I'm linking for answers from the more... - Fun Beyond 10K & ...
I'm linking for answers from the more experienced runners on this forum (not that there aren't any on the other forum) :
Always a tough week after an event. I would give it a couple more runs over the course of a week or so. It is a mixture of the build up and excitemen of the event, the anit-climax afterwards, and you did put in a good time, so that will have taken it out of you too.
Thanks, that makes sense, though I have been struggling with fatigue since the weather got colder- but your reply does make sense!
Hi!
first for full disclosure, I do not know much about allergy and breathing... so cannot help you there...
as far as I know , unless you are running on a special machinery to register the oxygen use and take blood samples to measure how your muscles lactate, Vomax is just a mathematical calculation (I thought it increases increasing the speed, but probably yours is linked to the heart beat, so you may just have improved your fitness...and this is good 
). I normally do not pay a lot of attention to that... but that's me not knowing it too much.
You mentioned you ran on Sunday your best time on a 10K race.
so my first suggestion is: do not trust your times in the week before a race and the week after a race. It takes time for your body to recover. Indeed, the couple of weeks after a race should be ran easy. If you have a heart beat monitor and you know your thresholds, you should run in recovery mode (140/150 BPM?) the whole week. Then you can try some to speed up some session (not all of them).
Answering the next part of your post, for what I have learnt (and what works for me) you should have easy run alternate to hard sessions. For hard sessions I mean either intervals, threshold, long distances, and anything that feels more than a simple run.
to give you a more concrete example I am going to show what I do:
When I am training for an event (marathon or half marathon or 10 K...) I normally schedule 6 runs a week:
1. easy
2. intervals (5X1000 or similar)
3. easy
4. fartlek or faster intervals or hills
5. easy
6. long run (slow with some miles at pace race in the middle or at the end)
7. rest.
I normally run 40 miles per week when training for a 10K or a Half marathon, try to push it to 50, 60 when preparing for a full marathon.
my long run is anything between 10 and 22 miles (depending on the period in the training) so my easy run vary between 3 and 6 miles.
hope this helps
let me know if you have any questions
Thanks Marco, absolutely brilliant and comprehensive reply, really useful - though I'm not sure i'm quite ready for your distances yet.
sure, I got to those distances this and last year. I started with way less... and with way more recover between fastest races.
I wanted you to have an example to scale it down.
one final thing to give you some more perspective, I raced on the 23rd the week after I ran 19 miles at an average of 8:30 per mile (~30 seconds slower than usual easy run) this week I am aiming for the same distance.
next week I'll scale it up a bit, trying to keep a +10% per week max, with a week increase and a week stable, to avoid stress
The V02max metric is of little use to you, and your device does not measure it accurately anyway, so please just ignore it!
Your health checked out ok. I think that the tiredness you are experiencing has a lot to do with the extra work you have been putting in over the past months. The workout regime you choose should depend upon what you want to achieve over the next few months, but since your half is still about a year away, maybe you should think about reining back a bit to give yourself a break, and then working on a good fitness base with some cross training and strength work.
Finally I would just like to add: I LOVE those tights!!! 😊
Thanks Abi. Makes sense. Though I was hoping to reach HM before next October!
Unfortunately I can’t affird gym fees and my injuries preclude most of the work I could do there ☹️
Yep the leggings are fun 😊
I am not into gyms at all, but you don't need them to get the benefit of cross training and strength work 💪 Take a gander at ju-ju- s garden gym! Or there are plenty of bodyweight exercises you can do in your house that will benefit your running. I'm really bad at keeping up with them, but as winter draws in I'll definitely do more strength work so that I'm raring to go in the spring.
I've got a freebie Nuffield health mot through work that I think I'll cash in at some point soon for fun, apparently one part is a proper vo2 max test. I am pretty certain it won't match the Garmin estimate 😅 It'll be interesting to see the error margin though!
