Monday, February 6, 2012

Longer Easy Runs

Today marks 12 weeks until my first race of 2012.  Yes - I signed up for a race - I will be running my 4th half marathon on April 29th!

I should be excited but the race is still a pretty long way off and I have a lot of miles before the race.  I took on a pretty aggressive training plan in order to try and run a faster half.

A more aggressive training plans means higher weekly mileage which means longer easy runs.  In the past my easy runs have typically been around 3 or 4 miles which translates into about 25-35 minutes for a run.

Now it looks like the days of an easy 3 miler may be gone and replaced with an easy 5 or 6 miler.  I feel like the only time a 3 miler may ever make an appearance in my training is when I run a double workout.


This morning was my first longer easy run.  The moon was full and beautiful so that made getting up early for this run easier.  Most of the sugary sweets I had ingested the night before from the super bowl party I attended had digested and I was able to hit a good pace for 6 miles.

When I began my half marathon training last winter, I knew that the key to staying healthy was my easy/recovery runs.  These are the runs that form the glue to keep my training going and my body injury free (and of course some cross training too!)


It is definitely going to take a bit more planning on my part to fit in all the mileage and runs I have planned for the next 12 weeks.  I think I may just take it one week at a time and see how it goes.  I have been building my mileage over the last four weeks and this week I have increased to 40 miles!  Hopefully I can get all my runs and miles in this week and still feel good!


And so it begins....since I am still a newbie to weekly mileage over 40/week...any suggestions??

10 comments:

Marlene said...

Congrats on signing up for your next half and starting your training.

My best advice would be too run super slow on your recovery runs and just make sure you are resting & fueling properly. That will be the key to staying fresh for your workouts & long runs.

Amy said...

Good for you! I'm signed up for a half in 13 weeks, but I'm doing this one for fun, with a big goal coming for fall.

Allison said...

I think you have the right idea for increasing your mileage. Keep those "extra" miles slow and relaxed.

gfmedia said...

Please let me know if you find that magic potion. I'm with you on finding the time to get the longer easy runs in, I'm splitting some of them into doubles. Slow is your friend.

Kim said...

For your 40 mile weeks, you got it right - just remember to take a rest day and fully rest!

I am training for a 5K and rarely have a run under 5 miles. It's funny what we do in our training plans. I mean, I get why, it's just funny :)

Have fun training!

Tricia said...

looking forward to following your training!

Tricia said...

looking forward to following your training!

Anonymous said...

How exciting to have a race on the calendar!! Good luck on your training!

Rena said...

I have no real advice, because I haven't been running as long. But how did you come up with your new training plan? Good luck!

Christine said...

Signing up for a race is always exciting!!! Good luck with your training, I know you will do awesome :)