Blogs : Nate Jenkins

Workout April 22 a twist on a an old theme and a step in the right direction

25mins warm up, 400m in 82, strides

13x1600m on track (clockwise) with stretching and hammy exercises between each

5:01.5, 55.8 rest

5:00.0, 59.3

4:58.1, 56.2

4:58.3, 57.4

4:59.1, 58.9

4:57.9, 58.6

4:59.8, 58.8

4:56.8, 60.1

4:59.1, 53.6

4:57.6, 55.8

4:57.4, 54.4

4:58.1, 51.8

5:00.0

That is a 4:58.8 average per 1600m which is 5:00.56 mile pace and 3:06.8 kilometer pace.  2:11:20 marathon pace.

  This was a little different.  I’ve been really looking for some means of getting some sort of enduring tempo work but because of the hammy most of my traditional workouts wouldn’t work.  The hammy was ok doing this which is great in two ways, one it is a means of getting some aerobic work in but also I feel like if I can run 13 miles (and hopefully more in the next time) at goal marathon pace without causing the hammy to go it should help strengthen the muscle.  I also felt like running on the track back ward was good.  It is something I have tried before and not been happy with but never at pace and the extra speed really seemed to activate some very weak muscles in the bad leg.

  This really was a very easy workout but getting that much volume left me much more tired over the last couple of days then I thought it would.  It makes sense, I mean I haven’t done a workout with more then 10k of volume in months but still it was so easy to do it caught me a bit by surprise.

Untitled Comment

7:42 PM, April 24, 2008 .. Posted by Anonymous

that is a beast of a workout good job

question

8:51 PM, April 24, 2008 .. Posted by Jason

To think, I'm going to be happy if I can break 5 for the mile this season, and you can do that 13 times in one workout... wow. I hope I can get to that level someday.


Nate, I looked all over your blog and couldn't find an answer.. This is a bit random but I was wondering if maybe you could post a blog or comment about increasing mileage. I've heard plenty of rules to follow (1mi per run each week, 10%, to name two.) Except they all seem to have a week spot... Such as; a 120mpw person could theoretically jump up 12 miles in 1 week by the 10% rule, while a 30mpw person is only allowed 3... the 1mi per run seems more logical, but I was still wondering what you thought.

I don't think that just increasing depending on how you feel would work because you could either 1, cheat yourself out of extra miles you could be running, or 2, run too much even though it feels right.

Could you tell what rules, if you have any, you follow while increasing mileage, or that you would recommend?

Thanks,
Jason.

great question

12:43 AM, April 25, 2008 .. Posted by nateruns

Jason,
that is a great question! I may do a blog on this at some point but for the moment i'll do what I can to answer it.
but first I want to mention I ran pretty consistent for an American kid all through elementary school and started running with the high school team when i was in jr. high and didn't run under 5 mins until i was in 10th grade. Now if i'd been training better I think I could have done it sooner but the point is it took a long long time to get there so just keep plugging away and training more and better and you can do anything.
Now increasing mileage. First rule is no rule is fool proof. I really like to encourage caution when increasing miles but also I'm a big fan of big miles, so something has to give.
So first how old are you? If you are younger then you can build more quickly your body is simply more adaptable. Second how does your body respond to increases. If you seem to able to increase without injuring yourself then go ahead keep pushing it. At the same time just cause you go from 30 a week to 40 a week without any problem doesn't mean you can jump to 50 a week the next week and have no problems. It takes time heck just cause you can do a week up at 40 doesn't mean you can do 2 or 3 or 10 in a row at that level. The point is that the body doesn't work on a 7 day cycle, its not like you wake up monday morning and the previous week is erased from your legs and you start anew.
So my advice is very non specific, be bold but be patient, really pay attention to your body and how its feeling. At no time in your training should any day or in particular week should you feel like you couldn't possibly go anymore that week. You should be constantly be training at 90%. The reason is that if you really trained as hard as you could for a week you wouldn't be able to train the next week. You want to train at a level you can maintain for months in a row. Consistency and health trumps a few great weeks and great workouts every time. Percy Cerruty the great Australian coach had a saying "hard things take time, impossible things take a little longer."
You can do impossible things you can exceed all possible expectations but it is a long slow process of changing your body cell by cell molecule by molecule.
So don't be afraid to increase by as much as 10 a week but don't ever go much higher then that. Also try a high week and then go back to your normal mileage.
One thing to remember if your in HS, very few hs kids run more then 30 to 50 mile weeks and almost all college freshman run 60 plus, many do much more, its not that they all wake up stronger the day after graduation. Its also a big part of why a 9 flat 2 miler in college is a super freak and 8:20 3k runners are a dime a dozen in college. The other parts of that being that they aren't doing nearly as many stupid races and way to many pointless overly difficult anaerobic workouts year round. But thats a whole other diatribe.
I'm sorry that was all so general but really its an amazingly personal thing. How much you can and should increase depends so much on a ton of personal factors, How many miles you are running now, how long you have been running, how old you are, what your injury history is like.
the last thing i want to add is that just because you have a problem once doesn't mean you will the next time. Way way to many guys get hurt a couple times and say, oh well I can't do the miles, its bull****. I had more injuries then anyone and I got them back in college when i was doing way way lower miles. You find the weakness that caused your injury and get to work on it. You approach the miles with more care and you can do it. There are very few ed morans and henry marshs out there who really have to keep their miles super low. But there are tons of guys and girls who tell themselves they are one of those people.

Untitled Comment

3:13 PM, April 26, 2008 .. Posted by Anonymous

wow that is a great workout nate.

track reps with weak hamstrings

1:04 PM, May 2, 2008 .. Posted by Anonymous

i\'ve found that alternating the direction of my reps in a session really helps when i\'m having trouble with my hammys or pelvis.