Last long week

Hey all!

So ... I've been training for the Nike Women's Marathon which is now just under 4 weeks away! This is my last long running week before a 3-week taper. This has been a very good training cycle for me ... high mileage, felt good and motivated throughout - been making all my runs.

So why is it now in the last week that I really need to push, I'm just not feelin' it! Is that normal? I've trained for and run marathons before, but never with a high mileage cycle like this. I just know that I'm tired, my body is a bit beat up and facing one more week of early morning runs in the dark is just a huge struggle.

Anyone have any suggestions, stories of their own, advice? I think even if this week doesn't end up being my highest mileage of the cycle, I should be ok, right? It's just frustrating when I'm so close!

Thanks in advance for your input!

--Reina

You don't have to go out and kill it this week and if you feel an injury coming on you should certainly take care of it. But, if you're healthy and just feeling a bit rundown then take a day off and regroup a bit.

I see it as my last opportunity to top off that fitness cake with a little bit of icing. I figure I've worked hard all cycle, everything is going well and this is my chance to put an emphatically declare and reaffirm my commitment to my goal. This is the week that I've been training for. I want to drive home the fact that I can hold that pace and fulfill everything that I've been working toward for the past few months. Take an extra day off if you want to but I suggest that you finish this week on top of your game. It will set the tone for your mental preparations during taper and ultimately your race.

Best of luck!

Not sure how normal it is, but I just finished up my 1st week of taper, and I had some serious motivation problems getting out there for yesterday's 12 miler. One suggestion - a peak mileage week, in its entirety, looks daunting on a Monday, so don't even look past the mid-week runs until their in the rear view mirror.

I would go a little light on mileage and/or intensity in weekdays, so that I can finish the planned long run over the weekend.

The accumulated fatigue is good. My best training cycle leading to my first/only sub 3, I was so tired at the peak of the training that I was very concerned if I was over trained. I determined I was not. As soon as I tapered, the energy started bouncing back and back and back.

If you don't have injury and are not over trained, I like the fatigue. No need to push to go over board. If you can get the last long run in, you are golden.

If I remember correctly, this is your first cycle with mileage this high. I believe your body is telling you to at least give it a day off. I've never seen anyone, even Jerry, get kicked out of the high mileage club for not running one day.



You say your body is doing well, but how's the rest of your life going? Are you burning the candle at both ends? It takes time to run that much. You're not going to lose any fitness by starting your taper now, if you feel you are running out of gas. In fact, your body may love you for starting a bit early.



Wake up in the morning and see if you're feeling it. It might just make that last, long run this weekend all the sweeter.

While I've yet to be completely run down by my peak week in a training cycle (that's going to change this time around...), the general consensus about peaking is that if you're not run down enough so as to bag a workout or two, you probably aren't training hard enough. The last week or two before taper should definitely feel like they're pushing you to your limit. But not over it. Toe the fine line as much as you can, and ease up if you have to.

Too much thinking... it happens. You are 'dreading' things that haven't even happened yet. You're mentally projecting forward based on how you feel right now. Snap out of it!

Today, lace up your shoes and run... however far/fast you feel like. Don't think about tomorrow, or the day after. Take each day as it comes. If you want to take a day off, take a day off.

Eat right, get plenty of rest, then see how you feel tomorrow. It's that simple.

Our imaginations are powerful things...

Matt,

I definitely suffer from too much thinking! I was thinking about what I often see you write about just running MORE miles ... and that's been essentially my philosophy for this training cycle - try to do some days a bit faster than others, especially if the mileage is lower, but basically run at a pace where I can keep increasing my mileage - without obsessing too much on pace. In fact, I typically run with the garmin, but don't look at the pace/time until I'm done, trying to learn to gauge pace by how it feels. And that's worked pretty darn well for me this cycle ... I've been consistently managing 65-73 mile weeks and feeling pretty good and maintaining a pretty good comfortable pace. This is really the first week where I feel like I'm struggling ... and although I thought I was going at a reasonable pace this morning ... when I saw my pace at the end of the run ... it was slow for me as of late. So all of these things cause doubt to creep in about whether I can do this crazy thing called running another marathon. And it doesn't help things that my knee is beginning to bother me ... and I don't usually have any knee issues.

I guess all I can do is focus on one day at a time. And hope that with a long, high mileage successful training cycle through 14 of 18 weeks ... if my taper starts a bit early, that I won't lose all that I've worked to gain.

Thanks for the thoughts and advice - have definitely been thinking about you as I've done MORE miles.

