My 18-week marathon plan includes 3 weeks of near total inactivity.
At least, that’s how I’m describing it.
Apart from two hilly runs in Los Angeles, I haven’t run once in a long time. I’m not even going to open up the calendar to verify how long because it’s longer than I care to know.
If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I’ve declared almost every day as the day the slump ends. But so far it hasn’t ended. I’m saying the same about today – it’s a sunny, breezy Sunday and I am already dressed in very cute running clothes. So I’m hoping today really is the end of the slump. Especially because now, instead of being the part of my day I feel best about, running is causing me anxiety every time I think about it. I actually started having a small panic attack (fast heart rate, shortness of breath) while reading this month’s Runner’s World on the tube on Friday because it was talking all about how we’re halfway through our spring marathon training and March is the BIG month for training. I felt panicky because I realized I’m giving up when I’m more than half way through AND I’m giving up just when the going is getting tough, i.e. it’s harder to catch back up.
Fortunately, I’ve been following a slightly more rigorous training plan than I needed to, so I do have some leeway built in. But perhaps not 3 weeks’ worth. I’ll probably have to drop down to the regular novice training plan.
Anyway, I’m picking it up today and after a few catch-up weeks (minus next weekend in Italy), all will be fine.
My running routes in LA:
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Last week, Skinny Runner wrote a post answering a common question she gets: How do you run so many miles? She does run a lot of miles (usually 10 miles a day every day!) and I was excited to read her answer. The one thing she said that stood out the most?
One thing that I think really helps me log more miles is that I don’t run the majority of my miles hard. I might do 10 a day but 90% of those miles are run at a relatively easy-medium pace. […] I’d rather run farther than faster so that’s what I choose – more “junk” miles.
If you read many running blogs, you’ve probably come across this idea of “junk miles”. You’re not just supposed to go run, you’re supposed to do hills or speed work or long runs, etc. Just running without a specific training goal for that run, without religiously monitoring your pace and splits, is running “junk miles”.
This pisses me off.
As a beginner, getting out there and running not inconsiderable distances (currently, I’m doing two 3-milers, one 5-miler, and one long run – 8mi now – each week) is hard. It’s not habit for me, it’s not something I have to do to get my day started. It sucks, and it hurts, and it’s a battle to get out there when I could be cozy at home. And I can tell from various indicators of my fitness level, that these “junk miles” are paying off big time. The expectation is that I will be able to run 26.2 miles in a respectable time having trained with nothing but “junk miles”. In the world of running blogs, being able to run a marathon may just be the baseline, but in the real world, it’s hard core.
These miles are not junk.
It was so gratifying to hear from SR, who just ran a PR of 3:14 in her 28th marathon, that she runs “junk miles”. If junk miles can get her to the level she’s achieved, then I’m pretty sure they’ll be fine for me too.
That’s all, rant over. Off to run a few junk miles and enjoy the tail end of the glorious early spring weather we’ve been having in London!
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