Monday was a bank holiday, and after returning home late from Nana and Gaga's 40th anniversary celebrations, we slept in. I did not get up until after 8 o'clock, and then only because Maia cried and wanted her bottle. For the next hour I did nothing more than make breakfast for the boys and watch/play with Maia, while Niamh slept on. It was while sitting on the couch and keeping an eye on the baby that I strapped on my HRM and noticed a HR of 38. That's the lowest reading I've ever recorded, and I wasn't even lying down at the time. I guess my CV system is still developing.
After an easy run, slightly hampered by wind and rain, I continued to have an easy day; the original plan had been to drive to Valentia Island for the third day in a row, but nobody really fancied yet another trip in the car, so we stayed put and relaxed instead.
Despite this easy day the legs still grumbled when I set off this morning. I wasn't exactly looking forward to the workout, a set of quarter miles, but felt fresh enough to attempt them anyway. The target pace was the same as last week, but I had 12 repeats on the schedule rather than 10. It didn't sound like much more, but somehow I was ever so slightly apprehensive. Last week I did them while running towards Cromane, today I just ran back-and forwards on our road; it's reasonably flat, but has a bit of a hill in the middle. Not much of a hill, maybe 10 feet high, but even that is a formidable challenge while running as fast as you can, basically.
86,84,82,88,84,85,85,86,87,87,89,84
I was happy enough with the times. A slight loss of concentration caused a slow 4th repeat, and I obviously concentrated a bit too much on form and too little on effort on the second-last one. I had to work hard over the last 4 repeats, and was more than happy to be done with at the end, where I duly assumed HOK position.
In all honesty I'm neither looking forward to Thursday (more mile repeats), Friday (long run), nor next Tuesday (quarters again). I'm not sure if I've turned lazy all of a sudden, but the hard days just seem to be really hard at the moment.
A little dip in motivation is probably just a normal part of marathon training.
- 4 Aug
- 8 miles, 1:07:48, 8:28 pace, HR 134
- 5 Aug
- am: 9.5 miles, 1:17:42, 8:11 pace, HR 145, incl. 12x400 @ 85.5 avg.
pm: 5 miles, 39:17, 7:49 pace, HR 137
i think the slight loss of motivation is just a sign that your body is a little tired from your hard week last week! maybe its a good idea to keep the steady runs on the easy side until you fell fresh again,
ReplyDeletehappy running
Turned lazy? I think not, Thomas. Most likely a little fatigue. Do as the lizard says and keep it on the easy side for a short while.
ReplyDelete"slightly hampered by wind and rain"
This would most likely mean gale force winds for most of us.
Glad you were able to have an easy day and enjoy being with the kids. I am sure Niamh appreciated the extra sleep.
Thomas, I meant to ask in my comment, how long of a rest between the 400's?
ReplyDeleteWell done with the 400s. For what it's worth, I reckon it's better to keep the form 'good' throughout the session - if you start to get ragged towards the end, cut a few reps. Or... plan to do 10 400s for instance, and run extra reps if you're feeling OK.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Alien - going a tad easier on the 'non-hard' days will help the hard days.
Much like Marc said, you are far from lazy... you're an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThat said, watch the motivation as it is an important sign. I remember back a month or more (when making your program), that you were going to cut out the easy weeks. How is that going? How is your body recovering? It might be best to rethink this.
Your race is still far away and it'd be better to make adjustments now than closer to the date.
We all like to think we're different, i.e. recover faster than "most" people, or can handle high mileage. But it does catch up to you. Be careful.
All the best out on the road!