Interval Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 32:12
Pace: n/a

Comments: Interval workout day. I was rather apprehensive. I felt exhausted after yesterday's run and took a nap that did nothing but leave me bleary. Getting up today was difficult. I warmed up OK but my legs didn't feel ready for the effort. I put that aside and just got into the intervals.

This was five half-mile efforts at 5K or better pace with about a two minute break between. I felt I was running hardest the first one which was the slowest. After that I worked on focus, keeping my attention on the run for the whole of the interval.

WU	.75 mi	7:46
1	.5 mi	3:31
2	.5 mi	3:22
3	.5 mi	3:19
4	.5 mi	3:25
5	.5 mi	3:20
CD	.75 mi	7:28

My first interval was exactly the same time as my first one last month. After that, I was a good ten seconds faster on each of these compared to last time. Finished pretty worn out but pleased with the effort.

Recovery Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 39:42
Pace: 9:54 min/mi

Comments: Legs are a bit weary and it showed on this effort. It felt like more of a slog than any run in quite awhile and my heart rate was in the higher range longer than usual as well.

I tried to accommodate the situation with a deliberate warm up mile but things never really got better. I also had issues holding on a steady pace (although keeping it under the 40 minute target wasn't too much of an issue).

Overall this wasn't a disaster of a run but it is a good warning in regards to pushing to get too much done too soon. I'll keep close tabs on mileage for the rest of the week.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 3

Distance: 29.04 miles
Time: 4:34:53
Pace: 9:28 min/mi

Comments: I was a bit concerned starting out this week due to to the workload of Week 15. I saw a lot of improvement last week as the miles increased but that was accompanied by a sharp reduction in recovery days. I responded well, but I'm certainly concerned about overload.

The idea was to dial it back a little this week, and I actually did somewhat, but it was still pretty intense when compared to my efforts as recently as June. But I have continued to feel pretty good even as the efforts have intensified.

One tool helping me with this is the Stravistix charting system that uses heart rate exertion to track fitness and fatigue (see below). After a few weeks of toying with it, I'm starting to grasp how it expresses the work I've been putting in. Hopefully, it'll be a way to keep my legs feeling strong through this training effort.

Long Run

Distance: 12 miles
Time: 1:55:57
Pace: 9:39 min/mi

Comments: So the slog toward big miles has begun. While today's long run marked a return to the 12 miles I have run in the past month, it'll be the first of a progression of increasing distance until I hit the 20-mile mark in September.

The goal today was pretty much the same as last week; hold a 10 min/mi pace until the last four miles where the target is race pace (sub-9 min/mi). The hills on the first leg got me behind a bit but I made it up progressively through mile eight.

I did pretty well on the hills at the end of mile eight and drove right into the race pace after that. Instead of longer strides, I focused on faster cadence and that seemed to work pretty well. The last mile was tougher than I liked but it's good to know I'm pushing my limits a bit.

Pace Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 33:51
Pace: 8:27 min/mi

Comments: My "rest" day yesterday was, instead, a tough travel day. I didn't feel really rested when I got up but I didn't feel particularly bad either. I got out a little late which worked out OK since it was a little cooler.

My initial target was a sub-36 minute four miler which would put me south of 9 min/mi pace. This came out quite a bit quicker than that partially because I pushed it a little hard on the first mile to makeup for the "warm up" slowness.

But it looks like I'm pretty comfortable in the 8:30 to 8:45 range. My heart rate never crept into Zone 5 and hung pretty steady in Zone 4 for most of the last two miles. I'll play around with holding this pace for the end of the long run tomorrow.

Training Run

Distance: 6 miles
Time: 56:07
Pace: 9:21 min/mi

Comments: Up unusually early today so it was still dark when I started. As a result, it was humid as the beejesus but only the last 15 minutes or so of the run was with direct sunlight. That helped a lot.

I wanted a good steady effort but without pushing things too hard. The target pace was 9:30 min/mi and, as usual, that meant going a decent amount faster due to the first "warm up" mile. Still, I never felt I was pushing things to hard; my breathing was normal and fatigue was never a factor.

All in all, I'm really feeling like I am in control of my runs again. That's a nice change from the hold-on-and-survive approach of things I've battled most of this year. The key is now using that to maximize performance.

Hill Run

Distance: 2 miles (1 mile warm up)
Time: 19:27
Pace: 9:42 min/mi

Comments: This week's intense effort: hills. Haven't done these in awhile but they suck just as much as I remembered. I debated where to run these and finally settled on the hill that beat my ass in the half marathon in March.

I did a warm up mile to prepare and, dear lord, the humidity almost brought me to my knees. I also had issues with my GPS so I have no idea of my splits on the hill.

I know the distance was roughly 1,200 feet and the grade just more than 5.3%. I did the first one in approximately 2:30 and a little faster after that. The downhill was a jog and then turn around and do it again.

I did four sets with a little bit extra to make it an even two miles. That gave me 500 miles on the year, which was my New Year's Resolution.

Recovery Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 39:37
Pace: 9:53 min/mi

Comments: The target today was to test the legs and pull back a bit from the intensity of last week. I was wanting about as close to a 40 minute effort as I could muster and came pretty close.

I was a bit surprised at the lack of stiffness getting started. Usually the warm up mile following a hard long run is highly unpleasant. This was pretty routine and I had to really concentrate on keeping the pace slow. And that turned out to be the theme of the workout.

I let myself speed up a little on the very last mile to ensure getting under the 10 min/mi pace threshold but, overall, a very smooth effort.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 2

Distance: 31:31 miles
Time: 4:46:38
Pace: 9:09 min/mi

Comments: The second week of marathon training is in the books and I'm pretty pleased with the progress. The week started with a clumsy 10K effort but I regrouped and put in some quality running after that. I finally feel like I am back in control of my running again.

The goals this week were to get a clearer idea of pacing times, put in consecutive runs and crank up the mileage to prepare for the training plan workload. The bungled 10K left the first one up in the air but I feel pretty strong about the second two.

As for the week, I had a 20% increase in overall mileage but felt strong through all of the workouts. My overall weekly pace dropped considerably as well. I don't think this is because I am suddenly faster, just finally strong enough to start to show the consistency I need for this training effort.

Since my training was pretty aggressive this week, I will probably dial the intensity back a bit next week. I still want the miles but recovery and training runs will be just that, no creeping up into the race pace range like I did this week.

Long Run

Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:33:35
Pace: 9:21 min/mi

Comments: The big week of miles concluded with a slight pull-back on my long run; 10 miles. I started slow but with an eye on keeping it under 10 min/mi pace if at all possible. After warming up, I just tried to keep it steady and save up for the second half.

I beat the target at the halfway point and felt strong enough to start pushing the effort. I focused on reeling the hill miles in under that 10 min/mi limit and then kept up the tempo. On the last three miles I let myself keep speeding up until the final mile when I went flat out as hard as I could.

This was about as strong a run as I have done in as long as I can remember. I felt in control the whole way and focused as well. Afterward I was tired but not totally exhausted as I have been following other recent long runs.