Two Weeks Ending 10/5/2014

It has been a solid two weeks of training for me. I feel more and more like this training program, which is slightly more intense with slightly less mileage than programs I've done recently, is pushing me towards greater fitness. It is enough that I am considering (strongly) entering a half-marathon that's being run on Friday night.

On with the summary.

Monday 9/22: Off. Drove back from a BWCA trip and was in no shape to go for a run.

Tuesday 9/23: 6 miles, 48 minutes easy down Summit. Preparing for a tough week of  training. Added in a brief sprint every 5 or so minutes to get the turnover going. After several days in a canoe and a car, my legs were more than a little stiff, so the pickups were much needed.

Wednesday 9/24: 6.25 miles, 49 minutes. 5x3minutes at a hard (6:10-6:30 pace) effort with 2 minute rest. Chose a hilly course to get some strength work in.

Thursday 9/25: 5 miles. 40 minutes easy down Summit. Recovery day.

Friday 9/26: 5.1 miles, 54 minutes trail running on the River Gorge area. This was a hill day, so I did 10 hard repeats up from the river to the bike path. I lowered the average time for these below 1:10 this time, despite a hard week leading up to this point. All 10 felt relatively even and hard, though I naturally blew out the tubes on the last one for a 1:03 to close it off.

Saturday 9/27: Off, if you consider 7 hours of wandering around the Ren Fest an off day.

Sunday 9/28: 16 miles, 2:20. 1800'+ elevation change. This was my first time out at Afton State Park for a run, and I chose to do the Afton 25k loop. Weather was sunny and nearly 70 by the time I finished my run at 11 or so.

I was pleasantly surprised by this loop. It was long, varied, with a large amount of elevation change. I was trying to keep it at a very easy effort, since I had not been on a long trail run since my last race in May. That said, I think it went fairly well. The trail was not consistently technical, but there were enough single-track and technical sections that I think this will be a good prep course for the other races I have planned for the future, particularly if I get to the point where I start doing repeats on the hills.

Weekly Totals: ~38.5 miles. 

From Afton, looking out over the St Croix river valley. 

Monday 9/29: 3.5 miles, 30 minutes to start my off week.

Tuesday 9/30: Off.

Wednesday 10/1: 5 miles, 40 minutes down Summit with a few up-tempo portions thrown in for fun.

Thursday 10/2: 5 miles, 37 minutes. Added a fast stretch (5:40 or lower) at the end for a little extra workout and to get the remaining kinks out of my legs.

Friday 10/3: Off.

Saturday 10/4: 15.5 miles, 2:12, out at Afton again.

Sunday: 10/5: Off. Spectated the Twin Cities Marathon and 10 mile. It was fun to see some friends from Colorado come out and throw down on my local course. Lee Troop ran a controlled 49:54 for the 10 miler. He even responded to my cheers with a "cheers" of his own. Tyler McCandless took 1:20 off his PR to finish strong in 5th place in the US marathon championships.

Weekly Totals: 29 miles.

What a difference a low-intensity, relatively low-mileage week makes. I went out to Afton on Saturday with much fresher legs than the week before. The temperatures were also 30 or so degrees colder than the week prior.

I did not consciously push the pace on this run anywhere but the flats, but due to fresher legs and a better understanding of where I was (read: fewer stops at trail signs) I came in around 10 minutes faster than I had the week before. I pushed myself just a bit on the flat portions along the St Croix, just to see how my turnover would go on a long run. I did ok, averaging just over 7-minute pace in the middle of a long run. And it didn't feel like I was pushing that hard.

I think, over all, my training is progressing well. For a given heart rate, my pace is getting steadily faster. I can run farther each week than I could before. My long runs are coming along nicely now that I found a fun place to go. All in all, things are looking good.

This week, I have a half-marathon scheduled on Friday night. I am training through this one, and am going to set some heart rate alarms on my watch so that I don't end up pushing too hard. The course is three laps of Battle Creek Park in St Paul, and takes place just before and just after sundown. My fiancee will be participating in the 5k at the same time, so it should be a fun night.

My goal will be to also run long on Sunday, and thereby get nearly a back to back long run in. With that in mind, I intend to take the first lap of the half really easy, using it as a scouting lap for the next two. After that, I'll consider where I am, and pick up the pace either on the second or third lap. Regardless, I intend to close at speed.

I am excited.