"determined" <[email hidden]> wrote
Quoted message said:Almost invariably, the first mile I run just kills me. I start out
feeling stiff, distracted, etc. I find myself wondering what the hell I
ever saw in running. Then by the second mile, I feel like I'm in a
groove, and could go all day. And almost always, I finish feeling
fantastic, and already looking forward to my next run...
You're starting out too fast. I learned this lesson when I went on an
"easy" training run with Ben Maiyo (3rd ranked in the world in the marathon
in '06).
He and his 2:11 friend started out extremely slowly -- I mean 13-14 minute
mile pace. Almost a stumble. Then gradually, over the course of a mile or
so, the pace accelerated to about 7:00/mile. Bear in mind that 7:00/mile
for these guys is still a minute a mile slower than their average training
pace.
Now I start *very* slowly. No discomfort at all. And I gradually increase
speed (without trying) as I warm up. Usually I'm at easy cruise pace after
5-8 minutes.
If you took your first mile a minute or two slower on your training runs, it
would be a piece of cake, and you'd still have that great mile 2. Why fight
yourself?
Quoted message said:Do I need to do some sort of warm up stuff so the first part isn't so
difficult? I always start pretty slow, and it just feels so awful.
Not slow enough. You might need to walk a few minutes even before jogging
slowly, depending on your typicall running speed.
Quoted message said:Which leads me to the next question - if you're only running a 5k, how do
you start off feeling great? I hate having 1/3 of the race feeling like
[censored]. Is there some warmup exercise to do?
Yes. I jog real slowly for 20-30 minutes. Up until a minute before the
start. It's so slow (I average 9:00-9:30 miles and my 5k pace is about
6:13) that I don't use up any glycogen (just fat burning), but everything is
warm and loose. When the gun goes off, I'm ready to go. Maiyo said he
warms up about 30 minutes before every race.
Quoted message said:I thought about just jogging to the race from my house, it's only a mile.
But it'll be raining cats and dogs tomorrow.
Bummer about the rain -- no fun. But you're starting to think the right
way...
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com