Slowing Down

I'm having some enforced rest, because my whole family has various stages of a yucky cold. Luckily, this is taper week before Sunday's Hyannis Half Marathon, so as long as I'm nominally healthy by then, it's ok to skip today's run.

Actually slowed down my last 2 runs considerably after reading Jeff Galloway's Marathon. The guy shouldn't quit coaching in favor of a literary career, but he has some sensible ideas about running as process v. product. He is probably the strongest proponent of the idea that every run has a purpose, and if you're pushing harder than necessary to achieve your goal, you're actually hurting yourself. If the goal of a long run is to build distance and stamina, that can be accomplished as well (or better) by going slow, even taking walk breaks. And while I will continue to do my speedwork at a higher pace than he recommends, the walk breaks prevent me from feeling trashed after my runs. (Note to parents: it's really not cool to come home after a long run and let your 3-year old play house by tucking you into his bed and bringing you stuffed animals!)

On longer distance races (marathons), Galloway claims that the energy saved by slowing it down and taking walk breaks early on will allow you to stay on pace and even pick up pace in the race's final miles. When I did the Martha's Vineyard 20-Miler, I went out too fast, felt great knocking out 8 min miles, and told myself I was "banking" minutes for later on. In the end, I had to slow down below my goal pace, felt awful for the last 2 miles and post-race, and still only barely made my time goal. So, I'm gonna try training myself to be more conservative this time, and hopefully learn something about not being such a "Type-A Runner" in the process!