A feel good Tuesday run
So I have some miles to make up for my lazy Sunday performance, and I decided to take a couple of them today. I had a spectacular run! I woke up stiff and sore, and I have been for the last couple days, but once I got myself warmed up I really felt great. You can see in the times where I suddenly picked up the pace. The best part is, that’s a 7.5 mile (12.2 km) run. If I can hold that pace for a good while, I definitely can PR in my next marathon.
Speaking of which, I caught a new article from Runner’s World, yes I pay attention, about a new study and a new way to calculate your marathon time based on previous race performance, plus amount of training in a week. I’m a little leery of this method, I need to read the paper fully, because I think if you train too much, you open yourself up to injury. As I was using the calculator Runner’s World set up from this paper, as I got up over 40 miles per week training, my projected finish time dropped significantly. All well and good that they would predict I would run a 4:09 (which isn’t even a PR for me) based on my last 10k time, and 55 miles a week training for my next marathon (average). But 55 miles per week, would probably find me with a pulled muscle or worse. So, I’ll continue to do things the way I have been doing them. Keep pushing to improve my speed over distance and keep within a mileage I feel is comfortable and appropriate.
See, the thing I think gives me the advantage in giving advice on these things, of really sharing my experience is I don’t have a lifetime of coaching, I don’t have anything on the line here, and I’m not set in my ways, or going to push a method of training based on my advertisers (I have none) or anything like that. I’m never going to win a race and I’ve only been running for 5 years. You’re literally reading the words of a man who was so sick and out of shape, he should be pretty much dead. So I just get to fumble along and figure out what works best. Anyone who has been following along must admit, with the exception of a couple aches and pains that eventually healed, for 5 years I have shown myself to be pretty durable. While I have only finished one marathon under 4 hours, over the past year (it’s been a year as of this weekend) I have shown a marked improvement in finishing times in marathons. From my 30+ min PR in Hartford last October, I have managed to improve my Philadelphia time a month later, even though I developed a cold in the middle of the race, and I finished Rome in a European Personal Best of 4:12. That was even while I had a nagging injury (which is still a dull ache on some days).
So that’s where I’m at today, in a very good place as far as running goes. I can’t complain. My first day at the new job was a long day, but it was good. New students seem to be good, things seem to be moving along. Day two starts soon. Need to run and catch the train. I found where the bike racks are on the train, so if I can find a good deal, I may be making a transportation purchase soon!
Have fun, keep running, and remember; if Gil can run then so can you!
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