Hard Easy Day
August 16, 2007 at 1:13 am | Posted in running, Training | 3 Comments
“Dead tired. Dog tired. Sore as hell.” -from Laura Mykytok’s training diary.
Laura, I know exactly how you feel. Those three short sentences speak to how I felt when I struggled to open my eyes at 6:00 this morning. Having slept very poorly all night (could it have been the three enormous bowls of Cap’n Crunch I wolfed down at 10:30 last night?), combined with the Tuesday’s tough speedwork, I woke up tired and sore. I couldn’t even consider running until 8:00 and then I still waited around.
Wednesday’s are designated as “easy” days of semi-long distances run at a comfortable pace. As soon as I began this easy run, I realized that it wasn’t going to be easy. I’m sure you’re familiar with the feeling: tight quads, tight calves, certain you weigh at least 300 lbs. Quickly, I decided that today’s semi-long run would only be 7.2 and that motivated me to run a little faster. When I reached the 3.6 mark, I looked at my GPS (I know, I should’ve left it home!) and saw that I was running an average pace of 8:48. “Oh no!” screamed my brain. “That’s just pathetic! You’d better start moving those legs of yours!”
So, that’s just what I did to the tune of an average pace of 7:50. Stupid, stupid stupid!!! Easy days should be, well, EASY!!! I don’t believe that anyone benefits from to challenging days in a row. When you run consecutive days hard, you set yourself up for injury. Plus, I probably zapped a lot of energy that I will most definitely need for my 6 miles of tempo running tomorrow.
So, what did I learn? LEAVE THE WATCH HOME ON EASY DAYS AND LET YOUR BODY SET THE TEMPO!!
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Sandy, good lesson for all of us. Tomorrow’s tempo might go alright, but then go eeeeeeeeasy. Sometimes we just can’t monitor our pace very well. So what…you’ll be masterful at pacing at Columbus!
Comment by tomrunnerslounge— August 16, 2007 #
A former coach used stress that easy means just that, easy..relax..no expectations…even if it involves walking because the slow days give you the endurance you need for a long haul. I know it’s not easy to go at a slug pace because you expect so much out of yourself…you(we) want improvement in everything.
Tomorrow will be a much better day…I can smell it.
Comment by Bella— August 16, 2007 #
Tom and Bella,
Thank you so much for the encouragement! I’m going to play your suggested mantra in my brain like a broken record, Tom!
Sandy
Comment by smchurchi— August 16, 2007 #