Running: Perceived Effort Versus "Real" Data

Grew up in the world of competitive swimming. Always had good stamina and cardio fitness.

Came back to running two years ago (at 34 y.o.) after gaining some weight and slipping into a sedentary lifestyle.

Decided last fall to have a go at my first marathon after a year which featured my first HIM and my first century ride. Just came through the last of my BIG training miles. Have completed LSD runs of 20 and 22 miles within the last two and a half weeks. The 20 miler was strong: 9:07 per at 141 HR. The 22 miler (last weekend) was a painful slog: 9:47 per mile at 143 HR. Weekly mileage went from 15-20 in November to 30-35 during the past month.

PR 10K = 43:58 (June 06)
PR Half-Mary = 1:40:57 (Dec 06)

Is it possible that big miles during the past four weeks simply have me gassed? I've not been ill. Good sleep. Good diet. But 9:00 miles tonight felt difficult and pushed HR up to 148-163.

Will taper restore the energy I seem to have lost?


Edited by Xan 2007-02-14 9:10 PM

maybe other things were at play here but based on the limited info you provided I would just focus on tapering, getting those legs fresh and keep them losen up with short runs. make sure to sleep and eat well. Let us know how the marathon goes... good luck!

Agreed. There have been a few weeks in excess of 35 miles, but nothing in excess of 40 miles yet. The plan I'm using is basically a beginner's schedule from Runner's World Complete Book of Running. In keeping with the plan, I've limited my running schedule to 4x per week. The purpose is two-fold: Try to save my knees, which have been balky in the past, and leave some time for cross-training (presently a couple swims per week, and one easy bike ride.

I'm now in week 16 of an 18 week plan which basically looks like this.

1 Long run per week (Sat) starting from 8-9 miles and adding a mile or two each week. Step back to 2/3 every third week. So, 10, 11, 9, 13, 14, 10...

1 medium run each week (Wed) typically 1/2 of LSD at or close to race pace.

2 short recovery runs (Mon/Thurs) which are usually 3-4 miles.

I've had a few bad runs mixed in with mostly decent LSD at 9:10-9:40 per mile. I did completely blow up once in December on a 15-miler after a week of respiritory/sinus illness. Other than that, my only problem has been the first hints of ITBS in the last few weeks as mileage has reached a a peak. So far, that's not been terrible, and I've gotten along with ice, advil, and some new stretches.

I've run a recent half-mary at sub 7:50 per mile, so I was surprised yesterday that so much huffing and puffing only resulted in 9:00 miles. But perhaps I'm just gassed from mileage I wasn't really ready for? Hopefully, a couple weeks of rest and recovery put a spring back in my stride.

Thanks for the input. I'll certainly report back. Had visions of a sub-4 hour run, but now we'll have to see. 4:15-4:20 might be more realistsic.

Well you are relying the polar to be acturate. I found them not to be all that accurate for me. For me I always found it too fast but I also run down the hill fast and that really throws it off.

Keep in mind most people I know find the 20 miler harder than the marathon itself because week you run the 20 miler you did 40 miles total for the week. That is why the taper is important.