Okay, here’s how to improve your pace on a longer run without too much effort.
1) Have only a vague idea of the route that the group will be running.
A) Put only a couple of people running in front of you.
B) Make them faster than you.
2) Put somebody running behind you, pushing you along.
A) Make her, also, faster than you.
B) Slow her down just a notch, such as by giving her a dog.
3) Do the run in the freeeeeeeezing cold and spitting rain/snow, and put warm coffee at the end.
Now, that’s a pace I like to see, much better than what I’ve been managing for the earlier parts of the week. I still think I’m a bit dehydrated, which is probably slowing me down, and I’m toying with the idea of taking one of my regular runs and doing speed work with it. Eric raised an eyebrow when I told him that, but I assured him that this would be a replacement, not an additional run. It would likely actually reduce my weekly mileage, not raise it, so I’m not worried about a recurrence of the tendinitis. We’ll see. Winter is when people usually focus on endurance, using long slow runs; not on speed work, unless you have an indoor track or a high tolerance for the treadmill.
Anyway, winter is upon us, here in the midwest, so I better figure out my plan for the coming months. What’s on your horizon?
I’m doing this race as my first 50K/ultra in July 2012. I’m so tardy to the party but...
Good for you!
I have to finalize my training plan today. I will start next week and the focus is going to be on speed training. I’ve got the long-slow-run endurance down pat but I still lack speed.