Wordy Wednesday - Bingo Wings

Today's Wordy Wednesday comes courtesy of Les and really has nothing to do with running!  He read this term online and had to share it with me!

Bingo wings is a slang term for flabby arms – also know as saggy arms, bat wings, and just plain fat arms. When you raise your arm to call out BINGO and the skin under your arm waves around along with your hand, and continues waving after your hand stops – you have bingo wings!

Wordy Wednesday - Rest

I constantly remind myself that resting takes confidence. Anyone can train like a mad man but to embrace rest and to allow all the hard training to come out takes mental strength. 
~Ryan Hall, Olympic Marathoner

This Sunday I will kick-off my 16 week training program for the O2O marathon.  First up:  A Rest Day!

I confess this is something I have a tendency to ignore.  If running five days is good, six or seven is better, right?  That's okay for less stressful endeavors, such as walking, but running tears down muscles and stresses joints. I've noticed in the past two weeks as I've upped my pace that my muscles are sorer.  I need the rest!  Here's what my training plan says:

Treat your rest day as an important part of your training.  Ideally, on rest days you should do no exercise at all. But it's okay to cross-train with a no-impact activity like stretching, yoga, or swimming. Rest builds strength, reduces fatigue, and prevents injuries. Since most running injuries come from overuse, a day off at least once a week can help prevent a three-or four-week forced layoff down the line due to a strain or a stress fracture.

I'm not interested in a forced layoff, so I'm resting as scheduled.

Wordy Wednesday - LSD

LSD is the most common hallucinogen and is one of the most potent mood-changing chemicals. It is manufactured from Lysergic acid diethylamide.  And has absolutely nothing to do with running!

In the world of running LSD is a long, slow distance run to build endurance...

Why would anyone want to run slow?   Long runs improve aerobic capacity, build your strength, and get your body accustomed to spending hours at a time on your feet.  A 15 mile run, at 10:00 pace, would take 2 1/2 hours.  That's a long time on your feet.  It also helps you get use to drinking water and eating a little something while on the run ~ both very important aspects of going the distance.

It can be tempting to crank up the distance and the pace at the same time. That's a recipe for injury. In the early weeks of training, focus should be on developing a solid base of running at easy, slow speeds. It's essential to do this before you build speed into your program.

Wordy Wednesday - Pace

Pace is simply how fast am I running?  A 10:00 pace is running a mile in ten minutes and you would cover 6 miles in a hour.  If you walk 4 miles in an hour, your pace is 15:00.  World class runners often run 5:00 pace - which would mean they would run a marathon (26.2 miles) in 2 hours 11 minutes and 6 seconds.  The world record is 2:03:02 ~ a pace of 4:42!  That is fast!!!

To run a marathon in four hours, the pace must be 9:09.  Does that mean every step is at that exact pace?  No.  The pace will vary depending on the terrain (up hill, flat, down hill) but the overall pace must be 9:09.

Marathon race pace, or MP, is one of the things I'll be working on during shorter runs.  Each day of my training schedule, along with my distance, I have a pace target.  That is getting my legs use to running at that pace, turning over at a steady clip, not trying to beat the person next to me who may be an 8:00 pacer.  It's also important to keep a steady pace over the long haul, not going out too quickly, then hitting a wall with 5 miles to go.

The first run of my training plan is 4 "easy" miles, 10:04 pace.  That's not exactly an easy pace in my book, but it's a great target!

Today was my first "real" run of the 2012 season.  I ran 7.23 miles with an overall pace of 10:55.  Here is how my miles went:

Mile 1:  11:15
Mile 2:  11:14
Mile 3:  10:06
Mile 4:  10:44
Mile 5:  12:09
Mile 6:  10:42
Mile 7:  10:28

Oh Mile 5, how you hurt me!  You, with your hill with a 6% grade.  But you didn't defeat me!  Mile 6 flew by and I finished mile 7 even stronger!

9:09 pace for a 4 hour marathon?  Eek!  I've got work to do!