Sadly, I was unable to do my long run and second easy run last week.  The reason?  On my Speedwork day I pulled something behind my left knee.  Walking more than a mile caused pain and irritation.  Luckily, today it is feeling much better, so I am hoping to jump back into my routine.  This week’s plan is similar to last week’s except that my Speedwork day is a Tempo Run.  For the Tempo Run, I will have a warm-up mile and a cool-down mile with 3 fast miles in the middle.  I will run those at a pace consistent with what I would do in a race, so not as fast as my sprints but not as slow as my long run.

Here is what I have to look forward to:

Monday: Cross Train

Tuesday: Easy 4 miles

Wednesday: Cross Train

Thursday: Tempo Run: 1 mile Easy Warmup, 3 miles at “Race Pace”, 1 mile Easy Cooldown

Friday: Easy 4 Miles

Saturday: Cross Train

Sunday: 8 mile Long Run

o, I am not going to post about my daily walks right now.  I will be honest, they have taken a turn for the boring!  Mainly more errand runs and runs around Union Square.  Not much fun for you, my dear reader, to hear about another duplicate walk.  But have no fear, I have still been doing them daily.  Hopefully this week will make for a better walk.

Onto good news… I did another long run today for a total of 8 miles!  That is 2 miles longer than my long run last week.  I feel as though I could have even done 10.  I made a bit better timing too at 11:37/mile.  I really want my short runs to get faster, but I am fine keeping my long runs nice and slow.  They are meant for endurance building, not speed.

I have also decided to let you know what my plans are for running this next week so you can run along with me.  I have been using the Smart Coach at RunnersWorld.com and here is what they are telling me to do for the next week:

Monday: Cross-Training

Tuesday: Easy 3.5 miles

Wednesday: Cross Train

Thursday: Speedwork: 1 mile Easy, then 800 at 5:24 plus an easy 400 (times 3), 1 mile Easy Cooldown

Friday: Easy 3.5 Miles

Saturday: Cross Train

Sunday: 8 mile Long Run

Today I ran my very first long run. It took me a whopping 1 hour, 21 minutes and 1 second to run 6 miles.

Why did I put my body through this 6 mile jaunt?

Mainly to become a better runner. There are different types of runs that you are suppose to include in your training and The Long Run is one of those runs. The Long Run gets your body use extended aerobic exercise and teaches it to run on fat as a fuel source.

How do you do a long run? Once a week, run at a easy pace - about 1 mile/hour slower than your normal pace. Run at this pace for about 20 - 30% of your total weekly mileage.

Want to know more about The Long Run? Check out this previous Q&A from RunnersWorld.com.