Monday 9/8: 6 miles. 46 minutes. 3x5 minutes at medium hard effort on a hilly course. This workout felt solid. Not hard enough to leave me trashed, but built a lot of confidence.
Tuesday 9/9: 4 miles. 32 minutes easy plus 12x10s sprints. Really opened the legs up on these, dropping down to sub-4 minute pace on several.
Wednesday 9/10: 4.75 miles, 40 minutes. Easy. Needed a recovery day after the last two. The workouts in this training plan are more intense on a more regular basis than I am used to, but my top speeds and certain heartrates are getting faster. I'm not feeling burnt out or like I'm not recovering, so I will keep going with it.
Thursday 9/11: 4.5 miles (and a bit), 53 minutes. 8 x River Gorge Hill hard. Good, hard hill workout. Averaged about 1:12-1:14 per repeat. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the hill, on the bank of the Mississippi, there was a very dead corpse of some animal. The smell, and the sight of the ribs poking out, definitely motivated me to get back up that hill.
Friday 9/12: Off.
Saturday 9/13: 13.1 miles, 1:57. That's not going to win me any half marathons anytime soon, but it got me out for a long run around the River Gorge loop. I didn't quite break the 2 hour mark with this run, but my next long run should do it.
Sunday 9/14: Off. I did wander around Afton State Park for an hour or so. Probably added a couple miles to the weekly total.
Weekly total 32 miles
Monday 9/15: 4.75 miles, 40 minutes. Easy start to a truncated week of running.
Tuesday 9/16: 6.2 miles. 50 miles. 4x5 minutes hard with a 2 minute rest on a hilly course. Another boost of confidence. These intervals were suggested to match my half-marathon pace based on my heartrate, and I kept them between 6:30 and 6:40 pace, save for one that was particularly hilly and topped out over 7 minute pace. All in all, a solid effort.
Wednesday 9/17: Off.
Thursday 9/18: 5.8 miles, 48 minutes. 5x10s sprints followed by 6x1minute at 5:20-5:30 pace. Some of these were in fact slower than the prescribed pace. I am unsure whether this is correct, as the pace on my watch suggested I was consistently going faster than recorded ultimately. However, as the majority of these were uphill on a trail, I think I'm ok with the results.
Friday 9/19: 3.75 miles, 31 minutes. Easy recovery day before heading up to the BWCA in the afternoon.
Saturday-Monday: BWCA trip. No running, but lots of canoeing and general hiking, with a little bit of portaging mixed in.
I didn't quite get the prescribed mileage in, and got no long run in the second week of this training segment. Even so, I feel like my training is progressing well. My legs continue to recover better than I expect, and nothing untoward is happening with my heartrate, so I don't think overtraining is an issue.
That said, I really need to get my long runs in the next few weeks. This week I will be aiming for 2:30 at the least, with 3 hours the next week and a subsequent double (3+ hours followed by 1+ hours the day after, getting half of my ultimate race time over the course of two days.
After almost two months of this particular training plan, I am not quite sure how I feel about being on a fixed plan again. I love the structure, and I feel that I am definitely improving my speed and general endurance. At the same time, I miss the freedom I had previously. I need to start running more freely on some of my non-specific days. This weekend's long run grants a little more freedom to my heart rate, so I think I will head out to Afton without my heartrate monitor and just let myself enjoy my long run.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Week Ending 9/7/2014
Monday: 8.5 miles. 1:20. Long run for Labor Day. This is the first longer run I've done since starting my new training regime. I felt slow, out of it, and incredibly happy to be out and about again. In point of fact, I was both slow and out of it, since I did not notice two of my friends running along the same road.
Tuesday: 3 miles, 25 minutes. Easy.
Wednesday: Off.
Thursday: 4.75 minutes, 40 minutes. 20 minutes ever-so-slightly up-tempo (just sub-8 minute pace).
Friday: 4 miles, 33 minutes. Easy.
Saturday: 11 miles, 1:44. Long run again. I took a route down Summit and along the River Gorge trail, taking whatever chance I could to drop down to the river and back up, to get a good 500' of elevation in. Again, I felt slow, particularly on the trails.
This week was my off week, officially, which is why I did not do any intensity. Due to the two longer runs, my distance for the week was still a bit over 31 miles. That marks the most I've done since the race in May, and makes me think that I might just be able to get back into it.
That being said, I still felt really slow on my long runs. I have been trying to keep within a low heart rate range, which seems to make me really slow on the trail sections. On the plus side, to run the way I want to run in November, I don't have to run any faster than I am right now.
On a more annoying note, I think my strength routine has ended up giving me a pulled muscle in my left arm and chest. I worried for a bit that it might be something more serious, but after a doctor's appointment the other day, I am not worried about that. And it seems to be gradually feeling better now that I'm taking a few days off from strength work.
Sometimes it seems like it's always something.
Tuesday: 3 miles, 25 minutes. Easy.
Wednesday: Off.
