Posted on Feb 04, 2008 under Half Marathon, My Running, Training |
If you follow this blog then you know what I ran each day since it is posted at the bottom of each blog post. But here I want to compare the training plan with what I actually did! I am training for the Earth Day Half-Marathon.
Monday: A 45-minute fartlek run with 1 minute hard and 5 minutes steady, after a warm-up. I warmed up for 10 minutes and then did 4 1 minute surges with 5 minutes steady/recovery running. My total workout was only42 minutes, I didn’t feel like tacking on another 3 minutes by circling the block endlessly! I ran 5.3 miles along the Midtown Greenway.
Tuesday: 6 miles easy with 5 accelerations. I only did 3 miles at the YWCA Indoor Track (6 laps per mile) in 22:44 with my 5 accelerations. I was going to hit the bike for awhile to make up the difference, but none were available. I have been having some leg pains and have been doing lots of walking. I’m adjusting my casual shoes around and hopefully that will help.
Wednesday: 6×800 5 seconds faster than 5K pace. I did this workout at the YWCA Indoor Track again. I warmed up for 10 minutes, stretched and then started the intervals. I completed all 6 and their 4oo meter recoveries for an overall workout mileage of 6.33 miles and total time of 48:34. My 5K Pace is 6:16, so my 800 needed to be around 3:10. (I think my math is a little off, so I’ll adjust next week!) Here are my splits: 2:54, 3:11,3:09,3:12,3:03,3:01. I was happy with the workout, except the track is a little rough on my knees - due to the tight turns.
Thursday:5 easy 4 accelerations. I took a cross-training day today and did 16.5 miles easy on the bike for an hour workout. Everything felt fine until I went and did my 5 accelerations on the indoor track.
Friday: 4 miles easy, 5 accelerations. I took advantage of the heat wave and ran outdoors in 26 degree temps for 4.5 miles in a time of 36:40. I ran along the Midtown Greenway and it felt pretty good. I did 4 accelerations (since I accidentally did 5 Thursday) towards the end of the run.
Saturday: 8 miles - 6 easy 2 at goal pace. The six was pretty easy! I ran out for 4 miles on the Midtown Greenway which took me to the East end of the Greenway and then up one mile alongside the Mississippi River (very pretty). I caught myself looking down at the river and almost falling on ice or snow at the edge of the sidewalk. I turned around at 4 miles and came back. I went through 6 at 47:35 (7:56) a nice easy pace. I hit my watch wanting to be able to see what the splits were for the last 2 - well I don’t know my Garmin well enough yet and hit the start/stop button instead of the lap. I didn’t realize my mistake until I had gone almost a mile. I had looked at the pace function a few times to make sure I was on pace, but didn’t notice that the time wasn’t moving. Luckily, I was doing an out and back so I knew it was an 8 mile course. I knew that the Garmin actually calculates time from when you hit the start button until you reset it. So as soon as I finished I hit stop and reset the stopwatch. When I got home I synched the Garmin for the weeks data I was able to pull over the overall run time which is 1:01:34. Using my excellent math skills I deduced that my 2 mile time was 13:59 (7:00). This was 16 total seconds off my goal pace of 6:52 miles. It was a pretty good run, most of the 4 miles home were into the wind. Hopefully I learned my mistake about the watch buttons!
Sunday: Rest. Yup I did that!!
Total Miles: Ran 27.1 miles Biked 16 miles.
