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Author Topic: Trained for Long ... Made for Short  (Read 4805 times)
Jeff Linger
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« on: October 07, 2008, 02:35:44 pm »

Last week I ran a 5:09 flat mile alone on a track. The conditions were a breezy headwind on the first stretch and going around the first turn. I ran this with a group, but was about 30 seconds ahead of the next runner, so essentially I did this without anyone to push me. I have not done an interval workout or real speed workout since last march, focusing entirely on aroebic base, aroebic threshold, marathon pace and lactic threshold runs. In June I cut my mileage down to 35 mpw and spent the last 4 months building back up to 65 miles per week. I run 6 days a week, often doing a 1 or 2 doubles each week with the exception of the last few weeks where scheduling has made that difficult. I usually run 1-2 runs each week where I run in the 6:15-6:30 range for about 1/3 of a 10-12 miler. I do 1-2 runs each week in the 7:45-8:00 range, and 1-2 runs each week in the 7:00-7:20 range (what I suspect is my target marathon pace). For the most part I train for races over 10k in distance, focusing primarily staying continually fit to race the 1/2 marathon distance. I plan to do 1 marathon about ever 12-18 months and adjust my training accordingly during the 3 months prior to those races. To date my PR for a 1/2 marathon was the only one I ran last fall (before my training got serious) 1:30. 3 weeks ago I registered for a 1/2 marathon which was cut short at the 10 mile mark due to course conditions. I was on pace for a 1:28ish, finishing the 10 miles at an average pace of 6:50s, but I was probably running in the 6:35 range and picking up when I was informed at 9.5 miles that it was cut short with 800 meters to go. According to McMillan Running Calculator my times based on the 5:09, which I'm not trained for, should be about 17:50 for the 5k (which I feel I could do), 37:04 for the 10k (which is probably in reach, but not sure if I could pull it out just yet even on a flat course), 57:26 for 15k (1:03:30 was run back in July after just a few weeks of returning to significant training), 1:22:28 for a 1/2 marathon (which I believe is probably at least 5 minutes faster than I feel I could pull off) and 2:54 for a full marathon (which is probably 6-10 minutes faster than I could pull off). What's going on given that I'm training my body for the longer distances, but my ability to meet those demands based on shorter distances (which I'm doing no training for) just doesn't seem to mesh? What changes to my training do I need to do to accomplish matching times for the longer distances based on what appears to be innate speed? Can anyone take a look at my blog and review my last few months training to help me understand what may or may not be going on and what alterations I need to make to get my times down for the 10k-marathon distances. www.dandy.fastrunningblog.com
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Sasha Pachev
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« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2008, 09:13:53 am »

Jeff - based on your collegiate PRs you are naturally a middle-distance runner. So your mile will always be off the charts compared to your marathon. However, if you continue the same training - mileage and long tempos, the quality gap will overtime be reduced.  And your mile time will get faster as well. The mile has a significant aerobic component, about 50% aerobic according to

http://www.gillathletics.com/articles/news021302.htm

Also, marathon training does quite a bit more for your mile than sedentary lifestyle in more than just aerobic conditioning. You lose a portion of your counter-productive weight, replace the rest with productive weight, and teach your nervous system to run.

Given three years of good training I see no reason why you could not run 2:40 in the marathon.
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Jeff Linger
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« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2008, 02:13:14 pm »

So Sasha, are you saying I should just keep on keeping on at what I'm doing, or are there some workouts I could employ in place of others to better improve my 1/2 marathon pace?
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Sasha Pachev
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« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2008, 03:13:18 pm »

Pretty much keep doing what you are doing. Two key workouts would be a tempo run at 10 K - half-marathon pace (2x3 miles, or 5-6 miles all at once), and a marathon pace tempo for about 10-15 miles in the middle of a long run. That and mileage, and racing. Essentially what you've been doing already. It is just a matter of time before your races 10 K and over catch up.
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Jeff Linger
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« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2008, 08:16:48 pm »

I did a test run last night that explains some of my thoughts on why I'm struggling with the 1/2 marathon distance in terms of my ability to get my times down below 6:45. I went out and after the first few miles, dropped the hammer and just sort of tried to see how long I could hang on. I found the results encouraging and hope that perhaps someone might be able to comment on where they think this puts me. Keep in mind, that at the 11 mile mark, I was pretty much shot. I think I could have continued to convince my body to hang in there and keep going. For how long I don't know, 1/2 a mile? 1 mile? 2 miles? Not sure. At any rate, it was the workout for Wednesday October 8th ... http://dandy.fastrunningblog.com/.

Thanks
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Sasha Pachev
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« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2008, 12:39:21 pm »

I would say around 1:23-1:24 half.
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