I've been trialling three different approaches to my weekend long run(s) in preparation for Cradle Mt. The three different approaches are: (1) very long run Sat, followed by short, easy run Sun; (2) long running day Sat totalling big kms but run as 3 runs - ie, 25km @ 6am, 15km @ 10am, 10km @2pm, followed by short, easy run Sun; and (3) back to back long-ish runs - ie, ~30+km on Sat and ~30+km on Sunday. Starting 9 - 10 weeks out from Cradle Mt (ie, a few weeks ago) I've been taking each of these approaches in turn and cycling through them. Having had a decent taste of all of them by now, I can see the training benefit of each of them, plus the pros and cons. Running beyond 45km in one go is certainly the most draining at the time but backing up several times on the one day or doing a long run on one day and then heading out for more of the same long running the next morning definitely = training off a fatigued start and is tough mentally. Because each of them has its benefits and none of them are soft options I'm going to continue cycling through them.
This weekend was an option (3) weekend for me and I have got through it okay. My angry piriformis syndrome made all of my running painful but having seen the Sports Dr on Fri who told me that by running on it I wouldn't be doing any more damage helped me deal with the pain mentally. The pain just makes it all a lot less fun. Ugh! On a smiley note though ..... my Garmin toy ran brilliantly!
Finally, I was delighted to see Pam win the Coast to Kosci (~230km) yesterday. What a tough chick! She is my hero today.
2 comments:
Whichever approach works for you, stick with it. I haven't heard of anyone doing No 2 plan. Lots do either 1 or 3. If I were to do No 2 plan, I would stop after 1st part, eat, walk for an hour, then run the next part without having any breaks. Walking will be a big part of Cradle Mtn especially with the back pack. Talked to Pam this afternoon after C2K, she is very happy and will hopefully be helping out at Tour de Mtn next Sunday. She is a true champ.
Pam's on the radio right now! Hope the APF becomes less angry soon.
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