Technorati Tags: Half-Marathon, Training,
Posted on Feb 11, 2008 under Half Marathon, My Running, Training |
Another week closer to the half-marathon! This was a rough week of training since I was in Chicago for 3 days of it and ran here in Minneapolis for 3. I had done the research and found a park right next to the hotel, but the weather wasn’t cooperative and I was forced to run on the treadmill at the hotel. In short, that made my legs start hurting again and wasn’t exactly easy for speed work. Here it is in more detail:
Monday - 4×1600 meters at 10K pace with 800 rest. This was quite the morning. I had to get the run in before my flight to Chicago, so I set off down the Midtown Greenway and was just going to us my Garmin for the split times. Everything went great - it was cold and I was running pretty well for the conditions. When it was time to turn around and head home I thought, oh let me check out this other trail - it should connect to a familiar road and I can get back to the Greenway. I never saw any of the roads I expected and pretty soon I saw I-394 which is not close to where I was supposed to be. I ended up downtown Minneapolis on the Kenilworth Trail - having no clue where I was (I’m still not familiar with downtown). I managed to get headed in the right direction and ended up running through Nicollet Mall with snow falling. This would have been beautiful and perfect if I had planned it that way! I returned home 2 miles extra cold, but I did finish the work out and get to the plane in time. Here are my 1600 splits: 6:21, 6:48, 6:54, and 7:06. The total workout was 9.62 miles in 1:18:20 - this included 800 meter recoveries and warmup and cooldown. My 10K pace goal is 6:26 so these splits were a little off.
Tuesday - 6 easy 5 accelerations. I rode the bike today, continuing to do a little cross-training on my easy days. I rode 11 miles in 45 minutes at the hotel.
Wendsday - 7 x 800 meter repeats at 5 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace. Jog for 400 meters between repeats. Run 6 x 400 meter repeats at 20 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace. Jog for 400 meters between repeats. I hate running on treadmills but was stuck doing so at the hotel due to the bad weather. I did my warm-up and tried doing the workout, I’m not really sure what it actually was but I couldn’t handle it. I think it might be the fact that the treadmill keeps going at the pace unless you manually slow it down instead of your body naturally slowing down. I pathetically only completed one of the total 13 intervals while I attempted 2 more. I ran the first 800 in 2:34 right on pace, then the next 700 in 2:18, and finally 400 in 1:21. The total workout was only 2.9 miles in 21:13. I know the first interval wiped me out and my legs were starting to hurt.
Thursday - 6 easy 5 accelerations. Another treadmill day, I was really hoping to get outside but the weather was still bad in the pre-dawn morning. I did 3 miles in 22 minutes. That may have been a little fast for a “recovery” day and my legs were really hurting again.
Friday - 4 easy 5 accelerations. Back home again, I spiced things up and ran from my house to Powderhorn Park and around the park 2x’s. It was snowy with snow cover so this was definitely an easy pace. I incorporated the accelerations into the end of the run, trying not to slip on the ice! 4 miles in 34:32.
Saturday - 45 minutes at 15 seconds slower than 10K pace. Another day on the Midtown Greenway. I ran East until I hit the Mississippi River (I didn’t run on the river this time!) I ran for 45 minutes, I used the lap feature on the Garmin so that I would do a warm-up and then run 45 minutes, but didn’t realize until later that the time never changed even though it did mark the lap - weird. So my total run was 45 minutes with 35 of that being at a faster pace. My overall run was 6.1 miles in 46:04 - and 5.1 miles in 37:41 (7:24) so way off the pace.
Sunday - Rest. YES!
Total Miles: 25.6 Miles and 11 Miles Biking. For a total of 4 hours and 7 minutes of activity!
I need to refocus this week, despite the cold and conditions and keep up the effort and hopefully hit some of the pace targets! I have also found some mathematical flaws in how I was calculating my paces for different intervals, that should help too! How was your training this week? Any thoughts or advice for me?
Technorati Tags: Half-Marathon, Training,
Posted on Feb 18, 2008 under Half Marathon, My Running, Training |
This was a rough week. I started feeling the fatigue of being on a set training schedule and working full-time. It didn’t help that my schedule fluctuated this week so one morning I got up at 7am to run and another 6am. Things should continue to settle down. I am also getting a little bored with running the same routes each day and really miss the opportunity to run on dirt trails. The weather has been a little wild too, fluctuating up and down - nothing like doing speed work with several layers of clothing on!
