I dialed back my spring training plan from a typical late phase race plan to an early phase base-building plan. I've decided to follow Hadd's method from the looooooooong LRC thread. Not sure at this point how high I'll get my mileage because 1) going forward, I will be running lots of slow singletrack, where it takes me 25 minutes longer to run 10 miles and 2) I'm afraid of doubles given the pain in my 2nd run of the day two days ago. Upper 50s should be easy enough but I'd like to see what I could do off of more mileage than that and I've never really been successful at consistently getting above high 50s.
The insertional achilles is frustrating to figure out. Some runs I never notice it, most I notice it in the first 1/2 mile and maybe the last bit if its a run > 1 hour. More perplexing is soreness* between runs. I ran 90 minutes Sunday on Falmouth singletrack and had zero soreness during or after. Monday was a rest day. Tuesday was an easy run at Twin Brook. Yesterday I ran 90 minutes on Falmouth singletrack and my foot was sore last night into this morning. Was it the rest day? Was it running 80m strides at Twin Brook (no sprints this week!).
*Soreness is level 1-2 on a 10 point scale, so the soreness is very, very, minor
Total Hours last week: 7:38
Total Miles last week: 53.1
M 27 min / 3.4 mi (77% HRmax) Brook Rd + 3 x 12s hill sprints
T 66 min / 7.8 mi (79% HRmax) TMR TNR @ TB, incl 4 x long sprints + 4 strides
W 67 min / 8.1 mi (76% HRmax) Falmouth road loop
R 74 min / 9.8 mi (81% HR max) Back Cove/East End Beach
F 62 min / 7 mi (72% HR max) Brook Rd
S 65 min / 7 mi (76% HR max) Pineland
S 96 min / 10 mi (76% HR max) East Branch/Community Park
I agree with Hadd on getting the mileage up, but for those of us that do a lot of trail or mountain running, I think you need to look at time on your feet vs. mileage. If a normal 10 mile road run is 75 minutes, then run 75 minutes on trails, regardless if it is 10 miles or 5. I'm not saying that the 5 mile, 75 minute trail run is equal to the 10 mile road run, but if you try to focus on the mileage and end up spending an extra 3 hours a week getting your mileage and get hurt, then it is pointless. I know Matt Carpenter is big on time vs. mileage.
ReplyDeletetotally agree. In skiing I've been trying to focus on hours training and I've been transitioning that strategy to running. Goal is consistent 9-10 hours/week but that will be hard without either doubles or a longer long run than I would typically do, or maybe just busting out more 90 minute runs.
ReplyDeleteJust as a side note Jeff, I recently bought a pair of "every day" shoes which have replaced my favorite Boggs that I've worn for 6 years. The new shoes have a minimal diff. and after about a week I noticed my Achilles pain was much less on runs, and after. I never put it together that my every day shoes were what was exacerbating my lower legs, while I ran in semi-minimal Inov-8's.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought...
Interesting. I've been wearing 1st edition Nike Frees as my everyday. For runs, I've actually moved up to higher heels as a temporary relief. I'm getting good stretch of the achilles by running uphill. But I'm a little worried now that I've been wearing high heels (9-11mm drop with the very occasional 6mm) for 4 weeks now and need to start mixing in some lower heel shoes. Maybe I'll start with some lower everyday shoes. Today I did my first run with a slit heel counter. Just took a box cutter and cut a slit. The goal being that the counter doesn't rub against the achilles, especially on the down hills. Felt good. Need to take the box cutter to all my shoes!
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