--Reina

Mr MattM wrote:Too much thinking... it happens. You are 'dreading' things that haven't even happened yet. You're mentally projecting forward based on how you feel right now. Snap out of it!

Today, lace up your shoes and run... however far/fast you feel like. Don't think about tomorrow, or the day after. Take each day as it comes. If you want to take a day off, take a day off.

Eat right, get plenty of rest, then see how you feel tomorrow. It's that simple.

Our imaginations are powerful things...

I do worry about losing fitness ... of course I worry about a lot of things!!

And the rest of my life is insane, very high stress. That's not helping either.

--Reina

ounce wrote:If I remember correctly, this is your first cycle with mileage this high. I believe your body is telling you to at least give it a day off. I've never seen anyone, even Jerry, get kicked out of the high mileage club for not running one day.



You say your body is doing well, but how's the rest of your life going? Are you burning the candle at both ends? It takes time to run that much. You're not going to lose any fitness by starting your taper now, if you feel you are running out of gas. In fact, your body may love you for starting a bit early.



Wake up in the morning and see if you're feeling it. It might just make that last, long run this weekend all the sweeter.

THink of it this way. You've come so far, short of injury or pain, stick it out one more week, you owe it to yourself to try the full program. Taper will be good - since you do more miles rather than adding speed, I think taper should quickly help you recover and be ready for your race.

Reina wrote:I've been consistently managing 65-73 mile weeks and feeling pretty good and maintaining a pretty good comfortable pace. This is really the first week where I feel like I'm struggling ... and although I thought I was going at a reasonable pace this morning ... when I saw my pace at the end of the run ... it was slow for me as of late. So all of these things cause doubt to creep in about whether I can do this crazy thing called running another marathon. And it doesn't help things that my knee is beginning to bother me ... and I don't usually have any knee issues.

You are there, Reina! You realize that you're tired... after maintaining over 65mpw? Seriously? Hell, yeah! Others are more tired after a single 20 mile run on lower mileage! The price you pay for higher mileage is NOT WORRYING ABOUT PACE. Training paces really don't matter as much at higher mileage. On race day, when others are fading, you will realize why higher mileage pays off... you'll just be getting started when others are fading. You are teaching your body how to run while fatigued... the single most important thing in distance running.

Quote me: You'll just be getting started when others are fading.

As for your knee... I get that all the time and, for me, it always goes away. On race day, block out everything that isn't crippling (seriously). I've started races with a pain in a foot, knee, leg, back, etc... after a few miles it goes away (thank you endorphins!).

Can't wait to see how you do!!!

Thanks Matt! ... just getting started ...

(it's just that i haven't been worrying about pace and it's been getting better - this week, not so much ... guess that's to be expected ... and i know ... STOP WORRYING, right?)

Thanks again!

--Reina

Mr MattM wrote:

Reina wrote:I've been consistently managing 65-73 mile weeks and feeling pretty good and maintaining a pretty good comfortable pace. This is really the first week where I feel like I'm struggling ... and although I thought I was going at a reasonable pace this morning ... when I saw my pace at the end of the run ... it was slow for me as of late. So all of these things cause doubt to creep in about whether I can do this crazy thing called running another marathon. And it doesn't help things that my knee is beginning to bother me ... and I don't usually have any knee issues.

You are right there, Reina! You realize that you're tired... after maintaining over 65mpw? Seriously? Hell, yeah! Others are more tired after a single 20 mile run on lower mileage! The price you pay for higher mileage is NOT WORRYING ABOUT PACE. Training paces really don't matter as much at higher mileage. On race day, when others are fading, you will realize why higher mileage pays off... you'll just be getting started when others are fading. You are teaching your body how to run while fatigued... the single most important thing in distance running.

Quote me: You'll just be getting started when others are fading.

As for your knee... I get that all the time and, for me, it always goes away. On race day, block out everything that isn't crippling (seriously). I've started races with a pain in a foot, knee, leg, back, etc... after a few miles it goes away (thank you endorphins!).

Can't wait to see how you do!!!

If it's any consolation, you're not the only one (or the only one in the greater Sac area, for that matter!) who's fretting about pace. I've watched my weekly average pace go from ~7.5mph to sub-7mph. Granted, some of that is attributed to the trails I've been running, but my recovery runs are definitely SLOW, and they need to be, whereas with lower mileage, I could just blow them off and run them "easy."

Don't put so much stock into one training week. No matter how it goes, whether it be great or a struggle, the gains made in the previous weeks are real and aren't going away.

Take it 1 day at a time. Taper is right around the corner.