Monday - Run 2 x 400/800/1200 meter supersets. Run 400 meters at 20 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace, 800 meters at 5K pace and 1200 meters at goal half marathon pace. Do not rest between the distances. Recover between the sets with 800 meters at an easy pace. Cool down with 800 meters at an easy pace. Supersets are an interesting concept I had not heard of before last year and are specific to this training program as far as I can tell. I’ll write a post shortly about them in more detail. Basically it is a 1.5 mile interval with alternating paces inside the interval. My goal times were: 400 1:21 - 1:28 800 2:53 - 3:06 and 1200 5:07. I did this as an out and back run on the Midtown Greenway with a -24 wind chill at 6:20am (there were other runners on the trail!). After my mile warm-up here are my splits for the first set: 1:29, 3:23, 5:32. I didn’t know my pace but knew I was off-pace. After my 800 rest here are the splits from my second set: 1:44, 3:44, 5:52. I think it was definitely a mental challenge, I would much rather have run this on a track so to get constant feedback about pace and distance. I finished with about a mile cool-down and the entire run was 5.57miles in 45:01. It was nasty!
Tuesday - Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. Biked at the YWCA for 14 miles for 45 minutes. Nothing too exciting happens on these workouts! I did do some accelerations increasing my cadence for a minute or so towards the end.
Wednesday - Standard warm up. Run 8 x 800 meter repeats at 5 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace. Recover between the repeats with 400 meters at an easy pace. Cool down with 800 meters at an easy pace. This was also an out and back run, it was 10 above which made it a lot easier to run. I think the same observations about doing interval training on a track versus on the road plays out here. Plus the change in surface would be nice too! My goal pace for each interval was 2:50 - 2:56. After a mile warm-up here are my splits: 3:08, 3:17, 3:16, 3:24, 3:23, 3:17, 3:23, and 3:28. Again none of them were in my goal pace. Each interval was still sub-7 minute pace though.
Thursday - Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. This was Valentine’s Day! I woke up at 6am and felt exhausted and didn’t want to run at all. We also were expecting lots of snow when we woke up so I reset the alarm and went back to sleep. I think there is something to be said about resting when you are extremely exhausted to prevent burnout/over-training.
Friday - Run 4 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I spiced things up a little bit and instead of running down the Midtown Greenway I took off north towards downtown. I followed Chicago Ave which takes you right past the Metrodome - which is just over a mile from our house! I ran around it once trying to find a way to start running back south and after looping around it just over one complete time I found a sidewalk which ended up in a parking lot which took me to the trail leading from downtown south towards the Greenway. I jumped off the trail at Franklin Ave and wound my way home through a variety of side streets. I forgot to do my strides until after I was out of the shower! The weather was -4 air temperature but still sunny! I totaled 4.4 miles in 36:15.
Saturday - Run 10 miles. Run the first 8 miles at an easy pace. Run the last 2 miles at your goal half marathon pace. I was finally able to join the MDRA Polar Bears for a run this morning. It was a good size group and the weather was perfect 12 degrees above with the wind chill at 1 above. The sun was shining, a perfect day to prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder! There were lots of groups going out at different paces and distances I went with the second pack running just under 8 minute pace. We ran along the Minnehaha Parkway for about 5.4 miles and turned around at the Lyndhurst Community Center. We came back stopping for water with 1.5 to go. We finished our run in 10.75 miles at 1:26:40 (8:04). I decided not to do the pickup for a variety of reasons, but it was an excellent run.
Sunday - Rest! You better believe it!
Total Miles: 28.2 miles running and 14 miles biking. Combined total of 4 hours and 33 minutes of working out!
Week 4 should be a little easier week and the 10-day forecast looks a little more promising!
Technorati Tags: Half Marathon, Training
Posted on Feb 25, 2008 under Half Marathon, My Running, Training |
You know how I mentioned last week that the weather forecast looked pretty good for the upcoming week. Well it lied. This was one of the coldest weeks yet! It was sub-zero every morning reaching down into negative double digits actual temperatures and even colder wind chill. So I spent sometime inside!! Even running on the dreaded treadmill, aka dreadmill it was a pretty good week. It did help that this was a “recovery” week in the schedule!!
