WEEKLY SUMMARY (January 13-19): 52 miles (93% E, 6% M, 1% R paces)
Sunday: 6 miles at 7:28/mi.
Monday: 7 miles at 7:18/mi.
Tuesday: 2.5 E, 2 x (400m R + 400m E), 2.5 E (6 miles total)
Wednesday: 8 miles at 7:13/mi.
Thursday: off
Friday: 7 miles at 7:10/mi.
Saturday: 18 miles at 7:10/mi. (last 3 miles in 6:51, 6:49, 6:47)
Ok, I'm a go for the RnR USA marathon, assuming that I don't get injured or very sick between now and then. In fact, I do seem to be nursing some kind of hip problem, which I'll monitor closely this coming week. But I finally had a good long run on Saturday this week. The first half of the week was underwhelming. After recovering from my previous long run last Saturday, I set out for a planned 400m repetition workout on Tuesday morning in spite of the cold, wind, and freezing rain. Once I arrived at the track and started trying to run fast, it became obvious that it just wasn't going to happen. I couldn't cover 400m any faster than 86 seconds, compared with 79 in my previous repetition workouts. The weather was mainly to blame, but my right hip was already hurting. So I called off the workout shortly after it had begun. My plan had been to do a tempo run this week as well, and initially I thought I'd do it on Thursday since Tuesday's workout was a dud. But this was my first week of classes and I'm still getting a feel for my schedule. I didn't get out early on Thursday to run and wasn't able to fit it in later. By then I was reading forecasts of seriously wintery weather next week, and the inauguration will also close off my usual longer routes, all of which pass through the National Mall area. So I postponed the tempo run (yet again) and did a long run on Saturday. The weather was nice - sunny and in the low 50's - but breezy. I was surprised at how packed the Mall area already was with people two days before the inauguration. For maybe 5 miles I was weaving through crowds or running on clumpy grass because the sidewalks were jammed with people. My intention was to run 18 miles at a steady pace around 7:20/mi., and this time I planned to eat a gel and drink more water at both 6 and 12 miles. At halfway my average pace was 7:16. My hip was getting tight but I felt strong, and my pace drifted faster from there. When I stopped briefly for my second gel at 12 miles, my hip felt very tight, but once I got going again I felt very strong and found myself gliding along comfortably at just over 7-flat. Running up Capitol Hill, which pushed me over the edge last week, didn't faze me this time. So I decided to run marathon pace for the final 3 miles. That was harder but I was not totally spent at the end. Surely the gels were a big part of the reason why this run went better than previous ones. But still, 7:10/mi. is way faster than I've ever been able to do long training runs before, and my standard easy pace these days is drifting that fast as well. What is going on here? I'm not training particularly hard and my mileage is relatively moderate. Here's a hypothesis: my last couple months of training for the MCM were basically a kind of base training phase. I ran (for me) high mileage and never ran faster than tempo pace, which I kept to a low percentage of my overall mileage. After the MCM, I cut my mileage significantly and started doing some faster running - initially too much, but then I was forced to back off to running faster no more than twice a week and often only once a week. So I'm more rested now from lower mileage and my body wants to run faster due to occasional injections of speed. If that's right, then it suggests both that I should keep those injections of speed occasional (i.e., I should be careful to avoid running too fast too often), and that I should keep my mileage moderate in order to maintain this momentum through the Spring. Maybe I should plan another high mileage base phase in the summer, which might pay similar dividends in the Fall?
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
WEEKLY SUMMARY (January 6-12): 50 miles (88% E, 6% M, and 6% 5k paces)
Sunday: 2 E, 5k race in 17:58 (see below), 1.9 E
Monday: 6 miles at 7:25/mi.
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: 7 miles at 7:20/mi.
Thursday: 8 miles at 7:17/mi.
Friday: 6 miles at 7:22/mi.
Saturday: 16 miles at 7:18/mi.
