The Power of the Group
Before I get into the topic of this week's post, I want to give a quick shout out to my coach, Dave Freake, on winning the Goodlife Toronto Marathon today. While his finishing time may have been a little slower than his goal, any day where you can line-up and beat the field is a great day. Not to mention, Dave spent the winter running three days a week with a small, dedicated clinic group in Paradise, and has spent the last two weeks prior to this race kicking off a Tely clinic with over 30 runners. Managing all that while still training hard enough to win is an impressive feat. Well done Dave!
This week, I want to talk about the wonderful benefits that come from running with a group. I'm not sure if I've specifically mentioned this here before, but I spent the first 3 years of my running "career" doing all of my training solo. With the exception of races, every step I took was on my own. This included training for multiple Tely's and Cape to Cabot's, as well as my first marathon.
In the summer of 2016, I finally got around to running with a group. I quickly realized how much easier it was to complete a long run when you had someone else to talk to and pass the time. Additionally, the little tidbits of training knowledge that I was able to pick up along the way proved quite beneficial in allowing me to continue to improve as a runner.
For the 2016 and 2017 running seasons, I ran mainly with a core group of about 4 or 5 runners, all of who were around the same pace as me, and there were another 5-10 runners who would join us on runs from time to time. Running with a group who were all around the same pace was great. We would set a route and go, with a planned distance in mind. And if we got spread out a little bit, the group in front would usually just pause for a couple of minutes and wait for everyone to group back up.
During this time, I was still doing all my interval/tempo work on my own, and I would only join the group for our weekly long runs, and an occasionally recovery run as well. Over the last month, the dynamic of my group running has started to change, and I have to say that once again I'm feeling the benefits of a new and different running experience.
The first change relates to running workouts with a group. Two weeks ago, I did both an interval and a tempo workout with our clinic group, and it was amazing how much easier it was to push the pace a little with others there to both run with you and encourage you. Unfortunately, my schedule doesn't allow me to get out for these workouts every week, and this past week I had to do both workouts on my own. I have years of experience with this, and I've never shied away from the grind, but I was still a bit shocked at the difference when I had to go back to pushing myself through the workouts. Needless to say, I'm going to really look forward to the weeks when I can get out and do them with the group!
The second change pertains to our long runs. In our clinic, the goal of the long run is to run for a specific time, not a specific distance. This is a change from everything I've ever done, but the method used to execute it makes for a richer overall experience. Our group now has runners of a wide variety of paces, and the plan has us all running the same route. In order to keep the group together, the runners at the front double back every so often to meet the runners at the back.
By doing the run this way, you end up interacting with a lot of runners who you might not otherwise see on a run. And while you don't spend a lot of time running side by side with people who run different paces, even just being able to say "Hi!" and shout a few words of encouragement is nice. Also, with everyone running the same amount of total time, we all end up at the finish of the run together, which is a bit more difficult to accomplish when everyone is running a straight line from start to finish.
Training to run can at times be quite a challenge, especially when you are pushing yourself to improve and reach new goals. But if you can find the right group to run with, people who support, encourage, educate, and entertain you, the journey becomes a whole lot easier. I've been very fortunate to run with a great group over the last couple of years, and I'm quite happy to now be getting a chance to extend that network even further.
Weekly Summary (April 30-May 6)
Mon.: Off
Tue. (Lunch): 10 min warmup, 3 x (1km + 500m) (3:55/1:56 / 4:03/1:58 / 4:03/1:57) w/ 90s/3 min recovery, 7 min cooldown (Workout total: 9.6 km, 48:11, 4:59/km pace)
Wed. (Lunch): 6.0 km, 30:48, 5:08/km pace
Thu. (Lunch): 10 min warmup, 3 x 7.5 min (4:03/km / 4:09/km / 4:21/km) w/ 2.5 min recovery, 7 min cooldown (Workout total: 9.4 km, 47:00, 4:59/km pace) [treadmill]
Fri. (Lunch): 8.1 km, 41:44, 5:09/km pace
Sat. (Morning): 9.2 km, 48:39, 5:17/km pace
Sun. (Morning): 16.3 km, 1:20:36, 4:56/km pace
Total: 58.6 km
As I mentioned above, my workouts were completed solo this week. The Tuesday workout called for 3 sets of (1km, 90 seconds of jogging recovery, then 500m) with 3 minutes of jogging recovery between sets. The plan was for goal 10k pace for the km (~3:55/km) and goal 5k pace for the 500 m (~3:45/km), with the caveat that while it's nice to aim for goal pace, we have to train at current fitness level. I ended up averaging about 4:00/km for the 1km's and 3:55/km for the 500m's, so I'm a little behind goal pace right now, which is not surprising at this point in the season. For comparison, I checked my workout from this week last year, and I did 3 x 800m with an average pace of 4:00. Considering that this workout was harder and my pace at 1km was equal to my 800m pace from last year, I'm pretty pleased with where I stand right now.
