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July 20, 2005
35:00/165
Today's tempo run carried me just over 4 15/16 mi (7 19/20 km), nearly 3 of those miles being at 7:30/mi pace and slower. I know the distance almost exactly because I ran it on the track at Barker, which is a cinder track. My shoes are quite dirty from running over there.
For the fourth mile, I ran faster than race pace, roughly a 6:05 mile after having run a 6:30 mile. Hal Higdon once quoted Jack Daniels, who popularized the tempo run, on how you shouldn't run at high intensity too often. '"Achieving that level once every two weeks or so is fine," says Daniels, "but if you train to that intensity in practice too often, you won't have anything left for competition." Except during periods when you're not racing, workouts should never approach race-level intensity.' (Source: Hal's site)
What I'm trying to learn from marathon training is how to improve over the long term. One of the basic ideas has begun to become clear to me now that I've been running steadily for the last 3 years or so. That basic idea could be stated as, Train at a level of intensity that you can maintain for a long time yet that amounts to more than you naturally want to do.
Dana and I have both experienced that point in running where it feels very smooth, almost effortless, and indeed satisfying. It often happens to me around kilometer 7 to about kilometer 10 or 12 of a longer run. It seems to happen during easy runs. Dana's take on that experience seemed to be that that sensation is a brief reward for training up to the point where you experience that feeling, and that you might want to run a marathon at about that pace.
The way I see it, if you feel that way you could be running harder, at least in a race.
Dana almost appeared surprised that you'd run a whole marathon feeling stressed, late, wondering if you can hold the pace. Yet that set of sensations is the set I feel when running my personal best times for any distance. The thing is, it takes lots of preparation to get ready to run a personal best. Training is definitely the most agreeable part of the race.
Maybe that's another basic idea connected with improving over the long term, that training should seem more fun than racing.
Posted by Mark at July 20, 2005 05:04 PM