The two main runs of this week were on the weekends, between which I spent the rest of the week recovering from a back issue. I've had an old man's lower back since I was a teenager, in part because my torso is bizarrely long (and perhaps in part because, when I was a teenager, I used to lift weights with bad form). When I was in Florida a few weeks ago, my mom paid for me to get a massage as a birthday present, and the first thing the masseuse said when she saw me lying on the table was "wow, you have a long back!" My lower back hurt during and after my 15-miler last Friday, and it may simply not have recovered before my 5k race on Sunday. It didn't hurt during the race, but it did start hurting the next day and got worse through the middle of the week. So I was content to run easy until that cleared up, having just run a good race in any case. I decided to push the track workout back to next week and to do the long run first whenever I was ready, which turned out to be on Saturday. It was another disappointing long run, though not as bad as the previous one. My plan was to run 10 miles around 7:20 pace (easy) and then to run 6 more at 6:45-50 (marathon pace). It was warmer than usual (50 degrees) and sunny, I ran at mid-day, and the drinking fountains I normally use are turned off for the winter except for one that I found about 6 miles from where I live. I averaged 7:19 over the first 10 miles and felt pretty good, stopping briefly at the drinking fountain twice but taking no gels. Then I felt strong running at marathon pace for two miles but was thrown off by a steep hill that I stupidly chose to run up, after which I managed only one more downhill mile at marathon pace (averaging 6:46 for those 3 miles). At that point, there's a short staircase on the course I normally run. I had to sit on the stairs and rest for several minutes (with my watch stopped) before jogging in the remaining 3 miles, which brought my average pace back up to my easy range. It may be that I simply reached the distance by which I need to drink more and eat a gel if I want to do any marathon pace running, since I did fall apart pretty quickly. My back was fine, though, and I didn't have the creeping fatigue (as opposed to a relatively sudden onset) that afflicted my purely easy paced run last time. I'm slowly getting stronger at bigger distances, but time is short to get strong enough for a marathon in two months. My plan for next week is to do a track workout, probably the 400m repetitions that I put off from this week, and some 1-mile tempo intervals. My next long run will probably be a purely easy paced 18-miler early the following week. The week after that, on January 27, I'm registered for a half-marathon on the towpath. I probably won't race that but, depending on weather, may run it at marathon pace with the option of speeding up a little later on if I feel good. Then, as we get into February, I'll decide whether a good enough marathon in mid-March is in the cards and what kind of long distance-oriented training to do in the remaining time. I'm still leaning toward doing the marathon, in spite (or partly because?) of my recent disappointing long runs. In other news, we're in a mini-heat-wave right now: it was in the 50's today (and felt Spring-like), and tomorrow is forecasted to approach 70! This is not right for January in the mid-Atlantic. But temperatures should quickly return to normal (highs in the low 40's) after that and then may dip a little below normal (bring it on!). My semester begins next week and, because of my schedule, I'll probably do at least most of my runs very early in the morning when temperatures are near their daily lows (around freezing on average, but often in the high 20's). For my trouble, I hope to be rewarded at least sometime this winter with some snow, not to mention the usual grit that comes with running through a (real?) winter.
Sunday: 2 E, 5k race in 17:58 (see below), 1.9 E
Monday: 6 miles at 7:25/mi.
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: 7 miles at 7:20/mi.
Thursday: 8 miles at 7:17/mi.
Friday: 6 miles at 7:22/mi.
Saturday: 16 miles at 7:18/mi.
