For the most part, her questions boiled down to the important question, "Exactly what the hell am I doing this for, anyway?" OK, she wasn't quite so blunt or philosophical about it, but she raised the question of what her goals should be. Faster? Farther? Can/should I run a race?
It's definitely hard to train in a vacuum, with just the vague purpose of getting in condition or just generally learning to run. My vision for this particular group is to cover a range of possible goals.
Breaking the Seal
At a minimum, I want everyone to be able to run four miles continuously. I feel like four is sort of a magic number. It's a significant enough distance to make for a good workout on any given day and it's a good fundamental unit from which to increase distance. Running two or three miles is one thing, but four is where I think you've really "broken the seal". If you can run four, then you've no reason not to run a 10K (6.2 miles). If you can run six, you can run eight, which is farther than many runners will ever go. If you can run eight, then why not run double digits, and if you can run ten, then it'd be a shame not to run a half marathon and get a shiny medal for it (all finishers get medals...).
You see how this works.
So, if you can run four miles, then more possibilities are open to you. You can run a 5K. You can probably run the five mile Thundercloud Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. And, you're in a good position to train for a half, or possibly a full, marathon - this is timed to feed straight into training for the AT&T Austin Marathon or Half Marathon on February 17, 2008. Yes, you train for six months. It's a commitment, but a rewarding one. We'll talk more about that later.
Four? Pfft. You Bore Me, Sir.
Some of you can already cover four miles, or more. Our quality workouts are put together in a way that they're still the best thing for you, too - you'll just run them at a higher intensity, and you'll gain strength and speed. We can modify your other runs during the week to help you build mileage, but if you're thinking of training for the half or full marathon, there's no reason to pour on miles before September. You want to use this time to build as strong a foundation as possible for that training.
Goal races
I think it's important to have a goal race. I trained all last summer for last October's Chicago Marathon, and I got lost and listless, because there weren't really many great races to run during the summer. Races definitely keep you motivated along the way.
So, I do want everyone to end up running at least a 5K in September. There is a great event on September 30, the Silicon Labs Marathon Relay. It's 26.2 miles broken into five legs - 12K, 10K, 10K, 5K, 5K. Each leg starts and ends at Auditorium Shores. I've got a team together with Mandy, Staci, RoseMary, and Amanda, and I'm hoping we'll form up some more teams with you guys. I think we have enough people capable of covering the various distances, even the 12K, which is about 7.45 miles. It's a fun event, and it's rare to be able to run on a team. Don't feel intimidated by it being "competitive" - you don't have to be fast, you just have to cover the distance for your leg.
Right Here, Right Now
All that said, we have to have the right grasp of our immediate goals. I would again say our primary goal should be putting the time and work in - that's difficult enough for most of us. If you don't feel challenged by the schedule, talk to me, and we can see if it's right to modify it for you, or even the whole group.
If you run the schedule, the speed and distance will come to you. You don't want to force those goals, though. You can try to speed up your runs, but you still need to stay in the right zone. Except for the quality workouts (our Tuesdays together), your runs should be at a pace where you can carry on a conversation. That's a real easy speed governor for you - if you want to experiment with going a little faster, I encourage that, but don't go past that threshhold. And, when you're trying to speed things up, go in small increments - even 10 seconds a mile can be a significant increase.
It's also OK to speed up a little for short periods of time or distances during a run - maybe you run your last mile or second to last half mile at a higher effort level. That's fine, as long as it's just a portion of your longer run.
You will always hear even experienced marathoners talking about trying to race through their long runs. I'm pretty obsessive about timing runs, but I also know that running fast all the time is actually counterproductive, and a possible path to injury and burnout. It's more important for your training to train for a period of time at the right level of intensity than it is to blast through x miles at high speed. So, again, be patient.
Some people like to train with heart monitors. I don't like them, personally. I've seen runners allow the monitor to dictate their level of effort, and I can see that they could quite safely be pushing a little harder. Running is wonderful because there's nothing but you, and the shoes (and possibly a pair of shorts) - it's just you and your body, for the most part. You should, and have to, learn to be very much in touch with your body.
So, there you go... is anyone still reading? Let's recap, because I like bulleted lists:
- Right now, just do the work. Follow the program.
- Train at the right intensity.
- Get to four miles. If you can already run four miles, work harder, get faster and stronger.
- Have a goal race. Run the Marathon Relay with us.
- Think about training to be ready to take on training for a half or full marathon.
- Be disciplined, be patient.
This will probably raise more questions, and that's what the comment function's for, or you can email me. Let's talk.
Holla.
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