long and fast (not very)

[ultracollie]

hello
please can somebody either put me right or quell my unecessary anxiety
last year i ran about 8 ultras and a couple of marathons..and i'm planning on similar this year
although i'm doing track and tempo sessions i'm finding my speed isn't what it was (to say the least)
i think i should just accept that you cant reconcile doing 50+milers whilst maintaining speed form (which wasnt fast anyway). but it still plays on my mind and i think im getting slower when in fact its probably that i'm just running much further
or is there a trick i'm missing that allows you to have your cake..
please any answers much appreciated!

[Derby Tup]

hello
please can somebody either put me right or quell my unecessary anxiety
last year i ran about 8 ultras and a couple of marathons..and i'm planning on similar this year
although i'm doing track and tempo sessions i'm finding my speed isn't what it was (to say the least)
i think i should just accept that you cant reconcile doing 50+milers whilst maintaining speed form (which wasnt fast anyway). but it still plays on my mind and i think im getting slower when in fact its probably that i'm just running much further
or is there a trick i'm missing that allows you to have your cake..
please any answers much appreciated!

I don't think it's coincidence. I've also got slower from running long distance events and talking to other folk who've trained for BGRs, 100s etc its to be expected. I'm liking your blog btw

[ultracollie]

thanks dt
i thought as much but then it still doesn't occasionally stop my mind thinking ' getting slower = worse at running'
i see you're from wharfedale..say hello if you're doing the marathon..i promise my dog wont try and round you up

[SteveS]

thanks dt
i thought as much but then it still doesn't occasionally stop my mind thinking ' getting slower = worse at running'
i see you're from wharfedale..say hello if you're doing the marathon..i promise my dog wont try and round you up

I've not got very much experience with ultras, but I do a lot of events (often LDWA) in the 20-30 mile range. I've been doing this for around 3 years, before that I did a lot more road races and shorter distances.

My 10k best is from about 3 years ago when I'd train for that distance, and I've not been very close since. But for all out speed, my mile and 800m time haven't dropped much - distances I have never trained for. In that time I've knocked a couple of minutes from my half marathon best, and in the midst of BG preparation set by a small margin a new marathon PB.

I think I could keep up doing the long distances a little slower than now, and bring down my 10k time at the same time if I trained specifically for that, but that's not where my motivation lies. Training for a certain distance will somtimes have some knock on benefit for other distances but once you're at one end of a scale it's not likely to help the the other end much.

Running a 10k in x minutes, or completing x miles in an ultra are both valid goals for runners, it's not a level comparison. Are oranges or apples better? The important question if one area has to suffer a little, is what do you enjoy more, long running or fast running?

[Derby Tup]

i see you're from wharfedale..say hello if you're doing the marathon..i promise my dog wont try and round you up

Hope to do the Wharfedale off-road marathon and will look out for you if I do. There's plenty of nice soft grass so it'll be ideal for a dog

[southernsoftie]

I would have thought this would depend on the balance of your training. Presumably, if you are training to do well in ultras, speed work doesn't figure all that much.

I'm sure if you switched the balance to include more speed work (e.g. hill sprints) you would see some improvements in pace. You say your doing some track and temp work, but I suspect with the focus on ultras, this isn't enough amongst your distance work.

Question is would you want to reduce your distance work to include more speed work?

[ultracollie]

... The important question if one area has to suffer a little, is what do you enjoy more, long running or fast running?

Nicely put. the sheer enjoyment of long stuff was what appealled to me .

thanks guys.