Personal Advice from HAL!!

i ran 3 miles with my 10yo on the hilly route this morning at a slow pace today. i needed it after yesterday's hard run. i felt a little tight in my left leg so i'll be spending some one on one time with my foam roller later today. it was misty very foggy, and in the 50's. i LOVE that!

on a similar note, i'm a "friend" of hal higdon on facebook. he usually posts a "Tip Of  The Day" on his page. they are great reminders to what i have read in his book, or new advice i just soak up. today's tip from hal was so useful for me. he said:

"TIP OF THE DAY: There are many good reasons why every long-distance runner should head to the track to do speedwork. With speedwork, you will run faster. Numerous laboratory studies prove that adding speed training to an endurance base can take seconds off your 5-K times, minutes off your marathon bests. By training faster, you improve specific muscles used at higher speeds. (More tomorrow.)"

i have been trying to focus on negative splits and speedwork/runs the past couple weeks. i left these out for the most part during training from june to october. so i left a comment in regard to his tip about yesterday's hard run. i said:

" it is so incredibly hard for me to run fast. i'm adding in speed work once a week now and it's so stinking hard!! but i'm not giving up."

hal kindly responded with this advice:

"Kate: Anything race pace or faster can be counted as speedwork. If the speed training you are doing is strikingly hard, it is because you are making it strikingly hard. You need to start with a relatively low speed dosage and gradually do a little more as you adjust to this form of training."

i'm star struck!!  haha, jk jk. ;) actually, i really appreciated his response to me and i'm going to be sure to follow it, without a doubt!