The two main runs of this week were on the weekends, between which I spent the rest of the week recovering from a back issue. I've had an old man's lower back since I was a teenager, in part because my torso is bizarrely long (and perhaps in part because, when I was a teenager, I used to lift weights with bad form). When I was in Florida a few weeks ago, my mom paid for me to get a massage as a birthday present, and the first thing the masseuse said when she saw me lying on the table was "wow, you have a long back!" My lower back hurt during and after my 15-miler last Friday, and it may simply not have recovered before my 5k race on Sunday. It didn't hurt during the race, but it did start hurting the next day and got worse through the middle of the week. So I was content to run easy until that cleared up, having just run a good race in any case. I decided to push the track workout back to next week and to do the long run first whenever I was ready, which turned out to be on Saturday. It was another disappointing long run, though not as bad as the previous one. My plan was to run 10 miles around 7:20 pace (easy) and then to run 6 more at 6:45-50 (marathon pace). It was warmer than usual (50 degrees) and sunny, I ran at mid-day, and the drinking fountains I normally use are turned off for the winter except for one that I found about 6 miles from where I live. I averaged 7:19 over the first 10 miles and felt pretty good, stopping briefly at the drinking fountain twice but taking no gels. Then I felt strong running at marathon pace for two miles but was thrown off by a steep hill that I stupidly chose to run up, after which I managed only one more downhill mile at marathon pace (averaging 6:46 for those 3 miles). At that point, there's a short staircase on the course I normally run. I had to sit on the stairs and rest for several minutes (with my watch stopped) before jogging in the remaining 3 miles, which brought my average pace back up to my easy range. It may be that I simply reached the distance by which I need to drink more and eat a gel if I want to do any marathon pace running, since I did fall apart pretty quickly. My back was fine, though, and I didn't have the creeping fatigue (as opposed to a relatively sudden onset) that afflicted my purely easy paced run last time. I'm slowly getting stronger at bigger distances, but time is short to get strong enough for a marathon in two months. My plan for next week is to do a track workout, probably the 400m repetitions that I put off from this week, and some 1-mile tempo intervals. My next long run will probably be a purely easy paced 18-miler early the following week. The week after that, on January 27, I'm registered for a half-marathon on the towpath. I probably won't race that but, depending on weather, may run it at marathon pace with the option of speeding up a little later on if I feel good. Then, as we get into February, I'll decide whether a good enough marathon in mid-March is in the cards and what kind of long distance-oriented training to do in the remaining time. I'm still leaning toward doing the marathon, in spite (or partly because?) of my recent disappointing long runs. In other news, we're in a mini-heat-wave right now: it was in the 50's today (and felt Spring-like), and tomorrow is forecasted to approach 70! This is not right for January in the mid-Atlantic. But temperatures should quickly return to normal (highs in the low 40's) after that and then may dip a little below normal (bring it on!). My semester begins next week and, because of my schedule, I'll probably do at least most of my runs very early in the morning when temperatures are near their daily lows (around freezing on average, but often in the high 20's). For my trouble, I hope to be rewarded at least sometime this winter with some snow, not to mention the usual grit that comes with running through a (real?) winter.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
WEEKLY SUMMARY (Dec. 30 - Jan. 5): 49 miles (95% E and 5% I paces)
Sunday: 6.5 miles at 7:22/mi. on a treadmill in Atlanta
Monday: 7 miles at 7:27/mi. in Raleigh
Tuesday: 2.5 E, 3 x (1200m I averaging 4:17 + 800 E), 1.75 E back in DC
Wednesday: 5.5 miles at 7:21/mi.
Thursday: 7 miles at 7:16/mi.
Friday: 15 miles at 7:20/mi.
Saturday: off
This week I did the two main runs that I wanted to do: the interval workout on Tuesday and the longish run on Friday. Plus, I was all set to increase my weekly mileage slightly until I was unable to fit in a run on Saturday, which was no big deal in any case since I was surprisingly worn out by my 15-miler the day before and had a race the next day. Tuesday's interval workout was encouraging and gave me the confidence I needed to set a 5k PR the following Sunday (see below). 1200m in 4:17 is around 5:44/mi. pace, which is just under 18 minute 5k pace. It was my first successful interval workout in a long time, my third attempt since the MCM, and my second one in a week. But this time the weather was right, I was back home running on a (familiar) track, and things just clicked. I need to keep doing this workout every 2-3 weeks, increasing next time to 4 intervals, and gradually increasing the pace when I'm ready. My other main run of the week, the 15-miler on Friday, was less encouraging. I should be able to run my easy pace for that distance with little difficulty, but I haven't been doing it so it did in fact become somewhat difficult after 10 miles or so. It didn't help that all the drinking fountains I normally use had just been turned off for the winter and I wasn't carrying any water. This run put me in a mood to give up on the marathon in March and to focus instead on running a good half-marathon and a good 10-miler three weeks later. But I don't give up that easily. At the end of next week I want to try another run about the same distance but this time speeding up to marathon pace for the last 6 miles or so. My recent 13-miler ending with 4 miles at marathon pace felt really good, so that seems to be the next step. In fact, my entire marathon-specific training plan for the RnR USA marathon consists in doing that run and a couple more, slightly longer ones with the additional miles all at marathon pace, culminating (I hope) in a 20-miler with the last 10 miles at marathon pace. As I've been writing lately, I don't want to get all caught up in marathon training but want that to be only one element in a more balanced training routine. Anyway, next week, in addition to the marathon pace run, I plan to do a track workout - probably 400m repetitions.