Monday - Run 1 mile at an easy pace, the speed up to goal half marathon pace for 6 miles. Run one more mile at an easy pace to cool down. Well, I looked at the schedule and realized that for me to actually get a hill workout I would need to drive to find hills, and since this was President’s Day and I didn’t have to work, I switched Weds and Monday’s workouts. I did the 10 x hill repeats. It was very cold, 4 above with -21 wind chill, and I was running next to the Mississippi River. The wind, fortunately, was to my back on the uphill, but when I turned around it was like an arctic blast! I felt pretty good and stayed consistent throughout the hills running the .16 mile (257 meters) distance in :58, :59, :59, 1:01, :59, :57, 1:00, 1:00, :56, and :58. I went a little farther on the 10th one - .22miles in 1:20, which was the same pace. The distance was a little longer than it needed to be for the hill, but I didn’t really know. My total mileage for the day was 5.6 miles in 47:22. My average pace for the repeats was around 6:00.
Tuesday - Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I ran a mile easy on the indoor track - with my legs aching, before switching to the bike for 8.5 easy miles. I ran the mile in 7:53 and biked for 29 minutes.
Wednesday - Run 10 x hill repeats. Find a hill that is fairly steep and at least 100 meters in length. Run up the hill at a pace that feels like 5K pace. Run 20 meters past the top of the hill. Jog back down to recover. Repeat this 10 times. So today I did Monday’s workout or was supposed to do it. I really tried to do it but the treadmill was killing me. My legs hurt from the beginning and slowly went away (I think it is only on the indoor track and treadmill that my legs hurt). I ran 5 miles in 35:10 which was about 10 seconds off the goal pace. I think my biggest problem with the treadmill is that when I start to get tired my body wants to slow down but the belt won’t unless I make it. Of course I don’t want to admit defeat and slow it down, so I just suffer and end up running too few miles. I did finish the workout with 4 miles on the bike in 14:30. BTW it was -12 outside this morning!
Thursday - Run 4 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration srides. I managed to finish this workout on the treadmill! I ran all 4 miles on the dang thing. I started out slow and increased the pace a notch every half mile or so. I ran it in 30:32. After doing that I ran on the indoor track for my 5 accelerations. It felt pretty weird to run on the track after having been on the treadmill.
Friday - Run 4 miles easy. Run 4 acceleration strides. I finally got to run outside! I almost didn’t run at all. I had decided not to run in the morning because the afternoon forecast was supposed to be really good. I got home a little later from work than I had planned and Christy was already home. I managed to force myself to go out and get the 4 miles in. I did a little sightseeing and ran along the streets to see some new stuff! That worked pretty well except for having to dodge people on the sidewalks, due to the narrow shoveled paths and then parts of the sidewalk which weren’t shoveled at all. I did get to see some new parts of town that we might check out later. I made a big square and came back on the Greenway. My total run distance was 4.92 miles and my time was 39:01. It felt pretty good, even though if you were in the shade it was kinda chilly, being in the sun was great! I did 5 accelerations and those felt good too. I’m glad I forced myself to go out!
Saturday - Run 60 minutes at about 20 seconds per mile slower than your 10K pace. The pace for this run was around 6:46. I met up with the MDRA Polar Bear group again - this week we met at the Longfellow Grill. I ran with the front group today since it was supposed to be a tempo-ish run. I thought they would be a lot closer to the goal pace for the workout. They were running 16 (or 18) miles total so I ran out with them for 30 minutes and then back by myself. We picked up the pace as we ran and were right around 7 for most of it, at one point we ran 6:19 pace (according to the Garmin). It was hard running back by myself, running with the group definitely kept my pace moving. Part way through the run back I decided that if I finished under 65 minutes I would buy a hot chocolate for myself and a latte for Christy. Well I finished in 61:54 so I was pretty pleased with myself. My total distance was 8.32 miles which made it 7:27 pace overall. Not really sure what happened but it still felt pretty good. It was 11 degrees with a bright and shiny sun!! Excellent day for a run.
Sunday - Rest. Sure thing!!
Total Miles: 28.8 miles running and 12.5 miles biking for a combined total of 3 hours 32 minutes and 22 seconds of total workout time!
My year to date mileage is 168 miles running and 22 hours and 35 minutes! I’ve biked 73.8 miles for 4 hours and 24 minutes and .5 miles of swimming.
