I have started training for the 1/2 marathon I am doing in the fall. I looked online at a bunch of training plans and though they were all similar, there were so many different one's that I didn't know which one to pick....thanks to Jessica who forwarded me a plan from the current issue of Runners World, or I would still be sifting through all the plans I found to find the right one...
BUT....
Now I have some questions (Quick disclaimer...until this year I only ran for fun...weight loss....and stress relief, never ran a race before last October. Just so you know how clueless I am!) The plan I am following calls for a weekly tempo run...which I have figured out....a LSD run once a week...got that...Rest day...oh ya got that one!!!....what I am not getting are these 3 mile EZ runs that are supposed to happen twice a week.
I understand what an "EZ" run is....but it's the 3 miles I am not liking. What is the point of these EZ runs? And why are they 3 miles? Oddly enough through the whole 10 weeks I will continue to do these EZ 3 mile runs twice a week....Odd to me because I don't like running 3 miles, it doesn't feel long enough.
My question is this....what if instead of those EZ 3 mile runs I do EZ 4 or 5 mile runs? Is this going to effect anything? Is this going to "ruin" the training plan? On race day am I going to choke because I ran too many miles? I know a professional who knows WAY more than me came up with this plan, so I feel like perhaps I shouldn't question it's directives.
Can anyone give me some input? I would really appreciate it.
When I train I will bump those 3 miles up to 4 and 5 for a couple of weeks (depending on the length of your training schedule). Then about 2-3 weeks out from the race I will bump it back to 3 miles and the week before sometimes 2 miles. I like you have searched and searched. I've taken running classes to train before but after all that I've found that no matter what training plan you find you have to be flexible and listen to your body. Will you ruin your half marathon by running more miles? Absolutely not! But you will ruin it if you don't listen to yourself and your body during your runs.
ReplyDeleteNope, you will be fine making the 3 miles runs 4 or 5 mile runs. The key in the plan is running them easy so they are true recovery runs. The real benefit of recovery runs is that they increase your fitness--perhaps almost as much as longer, faster runs do--by challenging you to run in a pre-fatigued state (i.e. a state of lingering fatigue from previous training.)
ReplyDeleteTraining plans are definitely meant to be adjusted. I think they are giving you three as a base idea of what to run on these days (i.e. run at least 3 easy) but you are certainly not hurting yourself by adding on a few miles. I would even argue that 4-5 miles easy is better base preparation for a half-marathon.
Sorry to write a book here :)