind of wondering what to do. I know there's the Saturday long run and I'll be at 8 miles come next Saturday. But what to do during the week. I think I'll make Monday an easy run, 3-5 miles. Then on Wednesday, I'm going to do some quality work, alternating tempo one week, and 30x30's the next. I'll follow up on Thursday with another 3-5 mile easy run. With Sunday as a rest day, that leaves Tuesday and Friday to get in some weights or some light XT. Any other suggestions?

5 comments:

Woodlands Runner said...

Why not splurge on an early fall marathon or half marathon up north and start training for it? That type of motivation works wonders for me.

Steve Bezner said...

Going off Holden's suggestion, I'm doing the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa in November.

Matt said...

szwpxWith no race in the plan, and given your minimal motivation recently, I would use this time for base building. All easy, all the time. Vary the distance(or time) but keep the miles easy. Your goal should be to run X times per week and feel refreshed at the end of each run. At your current pace and fitness I would recommend goals of 45 minutes to 2 hours. Speedwork and runs over 2 hours put additional stress on your body when your focus should be gaining bac some base fitness lost in the marathon and recovery.

Give yourself time, pick a shorter (1/2 Mary or less) race in the fall or a full in early 2008 and plan to slowly build back up.

Anonymous said...

I have been doing what Matt preaches for the last 3 months. I have been doing nothing but base miles and stregthening exercises. It is amazing how all of my old nagging pains have all but disappeared and how fresh my mind is when I am out running these days!
To keep things fun, social, and rewarding, I throw in a dash of speed every weekend with a 5km. I start marathon training in earnest again in a week, but I am healthy and ready for this next challenge...just what the off season is all about!

So Vic, define your off-season then define how you will use it to effectively prepare for your next goal. Everytime you go out running you need to ask yourself, "What is the objective of this run?" If you cannot answer that, you need to reevaluate your goals and how you hope to achieve them! If the answer is, "to stay heart healthy and maintain fitness" evertime you go out, then welcome to the off-season and enjoy the run!

Peace brotha.

Unknown said...

Wow, great advice from Matt and David...maybe I should take that advice as well.