The weekend was warmer and next week doesn’t have anything under 20 for a high. That’s pretty exciting! Hopefully some good outdoor running is in store! Stay tuned to find out what happens!
Technorati Tags: Half Marathon, Training
Posted on Mar 03, 2008 under Half Marathon, My Running, Training |
Wow training is quickly flying by, I’m almost half-way there. I had some good runs this week and it did warm-up although that created some different problems which you’ll read about below!
Monday - 6×1600 meter repeats at 10K pace or 15 seconds per mile slower than 5K pace. Jog for 800 meters between repeats. This ended up being a really good workout. I had to get up a little early to make sure I got it done before catching the bus to work, but I didn’t have any problems with that. It was 30 degrees at 6:30am so I was actually able to wear only a couple of layers! The warmer weekend temperatures had melted some of the snow - but that created icy patches where the water had refrozen - and that impacted some of my split times during the intervals. It was a beautiful run - I ran along the Midtown Greenway to Lake of the Isles around it and then to Lake Calhoun and around it before heading home for a total of 11 miles in 1:25:25. Each mile should have been around 6:26 - 6:30 My actual splits were 7:17, 7:00, 6:45, 7:26, 6:40, and 7:21. My rest intervals stayed approximately the same amount of time which isn’t usually the case, but some of the splits weren’t excessively hard either. I felt good with the workout overall, it will be nice to get on a track or something for speed work.
Tuesday - Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I ran 5.85 miles in 50:30 - dang that was slow! I was sore and it was really windy. The windchill was 4 above with the actual temp at 18 at 6:30am. This was out and back along the greenway.
Wednesday - Run 20 minutes alternating between 30 seconds at 20 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace and 30 seconds at an easy pace. Cool down with 5 minutes at an easy pace. I did this along the Greenway as well and ran into the same problems that I had on Monday with the icy patches. It was also about 14 above with a 5 above windchill at 6:30am. I ran for 4.97 miles in 35:11. I ran one 30 second segment at 5:19 pace.
Thursday - Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I was going to try and run everyday except for the Friday 4 miler and start weaning myself off the bike. By Wednesday evening though my foot and legs were starting to hurt so I decided to hit the bike again. I biked 17 miles in 58:20 at the YWCA.
Friday - Run 4 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I ran 4.2 miles in 36:04 on fresh snow. It was about 30 above at 10:30 when I went running. I ran around little Powderhorn Park which had several inches of snow covering and ice! I had fun with it and took it easy. It was a nice run!
Saturday - Run 12 miles. Run the first 9 miles at an easy pace and the last 3 miles at goal half marathon pace. I ran with the MDRA Polar Bear group again. We met at the Theodore Wirth Park’s Wirth Beach parking lot and then ran up Theodore Wirth Parkway down Memorial Parkway to Humboldt Road and back to the Beach. It was a pretty good run with some hills and lots of icy patches. The middle miles were mostly flat without a lot of ice so we opened up the pace a little bit there. The out split was 5.86 miles in 48:53 while the return was 6.11 (I ran a little extra) in 47:55. I picked up the pace between mile 9 and 10 - there was a couple of guys ahead of us that I slowly reeled in catching them right before the final turn. I also slipped on the ice and fell on my rear end - hopped up and kept running. We started the run at 9:16 pace and I finished the last 0.97 miles in 7:04. I felt pretty good for most of the run - it was really hard to get into a rhythm due to all the icy patches along the way. It was about 12 above with a 4 above wind chill at the start and had warmed up throughout the run with the sun shining!
Sunday - Rest. No problem with that!
Totals: 37.9 miles running for 5:03:58 and 17 miles on the bike for 58:22.
Technorati Tags: Half Marathon, Training
Posted on Mar 10, 2008 under Half Marathon, My Running |
Halfway through the training plan - that means only 6 more weeks until race day. It really is coming quite quickly. I am definitely tired of the cold and having to check the weather each morning to find out how many layers I actually need to wear. The MDRA blog says it well: “The only good thing I’ve found about running in below zero temps is this; I know exactly how to dress. When the temp is in the mid 20s I’m always too hot or too cold by the end of a run. But I can totally nail it at minus 5. Weird.”
