Remember those days of high school or college sports when you would have practice twice a day before the season started? Well, I am bringing them back!
I read this article yesterday about splitting up your runs. If you are a 10 minute miler (which I can definitely fall into that camp on long runs) then it isn’t a bad thing to split up your runs. You are still training your body to run on tired legs.
Some points from the article:
- “In other words, no one single run is what prepares you for your race. It is the effect of training your body over weeks and months — and the ability to focus that fitness on the big day with your race execution — that will give you the results you seek. Your can reap the benefits of a 45 mile run week by splitting that long 20 miler into two efforts without suffering the consequences of putting 50 percent of your weekly mileage into one session and overwhelming your body.”
- “The longer you run over the 2.5 hour mark, the risk of getting injured and/or over-trained is significantly increased. Yet you aren’t gaining any additional fitness that couldn’t be achieved in shorter runs with better technique. In other words that costs of running longer significantly outweigh any potential benefits.”
It goes on to give some suggestions for splitting up those runs-10 in the morning, 12 at night or 2 hrs at night and 2 hrs the next morning. I found this interesting as I do tend to compare myself to those who can run 20 miles in under 3 hrs and it takes me that long to go 16 miles. Some people believe that long runs should be the number of hours you run as opposed to actual miles and speed will come with the shorter workouts and intensity over a longer period of time.
This article inspired me yesterday to split up my workouts.
I hit up the gym at 6 am and busted out 5 miles worth of speed work. Followed by some lifting I did:
- 3 x 10 squats with 100lbs
- 3×10 jumping squats with an 8lb med ball
- 3×10 alternating jumping lunges with a 25 lb weight
- 3×10 leg lifts on the circuit machine
- 3×10 hamstring presses on the circuit machine.
Yup. You guessed it, I had trouble walking by my 4:15 class. When I got out at 5:30 I rushed home, changed, and went to what I call “hospital hill”(It’s the hill next to the ER-I’m clever like that).
I have been studying the course map for the marathon and the first 8 miles are rolling hills with the last 16 downhill. I figured that with 6.5 weeks to go until show time, I need to work on hills. So, I busted out 9 repeats-sprinting uphill and jogging downhill to recover.
I felt great, my legs felt tired, and for the first time in a few days, I slept like a rock.
Needless to say, today is a recovery day. I went to Sunrise Yoga at 6am and plan to bike a little (like to and from and around campus) to shake out the legs. Plus, I have a great dinner meeting tonight with someone who is crucial to my research, so no working out tonight.
After taking some days off last week to let my body heal from illness, and doing some shorter slower runs to pull back on training, I am really feeling the urge to get some quality workouts in this week and up the mileage a bit.
Happy Hump Day!
What’s your favorite way to recover from tired and sore legs? Me? Foam rolling, stretching, yoga, and light cycling
Hills-love them or hate them? I love hill repeat workouts, but dread them in races-both biking and running.
What’s a good fitness/health article you have read lately? Share the love and post the link.
Mountain Kait 
Wow!! I would love to split super long runs!!!!!!!! I was just literally sitting at my desk and psyching myself up for a long run this weekend. It’s much easier to mentally prepare for a “shorter” run. So I guess that’s probably half the battle too. Dang. For some reason that article won’t open my work computer. Internet Explorer. Lol. Sounds like a must-read! I’m so curious!!! I don’t have any good habits to deal with soreness. I typically just moan and groan. And I do little shakeout runs. They really help!!
I’ve never tried splitting up my long runs like this, but it sounds productive. I definitely want to mix 2-a-days in at some point in a training cycle someday.
I actually like hills, mainly because of the way I feel when they are over. :^)
I split up my runs on some days, more because of time and scheduling issues. I have to be at work fairly early, so sometimes it’s too hard to fit in a full run before work.
Good to know that people are doing it. I liked running on tired legs-I think it simulated marathon running well.
I also like to think in terms of the big picture: The effects of running cumulative over the week. If I can’t mentally or handle physically doing x miles in the morning, I just tell myself, “just do what you can and you do the rest later.” Takes the pressure off, and keeps me from giving up when I realize I don’t have as much time as I had planned.
Yes-you are so right. That article talked about a holistic approach to running and the big picture over time. Sometimes we forget that and get so caught up in what the training plan says for today, when in reality we are training over time.