Run Faster

This week was not such a great week. Total running mileage: about 10 - two 4 mile runs and one 2 mile race. Not exactly the way I wanted week 8 of my marathon training schedule to go.

Here’s my explanations/excuses - my left foot was bothering me a bit on Wednesday, so I opted to take a rest day instead of running my scheduled track workout. It might have been more psychosomatic than real, but I erred on the side of caution because I didn’t want to risk a recurrence of plantar fasciitis.

By Friday my foot was feeling better, but I had ridden my bike to/from work that day and the heat (90s, kind of hot for here), just wiped me out so I took another rest day. I did manage to get in 4 miles yesterday and a 2 mile race this morning with my running club though, so at least I’ve closed out the week on a good note.

This week was supposed to be an easy week in my schedule anyway, so I don’t feel as bad about it as I might have otherwise. And I did manage to get in a few decent bike rides and a yoga class so it could have been much worse.

This week I pledge to have a better running week. Hope everyone else’s training is going well!

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Wednesday night was my track workout night - we ran 3 x (400, 300, 200, 100) with about 1 1/2 minutes of rest between each interval. Those types of short interval workouts are the toughest for me, probably because I wasn’t blessed with a good supply of fast-twitch muscles or natural speed. Still, I enjoy - in a sick, twisted sort of way - doing short intervals like this, especially when I’m preparing for a shorter race.

However, when I’m preparing for a longer race, like a marathon or half marathon, I prefer doing either longer intervals of at least 1000 meters or longer each, or tempo runs. Both have their advantages.

In my way of thinking, longer intervals help you build speed for the times you need to be able to surge, like at the end of a race or when there’s someone just a little bit ahead of you that you want to get past. Tempo runs, on the other hand, seem to contribute to better endurance and an overall faster pace.

What is your favorite type of speedwork and why?

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