Saturday, July 25, 2009

Recovery Saturday and “The Grid”

Okay, so it’s unanimous then! Thank you for setting me straight. No one (other than me) has actually gotten sick while running in the rain which leads me to one of two conclusions – either my preconceptions were wrong and this old adage is nothing but an old wives’ tale probably passed down from generations of non-runners to keep the actively inclined at bay or I have freakishly weird immunity. I’ve already scheduled an appointment with my GP for early next week, thank you very much!

Although I was feeling somewhat better this morning, no fever/chills x 24 hours, I thought the safe approach was to switch my long run/recovery run weekend routine and give myself an extra day to recuperate before I tackle the 18 miler. So I went out and did an easy 5-miler around my new ‘hood this morning. Although the miles (all 5.61 of it) felt long and my pace (7:42 min/mi) awkwardly slow (another runner around here actually ran by me…and smiled as he passed…), I was satisfied with this run because by the end, I felt strong enough to have tackled a lot more miles if I wanted to. Unfortunately, my stomach started feeling queasy again as soon I stepped inside and now I’m back to not feeling bad but not feeling so great either…

Anyway, I know I’ve been talking about my marathon training a bunch in the past several posts (and probably will continue to in the next several months) so I figure I’d give you all a peak at my training plan just to make sure we’re on the same page. I sure as hell have tinkered enough with it that I’ve pretty much got the whole thing memorized by now. I think everything is pretty self explanatory but in case there are questions, discrepancies, criticisms, false pretenses, or gross overestimation of paces or races outside the range of my abilities, feel free to ask away. (Just for reference, I’m currently in the tail end of week 2 of training.)

Okay, so without further ado, Ladies and Gentleman, feast your eyes on “The Grid” (Wow, I realize I've never done this before...I feel as if there should be a drumroll...or the pitter-patter of a thousand runners running)

17 comments:

NY Wolve said...

That is apretty awesome looking chart. Not sure what it all means,but it looks like a detailed plan for sure!

I think the extra rest day is wise. The stress of the long run can't help the health issue, and discretion is the better part of valor.

Running and living said...

That's a great plan, Lam. Nice combo of quality and quantity! Good luck! Ana-Maria

Anonymous said...

Good plan-- I'm trying to run more slowly, too. It's kind of working but it's so hard to do.

I agree with you on the getting sick-- I never have after the rain.

Lindsay said...

umm. all i can really interpret here is PMS, and i'm not sure what that has to do with a male running? :)

unless it's pace - and then the minutes/seconds the workout took? sorry... you are just too advanced in your plan creation for me. i understand you feel the need to keep it cryptic so no one can discover your secret to success. ;)

i'm already well aware of your insane speediness, so the paces in the numbered workouts seem "normal" for you.

you run terrific mileage for 5 days a week! i would probably just barely hit 40 myself.

thanks for sharing your training. i might have to sit here and continue to procrastinate from my own 18-miler to decipher it some more.

Robert James Reese said...

Very interesting. I see you have gone from 4 days a week to 5. I know a lot of people out there run 6 or 7 days a week, but I say you should stick to what your body is comfortable with. I'd definitely have trouble finding time/energy for such long mid-week runs so I'll probably try to get back in the 6-day rotation myself. Funny how everybody has different methods to try to achieve the same result...

Mike G said...

I need to be as organized as you are with my training. I sort of just go out and run as hard as I feel comfortable on any given day, but this definitely leaves me overdoing it some weeks and taking others too easily. The most organized usually win the war.

Michelle said...

Cool chart. Not sure I can intepret that correctly but I am sure it is quite a training plan!!

Good luck bro!

X-Country2 said...

That's one heck of a chart!

The Laminator said...

C'mon people, The Grid is supposed to be self-explanatory...it's like a good joke: It loses its awesomeness if you have to explain it. Sigh.

Fortunately for you all, Frayed Laces took it upon herself to deconstruct the grid. (http://frayedlaces.blogspot.com/2009/07/deconstructing-grid.html)
She took it upon herself to explain the basics of the grid. Thanks, FL.

I'll be back tomorrow to fill in the blanks.

joyRuN said...

I'm super-glad I had FL's deconstruction to refer to with this grid - I was starting to feel incredibly dumb.

It's pretty ;)

runner26 said...

that looks awesome! hope it works for you!

Jen Feeny said...

I feel like I"m being let in on a super-secret-training plan! :) Rock on Lam!

J said...

Thanks to FL as she explained it more but honestly the grid is pretty awesome!

George said...

Wow! Impressive. I thought I was detailed with my running schedule, but this is quite detailed. Very nice!

RoadBunner said...

I hope you feel better soon! The Grid is awesome!

Irish Cream said...

Dang, that is an intense chart! I love it! Also, I hope you feel better soon . . . being sick in the middle of summer (and in the middle of marathon training) is the WORST!

sRod said...

Ok, I've spent five minutes trying to figure out this chart and I just don't understand. We need a legned or a key or something. Or maybe you've already addressed this in your next post.

(BTW, belated happy birthday!)

 
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