Sometimes you just have to depart from your scheduled training – and yes it’s ok. This weekend I had a number of things that came up, making my 21 mile run impossible. I only had less than an hour and a half so I decided to run a shorter distance at a much faster pace. I wanted my body to feel the fatigue typically experienced at the end of my long run. Here’s what I did. After my initial warm up I started dipping close to my 10 K pace. After the 8th mile I scaled back to a half marathon race pace until the 10th mile. I finished the last three miles at my marathon pace. My legs were tired and I felt completely exhausted. Goal accomplished
I am not suggesting you skip all of your long runs in favor of shorter and faster runs, but there are times when you have to change up your workout. Ask yourself, “What is the goal of my run today?”. Then ask yourself if there is any other way to accomplish this goal. Often you may be able to tweak your workout to make it work for you. Give it a shot and you might just surprise yourself.