Sunday: 6.5 miles at 7:22/mi. on a treadmill in Atlanta
Monday: 7 miles at 7:27/mi. in Raleigh
Tuesday: 2.5 E, 3 x (1200m I averaging 4:17 + 800 E), 1.75 E back in DC
Wednesday: 5.5 miles at 7:21/mi.
Thursday: 7 miles at 7:16/mi.
Friday: 15 miles at 7:20/mi.
Saturday: off
This week I did the two main runs that I wanted to do: the interval workout on Tuesday and the longish run on Friday. Plus, I was all set to increase my weekly mileage slightly until I was unable to fit in a run on Saturday, which was no big deal in any case since I was surprisingly worn out by my 15-miler the day before and had a race the next day. Tuesday's interval workout was encouraging and gave me the confidence I needed to set a 5k PR the following Sunday (see below). 1200m in 4:17 is around 5:44/mi. pace, which is just under 18 minute 5k pace. It was my first successful interval workout in a long time, my third attempt since the MCM, and my second one in a week. But this time the weather was right, I was back home running on a (familiar) track, and things just clicked. I need to keep doing this workout every 2-3 weeks, increasing next time to 4 intervals, and gradually increasing the pace when I'm ready. My other main run of the week, the 15-miler on Friday, was less encouraging. I should be able to run my easy pace for that distance with little difficulty, but I haven't been doing it so it did in fact become somewhat difficult after 10 miles or so. It didn't help that all the drinking fountains I normally use had just been turned off for the winter and I wasn't carrying any water. This run put me in a mood to give up on the marathon in March and to focus instead on running a good half-marathon and a good 10-miler three weeks later. But I don't give up that easily. At the end of next week I want to try another run about the same distance but this time speeding up to marathon pace for the last 6 miles or so. My recent 13-miler ending with 4 miles at marathon pace felt really good, so that seems to be the next step. In fact, my entire marathon-specific training plan for the RnR USA marathon consists in doing that run and a couple more, slightly longer ones with the additional miles all at marathon pace, culminating (I hope) in a 20-miler with the last 10 miles at marathon pace. As I've been writing lately, I don't want to get all caught up in marathon training but want that to be only one element in a more balanced training routine. Anyway, next week, in addition to the marathon pace run, I plan to do a track workout - probably 400m repetitions.
2012 STATS:
Total miles: 2720
Average miles per month: 226.7
Average miles per week: 52.3
Average miles per day: 7.45
Number of days off: 55
Most days off in a row: 3 (after the MCM)
Average miles per day run: 8.8
Average pace: 7:34/mi.
Number of races: 19 (8 5k's, 2 8k's, 3 10k's, and 1 of every other distance below)
I set new all-time PR's this year at every distance I've run:
5k: 18:25 (1/8/12)
4 miles: 24:08 (6/17/12)
8k: 30:30 (12/9/12)
10k: 37:48 (4/29/12)
10 miles: 1:04:42 (4/1/12)
20k: 1:23:06 (8/19/12)
half-marathon: 1:26:34 (9/16/12)
metric marathon: 1:49:15 (10/7/12)
marathon: 3:12:17 (10/28/12)
Total miles: 2720
Average miles per month: 226.7
Average miles per week: 52.3
Average miles per day: 7.45
Number of days off: 55
Most days off in a row: 3 (after the MCM)
Average miles per day run: 8.8
Average pace: 7:34/mi.
