Stamina Training

It took about two hours, and then the workout began.  And all without changing anything I was doing.  The schedule called for 2.5 hours of running this morning and I was feeling really good when I went to bed last night so I thought 20 miles might be the thing to do.  So I did.

 

Easy pace hovering around 7:30 with skies threatening an oncoming storm.  Gusty winds from the east and thick cloud cover but no rain while I was running which I appreciated.  At about the two hour mark I started to feel yesterday’s workout.  Not just in the legs but pretty much throughout.  I kept the pace steady and got some training in stamina.  An energy drop was coupled with overall fatigue but I got it done and I’m no worse for the wear.  I can see why some run lots of speed work or even back to back speed work to get the same effect.  It takes less time.  But my method is the one I’m comfortable with and seems to work as long as I’m patient enough to run the necessary time to get to the point of fatigue.  Plus it has an element of specificity to it.

 

To answer Ewen’s question about why I didn’t run a more manageable pace yesterday, the answer is this: Because I don’t know what I’m doing.  Ha ha!  Plus when it comes to speed work I just want the d**n thing over with as soon as possible.  And I like 10 minute breaks.

 

Speaking of breaks, in the winter time, Eric and I sometimes do hills as a way to keep running when the temperature is below 0F.  We park a car at the bottom of a ¼ mile hill.  We keep it running with hot coffee inside.  We do a repeat, jog back to the car and sit inside sipping coffee for 5 minutes until the next repeat.  It’s the only way not to die of hypothermia and still get a workout in.  We were discussing a plan recently to put this on our schedule come January.

 

But for now, with temps at 55 degrees, I’m enjoying getting the mileage in.  Tomorrow is a recovery day!  Hoping to break the run into two.

 

Mileage today: 20.1 (7:28 pace)