I Run

I found that this time around, I was getting nowhere fast with the Pfitzinger 55 mile/18 week marathon training plan. It was taking me far too long to recover from the runs, and I was not even pushing the pace. In fact, my training pace has been about 5 to 10% slower that it has been in previous sessions. So when I attempted to do an 18 mile long run and managed to squeeze out just four very slow miles, something had to change. I'm now trying out the FIRST training program from the Furman Institute of Running. I've read both the praises and criticisms of this program since it was introduced in Runner's World a couple of years ago. There's passion on both sides but I figure, what the heck. It's still running. So far I haven't been able to adequately hit the target paces for the training runs based on my best 5K race time. But since the runs are at a higher intensity I am starting to feel that old endorphin rush I would get when I first started running. The recovery and cross-training days in between the hard efforts help to keep me from over training, which I think is what might have been happening with the Pfitzinger plan. Or maybe it was just time for a change.

# posted by jm @ 8:23 AM