Number of races: 19 (8 5k's, 2 8k's, 3 10k's, and 1 of every other distance below)
I set new all-time PR's this year at every distance I've run:
5k: 18:25 (1/8/12)
4 miles: 24:08 (6/17/12)
8k: 30:30 (12/9/12)
10k: 37:48 (4/29/12)
10 miles: 1:04:42 (4/1/12)
20k: 1:23:06 (8/19/12)
half-marathon: 1:26:34 (9/16/12)
metric marathon: 1:49:15 (10/7/12)
marathon: 3:12:17 (10/28/12)
BRATS FROZEN 5K (race report):
In January 2012, I set a 30-second breakthrough PR (18:25) on this fast 5k course in Manassas, VA. That's a hour drive from where I live in DC, and I did the race last year simply because the weather was weirdly Spring-like and I couldn't find any other races nearby. This year I did it again in hopes of reconnecting with last year's PR-vibe, and I was not disappointed: I set another PR (17:58) by almost the same margin (I never managed to run faster than 18:25 in the previous year). This year the conditions weren't quite as perfect: again it was sunny and the wind was calm, but at 27 degrees it was colder than ideal. That may have contributed to my getting off to a slow start. But I ran almost even splits, which really means that I sped up in mile 2 since there is a turn-around a little past halfway through it. I started fading in mile 3, but I think it was more mental than physical. Luckily, the first woman finisher passed me around halfway through mile 3 and said "come on, guy." That jolted me to speed up and follow behind her, which I managed to do only for a little while until I could see the finish line, which had its usual effect. Besides her, nobody else passed me during the entire race, and I must have passed 40-50 people after the first half mile. I started a little back from the front and got off relatively slowly, so at first I just tried to find a rhythm. It wasn't until maybe two-thirds of a mile into the race that I realized there were basically two chase packs at that point following one lead runner who was way ahead of everyone else. I realized this as I came up to the second pack from behind and passed it around the first mile marker. In the second mile, the other chase group disintegrated into a bunch of individual runners chugging along at different rates. Most were slowing down, and I passed those people one by one. Of those who didn't slow down, one dressed in bright colors some 30 feet ahead at the turn-around was my target for the rest of the race. I never caught him, and neither did the woman who passed me, who had started out in that second pack and must have stayed just behind me for most of the race. I ended up finishing 13th (and 3rd in the 35-39 age group). I'm sure that I could have run faster today by staying mentally stronger in the last mile, and by warming up better to run a faster first mile. But I still ran well. As usual when I set a PR, my first and second thoughts upon finishing were "Yay, I did it!" and "I can run faster than that." I discovered last Spring that duplicating a good time set on this course requires running slightly better on a course that isn't as fast. So that's my next 5k challenge. I'd rather not wait an entire year again for another 5k PR.
In January 2012, I set a 30-second breakthrough PR (18:25) on this fast 5k course in Manassas, VA. That's a hour drive from where I live in DC, and I did the race last year simply because the weather was weirdly Spring-like and I couldn't find any other races nearby. This year I did it again in hopes of reconnecting with last year's PR-vibe, and I was not disappointed: I set another PR (17:58) by almost the same margin (I never managed to run faster than 18:25 in the previous year). This year the conditions weren't quite as perfect: again it was sunny and the wind was calm, but at 27 degrees it was colder than ideal. That may have contributed to my getting off to a slow start. But I ran almost even splits, which really means that I sped up in mile 2 since there is a turn-around a little past halfway through it. I started fading in mile 3, but I think it was more mental than physical. Luckily, the first woman finisher passed me around halfway through mile 3 and said "come on, guy." That jolted me to speed up and follow behind her, which I managed to do only for a little while until I could see the finish line, which had its usual effect. Besides her, nobody else passed me during the entire race, and I must have passed 40-50 people after the first half mile. I started a little back from the front and got off relatively slowly, so at first I just tried to find a rhythm. It wasn't until maybe two-thirds of a mile into the race that I realized there were basically two chase packs at that point following one lead runner who was way ahead of everyone else. I realized this as I came up to the second pack from behind and passed it around the first mile marker. In the second mile, the other chase group disintegrated into a bunch of individual runners chugging along at different rates. Most were slowing down, and I passed those people one by one. Of those who didn't slow down, one dressed in bright colors some 30 feet ahead at the turn-around was my target for the rest of the race. I never caught him, and neither did the woman who passed me, who had started out in that second pack and must have stayed just behind me for most of the race. I ended up finishing 13th (and 3rd in the 35-39 age group). I'm sure that I could have run faster today by staying mentally stronger in the last mile, and by warming up better to run a faster first mile. But I still ran well. As usual when I set a PR, my first and second thoughts upon finishing were "Yay, I did it!" and "I can run faster than that." I discovered last Spring that duplicating a good time set on this course requires running slightly better on a course that isn't as fast. So that's my next 5k challenge. I'd rather not wait an entire year again for another 5k PR.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
WEEKLY SUMMARY (December 23-29): 50 miles (87.5% E, 8% M, and 4.5% I paces)
Sunday: 13 miles at 7:07/mi. (last four miles in 6:52, 6:46, 6:46, 6:45)
Monday: 5 miles at 7:36/mi.
