RW Forum SIx – 3.30 – 4.00

Carter- a 10 mile recovery run?????? Are you human?? 

Ha. When I feel good I tend to just keep going. I do need to learn to stick to my plan though which was meant to be a 6.5 recovery today. Oh well, what harm can it do !!!!! 

Carter - some recovery run. Interesting to hear what Spoons has to say about that.

I ran just short of 45 miles this week.  which is more than I was running this time last year so that must help.

General question. How important is it to stick more or less to the plan and how important are recovery weeks ?

Going to be a tad cold this week so it might be tough to get all these miles in.

hmmm - well there's no such thing as a 10 mile recovery run. It's only a recovery run if it's short, light and easy and you feel better at the end than you did at the beginning. Obviously there is a definite training benefit in a 10 mile run though, especially running it on tired legs after a heavy week. The only thing to be cautious of is doing too much too soon. It's all going really well but the marathon is still a long time away and you don't want to peak to early, have a fantastic next few months and then be exhausted in April and ready for a break from running.

I know I have experienced fantastic January / Februarys in the past where I have smashed loads of PBs and knocked out loads of miles, then come the marathon I'm knackered and blow up at mile 20.

That said, I'm really pleased with how it's all going so far

Yes, it is going well. And yes, I need to be aware that I could overdo it. I have sent you my training plan that I have been tinkering with a little bit recently; if you want to have a look and suggest any changes ta

Hi, I thought I would quickly pop on here before my afternoon surgery starts. It looks like things are going swimmingly for you at the moment, which is fantastic. Its nice to read through your thread and pick up some more tips and advice.

Had to laugh at your 10 mile recovery run though...I classed that as my MSR yesterday, but then again I am doing a lot less weekly mileage than you at the moment.

Glad to hear that you had a successful speed session down at don valley. Did you have to pay to use the track or was it open to anyone like what woodburn road use to be? I still cant get over the fact that they might sell Don Valley, its disgraceful!

I think the guys on here are climbing over barbed wire fences at midnight and using the running track with head torches on to avoid paying any entrance fees.....

Spoons, Carter will do anything in his bid to beat me, breaking into a running track is probably the least he'd do!!

Hi Sarah - you have to pay down there; it's either £4.50 a visit or £15 per month. I have only been twice so far and it hasnt been too crowded although there were plenty of other people using the othe facilities - gym, indoor straight track, stretch room and the Sheffield rugby league team train there.

The snow has already started freezing up here so it may prove difficult to go training outdoors tomorrow. If it is this bad tomorrow lunch time I may well end up going to the gym and hitting the dreadful treadmill. Such is life..

Good to see we are getting a reputation on here for going that extra mile to get the training in

I have been toying with the idea of getting up at silly o'clock to go and do my tempo session but have decided against it. If it freezes overnight the route I do will be treacherous and the other options would not be great.

I am going to gamble on it being ok tomorrow evening to go for it. I really want to see if I can both increase the length of the speed section and also squeeze a little out of the time (my target will be 7:15 mm or better over 25 / 30 minutes).

If my gps is still playing up I can always use the stopwatch for this section and I will be able to work out my time. Must see what deals are out there on the garmin.

If not I will have to go to the gym.

Spoons - how best to approach a tempo session on a treadmill ?

ooo..good question re treadmill Carl. I am seriously considering dusting mine off and getting some miles of boredom in. It was just hazardous outside this morning!

Morning campers. Another cold and frosty day up north. Speedwork at the gym at lunchtime or risk waiting and go to the track tonight and hope its open and safe. Decisions decisions.....

Carl - my thoughts are that it could be too much of a risk trying to do a tempo run on the roads. As Rachel said on her thread there was lots of frozen puddles and of course there could be plenty of black ice lurking. Have you run on the track in these conditions before, how was the track itself ?

Spoons - I see you have logged a couple of runs Jantastic. Are the shins feeling better now ?

Carl - when there's snow on the ground is a good time to dust off the treadmill. We don't want any broken legs on here! Treadmills are actually quite good for tempo runs as it's very easy to keep the pace consistent.

Carter - I did a 2 mile and a 4 mile run and definitely better although not perfect....

Thats good to hear spoons.

I've just got back from a session at the gym and can confirm that I did not enjoy my tempo run at all on the treadmill. I got bored so quickly that I kept increasing/decreasing the incline and then increasing/decreasing my pace (there wasnt even any sights to keep me distracted ). Hopefully the weather improves quickly so we can all get back out where we belong ! I also did a few minutes of weights plus there was a gentle 0.5 miles there and 0.5 miles back to the office. Horrible

Carter - looks like we asre going to escaoe the snow so as long as it is not freezing around 8pm tonight I will probably go for my usual road / footpath run.

Otherwise |I will take all your good advice and go to the gym.

Well done for getting to the gym Carter. I agree that it is one of teh most boring ways to run when we are spolit by running in the open air and all the benefits that come with taht.

Sorry to hear that CW 

Carter - yes the dreadmill is boring. I used to have one and watched DVDs on a laptop on it. At least you got it done. 

Loads of snow here