Thursday: 4.75 minutes, 40 minutes. 20 minutes ever-so-slightly up-tempo (just sub-8 minute pace).
Friday: 4 miles, 33 minutes. Easy.
Saturday: 11 miles, 1:44. Long run again. I took a route down Summit and along the River Gorge trail, taking whatever chance I could to drop down to the river and back up, to get a good 500' of elevation in. Again, I felt slow, particularly on the trails.
This week was my off week, officially, which is why I did not do any intensity. Due to the two longer runs, my distance for the week was still a bit over 31 miles. That marks the most I've done since the race in May, and makes me think that I might just be able to get back into it.
That being said, I still felt really slow on my long runs. I have been trying to keep within a low heart rate range, which seems to make me really slow on the trail sections. On the plus side, to run the way I want to run in November, I don't have to run any faster than I am right now.
On a more annoying note, I think my strength routine has ended up giving me a pulled muscle in my left arm and chest. I worried for a bit that it might be something more serious, but after a doctor's appointment the other day, I am not worried about that. And it seems to be gradually feeling better now that I'm taking a few days off from strength work.
Sometimes it seems like it's always something.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Two Weeks Ending August 31
Monday 8/18: 5 miles, 42 minutes. Easy run with 8x10s surges at the end. Workout called for 6, but it felt so great to stretch my legs out and sprint a bit, that I added a couple extra on the end, bringing the pace down to 3:30 miles, according to my Suunto.
Tuesday 8/19: 46 minutes, 4.2 miles. I had a hill workout on the schedule for Wednesday, and wanted to see if my favorite River Gorge hill was long enough, so I took to the trails for an easy (very easy) scouting run. Sadly, even at a very easy pace, the hill I was hoping for was still less than 2 minutes long. This relegated the next day's workout to the roads. This run, though, reminded me again that I am, at heart, a trail runner.
Wednesday 8/20: 5.5 miles, 48 minutes. 4x400m (125') hill repeats, + 3x2min repeats between 6:10 and 6:30 pace. Stepped out the door with the legs feeling flat, and they didn't feel that much better throughout the run, but I sucked it up and bore through the workout any way. I missed starting my watch on the first repeat, but the others were 1:53, 1:53, and 1:51 for the Ramsey Repeat. Even at a moderate pace, I haven't lost that much. I would love to see what I can do full bore on this hill again. I liked doing the additional post-hill repeats (well, they were difficult at the time, but I like them now). I think it builds some mental toughness that I will need in the Icebox 480 in November.
Thursday 8/21: Off? I Think I may have actually run this day, but I don't see it in my log.
Friday 8/22: (AM) 6 miles, 48 minutes. Easy and then a section of moderate down Summit and back. Felt good despite the hard week so far.
(PM) 4 miles (est) and 4 hours on my feet at the Fair. The Great Minnesota Get Together was as vast and confusing as always. I'm not sure whether my distance was accurate, but I would bet we walked at least one mile per hour. Probably more. And I ate absolutely nothing that came on a stick.
Saturday 8/23: 5 miles, 5 hours on my feet. We headed, you guessed it, back to the Fair. This time we decided to see the animal barns and take in some of the glory that is the Fair during the daytime. I did not make it through without a pretzel dog (on a stick), but we did a fair amount of roaming once again. Thankfully, it was a relatively cool day, with the temperature hovering between 70 and 75 under cloudy skies.
Sunday: Off. Travelled to Pittsburgh.
Monday 8/25: 4.75 miles, 49 minutes, 500'+ elevation. Headed over to Frick Park in Pittsburgh to see what the trails were like. There were a lot of ups and downs. In fact, I'm not sure there was anything but ups and downs for this entire run. If anything, I think the elevation is low. I ended up on some mountain bike trails that, at times, I was unsure if I was supposed to be on. But I will say that I find dashing up, and jumping off, mountain bike obstacles to be very entertaining. I added surges into my run this way.
Tuesday 8/26: 4 miles, 33 minutes, 250' elevation. Took it easy and ran the three quarters of a mile over to Schenley (sp?) park in Pittsburgh from my Hotel. Saw, for the second day in a row, what I think must be either the Pitt or CMU women's cross country team doing a long hill workout. Surprisingly nice trails, even if they were wide gravel bike paths.
Wednesday 8/27: Off
Thursday 8/28: 6.75 miles, 56 minutes, 400' elevation. Again over to Schenley. This time I ran with my friend and coworker E for a little while before taking off to do 7x2 minute intervals. Workout said for 6:10 to 6:30 pace again, but I had to run based on effort due to the hilly nature of the park. This meant that during my intervals, my pace ranged anywhere from 4 minute pace to 9 minute pace on a particularly nasty uphill. The day off must have done wonders, because my legs didn't feel tired even at the end, even though I definitely pushed myself.
Friday 8/29: 3.5 miles, 30 minutes. Squeezed in another quick lap of Schenley before heading to the airport.