Tuesday: 8 miles at 7:14/mi.
Wednesday: off
Thursday: 8 miles at 7:19/mi.
Friday: 8 miles at 7:24/mi. in Raleigh
Saturday: 2.75 E, 3 x (1200m I at 6:11/mi. avg. + 800m E), 1.5 E in Atlanta (8 miles total)
This week I managed to cover 50 miles, in spite of taking a day off, and to get in the two non-easy runs that I hoped to do. Sunday's run was an encouraging sign that running a tolerable marathon in 12 (now 11) weeks might not be too ambitious. After 9 miles I was averaging 7:15/mi. before I kicked it down to 3:00 marathon pace or below for the final 4 miles. It wasn't easy but felt smooth running at that faster pace. By halfway through my run on Tuesday afternoon (Christmas day), I felt like I wanted to speed up to marathon pace again but resisted. The next day's weather was gross: cold and raining hard all day. I needed to finish some work before heading off to a conference anyway, so I took the day off. On Thursday I was just able to run easy again before driving to Raleigh, NC, whose extensive trail system I was able to explore a small portion of the following morning. Then I hopped back in the car and drove to Atlanta, where my conference is. Looking at the map of downtown Atlanta, I discovered a park with a half-mile oval path about two miles from my hotel. So I planned to do an interval workout there. The path turned out to be crushed gravel, and it had rained the night before, which left the footing on the path somewhat uneven. When I showed up on Saturday morning it was still raining lightly, windy, and colder than I expected Atlanta to be (high 30's). The result was that again I had an underwhelming interval workout in the south, but at least this time it wasn't a complete failure. It was just slow. I couldn't even get going faster than my current tempo pace for the second interval, but then for some reason on the third one I managed to run 6:00/mi. pace. The conditions can be to blame only for part of this. I'm also just not used to running faster than tempo pace for more than a quarter mile and need to keep working on this. So I'm considering doing another 1200m interval workout next week (maybe with 4 instead of 3 intervals) instead of a 400m repetition workout, since that's the only type of workout that I haven't been able to get at least a handle on since the MCM. Some people talk about speed endurance as something different from endurance, and maybe this is what they mean. Right now I'm very strong running at my easy pace and pretty strong at my marathon pace, but as the pace descends from there my endurance drops off more rapidly than it should. Anyway, I'd also like to do a longer run next week, maybe 16 miles or so, possibly not incorporating any marathon pace this time. I registered for a 5k race on Sunday 1/6, but after that I'll get back to marathon pace, 400m repetitions, and tempos. Once my travels and the holidays wrap up in the next few days, it'll be time for the long, cold, and dark winter to really set in (if it's going to this year, unlike last). But since December wasn't wintry at all (I ran in shorts more often than not in December), that leaves only two potentially wintry months before March. I have some trail shoes that I wear only for running in snow, and I look forward to getting to use them soon.
Sunday: 13 miles at 7:07/mi. (last four miles in 6:52, 6:46, 6:46, 6:45)
Monday: 5 miles at 7:36/mi.
Tuesday: 8 miles at 7:14/mi.
Wednesday: off
Thursday: 8 miles at 7:19/mi.
