Marathon Dreamer

Well, Dreamer. I'm not an expert, but I'll say this; if you keep those long runs really really easy, you'll be good. When you're struggling, don't try to push through or you risk injury. Just slow it down some and get the miles in. You're doing a couple of things. You're getting your body used to the pounding it's going to take for the 26.2 miles. You're gradually increasing your aerobic fitness. And you're tricking your body into burning fat that it would normally hold in reserve. Sasha has a thread on this in the Discussion Forum about "Fat Miles."

Thank you Burt!! I appreciate your feedback. I will read up on Sasha's comments in the Discussion Forum. I am resting for sure tomorrow. We'll see what Thursday brings...

Here's the link : http://fastrunningblog.com/forum/index.php/topic,1120.0.html

I like the new pic by the way. Very Baywatch.

NICE mileage and pace. Burt mentioned some good points. It's always good to follow hard workout day (speed workout and long run) with an easy recovery day. Sleep is under-rated and so hard to get enough of when you're a busy mother.

First of all, congrats on a nice run. I agree with all of the above. Slow down the pace until it is easy and you can recover. If this means you have to run 12 minute miles, then run 12 minute miles. Personally, I find it hard to try and lose weight and run high miles at the same time. You may need to eat more to get some energy levels back, especially with long runs like this.

Some thoughts. 8 miles a day at this point is probably too much. Start with 5, and 10 for your long run. Get used to that, make sure your body can handle it with no soreness, then increase. Pace wise, I am guessing 9:30, no faster. Do not force it. Yes, if you hammer it, you can do 8:30 or maybe even 8:00. Save that gear for a race. However, try to race or run a 3 mile (or 5 K) time trial once every three weeks. This will help you remember how to run fast, and will also help you monitor the effects of your training. With those results providing feedback once every three weeks you can make the necessary adjustments to the training.

In the mental approach department. Learn the principle "decrease ambition, increase diligence". The time for ambition is when you get through 60% of your key race, and you want to see how far you can push your body. Every other time is the time for diligence without the ambition. So always approach your training with the idea of how to generate the maximum recovery response rather than what kind of challenging goal you can set for yourself. Maximum recovery response is generated through only a fraction of maximum effort, but that effort needs to be repeated with a great deal of frequency.

This could be hard for a person who is naturally ambitious. You can play mental games to deal with it. For example, I like to chase down a virtual training partner. At the start I do not know how fast he is going to run. I decide that half way through the run. He is rarely faster than my race pace in the marathon plus a minute per mile, so catching him is never an exhausting challenge. This way I can satisfy my ambition every day without overtraining.

Great advice Sasha! I appreciate you taking a look at things. I haven't done a long run any shorter than 12 miles since the end of november, so I do think that my body may be used to that by now. However, I totally agree with you when it comes to what I am doing during the week. When I started upping the mileage there, that's when I started feeling beaten up. I am a very determined person and when I say I am going to do something... I do it. I do push it a bit and think that being that way at times, clouds good judgment. I will see how things are next week as I change it up and incorporate some of your suggestions.... Thank you again!!!