Hello,
I come from a pretty intense and successful background in running during HS and college. Ran a 9:17 2 mile, 4:19 1 mile, and a 20:25 4mile. I got injured in college and am now starting to run again 5 years later.
WHen I started about 2 months ago, I would go what seems to be pretty darn fast (way faster than I should) almost at the same pace I did my old running in. This about killed me as I was barely able to walk the next day. So, after this, I started slowing down the pace.
(I did a time trial 2mile: 12:32)
I plugged in the numbers and then started to run around 8:15-8:30 pace (yes, I know it's slow haha). I was able to last much longer, go farther, and not be as sore the next day. I've been doing about 4-5 days a week at this pace with some strides about 2x a week. Also, on Sunday, I go about 8-10 miles bringing me to about 20-25 miles a week.
My question to all of you is this, how come now when I do AT workouts (I'm doing a marathon in December) I feel like I'm about to die? I can do short quick workouts, but the long, mid-range workouts about kill me. I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest. For example, about a month ago I was doing 3 x 1mile @ 7:05 w/ 3min rest no problem. Now, I'm trying to EXTEND duration and was going to do 2 x 3 mile @ 7:05 w/3 min rest and I about died.
Also, trying to ease back into normal training like I did in college, I've given myself 4-5 days of running throughout the week. Should I increase that to 7 days even if it means 2 miles on my "would-be-off" days?
It feels as though these high-end aerobic workouts are getting worse. In college, my easy pace was like 6:30 now I can't even do 3 miles at 7:05 pace. Also, your AT is supposed to be a pace that you can hold for several miles, why then do I feel like I'm going to die after 3 miles? After 2 miles I'm sitting pretty, almost feeling like I should increase the pace, then at 3 miles I'm about to die. Is there something I'm missing or not including in my training? Is this my body getting used to training again? Your answers are appreciated!