Friday: 8 miles at 7:24/mi. in Raleigh
Saturday: 2.75 E, 3 x (1200m I at 6:11/mi. avg. + 800m E), 1.5 E in Atlanta (8 miles total)
This week I managed to cover 50 miles, in spite of taking a day off, and to get in the two non-easy runs that I hoped to do. Sunday's run was an encouraging sign that running a tolerable marathon in 12 (now 11) weeks might not be too ambitious. After 9 miles I was averaging 7:15/mi. before I kicked it down to 3:00 marathon pace or below for the final 4 miles. It wasn't easy but felt smooth running at that faster pace. By halfway through my run on Tuesday afternoon (Christmas day), I felt like I wanted to speed up to marathon pace again but resisted. The next day's weather was gross: cold and raining hard all day. I needed to finish some work before heading off to a conference anyway, so I took the day off. On Thursday I was just able to run easy again before driving to Raleigh, NC, whose extensive trail system I was able to explore a small portion of the following morning. Then I hopped back in the car and drove to Atlanta, where my conference is. Looking at the map of downtown Atlanta, I discovered a park with a half-mile oval path about two miles from my hotel. So I planned to do an interval workout there. The path turned out to be crushed gravel, and it had rained the night before, which left the footing on the path somewhat uneven. When I showed up on Saturday morning it was still raining lightly, windy, and colder than I expected Atlanta to be (high 30's). The result was that again I had an underwhelming interval workout in the south, but at least this time it wasn't a complete failure. It was just slow. I couldn't even get going faster than my current tempo pace for the second interval, but then for some reason on the third one I managed to run 6:00/mi. pace. The conditions can be to blame only for part of this. I'm also just not used to running faster than tempo pace for more than a quarter mile and need to keep working on this. So I'm considering doing another 1200m interval workout next week (maybe with 4 instead of 3 intervals) instead of a 400m repetition workout, since that's the only type of workout that I haven't been able to get at least a handle on since the MCM. Some people talk about speed endurance as something different from endurance, and maybe this is what they mean. Right now I'm very strong running at my easy pace and pretty strong at my marathon pace, but as the pace descends from there my endurance drops off more rapidly than it should. Anyway, I'd also like to do a longer run next week, maybe 16 miles or so, possibly not incorporating any marathon pace this time. I registered for a 5k race on Sunday 1/6, but after that I'll get back to marathon pace, 400m repetitions, and tempos. Once my travels and the holidays wrap up in the next few days, it'll be time for the long, cold, and dark winter to really set in (if it's going to this year, unlike last). But since December wasn't wintry at all (I ran in shorts more often than not in December), that leaves only two potentially wintry months before March. I have some trail shoes that I wear only for running in snow, and I look forward to getting to use them soon.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
WEEKLY SUMMARY (December 16-22): 50 miles (90% E, 8% T, and 2% I paces)
Sunday: 3 E, 1 x (1200m I + 800m E + 500m I), 1.5 E in Florida (6.1 miles total)
Monday: 8.2 miles at 7:25/mi. in Florida
Tuesday: 6.7 miles at 7:22/mi. in Florida
Wednesday: 2 E, 4 x 1 mile T at 6:18/mi. (1 min.), 2 E in Florida (8 miles total)
Thursday: 6 miles at 7:24/mi. back in DC
Friday: 7 miles at 7:23/mi.
Saturday: 8 miles at 7:26/mi.
Finally, a week with no days off and cracking 50 miles. Not everything went to plan this week, though. On Sunday, my first full day in Longboat Key, Florida, I tried and failed to do my first VO2 max interval workout in some time. I attempted to do 3 x 1200m I (800 E) in 4:15-18 for the 1200m, which is low 5:40's pace. But the 96% humidity on Longboat Key left me huffing and puffing after only 400m and I only managed to cover 1200m in 4:27.5, which is 5:56/mi. pace. I started a second interval but aborted after just over 400m. My easy runs over the next couple of days confirmed that the humidity and sun were largely to blame this, especially since I had just come from cool and dry DC. But on Wednesday the weather was mercifully a bit cooler, and perhaps I had acclimated a bit by then. I managed with little difficulty the basic tempo interval workout that I had been doing before the MCM, then hopped on a plane back to DC. The plan had been to run a 5k club race on Saturday, but several converging factors led me to skip it: I didn't really feel like racing, there was a high wind warning and the race course was very exposed, and my son came down with a cold the night before. So I ended up doing three easy runs in a row at the end of the week. Next week I hope at least to do a medium-long run and to attempt an interval workout a second time. Since I've now done a couple of repetition workouts and one tempo, that will put me back on track towards establishing a regular pattern that incorporates all four of those elements. Soon I hope to be doing something like a (medium-)long run, a tempo (or marathon pace) run, and a track (i.e., interval or repetition) workout each week, with shorter races replacing the track workout and longer (up to half-marathon) races replacing the tempo run about every third week. I'll have to be flexible for the next couple of weeks, because of the holidays and another trip (this time a road trip to Atlanta via Raleigh). But the goal is to get in each type of workout so that they begin to build on one another and so that, after New Year's, I can establish a more regular pattern. Right now I'm still hoping to do the full instead of the half marathon in mid-March, which is only 12 weeks away. And I was accepted in the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler three weeks after that. So if I start getting serious now, then I'll have some fun races ahead of me beginning in early Spring. But my attitude right now is the same as it was right after the MCM: I want to train for the long term, not for any specific races. I want to establish a more balanced routine that will enable me to improve at every distance from 5k through the marathon. I'm thinking of running some short race or other the week of January 6-12, depending on weather - possibly the BRATS Frozen 5k on 1/6 where last year I set my current 5k PR, such as it is. Then, between the half-marathon on January 27 and the marathon on March 16, I'll probably run one or two shorter races TBD - possibly including the GW Classic 10k on 2/17. Anyone local who reads this is welcome to sway me towards one race or another, and of course to join me at any of them.
