On the other hand, Hansen's requires a much larger commitment. I currently run 6 days a week, with Wednesdays off. Being in the early phase of the program, I average between 35-42 miles a week. There is no long run. Instead, you spread those miles out over 6 days, changing speeds each day to work different muscle groups in the body. In the height of the training program, I will reach 60 miles a week, with a 16 mile run on the weekends. After the race, I will have run 1,024 miles in about 5 months. The goal is to run tired. Not to the point of injury, but just enough to feel fatigued at the beginning of each run. They want you to feel like it is the last 16 miles of the race, not the first.
I started the schedule a month ahead of time in order to slowly increase my weekly distance from 20 miles per week up to 40. I didn't want to risk injury once the real work began. Therefore, I've run 6 days a week for 13 weeks and here's what I've noticed so far:
- Doubling my weekly mileage with only one rest day was painful. I found my joints and muscles were extremely fatigued just walking up the stairs after a run. However, that discomfort never turned into injury and never stopped me from running the next day.
- About 3-4 weeks ago, most of that discomfort disappeared. I am no longer sore after a really hilly and fast 8-10 mile run. In fact, I feel stronger the next day.
- Food tastes better! Each week I run off at least 3,680 calories. At first I felt starved. Honestly, I think my body was in shock. But now that I've adjusted to the new schedule, I'm not that hungry. Food, just tastes really freaking good!
- What I eat directly effects the next day's performance. I've always known this, but I pay the price on a larger scale when I detour.
- Cumulative exhaustion (not resting entirely between each running day), is no joke. I feel it throughout my body and often I start a 6 mile run feeling like I already ran 3-4 miles.
- I slept like a fitful baby with colic for over a month. Every night I went to bed completely exhausted. I'd fall asleep around 9:30pm and wake around 12:00am. I'd wake every hour to half hour for the rest of the night, tossing and turning. Within the last few weeks, I started sleeping normally again. I no longer wake with aches and pains, a racing mind, or crazy hot muscles.
- I'm getting stronger. Before starting Hansen's, my cruising pace was about 9:20 per mile. Now, I'm at 8:30.
- This training plan scares the hell out of me. One month ago was my first real speed training session. A few weeks ago was my first tempo run. Six months ago, I thought people who ran 6 days a week were begging for injury. I'm very nervous to reach the 60 miles per week, but my body has handled it so far.
- I have to follow the plan exactly. If I skip a day, go out faster than prescribed, or don't work really hard, I notice the effects the next day. I'm also afraid of getting injured.
- Rest days are miserable. I am painfully sore on Wednesdays and I feel really fidgety.
- Runners respond to this method really negatively, "You can't possibly think you are going to do well at Colfax without running a 20 miler somewhere in there!" Or they say, "You are running too much."
- Non runners think I'm crazy. I've actually had people look me in the eyes and say, "I'm sorry."
I've got 17 weeks left until the race. Last year, I ran Colfax in 4:25. I hit the wall a couple times on the course. It was a harder course than I expected with much bigger hills than I imaged rolling around Downtown Denver. I ran with pleurisy, which I wouldn't recommend to anyone. Since that race, I've told people I want another go. I want to prove that I am stronger than 4:25. This year, I aim to run Colfax in under 4:00. I am training for a strong 3:58 finish.
~Roadburner
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