Trying Strides Again

This morning I went out for another General Aerobic run of 13km in length that was to include 10x100m Strides. Last Tuesday when I attempted this type of session I messed up on several fronts so my goal for today was to pace things appropriately and run the Strides with the right level of intensity since my left quad is still bothering me a bit after I overdid things the last time out.

I decided to avoid the hills in the Beaches to give the quad a break since I think part of the problem last week was doubling up hills with speed work. Instead I ran around a small section of the neighbourhood surrounding the track so that I wouldn't mess up on my total distance again. It was a bit boring running up and down the same short sections of streets all over the place, but my primary goal was achieved as I made it to the track with about 800m to spare before getting into the Strides. I ran a couple of laps and then proceeded to repeat 100m of something resembling Strides because I felt that going all the way up to an all out sprint would not do my leg very well. Instead, I just wanted to push myself to a high leg turnover and I didn't actually care how fast I was going.

I'm happy to say that everything went according to plan. I ran the first 10km within the confines of the General Aerobic pace range (managing to keep things really steady right around 5:04/km other than the first kilometre, which I typically run slowly and use as a warm up). The overall average for the entire run, including the strides, ended up being 5:03/km. The only thing I had to contend with is massive stomach pains towards the end of the Strides and on the last 2km run home. Too much red meat eaten too late the night before was the culprit I suspect. But such is life when you have to drive nearly two hours to get your 9 year-old to a regular season baseball game (which, luckily, his team won in a tight 10-8 contest).

Now I am so exhausted I have trouble believing that I will make it through the workday without passing out at my desk. When I feel like this even caffeine doesn't help.

Oh well. Marathon training isn't supposed to be relaxing...

Run One Down, First Screw Ups

So, marathon training Week 1 is off and "running", pun intended. Monday was a cross-training day and I went to the gym to do some basic leg weights. It was good and I fully intend to keep up the weight training routine throughout the next 18 weeks. I think that gives me the best chance to stay injury free.

This morning was the first actual run of the training plan and the idea was to run for a total of thirteen kilometres at a General Aerobic pace (4:57-5:24/km, 7:58-8:41/mile average) with 10x100m Strides thrown in for good measure.

I think I screwed it up on three fronts.

One, I ran too far as I misjudged my distance down to the Beaches and back up to the track and ended up running a total of 14km. Not a big deal and I can always drop one kilometre from an upcoming recovery run to stay on track mileage wise.

Two, I had no idea how much Strides can take out of you! By the time I got to the sixth repetition, and this with taking nice long walk breaks to get back to the start of the straightaway at the track, my left quad was starting to hurt! Not only that, but I am now feeling things in other parts of my body as well that don't bode well for the future. I think I ran these 100m repetitions too hard. I'll have to watch that. And...

Three, my average pace for the run was too fast! It ended up being 4:48/km with the Strides, but before I even started in on those reps I noticed that the Garmin showed my average pace for the first 11km was 4:53/km (7:43/mile). And that's with some hills coming back up from Queen Street in the Beaches!

Time to check the ego at the door and slow the Hell down or I'll never make it.