I know, but as I said above, I can’t do them because of old injuries - and I don’t have space for a garden gym, alas. When I lived in Oxford, I had a 90 foot garden, but the one here is teeny. Plus Mr I Dont Snore doesn’t do DIY, and I certainly can’t with my weak back and leg, so I’m adraid it’s just running for me. Which is probably just as well as besides being weedy and broke (now) I’m also a lazy git 😂
The reality is that although of course you can do just one thing, say running, to really benefit and improve you need to find other things to complement it. I don't know the ins and outs of old injuries, or the ways in which it restricts you, but many strength exercises are as simple as sitting still and lifting your leg up over an imaginary bag of sugar. There's no DIY or expense involved! (There's not even any real sugar involved. Until you reward yourself with cake afterwards. Maybe that's just me?) There are bound to be things that won't aggravate you, and more importantly, will surely help. There are core exercises, arm exercises, flexibility exercises...it's pretty infinite. I don't believe you can give a blanket 'no' response 😁 I sadly don't have a garden either, I just take ten minutes in my sitting room sometimes to work through exercises that target areas I think are weaker (stupid sedentary job!), and which will benefit my running. My cross training (which is just what works for me and fits into my life) consists of walking and/or cycling every day for a couple of hours. It's part of my stupidly long commute, but this added aerobic stuff also undoubtedly helps my fitness levels. It's just about finding what works for you, and there will definitely be something in addition to running. And when I say addition, I don't mean in terms of time—you do bazillions of runs, you could surely afford to drop one of two of those, especially if you're feeling fatigued!
I have to be really careful what I do because of the mangled knee. Just lifting the leg can strain it as can carrying anything even remotely heavy. Luckily running has strengthened it and I don’t want to push my luck. Added to that I have a scoliosis. And to be honest I think I’m doing enough already with dog walking, distance walking to shops and anywhere else I need to go since I don’t drive, plus yoga and some swimming. I’m bone idle by nature and I really think adding extra exercises to my life will take the joy out of running. At 71 I think it would all be a bit much. You’re probably right and I probably could find something on top of running, walking, swimming and yoga but, honestly?, I’m not one of these driven people who has to be on the go and I want time for reading, writing, photography etc. If you run and do other exercise AND work, then I take my hat off to you x
I do these things, and I am a lazy person that also paints, photographs, has creative pursuits, and relishes having a lie in over most other things in life 😁 I'm obviously not trying to lecture you or anything like that and hope it didn't come across that way, because I've learnt far more things from you than I could ever reciprocate with, it's more just everyone talks about gyms (and rightly so) in response to supportive training but I come from a bit of an anti-gym perspective, albeit for different reasons than yourself—I just hate the idea of them, and what you said resonated a bit. I don't do anywhere near as much running as you, and just thought redressing the balance of activity might help if you're feeling tired, whilst also improving your ability to do those remaining runs. Or you could just cut down on your runs and not do the extra stuff, if you feel you do enough! And by all accounts you probably do 😄
😊 LOL I’m with you on the anti gym perspective. But anyway, as you get older you find your energy has to become more focused. Even in my fifties I could have done more, maybe in my sixties. I certainly don’t want to cut back on the running. I live in a place I hate and running is what keeps me from feeling really trapped and frustrated. And the tiredness, I honestly think a lot of that is what I said in the original post: interrupted sleep and having a congested chest from dog allergy. I feel like a different person after a good nights sleep.
Your creative pursuits sound interesting. I trained in photography but use it mostly as fodder for digital Illustration. I’m ashamed to say the camera with me most of the time is the one on my phone x
Swimming and yoga = cross training and strength work.
Aha! Sorted x
So, a bit less running and a bit more yoga and swimming 😊
Nooooooooo. Running is the only thing keeping me sane stuck here where I don’t want to be. Seriously, I don’t do depression but I do get very down atboresent, and running lifts my spirits and keeps me happy. 😥😥😥
Hi Flick, I wonder if the fact that you ran at a much faster pace for your event is also one of the reasons you are a bit tired now? These things can take their toll. I reckon after a few more runs, things will pick up again for you. I also find I get dips in my running sometimes and think things like 'oh no, it's my thyroid!' (I have hypothyroidism) and then a few weeks later I am back on my pace again. You are, when all is said and done, an awesome lady!🙂x
I'm sure you're right. i really ought to ponder before wailing help! LOL! And you are too kind x
