April 27 –
May 3
Mo: off
Tu: off
We: 3 easy
Th: 5 easy
Fr: off
Sa: 5 easy
Su: 8 easy
Week total: 21
miles
May 4-10
Mo: 5 easy (plus
5 strides)
Tu: hilly
fartlek: 3 x (1, 2, 3 min.) with equal recoveries
We: 6 easy
Th: 6 easy
Fr: off
Sa: 10 x 200m @
41 seconds with 200m slow jog recoveries
Su: 90 minutes @
7:52 pace (11.3 miles)
Week total: 43
miles
May 11-17
Mo: 4 easy
Tu: 7 easy
We: hilly
fartlek: (1, 2, 3), (1, 2, 3, 4), (1, 2, 3) min. with equal recoveries
Th: 7 easy
Fr: 8 x 300m @
65 seconds with 1:30 rest
Sa: off
Su: 8 miles @
6:57 pace
Week total: 46
miles
May 18-24
Mo: 4 easy
Tu: hill
repeats: 7 x 40 seconds (about 200m) with jog back recoveries
We: 8 easy
Th: 7 easy
Fr: 3 miles @
6:38 (3 min. rest), 2 miles @ 6:26 (2 min. rest), 1 mile @ 6:14
Sa: 4 easy
Su: 1hr, 45 min.
@ 7:43 pace (13.6 miles)
Week total: 54
miles
May 25-31
Mo: 5 easy
Tu: 8 x 200m @
42 seconds with 200m slow jog recoveries
We: 8 easy
Th: 5.5 easy
Fr: 10 x 500m @
1:51 with 100m slow jog recoveries (1 min.)
Sa: 4 easy
Su: 90 minutes @
7:46 pace (11.6 miles)
Week total: 50
miles
June 1-7
Mo: 5 easy
Tu: off
(migraine the previous night)
We: 6 easy
Th: 5 easy (plus
4 strides)
Fr: 6 x (800m @
3:04, 100m slow jog in 1 min., 300m @ 62) with 2.5 min. between sets
Sa: off
Su: 90 minutes @
7:42 pace (11.7 miles)
Week total: 36.5
miles
After Boston I
took around a week off from running. Here are the six weeks of training I’ve
done since then. Already in the second week I began visiting the track regularly
for the first time in a long time. My first several visits to the track were
for what amount basically to long strides, but they also helped me begin to get
comfortable on the oval again - not that I’ve ever been terribly comfortable
there. In the past I’ve found that my body responds very well to speedwork, but
I’ve also injured myself doing speedwork several times before I had a coach. So
now I really appreciate my coach’s restraint. It wasn’t until just over a week
ago (Friday, May 29) that I did an actual workout on the track, followed by
another one a week later (Friday, June 5). Both times my coach gave me modest
pace targets, even after I tried to convince him to let me run faster. As a
result, I’m just beginning to round into 5k-10k shape instead of rushing into it and
getting injured. This past week I was sidelined briefly by a migraine, which isn’t
caused by running (quite the opposite) but can drain my energy reserves for
several days afterwards. I bounced back well, though, and feel on track for a
rust-buster race next Saturday. My target has been to run 6:00 pace for 4
miles on June 13, then to do some more aggressive workouts aimed at getting me
under my current 5k PR of 17:58 (5:47 pace) on July 4. It’s hard to know what
kind of shape I’m in now without having raced yet – that’s partly what
rust-busters are for. But everything seems to be coming along well, and my
coach says he’s impressed with how quickly I’ve transitioned from marathon
training and recovery to this shorter stuff. At this point (still six days out)
the weather forecast for next Saturday evening looks hot and humid, so I
may need to scale back my time goal. But that’s the luck of the draw with
summer races, and what’s important now is just that I put in a good, hard
effort so that we can better judge my fitness. The target 5k races aren’t until later. In the meantime, I’m enjoying getting some (relatively) fast legs under
me again.