If you followed along with my mileage and workout stats on the sidebar for this week, you may have thought I slacked off. Well I did, just not the way you thought! I slacked off on inputting running data into the computer. I wanted to enter it accurately - it is all on the Garmin - so I just kept waiting around to do it.
Monday - Run 4 x 1200 meter repeats at 5K pace. Recover between the repeats with 800 meters at an easy pace. Cool down with 800 meters at an easy pace. It was a chilly 8 above with a -8 wind chill so it was quite windy for this interval workout. I did it along the Greenway for an overal run of 6.53 miles in 51:19. I think you will be able to tell by my splits which way the wind was blowing during this out and back run. My goal pace for each interval was 4:19 - 4:40. An additional note there is still many icy patches on the trail. I ran 5:01, 5:13, 4:55, 4:52 so none of them were in the target range - but pretty close considering the clothing and environmental challenges!
Tuesday - Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I ran 5.2 miles in 8:32. I don’t remember the weather, but I’m guessing it was cold and windy! I ran from home to downtown and then back down the bike trail to the Midtown Greenway.
Wednesday - Run 5 miles on a hill that is gradually and consistently uphill. Run at a pace that feels like 10K pace. Your actual pace will be slower due to the incline. It was about 24 this morning with at least an inch of snow on the roads and sidewalks when I left and it snowed the entire run. The warmer temps felt good and the snow provided a nice cushion. The workout sheet offered an indoor alternative - treadmill at 3-5%. I hate treadmills and figured out a way to incorporate some hills into my run without having to drive any where. The trade-off was having to run on sidewalks instead of the Greenway. I almost got hit by the rear end of a sliding bus and came upon a taxi-van sitting in the middle of the sidewalk - he crashed into an electric type box after sliding across the road and up onto the sidewalk. He said he was fine so I maneuvered carefully around him. I didn’t have the route perfectly memorized in my head so I missed the route I had planned but still had an excellent workout along the East River Parkway. I’m not sure why but the East side wasn’t plowed as well as the West - and it was still Minneapolis so it wasn’t just because I was in St Paul or anything. My overall run was 7.86 miles in 1:06:32. I ran 2.09 miles before I got to the beginning of the hills with a split of 18:30. The next 5 miles I ran in 41:29 which is a sad 8:11 pace - I wasn’t running anywhere near 10K effort for most of the run but it was a snowy mess! The last .7 miles I ran in 6:31. So not the best workout but there was hills and maybe next time I’ll actually remember where I’m going!
Thursday - Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I hit the bike this morning. My legs have felt pretty good, but it was something like -20 wind chill so I thought it would be a perfect day for cross-training. I wasn’t too ambitious on the bike and only did 7 miles in 29:30 - about half the normal time and way off the normal pace. Afterwards I lifted - I don’t think I’ve said anything about that before, but I’ve been lifting lower body for a few weeks. I’ve been doing it on whichever day I cross train, but today I also added triceps and biceps. I need to find my lifting sheet and get back into it.
Friday - Run 4 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I ran 4.16 miles in the afternoon on some random streets. I finished the run in 33:32. The sidewalks weren’t too bad today - there are still spots that are horrible (like where the sun never hits) but the majority have been nicely cleaned since Tuesday’s snow. I almost didn’t run again today, but honestly the though of having to write on here about not running for no good reason motivated me to do it. It was -5 actual temps this morning and I knew I’d be able to run later in the day when it was 10 above (1 above windchill). But when that time came I just didn’t feel like it. As always I’m glad I ran, even if it was just to explore new neighborhoods.
Saturday - Run 2 x 20 minute repeats at 10K pace. Jog for 5 minutes between repeats. I thought it was supposed to be warming up! It was 2 above with a -10 wind chill this morning. So I bundled up and took off. 10K pace is around 6:30 per mile. I was hoping to be able to run about 3 miles or even a full 5K in this time - 2.87 miles out (6:59 pace) and 2.76 (7:15) on the way back. A little disappointing but there were times I was at 6:30 pace, it was stinking cold! The overall run was 7.72 miles in 1:00:06.
