Building on my successes

So, if you had told me on Sunday before the race started, that I was capable of 8.5 sub-10 minute miles, I would have said you were crazy.  I’ve been really struggling lately with my speed and feel like I’m just getting slower and slower.  I’ve also had issues with pain in my right ankle in various places with nearly every run.

What I learned this weekend:

• I can run at comfortably hard pace for a lot longer than I realized
• Comfortably hard is faster than I thought it would be
• Running faster with a higher cadence hurts me less (don’t get me wrong, I’m hella sore today, but their was no pain in my ankle.  Not during. Not after.  WTH?)

This is my favorite time of year for running.  The weather is cooler, but not yet cold (I don’t mind cold, though).  It’s usually sunny.  My allergies are minimal.  I can run any time of day and still be comfortable.

I need to start back to back runs again to train for my back to back Richmond Half and Potomac River Half.

Here’s my plan:

3-4 runs per week

• 1 long run
• 1 mid-length but faster run the day after the long run
• 1-2 short runs with speedwork mixed in.

While I’d love to explore MAF training and high mileage training, that doesn’t seem to be what hurts me.  Apparently it’s the way I “plod” along when I’m going slower.   So, to get through the remainder of 2013, I’m going with lower mileage, higher speed.  Hopefully I can then hang onto some of that speed (or at least that cadence) when I start upping my mileage in 2014 for the Riverboat Series.

Tell me about your experiences training faster.  Do you find that you have a different stride when you run slower?  Or am I the only weirdo who injures themselves when they slow down?

Anyone got a Kindle copy of Run Less, Run Faster that they’d be willing to lend?