I had a crap run last night…..no energy …should I be worried ?
Is there anything that I am doing that is hurting my energy levels or should I just suck it up as it happens? I ran 7 K last night and struggled to do under 6 K/min.
Here’s how my coach responded:
“Monday was an excellent tempo effort. It was an important workout and you did a great job of pushing hard.
After a tough effort, you need to let your body recover the next day. This will help your muscles and cardiovascular system assimilate the hard work and build a faster stronger body.
If you continue to run too fast every day, your body doesn’t recover, you don’t adapt to the faster paces and longer distances. Running 6 min/ km every day is not required.
Every running day in the week has a specific purpose. Some of those days in the week are recovery days and don’t have to run at 6 min/km. These days could be run slower like 6:30 if you have to just to get the distance done and flush out your system for your run the next day. Other days are focused on a longer run or a workout with a strong pace.”
Did Coach just mention 6:30/km – can I even run that slow?
So Tania says that a sample week would look like this:
Mon – Tempo effort (8 km at 5:25/km)
Tues – easy 7 km at (6:10-6:30/km pace)
Wed. – easy/moderate 8 km at 6:00/km
Thurs – fast fun workout/hills or easy day
Friday off
Sat – long run
Sunday off
Parts of this are hard and parts are easier but I am very motivated to do the very best that I can and that is a problem with me as I tend to be an over-achiever and place high expectations upon myself on a daily/ weekly/ monthly basis. What kind of person states that they wish to run not only their first marathon but run it in Boston qualifying time?
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How has your nutrition and water intake been as this will affect your recovery and energy as well?
Aleks,
Just to let you know, your pace is my ultimate goal. I know it may be no comfort at all, but I am so impressed by your speed. Many of us turtles are amazed by your pace.
PS – 6.30 for me is a fast run. You go girl.
Chrystal
As with everything, there are good days and bad days.
Sometimes I even have crap weeks. It’s part of the strain of training so consistently. Once you mix all of those ingredients together properly and come into the race injury free, it’s a beautiful thing.
I still learn every race, even when I think I know a lot!
Best of luck, stay strong.
D
First of all Aleks, 6:30 is not slow. I still do occasional runs at 6:00/km as recovery runs and my 30k time last week was 2:14. Slow recovery runs are therapeutic and help you recover and get stronger.
Many people expect to qualify for Boston in their first marathon. But it is not that easy. Especially for a new runner. The difference between 30k and 42.2 is not just 12.2 km, it feels more like 20.
Plan to run your first marathon without big expectations, take it all in, learn, recover and reassess what you need to do to improve enough to run a Boston qualifying time. I have seen too many people aim for a BQ time and crash and burn and not enjoy their first marathon.
Patience is key!
Also, revisit you blog and reply to your reader’s comments or they may never return!