Sunday - Rest! Gladly!
Totals for the week: Running - 31.4 miles and 4:15:20 hours Biking - 7 miles in 29:30 minutes.
This week should be a fun week of running with some good workouts. The weather also looks pretty good!
Technorati Tags: Half-Marathon, Training
Posted on Mar 17, 2008 under Half Marathon, My Running |
This is an interesting week - the weather definitely warmed up which continued to create its own unqiue problems and I had a race on Sunday which changed my scheduling a bit. In Indiana there were very few Sunday races so it was never a problem for me to add a race into a training schedule, it usually just replaced or was added into Saturday’s long run. This “dilemma” created some unique problems. I want to be able to race well and see where I am fitness-wise and actually next weekend the schedule called for a 10K time trial. The race is 8K so it is close enough in my opinion. The only problem is that this week had some intense workouts which didn’t necessarily provide a good opportunity to have a mini-taper! As you’ll see the only changes I made were reducing the mileage of one of my easy runs and taking Saturday off.
Monday - Run 7 x 1600 meter repeats at 10K pace or 15 seconds per mile slower than 5K pace. Jog for 800 meters between repeats. Jog for 800 meters to cool down. It was 10 above at 6:40 when I began this workout. I really would like a track for interval work, but the only one I know of is still covered in snow! So I ran these along the Greenway, around Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun before heading home. The plan was to run each repeat around 6:26-6:30. I probably sound like a broken record but there is still a significant amount of ice on the trails and some of the sidewalks I ran on. One of these days I won’t have that reason (excuse?) for poor performance! My splits were 6:55, 6:47, 6:39, 6:56, 6:42, 7:12, and 6:35. The 7:12 was almost all on ice covered sidewalks. Only the last one was in a decent range of my goal splits, which means I probably should have taken each one a little harder! Overall I ran 12.34 miles in 1:35:53.
Tuesday - Run 6 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. Per my plan to “taper” into the race I ran 4 miles in 34:38 along the Greenway. It was 33 and sunny at 6:55 when I went running. It was pretty dark actually when I started thanks to Daylight Savings Time!
Wednesday - Run 2 x 400/800/2400 meter supersets. Run 400 meters at 20 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace, 800 meters at 5K pace and 2400 meters at goal half marathon pace. Do not rest between the distances. Recover between the sets with 800 meters at an easy pace. Cool down with 800 meters at an easy pace. Ah, another superset! I’m going to be honest - these sucked, my times sucked. A lot of ice on the Greenway still, the warmer weather felt good but the run just stunk. The goal times were 1:20, 2:53, 10:14 (6:52 pace). Here are my intervals: 1:22, 3:29, 11:36 and 1:40, 3:57, 11:33. HORRIBLE! The total mileage was 6.6 miles in 54:57.
Thursday - Run 4 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. This was my cross-training day. I did 7 miles on the bike again in 28:30. No lifting this week.
Friday - Run 4 miles easy. Run 5 acceleration strides. I ran around noon and did an odd - almost touristy route downtown and along the river for a little bit. It was 4.68 miles in 37:02. It was almost 40 with bright shiny sun!!
Saturday - Run 14 miles. Run the first 10 miles at an easy pace. Run the last 4 miles at goal half marathon pace. As planned I took this as a rest day instead of Sunday, when I’ll race.
Sunday - Rest Day! After some frustrating days running this week I was excited and nervous to see how I would race. I was quite pleased with my first race in Minnesota. I ran the Human Race 8K at 1:20pm in 40 degree weather. I must report that I am very excited about my time! My overall time was 31:27 (officially) which was 33 seconds faster than my goal time! My mile splits were 6:20, 6:12, 6:25, 6:34, and 5:51 (.99 miles). That is all I’ll say for now, so be sure to check back tomorrow for a full race report!
Weekly Totals: 35.5 miles of running for 4:11:52 and 7 miles of biking in 28:30.
Technorati Tags: Half Marathon, Training
