I have been writing about my training from different perspectives,
complained about the boredom with the long runs, joyed the success of strength
and flexibility training etc. However one thing I paid very little attention
are my tempo runs. I first introduced them to my training plan when I started
following the training program for the half marathon in Hannover. And it was
not a big success, I was really suffering every time I had one in front of me
and I was far of the speed I was expected to do them.
The program I am following recommends to do those runs relatively high speed, in my case the speed completely out of my comfort zone. And it is one thing to go for an interval which takes 6-8 minutes than to run 13k on a speed which really does not feel comfortable. But with the time, I also saw the benefit of them, every time the tempo run got easier and easier and finally I was able to keep the recommended speed, even go comfortably under it. Today it is my favourite run of the week and I am actually looking forward to Thursday mornings, when I can after few minutes warm up build some speed and just go.
So what did I learn? One very basic thing every athlete knows and which I also knew but just ignored. Training is all about getting out of your comfort zone. If you want to increase speed, you need to run faster. Sounds kind of obvious, but when you are there in practice and it just does not feel good, it is easy to excuse and tell yourself you are "going too fast". But it is not just running faster, it is more about increasing the speed in such a way you even after 10k feel like you can keep going for another while. That you can still build another couple of kilometres and you still feel ok. And that is such a great feeling, when you feel you run fast but you can still keep going. All those kilometres you conquer in such a short time, or a clearly shorter than you used to. And I am sure those trainings are not only fun and satisfying but will certainly pay back during the marathon.
The program I am following recommends to do those runs relatively high speed, in my case the speed completely out of my comfort zone. And it is one thing to go for an interval which takes 6-8 minutes than to run 13k on a speed which really does not feel comfortable. But with the time, I also saw the benefit of them, every time the tempo run got easier and easier and finally I was able to keep the recommended speed, even go comfortably under it. Today it is my favourite run of the week and I am actually looking forward to Thursday mornings, when I can after few minutes warm up build some speed and just go.
So what did I learn? One very basic thing every athlete knows and which I also knew but just ignored. Training is all about getting out of your comfort zone. If you want to increase speed, you need to run faster. Sounds kind of obvious, but when you are there in practice and it just does not feel good, it is easy to excuse and tell yourself you are "going too fast". But it is not just running faster, it is more about increasing the speed in such a way you even after 10k feel like you can keep going for another while. That you can still build another couple of kilometres and you still feel ok. And that is such a great feeling, when you feel you run fast but you can still keep going. All those kilometres you conquer in such a short time, or a clearly shorter than you used to. And I am sure those trainings are not only fun and satisfying but will certainly pay back during the marathon.
This weeks trainings scenery was in Gothenburg and it felt like home to run along the lake in the sunrise.
No comments:
Post a Comment