Unfortunately Thursday's workout wasn't just a solo workout, it also turned into a treadmill workout due to my hatred for cold rain! I actually don't mind interval workouts on the treadmill too much, but this one was a tempo. I find it difficult to find the right pace for tempo workouts on the treadmill, and this one was no different. The plan for our tempos is goal Tely 10 pace, which for me is around 4:03/km. I did the first 7.5 minutes by starting at that pace, and then dialing back as need be. I managed to maintain it most of the way through, but then I made the mistake of starting the next tempo at the same pace. I ended up slowing down dramatically over that 7.5 minutes, and while I kept a steady pace for the last one, it was much slower than planned. Lesson learned. I've been instructed to start slower and speed up if necessary if I get stuck doing another treadmill tempo workout. Haha
Our long run today was one of my favourite routes, from Coffee Matters in Paradise to Tim Hortons on Water Street West. My average pace was a little faster than I intended, but that is almost completely attributed to the fact that the route is downhill and we had a massive tailwind. In fact, if I wasn't looping back every so often, the pace would have been even quicker, because I was MUCH slower going back uphill into the headwind! Overall, it was a great run, as mentioned above, and aside from the wind we couldn't have asked for better conditions.
This week ended up being my highest total mileage for the year, although that may be a statement I can make multiple times over the coming months. I checked my year to date mileage vs. last year this evening, and after today I am 2 kilometres ahead of where I was when I finished the Tely 10 last July. I think it's safe to say I'm going to set my personal record for most kilometres run this year! Haha
I think that's more than enough from me for this week. As always, thanks for reading. Cheers!
This week, I want to talk about the wonderful benefits that come from running with a group. I'm not sure if I've specifically mentioned this here before, but I spent the first 3 years of my running "career" doing all of my training solo. With the exception of races, every step I took was on my own. This included training for multiple Tely's and Cape to Cabot's, as well as my first marathon.
In the summer of 2016, I finally got around to running with a group. I quickly realized how much easier it was to complete a long run when you had someone else to talk to and pass the time. Additionally, the little tidbits of training knowledge that I was able to pick up along the way proved quite beneficial in allowing me to continue to improve as a runner.
For the 2016 and 2017 running seasons, I ran mainly with a core group of about 4 or 5 runners, all of who were around the same pace as me, and there were another 5-10 runners who would join us on runs from time to time. Running with a group who were all around the same pace was great. We would set a route and go, with a planned distance in mind. And if we got spread out a little bit, the group in front would usually just pause for a couple of minutes and wait for everyone to group back up.
During this time, I was still doing all my interval/tempo work on my own, and I would only join the group for our weekly long runs, and an occasionally recovery run as well. Over the last month, the dynamic of my group running has started to change, and I have to say that once again I'm feeling the benefits of a new and different running experience.
The first change relates to running workouts with a group. Two weeks ago, I did both an interval and a tempo workout with our clinic group, and it was amazing how much easier it was to push the pace a little with others there to both run with you and encourage you. Unfortunately, my schedule doesn't allow me to get out for these workouts every week, and this past week I had to do both workouts on my own. I have years of experience with this, and I've never shied away from the grind, but I was still a bit shocked at the difference when I had to go back to pushing myself through the workouts. Needless to say, I'm going to really look forward to the weeks when I can get out and do them with the group!
