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Friends:Breakheart DanTrail Pixie Trespas Kevin kZ Trailgrrl Michelle RunninRob Cookie Monster Steve Latour Pictures:AlbumRunning Data:20102009 2008 |
Sun, 20 Sep 2009After three months of, at best, intermittent running, I've finally returned to regular training. Tuesday I ran 6 miles at 8:55/mi. Shockingly, my heart rate hit 188 beats per minute. Two days later, I ran 3 miles at 8:57/mi. My doctor had advised me to start slowly, and my high heart rate suggested that pushing hard this early in my recovery was a bad idea. I was looking forward to a longer 9 mile run today. I woke up early and headed out to Willowdale for a partial loop. In order to avoid waking up my family, I didn't make my two usual triple espressos. 20 minutes into the drive to Willowdale, dawn was still an hour away, and I felt too tired and cold to continue. I came back home, drank my coffee, and waited for the sun. I switched my planned trail run for 9 miles on the road. Halfway in I was feeling good and decided to extend the run to half-marathon distance. I managed my 13.14 miles in 2:05:19 for an average 9:32/mi. Mercifully, my average heart rate was only 150. Things are looking up. Now that I have a baseline week, I'm trying to come up with a training plan to get me through Stone Cat and the Fells Trail Race. Most sources advise gradually increasing training load, but I only have 6 weeks to Stone Cat. The same sources typically suggest only increasing volume by 10% a week. Most published plans translate this into a conservative linear increase in training volume. My intention is to increase my volume exponentially (at 15% a week), and then cut back on all but my longest run. This should provide for longer runs and for significant rest. I'm still undecided betwen the Stone Cat Marathon and the Stone Cat 50. Registration must be received by mid-October, so I have a little time to make up my mind. I have friends in both races, so whichever I choose, I should have great company. |
