Happy Sunday friends! Here is a quick (ish) run down of how my runs went down this week.
Monday: 2 mi. WU, 12 X 400 hill repeats, 2 mi. CD (10 miles @ 7:41 average)
I already wrote a whole blog post about this workout, so I won’t rehash it again.
Tuesday: 6 miles on the TM (9:00 pace)
I don’t have much to say about this run specifically, so let me talk about easy runs in general for a minute … I saw a quote recently that said, “There is no such thing as overtraining, only under recovery.” I thought that was an interesting spin on things and it makes a lot of sense. It is pretty easy to overdo it on an easy run, when in actuality, the easy run is there in your schedule for a specific purpose.
Easy recovery runs help with essential things such as muscle and tissue repair, removal of waste products, reduction of inflammation, restoration of energy stores and nutrients necessary for cellular activity and recuperation of the central nervous system. These runs should be done at 65 – 75% of max heart rate. While I don’t specifically train using heart rate data, it is a good tool to use (especially if I want to make the most of my fancy-smanchy running watch that measures my HR) and I try to be at least slightly cognizant of my heart rate and what zone I am running in (especially on the easy days).
Here is a snapshot of the different HR training zones from my Garmin Connect:
My average heart rate for this run was 130 bpm, which is close to 65% of my max heart rate.
Wednesday: 8 miles on the TM (9:46 pace)
Not gonna lie, I did some walking during this “run.” If I run outside, I rarely take a walk break, but for whatever reason when I am on the TM, it’s like that little decrease speed button is calling to me, begging me to hit it and take a little breather. Sometimes I can resist the urge and other times, I totally give in.
Thursday: 2 mi. WU, 3 X 2 miles w/ 0.25 recovery, 1.5 mi. CD (10 miles @ 7:24 average)
Thursday was my second “workout” of the week, LT repeats. The goal range was 6:15 to 6:25. Since the TM has really been calling to me lately (i.e., neither my friends nor my spouse are currently doing specific workouts), I spent more quality time with Mr. Tready again on Thursday.
After a 2 mile warm up, I started the repeats and I kept the speed pretty consistent during the workout portion of this run. Sometimes I try to do a negative split, but after the first set I knew that I would be doing good to just hold on where I started. Splits were 12:39 (6:19, 6:20), 12:38 (6:18, 6:20), 12:34 (6:16, 6:18). I got in a quick mile and a half cool down and got on with my day. Overall, I was very happy with how I felt and how the workout went.
Friday: 8 miles w/ Rebecca and Jessica! (9:01 pace)
I can’t believe that this was my first run outside all week. I was supposed to meet Rebecca and Jessica Wednesday morning as well, but I couldn’t drag myself out of bed. Thankfully I was able to redeem myself and get up w/ the 4:00 a.m. alarm on Friday. Ha. I am so glad that I did because we had a great run. It was nice and chilly out and the sunrise was absolutely gorgeous. We had some good life chats and got in 8 miles. There isn’t a better way to start the day (IMO)!
Saturday: 8 miles w/ the Daniels, Kenny, Ali and Cody (8:02 pace)
My schedule called for 16 miles at a moderate pace, but that didn’t exactly happen. I usually run with Daniel’s group when I have moderate pace runs planned, as my moderate pace is basically their easy, everyday pace. Usually this works out well. Unfortunately, this week I was just not feeling the long run Saturday morning. For one, I don’t think that my legs had fully recovered from my Thursday workout and secondly, the temperatures spiked overnight and it was mid-70s and muggy Saturday morning, making for some less than ideal running conditions.
After considering my schedule for next week and the goals of this training cycle, I basically decided that missing one long run was going to be less detrimental than trying to push back the long run and attempt it on Sunday, which would’ve interfered with my speed workouts next week. I know that my endurance is solid. Speedwork is more important at this point. All that is really just to say that I happily called it a day at 8 on Saturday (both Daniels ran 8 as well) and (contrary to what including this paragraph may imply) I am not worried about missing the LR.
Sunday: 8 miles w/ the girls! (9:00 pace)
Rebecca, Jessica, Lizzie, Jill and I got in an easy 8 miles and some quality friend time (aka running + coffee conversations) Sunday morning before the rain set in.
With that, week two of half marathon specific training is done. I’ve got mile repeats, a tempo run and a moderate pace long run are on tap next week, workout wise. I’ve also got some runs w/ friends, 2 strength training sessions & a Christmas Eve Jingle Bell Jog planned. Yay for Christmas holidays!
How “easy” do you run your easy runs?
I probably do my easy runs too hard. I should really take your (and others’) advice and slow down so I don’t burn out. Thanks for the reminder.
Yes! Just make sure you are giving your body enough recovery time in between harder workout sessions 🙂
I probably do my easy runs too hard. I should really take your (and others’) advice and slow down so I don’t burn out. Thanks for the reminder.
Yes! Just make sure you are giving your body enough recovery time in between harder workout sessions 🙂
My easy runs vary. I probably do a few of them too hard and will admit it, because it’s easy to get carried away, to want to negative split a run, and if you run before work, sometimes you just have to pick it up to get home! The pace of the easy runs does slow down a lot when I am running more mileage but right now they are a bit faster than usual because I’m only running 5 days a week and my easy days are fairly short. But when I was running ~50mpw and easy days were like 7 miles, they were definitely slower then! So, I guess it depends on where you are in training.
Under recovery is a huge thing! I told a friend today that I feel like I shortchanged my recovery from a few races I ran this year and that may have contributed to the injury and therefore *forced* recovery! I’m not really one to take long periods off running but I think a cutback week after some of those breakthrough races would’ve been a good idea, in hindsight.
Glad you got some quality workouts in even if you didn’t do a formal long run this week!
I feel like people talk about “overtraining” a lot more than “under recovery,” so I thought that was an interesting take on it. I agree that it’s definitely worth it to take it easy for a little bit in order to ensure that you can continue running long-term.
My easy runs vary. I probably do a few of them too hard and will admit it, because it’s easy to get carried away, to want to negative split a run, and if you run before work, sometimes you just have to pick it up to get home! The pace of the easy runs does slow down a lot when I am running more mileage but right now they are a bit faster than usual because I’m only running 5 days a week and my easy days are fairly short. But when I was running ~50mpw and easy days were like 7 miles, they were definitely slower then! So, I guess it depends on where you are in training.
Under recovery is a huge thing! I told a friend today that I feel like I shortchanged my recovery from a few races I ran this year and that may have contributed to the injury and therefore *forced* recovery! I’m not really one to take long periods off running but I think a cutback week after some of those breakthrough races would’ve been a good idea, in hindsight.
Glad you got some quality workouts in even if you didn’t do a formal long run this week!
I feel like people talk about “overtraining” a lot more than “under recovery,” so I thought that was an interesting take on it. I agree that it’s definitely worth it to take it easy for a little bit in order to ensure that you can continue running long-term.