(22-02-2012, 01:35 PM)marathondan Wrote: Sorry, 2:30 is only a "longish"? This is getting out of hand. Great work though.
Sorry, I guess that does sound a little weird. In trying to cram 50km into a busy week though (the weekend is already written off) I was left with little choice but to run something greater than 20km yesterday (Wednesday) morning, as I'll only be able to squeeze in maybe 16 tomorrow morning at best before I have to rush off to the airport, after which there is no further possibility of a run until Monday.
What's impressed me about this ten-week base building phase I'm on (which is the cornerstone of Arthur Lydiard's coaching methods) is just how simple a 20km run seems now. In fact that 23km was so easy I hardly even thought about. When running gets this simple you know you're doing something right.
Lydiard was a genius who was ahead of his time, coaching several Olympic medallists through the 60s and 70s, but he always started with this ten-week base building before tailoring a more detailed plan for each athlete. I hasten to add that his base building however was 100 miles per week, not a mere 50km.
I had read about Lydiard's base-building long ago, but it was only recently when I started looking into training methods that I found a lot of current-day trainers have adopted the same idea. So I thought I'd try it. I'd been running about that distance leading up to the Point 2 Pinnacle, so I knew I could do it, and I also knew that I needed to consistently run longer distances. Given that my physio demanded I run only every second day, this seemed like a logical challenge.
Thus far, it's made an amazing difference to my running. Only a few months ago I would have disagreed with every one of these statements:
- Running out the door for a quick 10km at 4 a.m. on a work day would set me up for a great day at work, and allow me to get home at 8 p.m. still feeling great.
- A 15km run is a trifling distance.
- A half marathon? I can run that any time. I'm ready!
- I can train 50km per week every week without getting any serious pain or injury.
But those are now all true. (Touch wood) I see no reason why it can't continue that way. I'm now also finally getting serious about my core and upper body strength training. I've been messing around with core strengthening since late last year, but to be honest I've found it both tedious and difficult. However I've now found a better approach and have a twice-weekly workout which for the moment is principally upper-body strength training with some basic core exercises thrown in. I'll start shifting the focus more toward the core as I can (i.e. as my core does in fact begin to strengthen). It's all rather exciting, to be honest. Like anything, if you persist with something, eventually you find a way to do it enjoyably and successfully.
I've still a long way to go, but yes, I'm already at that point where 23km is merely "longish", and I'm damned proud about it too.
Honestly, I've never felt better.
Ever!
February 2012 - Base Camp
