Sunday, August 30, 2015

August 24 - August 30 Training

Monday: 5 miles (9:34).

Tuesday: 4 miles (9:18), 7 miles (9:20).  10 x Hill Blasts (10-12 seconds) on the 7 mile run.
Wednesday: 4 miles (9:28), 3 miles (9:24), 3.84 miles (7:50), 1.25 miles (9:39).  15 x (1:00@7:30 + 1:00@8:30) on the track.
Thursday: 4 miles (9:13), 6 miles (9:03).
Friday: 4 miles (9:12), 2 miles (10:00).
Saturday: 17 miles (8:17), 1.31 miles (10:06), 5.2 miles (9:14). Started with 3 warmup miles at Shelby Bottoms and then a 12 mile progression from 8:10 to 7:45 and then two miles at 8:39 and 8:59.  Was supposed to be 15 mile progression from 8:15 to 7:40's, but after the water stop after 12 of the tempo miles, I just couldn't get back to the sub 8 speed that we were doing.  It was low 70's at the start and humid and had warmed up, body just ran out of gas.  After resting, did a 1.3 mile cool down and then added 5.2 miles in the late afternoon.  Although I didn't complete the planned progression run, it was my fastest ever training run at that distance for staring temperatures in the 70's.  Only 1 other run of that distance was faster (20 miles @ 8:08), but that day it was 49 degrees at the start.
Sunday: 3 miles (9:25).  May still run one more time.

Total Miles: 70.0 miles. A bit of a dip after 4 straight weeks of 80 miles, but the plan was to be fresh going into Saturday's run.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

August 17 - August 23 Training

Monday: 3 miles (9:47), 5.5 miles (9:20).
Tuesday: 3 miles (9:32), 7 miles (9:18).  Was going to do hill blasts, but was a bit sore from some dry needling earlier in the day.
Wednesday: 3 miles (9:32), 10 miles (7:42), 1 mile (9:40).  Raining outside, so hit the treadmill.  3 mile warm up, 10 mile progressions staring at 7.6 mph (7:53) and finishing at 8.1 mph (7:24).  A good 10 miles at marathon pace and faster.  1 mile cool down.
Thursday: 6 miles (9:09), 4.5 miles (9:31).
Friday: 6 miles (9:41).
Saturday: 3 miles (9:07), 5 miles (7:33), 1 mile (10:34).  3 mile warmup, then off to the HHS Track.  2 miles @ 7:03, 7:04, 1/2 mile slow, 1 mile @ 6:39, 1/2 mile slow, 4 x (400m@1:33-1:35 + 90s rest).  Tried to get my mile PR but fell short by 1 second.
Sunday: 22 miles (9:26).  Warm and muggy at the start and ran this on very tired legs.  Was ready to quit after 14 miles, but I wanted that 4th straight week of 80 miles so I hung on for another 8 miles to get in a 22 mile run.

Total Miles:  80.0 miles. Fourth straight week of 80 miles.  My fitness is continuing to improve and I'm only 5 weeks from the Berlin Marathon.  Wednesday was a really good run with 10 miles at marathon pace.   The track showed I'm getting some good speed on Saturday's workout.  It will be an easier mid-week this next week to prepare for a really solid long run on Saturday.  Weather outlook is very good.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

August 10 - August 16 Training

Monday: 8 miles (9:16).  Started Brixx at 5 PM.
Tuesday: 3 miles (8:44), 2 miles (8:39), 2.25 miles (9:11), 1 mile (8:37).  Easy 3 in the morning, then in the late afternoon I started with a 2 mile warmup, 8 x 10-12s Hill Blasts with 1/4 mile jog in-between and then a 1 mile cool down.
Wednesday: 3 miles (8:55), 7 miles (8:03), 1 mile (10:40), 4 miles (8:46).  Morning workout - 3 mile warmup, 3@7:40, 1/2 slow, 2@7:30, 1/2 slow, 1@7:15.  I did well to hit all of the tempo miles with the last mile at 7:12. Tough workout.
Thursday: 3 miles (8:56), 5.5 miles (8:51).
Friday: 3 miles (8:58), 4.13 miles (9:28), 2.4 miles (9:18).  3 Mile warm up, 8 x (400m uphill @ 5K effort, 400m downhill SLOW, 2.4 mile cool down.
Saturday: 8 miles (8:58). In the rain.
Sunday: 23 miles (8:56). Longest training run ever.  Ran this like a progression with a fast finish for miles 20-22 (8:01, 8:15, 8:16) and a cool down for mile 23.