Sunday: 3 E, 1 x (1200m I + 800m E + 500m I), 1.5 E in Florida (6.1 miles total)
Monday: 8.2 miles at 7:25/mi. in Florida
Tuesday: 6.7 miles at 7:22/mi. in Florida
Wednesday: 2 E, 4 x 1 mile T at 6:18/mi. (1 min.), 2 E in Florida (8 miles total)
Thursday: 6 miles at 7:24/mi. back in DC
Friday: 7 miles at 7:23/mi.
Saturday: 8 miles at 7:26/mi.
Finally, a week with no days off and cracking 50 miles. Not everything went to plan this week, though. On Sunday, my first full day in Longboat Key, Florida, I tried and failed to do my first VO2 max interval workout in some time. I attempted to do 3 x 1200m I (800 E) in 4:15-18 for the 1200m, which is low 5:40's pace. But the 96% humidity on Longboat Key left me huffing and puffing after only 400m and I only managed to cover 1200m in 4:27.5, which is 5:56/mi. pace. I started a second interval but aborted after just over 400m. My easy runs over the next couple of days confirmed that the humidity and sun were largely to blame this, especially since I had just come from cool and dry DC. But on Wednesday the weather was mercifully a bit cooler, and perhaps I had acclimated a bit by then. I managed with little difficulty the basic tempo interval workout that I had been doing before the MCM, then hopped on a plane back to DC. The plan had been to run a 5k club race on Saturday, but several converging factors led me to skip it: I didn't really feel like racing, there was a high wind warning and the race course was very exposed, and my son came down with a cold the night before. So I ended up doing three easy runs in a row at the end of the week. Next week I hope at least to do a medium-long run and to attempt an interval workout a second time. Since I've now done a couple of repetition workouts and one tempo, that will put me back on track towards establishing a regular pattern that incorporates all four of those elements. Soon I hope to be doing something like a (medium-)long run, a tempo (or marathon pace) run, and a track (i.e., interval or repetition) workout each week, with shorter races replacing the track workout and longer (up to half-marathon) races replacing the tempo run about every third week. I'll have to be flexible for the next couple of weeks, because of the holidays and another trip (this time a road trip to Atlanta via Raleigh). But the goal is to get in each type of workout so that they begin to build on one another and so that, after New Year's, I can establish a more regular pattern. Right now I'm still hoping to do the full instead of the half marathon in mid-March, which is only 12 weeks away. And I was accepted in the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler three weeks after that. So if I start getting serious now, then I'll have some fun races ahead of me beginning in early Spring. But my attitude right now is the same as it was right after the MCM: I want to train for the long term, not for any specific races. I want to establish a more balanced routine that will enable me to improve at every distance from 5k through the marathon. I'm thinking of running some short race or other the week of January 6-12, depending on weather - possibly the BRATS Frozen 5k on 1/6 where last year I set my current 5k PR, such as it is. Then, between the half-marathon on January 27 and the marathon on March 16, I'll probably run one or two shorter races TBD - possibly including the GW Classic 10k on 2/17. Anyone local who reads this is welcome to sway me towards one race or another, and of course to join me at any of them.
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