Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Need for Speed

After I ran the Chicago Marathon, I took an entire week off from running. In previous post-marathons, I have jumped back into running too soon, making my recoveries last weeks longer than they should have. This time, I'm trying to err on the side of relaxation by doing some light swimming, easy yoga, and light strength work. Last night I finally got back to running. Along with the Wurst Running Club Ever, I ran in the Fleet Feet Pint Night in Lincoln Square.

For once I arrived to the event early, but that only meant that I had to wait while some "Crossfit" promoter dude gave us a spiel about how cars in the 1970s aren't as powerful as modern cars. Luckily Declan was there for some comic relief. Finally, we were allowed out to start our run. I ran with Declan and Lynton (from the BRC) with Mo and Anne pulling up the rear.

Me, Mo, Declan and Anne before the Pint Night run
After running through various North Side neighborhoods towards the Chicago River, we neared the turnaround. I suggested we run a 400m sprint at the North Park University track which is just on the other side of the river. So, Declan, Lynton and I made our way over to the track. Lynton decided to take it easy, since he is running the NYC Marathon in two weeks. Declan and I, however were going to try a little friendly 400m "race". Declan mentioned that he hadn't set foot on a track since college, and since he was nursing his post-marathon aches and pains he would give it a go, but would defer to not over-doing it. Of course, since I am injury-free, I was ready to throw caution to the wind, and go for broke.

Once we reached the track, we took off, running a blistering pace. I grabbed an inside lane and took the turn with Declan proudly representing the WRCE in his dirndl shirt in one of the outside lanes. Declan was in the lead, his legs quickly shaking off their ingrained marathon pace, now turning over so fast they became a blur. I came up close to him and made my move to pass him (perhaps a little early). I saw a couple of soccer fans who were in the infield turn around to watch our "race". It was fun to have a couple of spectators, just like in a real race. I think Declan could have crushed me, but he was wisely being cautious and backed off. Since I had "kicked" way too early, I was completely gassed near the 400m finish and stumbled badly over the last 25 meters. After catching my breath, we made our way back over the river to find Mo and Anne, patiently waiting for us for the return trip.

After running 1.5 miles back, we arrived at the Fleet Feet store, got our free pint coupons and headed over to the Grafton for some beer and quality conversation.
Mo and Anne arriving via airplane
I guess the end result of the running portion of the event was that I realized how much I really miss running fast. Training for shorter distance races includes lots of fast miles with a day or two off during the week. I've missed this fast running while training for the marathon.  So, to give myself some much needed speed running, I came up with an in-between-marathon goal: A sub-1:30 half marathon in November. Right now, according to the conversion calculators, I am in about 1:34 half marathon shape, so I have a little work to do. My ultimate goal will be for me to go sub-1:25 next year so I can qualify for the New York City marathon. I am excited that I will get to do some faster long runs and lots of short, fast track work instead of long, slowish mile repeats all the time.

I really love the "euphoria" I get from running a marathon that lasts for hours afterwards. I also like the days after the race when the blogger community swaps marathon stories. In fact, I can't think of a single event which I have more fun before, during and after than a marathon. But, the downside of a marathon is that the training involves running lots of slower miles every single day. I'm ready for some speed...

13 comments:

  1. Sounds like fun! I cheated on my MAF training and partook of some speedwork myself today. It must be something in the air...maybe cool temps?

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    1. Yes, the cool weather tempts me to push myself harder/faster, and of course I have to give into temptation! :)

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  2. Aw, I wish we had known you were racing - we could have run over to the track to spectate!

    Before you mentioned running a fast half, it sounded to me like what you need is to PR the sh*t out of a 5k or something!

    Have you ever talked about how you train for speed before? I have a 5k PR that I probably won't be able to touch for a while if I don't change anything, so I was just curious what a seasoned expert like yourself may recommend.

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    1. Yeah, it was a "spur of the moment" thing. Maybe next run, we'll have another "track meet"! As far as 5k training, I would increase weekly mileage for a few weeks to get a good base. Increasing your mileage will give you some easy 5k speed gains, as you will be able to hold a faster race pace for longer. After you are comfortable with your base mileage, I would add some speedwork like 1.0, .75, .5, .25 track intervals. Lastly, focus on picking up your speed periodically during your runs (fartleks). For example, during your medium/long runs, occasionally pick a lightpole or something 100 yards ahead and run faster towards it. Hope that helps....

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    2. That actually sounds like a pretty reasonable plan. I think I just stopped trying to pick up speed because I was so miserable running through a lot of the summer, so I didn't even know where to start on pushing myself to get faster.

      Heh, "fartlek" is such a great word.

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  3. Awesome! Loved reading this. I also have a love affair with the short and speedy stuff but haven't touched much of it since my HS track days... but it makes doing the speedwork in marathon training pretty fun :) If I'm still in IL, I might also do that half that you mentioned. We'll see. Great post-CM recovery though, man!

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    1. Thanks Erin! The marathon "speed work" is my favorite aspect of marathon training. Hopefully, you'll still be in IL for the Schaumburg Half. That's the one I'm targeting (but haven't signed up for, yet)!

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  4. Hah reading this I was like wait, was I at this same event?
    It was fun and I can't wait until I'm 100% again to try to give you some challenge! We'll have to touch base for Sunday!

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    1. Ha! Yes, don't you remember the awesomeness that was our one trip around the track?! Yes, definitely get to 100% then we can fly. Sunday sounds good.

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  5. Yay for a good post marathon recovery!!! Given how speedy both you and Declan are even when you aren't running for speed, I can only imagine how fast you were both going when you were racing like that. =D

    I generally don't like 5Ks very much on principle since I dislike the discomfort of basically trying to sprint the entire time. But I do have to admit that when I get a good 5K time, I get motivated to go at it again and increase my speedwork (which is not setting the bar very high, since I don't do much of it at all, LOL).

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    1. Yes, 5ks can be pretty uncomfortable, but they are over quickly! :) Yes, speedwork is a good thing to do if you are training for a 5k as long as you have a decent base mileage before you start.

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  6. I'm so glad you took some time off after the marathon. Recovery is so important!

    My goal is to make more time for speed training. I would love to set a new PR and run a sub 1:35 half.

    What half in November are you planning to run?

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    1. Thanks Sara, yes recovery is key after a long race like a marathon! Good luck with your PR goal, I'm confident you can do it. I was planning on doing the Schaumburg Turkey Trot, but it looks like I might not do it now! :)

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