Total Miles: 81 miles.  A really solid week of training for my 3rd straight week of 80+ miles.  Finished with a good confidence builder on Sunday with a 23 mile run in not the best of conditions with it starting around 68 and humid and finishing around 77 degrees.  I feel like the marathon gas tank is there, but there is still 4 weeks of some solid training with Berlin being 6 weeks out.

Monday, August 10, 2015

August 3 - August 9 Training

Monday: 6 miles (9:15), 3 miles (8:51).
Tuesday: 5 miles (8:59), 4 miles (9:42). It was so hot and miserable at 4 PM for the second run that I died after 4 miles and had the walk of shame back to the car.  It was supposed to be 7 miles with hill sprints.
Wednesday: 14.5 miles (8:34). Longest midweek run in a long time, maybe ever.  Storms outside, so ran on treadmill.  2 mile warm up, 3 miles @ 8:05, 1/2 mile slow, 3 miles @ 7:55, 1/2 mile slow, 3 miles @ 7:45, 1/2 mile slow, 2 mile cool down.  The first 3 mile tempo interval felt tough at first and it had me worried about this workout. By the second 3 mile interval I was feeling better.  It felt like I was running down the highway at Grandma's marathon because that was the BQ pace.  The 3rd interval felt like I was moving pretty fast and hopefully that will be the Berlin pace.  Legs felt pretty tired after this run.
Thursday: 4 miles (9:23), 4 miles (9:34).
Friday: 2 miles (8:58), 3 miles (8:08), 1 mile (10:26), 4 miles (9:12).  Track workout at HHS started with a 2 mile warmup, then 4 x (800m@3:30ish + 400m easy), 1 mile cool down.
Saturday: 5 miles (9:13), 5 miles (9:26).  Stayed at the Omni Hotel Friday night and ran to the E S Rose Park track on Saturday morning to meet some of the Harriers.  Did 3 x (5 minute temp + 5 minutes core exercises).  Paid the price for doing squats, lunges and more when I had not been doing that type of work.  Sore the next few days.
Sunday: 10 miles (9:32), 5 miles (9:15), 4.5 miles (9:18).  Struggled on the attempt to do a 20 miler on Sunday morning, no doubt from going crazy on Saturday morning, so stopped at 10 miles and ran a couple more times during the day to get my first ever back to back 80 mile weeks.

Total miles: 80.05 miles.  Back to back 80 mile weeks for the first time ever.

Sunday, August 2, 2015

July 27 - August 2 Training

Monday: 7 miles (9:36), 5.01 miles (9:42).  7 x 10s Hill Sprints on the second run.
Tuesday: 13.1 miles (8:25).  I saw that it was 79 when I woke at 4 AM and that sent alarms to my head to do today's workout on the treadmill - after a couple more hours of sleep.  2 mile warmup @ 6.3 mph (9:31), 10 x (1/2 mile @ 7.6 mph (7:53) + 1/2 miles @ 7.3 mph (8:13), 1 mile cool down @ 6.3 mph.  I had to add the extra .1 mile cool down to make it a half marathon.  Who stops at 13 miles?
Wednesday: 4 miles (9:14), 4.11 miles (9:10).

Thursday: 4 miles (9:14), 6 miles (9:07).
Friday: 3 miles (8:55), 3 miles (8:55), 3.74 miles (8:06), 1.5 miles (9:09). The evening started with a 3 mile warm up and then 10 x (0:30 fast, 2:30@8:45ish), 1.5 mile cool down.  Ended up averaging 6:35 on the fast 0:30 and 8:30 on the 2:30.  With the low dew points, it felt good out there tonight.
Saturday: 4 miles (9:23), 4 miles (8:47).
Sunday: 20 miles (8:40). Solid 18 miles followed by a 2 mile cool down.  Temperature was 64 at the start, around 75 at the end.  Miles 2-18 were all between 8:30 and 8:40 after a 8:46 mile 1 warmup.

Total Miles:  82.5 miles. Second highest weekly mileage total ever and my 3rd at the 80+ level.  A good week of training.  As the temperature dropped, my speed is picked up.