All in all, a very satisfying two weeks, even if I did not get my long runs in like I need to. My turnover is coming back, and I know that I can run for long periods of time.
My focus now, though, has to shift to getting my long runs in on the weekends. This past weekend I opted to sleep in on Saturday (on which day I still walked around the Minnesota Zoo for several hours), headed to Duluth on Sunday (and proceeded to longboard, which is a much better workout than you might think).
Monday I did run longer, hitting an hour twenty. This week, my goal is to push that out to 1:45 and up it as much as I can the following weeks until I reach 3+ hours. From that point on, I plan to sub out one shorter, harder workout during the week for a longer mid-week run. Ideally, I will also get a back-to-back weekend in in October before the race in November. If I can pull that off, I might have a shot at running for a full 8 hours.
Tuesday 8/19: 46 minutes, 4.2 miles. I had a hill workout on the schedule for Wednesday, and wanted to see if my favorite River Gorge hill was long enough, so I took to the trails for an easy (very easy) scouting run. Sadly, even at a very easy pace, the hill I was hoping for was still less than 2 minutes long. This relegated the next day's workout to the roads. This run, though, reminded me again that I am, at heart, a trail runner.
Wednesday 8/20: 5.5 miles, 48 minutes. 4x400m (125') hill repeats, + 3x2min repeats between 6:10 and 6:30 pace. Stepped out the door with the legs feeling flat, and they didn't feel that much better throughout the run, but I sucked it up and bore through the workout any way. I missed starting my watch on the first repeat, but the others were 1:53, 1:53, and 1:51 for the Ramsey Repeat. Even at a moderate pace, I haven't lost that much. I would love to see what I can do full bore on this hill again. I liked doing the additional post-hill repeats (well, they were difficult at the time, but I like them now). I think it builds some mental toughness that I will need in the Icebox 480 in November.
Thursday 8/21: Off? I Think I may have actually run this day, but I don't see it in my log.
Friday 8/22: (AM) 6 miles, 48 minutes. Easy and then a section of moderate down Summit and back. Felt good despite the hard week so far.
(PM) 4 miles (est) and 4 hours on my feet at the Fair. The Great Minnesota Get Together was as vast and confusing as always. I'm not sure whether my distance was accurate, but I would bet we walked at least one mile per hour. Probably more. And I ate absolutely nothing that came on a stick.
Saturday 8/23: 5 miles, 5 hours on my feet. We headed, you guessed it, back to the Fair. This time we decided to see the animal barns and take in some of the glory that is the Fair during the daytime. I did not make it through without a pretzel dog (on a stick), but we did a fair amount of roaming once again. Thankfully, it was a relatively cool day, with the temperature hovering between 70 and 75 under cloudy skies.
Sunday: Off. Travelled to Pittsburgh.
Monday 8/25: 4.75 miles, 49 minutes, 500'+ elevation. Headed over to Frick Park in Pittsburgh to see what the trails were like. There were a lot of ups and downs. In fact, I'm not sure there was anything but ups and downs for this entire run. If anything, I think the elevation is low. I ended up on some mountain bike trails that, at times, I was unsure if I was supposed to be on. But I will say that I find dashing up, and jumping off, mountain bike obstacles to be very entertaining. I added surges into my run this way.
Tuesday 8/26: 4 miles, 33 minutes, 250' elevation. Took it easy and ran the three quarters of a mile over to Schenley (sp?) park in Pittsburgh from my Hotel. Saw, for the second day in a row, what I think must be either the Pitt or CMU women's cross country team doing a long hill workout. Surprisingly nice trails, even if they were wide gravel bike paths.
Wednesday 8/27: Off
Thursday 8/28: 6.75 miles, 56 minutes, 400' elevation. Again over to Schenley. This time I ran with my friend and coworker E for a little while before taking off to do 7x2 minute intervals. Workout said for 6:10 to 6:30 pace again, but I had to run based on effort due to the hilly nature of the park. This meant that during my intervals, my pace ranged anywhere from 4 minute pace to 9 minute pace on a particularly nasty uphill. The day off must have done wonders, because my legs didn't feel tired even at the end, even though I definitely pushed myself.
Friday 8/29: 3.5 miles, 30 minutes. Squeezed in another quick lap of Schenley before heading to the airport.
All in all, a very satisfying two weeks, even if I did not get my long runs in like I need to. My turnover is coming back, and I know that I can run for long periods of time.
My focus now, though, has to shift to getting my long runs in on the weekends. This past weekend I opted to sleep in on Saturday (on which day I still walked around the Minnesota Zoo for several hours), headed to Duluth on Sunday (and proceeded to longboard, which is a much better workout than you might think).
Monday I did run longer, hitting an hour twenty. This week, my goal is to push that out to 1:45 and up it as much as I can the following weeks until I reach 3+ hours. From that point on, I plan to sub out one shorter, harder workout during the week for a longer mid-week run. Ideally, I will also get a back-to-back weekend in in October before the race in November. If I can pull that off, I might have a shot at running for a full 8 hours.
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