Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Looking for Speed, Finding Endurance

Mt. Bike 15 miles
Run 12 miles

Did a 12 mile time trial run today to take the place of the race which I was hoping to run this past Saturday which was postponed. First I rode the loop I was planning to run to see how long it was. As I had estimated it was about 12 miles. Came in on my bike computer at 11.97.

Did the run in 1:11:33 which put me almost exactly at 6:00 mile pace. I didn't expect to go any faster as the trail was quite technical with a decent amount of up and down, but I did expect to feel faster. I pushed myself at about 90-95% but I never really felt like I had any more speed leftover, but I did feel like I could have kept up that pace for several miles longer than I did. I've noticed this same feeling in my biking lately. I feel like I could bike forever but when I try to push myself hard for a few miles I just can't seem to generate the amount of speed that I want to. I suppose this is just the trade off we must make. If I'm trying to get myself ready for a 24 hour bike race and a 50 mile run I can't expect to feel fast on a 12 mile run.

My concern though is with my preparedness for the Crow Pass Crossing as this is the race that I most want to do well in this summer. At 25 miles this race does require some endurance but it also requires more speed than what I have right now. I've still got 5 1/2 weeks to prepare but at this point I think all I can really do is hope that some speed returns with my eventual tapering that will begin in a few weeks.

1 comment:

Danielle Musto said...

I've noticed that training for endurance does tend to take away some top speed. I'm usually fastest in the spring, when I'm doing shorter workouts. I've tried doing shorter races in the middle of the summer, but usually feel like I'm just getting warmed up by the time that I cross the finish line.

Don't worry, you should get some top speed back when you taper. And, your endurance training will come in handy at the end of the race...when everyone else is tapped out.