About 24 miles and over 4 hours of running this week has left me with an achy left knee and a sore right hip. No worries! Week 5 calls for between 22 and 27 miles. I plan to be at about 24 miles again next week. I think I'm building mileage too fast.
I'll be in Washington, DC, next weekend, so I'll have to do my long and recovery runs there. I haven't decided where exactly and on routes, yet. Granted Washington is a great place to run, I miss my home away from home -- Arlington, VA -- and will most likely opt to do my runs there. Let's hope that six hours of driving on Friday evening doesn't negatively impact my Saturday morning long run...
4 comments:
You keep mentioning that you are having knee soreness. I think that this is completely normal for anyone increasing their training for a marathon. In fact, last year my friend Chris and I experienced similar issues when training for the Hartford Marathon. What we eventually discovered was that by doing the majority of our long runs on soft surfaces (i.e. dirt roads, trails, grassy areas, etc.) we didn't get as many aches and pains. Trying to run 15 miles on asphalt every week takes its toll on your body. Of course, being that the Hartford Marathon is completely on hard surfaces you should make sure to occassionally do a long run on the road to prepare your body (we did one 18-miler and one 22-miler).
I think Geoff makes a good point. There are going to be some aches and pains with increased mileage so it is something that needs to be expected and dealt with, e.g. icing and rest. I am all about running off roads and do as much as possible, but finding a 15-20 mile stretch in the woods is difficult. Trail running also creates distance mapping difficulties. I usually manage to go 50/50 pavement to dirt.
Thanks, guys. Whenever there's a length of grass or a softer surface to run on, I take advantage of it. I think this is another reason why I've been able to run pain free for most of my miles thus far. I used to stick to the road, no matter having the choice between a softer or harder surface. I want to start running in East Rock Park, but like Dan asserts, it's difficult to calculate distance.
I wouldn't get too hung up on knowing your exact distance. Instead I would recommend focusing on total time. Trying to maintain the pace in your training plan for the distance in your plan becomes increasing more difficult on trails or surfaces with less traction than pavement. The one constant is time. Running steady for 3 or 4 hours is the best way to get ready for running 3 or 4 hours (or however long you plan to do the marathon in).
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