March 6 - March 12 Training

Monday: 9 miles (8:37).  Mild afternoon at 66 degrees.  I am determined to make a big change in my training the next 6 weeks and try to run with a minimal number of stops.  So I ran this 9 mile run with no stops, no water, just continuous running.  If I can continue this, it will make me stronger both mentally and physically.
Tuesday: 7 miles (9:11).  Nice and easy 7 miles without stopping.
Wednesday: 3 miles (9:11), 4.5 miles (8:38), 1 mile (9:29).  3 mile warmup at Drakes Creek Park and then off to the HHS Track for 6 x (800m@3:40 + 400m jog).  The 800's were a little tougher than I was expecting. I averaged 7:21 pace for the 6 intervals and the target was to get sub 7:20.  So I was close, just not quite there.  68 and sunny is a bit warm for early March.  1 mile cooldown.

When I ran my first track workout ever in 2014, it was the same workout.  Look at the comparison below with the 2017 workout on the left and 2014 workout on the right.

The heart rates are pretty similar, however, I ran it much faster in 2014. Can I get back to running the 800m's in the 3:25 range versus 3:35-3:45?

Thursday: 3 miles (9:42).  I wasn't feeling good today and when I got out to run, it felt tougher than it should for the pace I was going and I kept slowing, so I called it a day after 3 miles.
Friday: 6 miles (8:43).  Moderate paced run.  Didn't want to overdo it with the long run planned for Saturday.
Saturday: 7 miles (9:26).  Woke up to snow and went back to bed, so just did an easy run today and will run long on Sunday.
Sunday: 14 miles (9:01).  The plan was for 20 miles, but I was pretty tired and thirsty after 14 miles and didn't have the motivation to go on.  I did, however, run the 14 miles without stopping.  That is a training run record.  I've never run more than 10 miles non-stop on a training run before and I doubt I have ever run more than 6 miles without stopping on a long run.

Total Miles: 54.5 miles.  Not a good total.  Wasn't feeling good on Thursday and lost some miles and didn't finish the long run on Sunday.  But this was my first week ever that I never stopped once on any run.  This is my new mantra to try to not have any stops, except some very short stops on long runs to refill the water bottle.  If I can keep this up for the next 5 weeks, I should feel pretty good getting on the plane to London on April 14th for the London Marathon on April 23rd.