The second change pertains to our long runs. In our clinic, the goal of the long run is to run for a specific time, not a specific distance. This is a change from everything I've ever done, but the method used to execute it makes for a richer overall experience. Our group now has runners of a wide variety of paces, and the plan has us all running the same route. In order to keep the group together, the runners at the front double back every so often to meet the runners at the back.
By doing the run this way, you end up interacting with a lot of runners who you might not otherwise see on a run. And while you don't spend a lot of time running side by side with people who run different paces, even just being able to say "Hi!" and shout a few words of encouragement is nice. Also, with everyone running the same amount of total time, we all end up at the finish of the run together, which is a bit more difficult to accomplish when everyone is running a straight line from start to finish.
Training to run can at times be quite a challenge, especially when you are pushing yourself to improve and reach new goals. But if you can find the right group to run with, people who support, encourage, educate, and entertain you, the journey becomes a whole lot easier. I've been very fortunate to run with a great group over the last couple of years, and I'm quite happy to now be getting a chance to extend that network even further.
Weekly Summary (April 30-May 6)
Mon.: Off
Tue. (Lunch): 10 min warmup, 3 x (1km + 500m) (3:55/1:56 / 4:03/1:58 / 4:03/1:57) w/ 90s/3 min recovery, 7 min cooldown (Workout total: 9.6 km, 48:11, 4:59/km pace)
Wed. (Lunch): 6.0 km, 30:48, 5:08/km pace
Thu. (Lunch): 10 min warmup, 3 x 7.5 min (4:03/km / 4:09/km / 4:21/km) w/ 2.5 min recovery, 7 min cooldown (Workout total: 9.4 km, 47:00, 4:59/km pace) [treadmill]
Fri. (Lunch): 8.1 km, 41:44, 5:09/km pace
Sat. (Morning): 9.2 km, 48:39, 5:17/km pace
Sun. (Morning): 16.3 km, 1:20:36, 4:56/km pace
Total: 58.6 km
As I mentioned above, my workouts were completed solo this week. The Tuesday workout called for 3 sets of (1km, 90 seconds of jogging recovery, then 500m) with 3 minutes of jogging recovery between sets. The plan was for goal 10k pace for the km (~3:55/km) and goal 5k pace for the 500 m (~3:45/km), with the caveat that while it's nice to aim for goal pace, we have to train at current fitness level. I ended up averaging about 4:00/km for the 1km's and 3:55/km for the 500m's, so I'm a little behind goal pace right now, which is not surprising at this point in the season. For comparison, I checked my workout from this week last year, and I did 3 x 800m with an average pace of 4:00. Considering that this workout was harder and my pace at 1km was equal to my 800m pace from last year, I'm pretty pleased with where I stand right now.
Unfortunately Thursday's workout wasn't just a solo workout, it also turned into a treadmill workout due to my hatred for cold rain! I actually don't mind interval workouts on the treadmill too much, but this one was a tempo. I find it difficult to find the right pace for tempo workouts on the treadmill, and this one was no different. The plan for our tempos is goal Tely 10 pace, which for me is around 4:03/km. I did the first 7.5 minutes by starting at that pace, and then dialing back as need be. I managed to maintain it most of the way through, but then I made the mistake of starting the next tempo at the same pace. I ended up slowing down dramatically over that 7.5 minutes, and while I kept a steady pace for the last one, it was much slower than planned. Lesson learned. I've been instructed to start slower and speed up if necessary if I get stuck doing another treadmill tempo workout. Haha
Our long run today was one of my favourite routes, from Coffee Matters in Paradise to Tim Hortons on Water Street West. My average pace was a little faster than I intended, but that is almost completely attributed to the fact that the route is downhill and we had a massive tailwind. In fact, if I wasn't looping back every so often, the pace would have been even quicker, because I was MUCH slower going back uphill into the headwind! Overall, it was a great run, as mentioned above, and aside from the wind we couldn't have asked for better conditions.
This week ended up being my highest total mileage for the year, although that may be a statement I can make multiple times over the coming months. I checked my year to date mileage vs. last year this evening, and after today I am 2 kilometres ahead of where I was when I finished the Tely 10 last July. I think it's safe to say I'm going to set my personal record for most kilometres run this year! Haha
I think that's more than enough from me for this week. As always, thanks for reading. Cheers!
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