As a replacement for taking summer Fridays, our corporate overlords grant us two Mondays off. Today, I took my second free day. That left me with some more options to run. I got up a little later to do my key workout of the week: a nine-mile run with four miles at half-marathon pace. I should do the tempo miles at 6:30 or ideally a bit below. Two weeks ago, I had a great workout in the park and hit 6:31. That's about where I want to be, because I figure I'll gain speed as I go with this training. (I better for all the extra work.) From the start today, though, I didn't feel great. Nothing was particularly sore, but my legs were still a bit achy. Maybe I did the long run too hard. It was also very humid out, which always bothers me. I ran a little loop around the bridle path to the East Side, about 2.5 miles. That's when the fun began. I started from the Engineer's Gate on E. 90th Street, along the Central Park road, heading north. My hope was after I warmed up, I'd feel better. It never happened. By time I got up Cat Hill and hit the flat stretch back to the Engineer's Gate, I knew it was great. I don't check my watch in the midst of the tempo runs, although it might be a good idea if I can plot out exact distances in the park. By my watch, the four miles took 26:47. 6:41 pace.
Bad workouts happen. Bad races happen. Stuff can go on at work, personally or just a bad night's sleep. There's no use obsessing about it because there are always more opportunities. The key is to not try to make it up in the next workout. Better to just move on. Even if the tempo pace wasn't great, today was a hard day. I have to do 14 tomorrow morning, nearly the entire length of Manhattan from my apartment.
9 miles, 1:03:46
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3 comments:
Yeah, don't sweat it. Crappy workouts happen. That said i do think you did do your long run a little too hard (the first half in particular) esp given the hills and humidity. again, i recommend your tempos be down down the west side hwy. that headwind can be just as challenging. you must keep pace with a watch.
one other thought, as time goes on, you really shouldn't be aiming to do your tempo runs faster, but rather longer.
bm,
you've mentioned some achy knees. do you alternate the direction you run in the park (clockwise vs counter). as you know, the road in the park is pretty severely canted at times and this can really cause problems. i know you run the bridle paths, but if you are on the pavement a lot as well, this could be a source of additional stress, too.
Yes, I alternate directions. This week, I did go in the same direction twice. For the most part, the knees are fine. Getting off the pavement as much as possible helps. I do try to keep the Central Park road runs in check b/c I don't like all the downhills on that hard surface. But then, I think running hills now and again helps build strength.
I might have done the long run a little too hard. It's always a learning process. I'll try the West Side for the next 5-mile tempo in a couple weeks. (Next week is an 8-mile general aerobic w 10 x 100m strides. I like to do the strides on the Reservoir b/c it's marked.)
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