Thursday, October 7, 2010

Three Things Thursday - "This vs. That"

1) Morning vs. Afternoon/Evening Running

I generally think of myself as a morning person. But that doesn't mean that I'm an EARLY morning person. While I do prefer running in the morning over running in the afternoon or evening, I simply don't have the desire to get up stupid early to run. So perhaps I'm more accurately described as a mid-morning person.

Why am I bringing this up? My body seems to be in sync with the sunrise/sunset. And as the sunrise moves later, I find myself getting up later. And that results in insufficient time to run in the morning before work. Which forces me into the option of running in the late afternoon/early evening. Which I'd rather not do. Vicious cycle!

I'm planning to continue running throughout the winter, so I am going to have to work this out somehow. Just not yet sure what the solution is going to be...

2) Run vs. Cross Train vs. Rest

Right now, a lot of my cross training involves walking, which doesn't seem to give my legs enough recovery time, so I feel that it is very important to take at least one rest day per week. With that in mind, I have decided that Mondays are designated as rest days. That leaves Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday as running days and Wednesday/Friday/Sunday for cross training. I can work with that.

3) Road vs. Off Road vs. Trail

In my limited experience, I've observed road running to be faster, higher impact, and more boring than off road vs trail running. Trails tend to be slower, more difficult/technical, most interesting/scenic. Off road (flat wide dirt levee for example) is somewhere in between. Next year, I want to add in some real trail races, but right now I'm taking baby steps and testing out off road running.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, my upcoming 10K is described as "all terrain." A small portion will be on paved road, about a third is on single-track, and the remainder is on a wide dirt levee road. My fastest 10K was on road, my slowest was a hilly all terrain course the day after a metric century . In all likelihood, I'm probably going to finish this next one somewhere in between my best and worst time. There is really nothing to worry about. If I can get past doubting myself, the race should be all kinds of fun!

13 comments:

  1. Some races aren't meant for speedy times, but a great experience - the 10k sounds like one of those. :)

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  2. 1) Definitely a afternoon/evening runner. Hate running in the morning. Of course this causes problem comes race morning :)

    2) Sounds like a great Cross Train/Run schedule. I have a similar schedule myself. It works much better than running every day

    Good luck at your 10k!

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  3. rest should be an essential part of every plan :-) this I know.

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  4. In the off season you may want to mix in more rest days. Have fun on the trails!

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  5. Yes rest is essential! However, I thought there was a time not too long ago that Wes wasn't taking any rest days... :)

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  6. The only time I run in the early morning is during my long runs since it was too hot this summer to even run late in the afternoon. But since it's getting cold already, I'll get back to running in the afternoon. =)

    Happy Thursday! =)

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  7. I'm struggling with this training idea as well - I think I might do a treadmill over lunch or something - don't know.

    You will rock on the 10k!

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  8. You're just getting your body back used to running. Be happy with completing the distance, don't worry about the time. ;)

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  9. I'm struggling with the mornings now that it's so dark. I actually just commented on another blog that I think I'm retiring the morning runs for now. My bed is just too cozy in the cold, dark morning and I should be taking advantage of the extra sleep until my race now anyway. (that's my justification, lol)

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  10. I'm a mid-morning person too. Luckily my work day usually starts around 10-11. I have trouble running after work when my brain is completely worn out - I'll take physically tired over mentally tired any day!!

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  11. I'm really struggling with the shortening days too. It's like I have zero motivation to be up and functioning once the sun goes down. I'm going to need to work it out some how too!

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  12. add those trail races. You will love it.

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  13. 4) Fun vs. Pressure to perform

    My preference is definitely on fun!

    BTW: There is some scientific research out there regarding advantages of exercise in the afternoon. Your body is apparently less prone to injury, more ready for training response and adaptability and better fuelled (esp if you are like me and don't manage 'real' food at 5 am). Maybe worth doing some more reading on that?

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