Sunday, December 28, 2008

Legs Feed the Wolf

The title is my new favorite quote. Do you know who said it and what it means?

This week I ran 6, 7, 4 and 12 mile runs. 29 miles in one week is the highest since I ran the marathon in the second week of January (32.7). Yesterday, I wanted to get more miles in. But, the week caught up to me around mile 10.

My plan was to do my new 8 mile loop. Take a quick refueling break at home and then do the loop again. After the second loop I planned to do 1 mile loops near home for as long as I could. I figured I could do the 16 and maybe up to 4 additional miles. I figured wrong.

The second loop I cut in half and was glad to get back home. My exact numbers were 11.78 miles in 2:21:38 or a 12:02 pace. Not bad time for a training run, but I really did want more mileage. Legs felt a little tired. Lungs felt fine. But, my dogs were barking pretty bad. Which has nothing to do with the title of this post.

So, what would you do? 29 miles with 9 hours left in the week. I planned on this being a rest day with a 7 miler tomorrow. Should I run ONE mile to get to 30? Or 3.8 miles for a PR in weekly mileage?

6 comments:

Some guy named John said...

I'm kinda weird, but frankly I'd just settle for the 29!

But the suspense is killing me: What DOES the quote mean??

desert trail runner said...

Pat, rest. You'll break that record another week... ( But I bet you ran! :) )

Trying to find a run after London's Run on Jan 31. Ran my first double digit run (10 miles) today. Thinking about a 1/2 after London's 10k.

How is the Lost Dutchman's run, runner friendly?

Nick

Greg said...

You know, Pat, I'm in the middle of reading Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide by Hal Higdon. Your post reminded me of something I read the other day:

"The Perils of the Numbers Game
What you need to beware of is concentrating on how many miles you're running to the exclusion of everything else. Some runners become fixated on high mileage, feeling that if they fail to reach their weekly mileage goals, they remain unfulfilled. They begin worrying by Wednesday or Thursday: "Am I going to make it this week?" At this point, they're running more for their training diaries than for themselves. They're also spending a lot of time running "junk miles" - miles that have no effect on fitness or performance."

In other words, don't sweat that extra mile to get to 30. In the big picture, it doesn't matter. You also need that rest.

Glad to see you out pounding the pavement. :)

billdowis said...

I also failed to reach my mileage goal this week. My leg has ben bothering me and my run on Christmas was cut short.

But no matter... I will accomplish many more goals in the future.

The exerpt posted by Greg really hits home. Sometimes I focus on numbers and it makes my runs miserable... now I have yet another book to add to my reading list :)

billdowis said...

oh yeah... I forgot about your quote.

You always have crazy little quizzes and this one is making me wonder....

please tell us who said it!

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