5/27-6/2

Monday: 8.25mi (60:22) Real slow recovery run.

Tuesday: AM - 8mi (no watch) Felt better than expected, PM - 3mi (no watch) Stopped in trails on way home from work.

Wednesday: AM - 5.3mi (38:58) Real slow for some reason, PM - 9.5mi (link)My first fast track workout in quite a long time. The workout was 10-12 x 400m at Daniels' "R" pace with a full recovery (3-4 minutes). My plan was to hit 70-72 seconds but I am having a hard time determining pace and was getting out too fast for most of the repeats. I did 10 repeats because I do not want to hurt myself and my times were: 66.5, 69.9, 69.5, 70.6, 66.9 67.8, 69.2, 69.2, 68.5, 68.3 and my average rest was about 3:15. I felt good by 2:30-3:00 of rest so I did not want to sit around for the full 4 minutes. I really need to work on pacing.

Thursday: 

Friday: 

Saturday: 

Sunday:

Total for week: 34 miles

5/20-5/26

Monday: 8.1mi (56:20) Surprised it was this quick.

Tuesday: 8.8mi (62:43) Easy run.

Wednesday: AM - 5.3mi (37:30), PM - 11mi () 2.2 mile warm-up followed by 6xmile at tempo pace (~10k pace) with 1 minute rest + 2.2 mile cool-down and 4 strides. I based the target pace on Daniels tables from my race this past weekend and was supposed to hit 5:40-5:50 but I never touched that window. My times were 5:33, 5:37, 5:34, 5:35, 5:35, 5:32 and I was ready to go within 30 seconds each repeat. My pacing was pretty bad as I bounced between 80 second quarters and 85 second quarters trying to dial in the pace. I also felt surprisingly good during the cool-down. Take it easy the next two days.

Thursday: 6mi (44:53) Cut it short because I felt like %*#(.

Friday: AM - 5.3mi (37:34) Easy, PM - 10.2mi (71:11) Felt much better but I felt a twinge in my left soleus so I had to slow things down quite a bit. I will probably take tomorrow off.

Saturday: Off

Sunday: 18.1mi (2:01:14) (link) This was my longest run in a long time but I did not think it was going to go that way in the beginning. I started out with a 7:46 first mile and felt like garbage. It took all the way to halfway to get the average pace down to 7minutes/mile. At that point I stopped at my car, stretched, changed shoes, got some water and took a GU pack for the first time ever. What a horrible after-taste! I felt a lot better and average 6:24 min/mile for the next 9 miles and dropped as low as 6:03 for mile 12 or 13. Good run.

Total for week: 72.8 miles

5/13-5/19

Taking an easy week to rest up. I am feeling really tired after building up from 60 miles/week to over 80 miles/week for the first time in a long time. I am pretty much cutting out morning runs and only running 6 days this week.

Monday: 9.1mi (62:21) Easy run. Started out slow but loosened up by end.

Tuesday: 8.1mi (no watch)

Wednesday: 10mi (63:18) + 0.6mi cool-down (link) - Same 10 mile progression run as last Wednesday but since it is an easy week I dropped my pace slower to make the run easier. I was surprised to run the second half 20 seconds faster than last week (29:40ish) and it felt better.

Thursday: 8.1mi (57:47) Really easy to recover. Felt good.

Friday: 6mi (42:48) Another easy day. Did an acceleration at end + 4 strides.

Saturday: 12mi total - started with 3 mile warm-up ending with acceleration (21:43) + 12k/7.4mi race (42:36) and 1.5 mile cool-down (13:46). The race was the Bedford Rotary 12k (link) and it was pretty much awful. I knew that I was not in shape to race but Friday night I decided that I just needed to jump in with two feet and should race myself into shape. I did the 9.5mi leg of the Mill Cities Relay in December at 5:25 pace and this was only 7.4 miles and I avaraged 5:44 pace - pretty pathetic.

Sunday: 9.25mi (63:48) Based on how I felt last night I though that this would be an awful run but after the first mile I dropped to 6:50 pace and ran that pace the rest of the way.

Total for week: 62.5 miles

4/22-5/12

It has been quite a while since I have updated my blog. It is not because I have been injured, as in the past, it's just that I have had so much else going on. I have actually been running injury free since the middle of July, 2012 averaging almost 50 miles per week. I do a four week rotation of three weeks between 50 and 65 miles and then an easy week between 30 and 50 miles and I do not run more than 6 days per week. Taking a bit more rest seems to have really helped. The last change is that the only quality that I do is on the roads or trails - I am pretty sure that all the repeats on the track led to more than one injury.

Anyways, I just started building up my mileage so that I can handle either the Daniels 'Plan A' or 'Elite Plan' to attempt my first marathon this fall. I like the structure of the 'Elite Plan' but do not think that I will get much over 85 miles/week so I may have to do a hybrid plan. I have started this training before and not followed through and can not promise that it won't happen again. I am pretty terrified of the 26.2 mile distance and am not really sure how my body will handle it.

Here is my training for the last two weeks plus this week:

4/22-4/28

Monday: 8.3mi (55:42)

Tuesday: 10.5mi (71:41)

Wednesday: AM - 3.1mi (22:21), PM 10mi (64:22) Moderate progression run. First one and felt alright.

Thursday: 8mi (58:07)

Friday: 9mi (61:04)

Saturday: 3.1mi (21:45)

Sunday: 16mi (1:45:30)

Total for week: 68 miles

4/29-5/5
Monday: 7.3mi (53:26) Totally wiped
Tuesday: 10.5mi (71:29)
Wednesday: AM - 5.2mi (37:09), PM 10mi (63:14) I was feeling fine until the last two miles. I had hydration issues and dropped from 6 minute pace to 6:30 pace on the last two miles. Bonk!
Thursday: 8mi (58:35)
Friday: AM - 5.2mi (38:34), PM 8.2mi (57:44)
Saturday: 4.3mi (30:27)
Sunday: 16mi (1:50:15) Easy and under control
Total for week: 74.7 miles

5/6-5/12
Monday: AM - 5.2mi (38:35), PM - 9mi (62:23)
Tuesday: 9.1mi (62:17)
Wednesday: AM - 5.3mi (38:02), PM 10mi (62:16) + 0.5mi cool-down (link) - Another progression. Got down to 6min pace by half way and held it for the second 5 miles. Did a short cool down.
Thursday: 8.1mi (no watch) Really slooowwww.
Friday: AM - 5.3mi (38:38), PM - 10mi (69:16) Decent run.
Saturday: 3.5mi (25:35) Really slow for some reason.
Sunday: 15mi (1:44:38) I was really tired and this was much slower than I expected.
Total for week: 81 miles

This was the first time over 80 miles in a week in a long time and it was much harder than I remember. Taking a rest week next week.