That that don't kill me, can only make me stronger. I need you to hurry up now, cause I can't wait much longer. Kanye West, Stronger

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Marathon Training: The Plan

Today I am doing the infamous TEMPO run!



For anyone who is new to running/training, a tempo run is a run that is comfortably hard and done for an extended period of time. In other words, running at a pace you feel your RPE to be at 6-7, so it's not easy to be a chatty kathy, but it is a pace you can sustain for several miles.


The tempo run serves several purposes:


-improves endurance
-improves speed
-increases your lactate threshold, more info about that here
-running at a fairly high intensity is great for weight and body-fat loss and sustained metabolic burn


So my run today will be from work downtown across the Brooklyn Bridge and back. A total of 4.75 miles. This is a fairly ideal distance for a tempo run. I am not a fan of pushing myself hard, I just love to stay in my comfort zone, but that is not going to get me faster, stronger or leaner, so a runner's gotta do, what a runner's gotta do.


And yes, I do sometimes say to myself when the going gets tough: i think i can, i think i can.

*Note: I ran into some unexpected obstacles on the Brooklyn Bridge, aka throngs of people. Seriously, the BB is like Disney World in that you hate to cross in front of pictures, but you will never get to your ride if you don't. Did I manage to block the pedestrian gridlock out of my mind since last time? Hey, NYC Gov...add a photo op lane! When I wasn't trying not to run into people or get run over by a biker, the run was great. Even better when I finished. Definitely got the glowy runner feeling today.

In preparation for my trip to Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, I searched for some runs on mapmyrun. I found a 11 and 6 miler right near where I am staying, so hopefully I can stay on track.

4 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Saw your comment on my blog - you MUST, MUST, MUST try the ingredient combination in the brownies!! You'll be pleasantly surprised :0)

Anonymous said...

thanks so much for the cottage cheese tips on my blog!!!! I REALLY appreciate it...especially you taking the time to write that oatmeal pancake recipe! I will definitely be trying that!! I love Cape Cod...used to go there growing up all the time....and I'm just in AWE of people who train and participate in marathons. I don't know that I ever could do it!! Take care, and happy Thursday!!!!!!!!! :)

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