Daily Run: A Slower Approach
Time of Day: 5:45 AM
Weather: 77*, cloudy
Duration: 1 hour 6 minutes 43 seconds
Distance: 8 miles
Average Pace: 8:21/mile
Notes: Yesterday I read Kevin’s blog and was inspired by the last paragraph of this post:
I have never ever ever ever never run 60-plus miles in any 7 day period. But I guess, I’m slowly learning, that when you take it easy, you can run as many miles as you want without injuring yourself.
I would love to get up to 60 miles a week, but the fear of injury has kept me on the elliptical once a week, kept the mileage down, etc. Several people have mentioned that my injuries may be due to running my recovery runs too quickly. I’ve tried to slow down, but I often just end up going faster after a few miles.
But when I read Kevin’s post and his coach’s recommendations for much slower runs, I decided that slow running is something I really need to do. Running as much as I want without injury? Sounds like my dream.
So I paid closer attention today and made sure that each mile came in slower than 8 minutes. One of my uphill miles was close to 9 minutes. My legs were tired from yesterday’s swift 10-miler and didn’t feel like going fast, but I did feel a little lethargic and restless during my run. I kept checking my Garmin. I felt impatient. The endorphins weren’t nearly as strong.
But…nothing ached afterwards. My legs felt stretched and good. Yesterday my shin felt rather achey and now it’s much better. Running slowly must reduce the pounding, not to mention let the muscles relax a little more. Restful, but still a run. This may work for me after all.
Thus, my new approach: no longer will I torture myself on the elliptical once a week (that is, unless necessary). I will increase my mileage, but I will run much slower than usual at least twice per week. I will also continue to take a day off every week. That day used to be Monday, but now I’m meeting the women’s speedwork group on Monday, so I’m making it Friday.
If I do the San Antonio Marathon in November, I still have a few weeks before I begin formal training. I might make my own training plan this time, but let me know if you have a good one that just uses speedwork once a week. I think twice was a bit much last time.
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More running = good. Don’t be stupid be like me though!
running slowly for recovery is awesome. it’s hard to do though… hard on the ego and if you feel good it can be hard on the legs.
this is something that is so hard but seems like its very necessary for most runners. i am making myself do my long runs slow (10-20% slower than goal pace) now like my plan tells me and i know its going to be really hard but its something i am just going to try this time
i did my first shot last sat and it was not easy.
you know i like pfitz! speed work once a week
i know what you mean about being impatient! plus my thinking is that if i go faster i can get more miles in because i usually am cutting it close from my runs to the rest of my day. but ive definitely found that slow runs = more miles overall
running slow does wonders for recovery and ability to handle more work. once i started running more slowly (like almost 2 minutes slower than marathon pace…3+ minutes slower than 5k pace) my PRs started to come down a lot. honestly, i don’t think it’s possible to run too slowly as long as form is preserved.
Well, Jess, you and I are going to be going through this “slow” experiment together. I know what you mean. When I’m fresh, I don’t feel like I’m doing anything unless I’m averaging sub 8 or lower per mile. It is crazy for the ego. But, I was reading Jack Daniels’ Running Formula and my easy run paces, according to my VDOT based on races from my 5k to half marathon, should be anywhere from 8:16 to 8:58 minutes per mile. Three of my six runs a week are 10 miles or longer, so I’ve decided that i will run two of those runs within those paces, not a step faster. On one 10-mile run, I’ll let my legs carry me as fast as they wanna go without racing, so to speak.
This slow running should be fun. I’m looking forward to reading more about your progress.
i was never as fast as you, but i’ve definitely had to cut back and manage what I can with my knees and such… it’s still amazingly hard to keep it to 2 miles! but sometimes it’s what i need…
nah, ol’ garmin is just broken. we all know you can’t possibly run in the 8’s or 9’s!
it’ll be interesting to see how much you improve now that you are really giving your legs/body a chance to recover! hope you can stick with it a few days/week – it’s not all that bad now!
I’m trying the same approach these days and I couldn’t agree more. Listening to your body, what a novel concept right, lol?
I did eight miles today too and also felt lethargic. The endorphins never really came. And I HATE the humidity. Ugh. I agree with you about doing slower runs! I should try that…
I can always meet you for a run and slow you way, way, WAY down.