This is my third year of training by heart rate and although it hasn’t been an easy transition, I think I am finally getting the hang of it! The one word I hear Coach MK saying over and over is “Patience!” You’d think after 4 decades of running I would know it all. “WRONG!“
Running slow is probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. Some days my easy effort pace is so slow I am barely moving. ON those days I kind of want to cry….seriously, “it’s not always about the running”. God forbid you barely slept because husband was snoring, or your child was having a bad night, or you happen to have a bad cold, or you recently lost a close friend, or you had a fight with a best friend, etc. “Could any of this effect you’re running?”
Between my friend Sarah’s Fit to the Core classes and Marathon running programs, I feel incredibly blessed. I can’t imagine my life if I didn’t have the running community to lean on. They keep me sane and running is such a part of my life.
On hard run days I try my best to stay positive. One of my favorite books I have read recently is Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor. Ryan Hoilday’s book EGO Is The ENEMY is also great! And How Bad Do You Want It…..and…and…and…..?. Gosh there are so many good ones. I can’t wait to read Meb’s new book and Ryan Hall’s….Run the Mile You’re In: Finding God in Every Step. Who has time to work?.
I also love listening to podcasts…on running especially . Anything uplifting and positive helps me a lot with my mental game. There are so many great podcasts out there. This week I am loving Tina’s week of mental training episodes. I just finished week #3 and I can’t wait to listen to 4 and 5 on my long run tomorrow.
One of my favorite programs Coach MK offers is referred to as her Maintain program. In the past you may remember me referring to this program as the Monthlies. I love the mix of easy runs and hard runs. The long runs are just right for maintaining fitness before I jump into her marathon program.
The best part, if you’re maintaining all year round, you don’t need 20 weeks to train for a marathon…just 10. I love the sound of that. Plus there is way less chance of burn out and a much better chance to stay injury free since the strength exercises are specific to the muscle groups needed to continue to run for the long haul. That’s exactly what I want to do since I am no way going to win any olympic medals…nor would I want to. I love watching Steph Bruce, Des Linden, Shalane, the list goes on…but damn I can’t imagine doing what they do.
One of my favorite workouts this month is called EF POLLEN. Coach definitely has a sense of humor when it comes to naming her workouts. Every morning before 7 am I see my prescribed run for the day…..that’s worth the cost of the program alone. I love having a plan even during the off season! Here is an example if what I see every morning……
Description: at least 10 minutes slow warm up
5 minutes @ hm pace
5 minutes @ 10k pace
5 minutes @ 5k pace
5 minutes @ 10k pace
5 minutes @ hm pace
10 minutes @ marathon pace
at least 15 minutes slow cool down
Pre-Activity Comments: I hate spring. I really hate ground-layer ozone, I hate washing pollen off of my windshield and out of my lungs, and I really hate the wind/rain/hail combo that pelts Colorado this time of year out of the blue. You will probably like this workout more than I like spring. Maybe.
This is a traditional ladder workout, minus the confusing track distances (200 got it, 400 from there fine, but 600 after that? you lost me). All I really care about here is you focusing on finding, and holding, each individual gear above easy effort. Many of you will be transitioning into fall racing plans, this month is designed to pull you back into focus while having a little more fun with the warmer weather and brighter mornings.
Super cool huh! I think so!
I haven’t been able to complete this workout successfully but guess what…..I don’t think that’s the goal. This workout is suppose to challenge us and if we’re able to complete the workout 100%, that probably means we are not being challenged. I am excited to try again next week. Just maybe I’ll be able to hold onto that last 10 minutes at marathon pace next week. It’s probably more mental than anything?. I only needed to hang onto to marathon pace for 5 more minutes….but it was hard and I was tired. “It’s just five more minutes till cool down…I got this!?.”
“I’m not done till I wantta be.”
MK Fleming Is In The Business Of Protecting Fitness
Do you run at least one “long-ish” run all year round…at least 10 miles or so?
What’s your favorite running book? Podcast?
How many years have you been running?
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