Week Three: Re-Run

Monday:
Supposed to be off, but I was still making up for last Saturday so I did the easy run I should have done on Sunday.

Tuesday:
Intervals--eight half miles with rest periods of 1/4 of the interval. I clocked my 880s at 3:00, 3:17, 3:07, 3:21, 3:13, 3:23, 3:15, 3:29 and rested between 40 and 50 seconds between each one. Again I was doing 880 out and backs for this and the back was much more uphill than the out. My Av HR at the end of the intervals was 172.

Wednesday:
Off

Thursday:
Easy run--I went four and a quarter in 33.42. Av HR was 158.

Friday:
Tempo Run. One mile each warm up and cool down then five miles at tempo. I did the five and a half-- because I don't yet have a measured file mile course--in 40:59 (whoot).

Saturday:
Off

Sunday:
Twelve mile run. The plan doesn't specify a pace, which I take to mean I can go whatever speed I want. I tried to see if I couldn't do this one at an 80 or 90 percent effort. There was some struggling toward the end and I missed my original goal, but I did bring the whole thing in at 1:42:43, which comes out to a 8:33 pace and puts me about six minutes off my desired race pace. Not bad for seven weeks out.

Week 2: With Apologies to The Stooges

Week two is showing some promise.

Monday:
Off.

Tuesday:
I did a series of five 1K intervals with 1 minutes rest breaks in between. They clocked out, respectively, at 4:15, 4:40, 4:02, 4:29, and 4:29. My interval course is much more uphill on the return trip, which is why the odd intervals are usually slower, but considering that my slowest K of the day would had netted a 22:25 5K I can't complain too much. Average end-of-interval HR: 174.

Wednesday:
The plan called for an easy day so I jogged for thirty minutes (3.3 miles) on the treadmill at the gym. Note, Dancing with the Stars sucks.

Thursday:
I'm coming to love my tempo run days. This one was supposed to be a one-mile warm up, followed by five kilometers at tempo pace, then a one-mile cool-down. I clocked a 23:03 for the tempo portion and went home feeling pretty good about that.

Friday:
Again, the plan called for an easy day so I ran 2.6 miles on the treadmill while watching NCIS--it's better than DCTS, but I still can't see MArk Harmon without thinking of Ted Bundy.

Saturday:
The plan called for nine miles on Saturday, but I had to be out of town so I pushed Saturday's workout to Sunday.

Sunday:
Originally the plan called for an easy day today, but I had to make up for Saturday's dropped workout. I did nine miles (three at race pace like the plan said) and finished in 1:06:18 (6@43:00 and 3@23:18). Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about how I'm running at this point.

Week One: Good News/Bad News

Week one of the 13.1 training plan is officially in the bag. The results thus far are as follows:

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Six 800m intervals (3:05, 3:13, 3:08, 3:17, 3:11, 3:13). The plan calls for 1/4 pace rest breaks in between  each run. I planned on running four-minute 800s and resting for one minute. I was so surprised when I finished the first run in 3:05 that I forgot to recalculate my rest times so I ended up resting for more like 1/3 interval pace. Average HR during the running phases was 175.

Wednesday: The plan called for an easy thirty to forty-five minute run. I went right at 30:00 and covered a bit more than three and half miles. Av HR 155.

Thursday: The plan called for another easy thirty to forty-five minute run. I met up with a buddy and we did a nice, forty-nine minute, four-mile jog. AV HR 134.

Friday: I'd been dreading Friday's assignment-one mile warm up, four miles tempo (8:01for me according to McMillian Running's online calculator) and then a mile cool down. I didn't time the warm up or cool down miles, but the tempo portion broke down like this: 7:40, 8:15, 7:45, 7:50. Average HR during the tempo running was 169.

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Long run: ten miles in 1:34 with an average HR of 148.

Conclusions: Twenty-six and a half miles isn't bad. It probably should have been more like thirty, but I'm not ready to open a vein over it. The speed work was all pretty decent and the long run today was relatively easy and only about a minute off my race pace from last year. I don't doubt I could have gone faster if I'd wanted. Next week focuses more on speed and Sunday of week three features a twelve-mile run. I'll have a better sense where I am then.

13.1 Training

Various work-related minutiae has kept me awfully busy the last week or two (and promises to keep me busy for the next twenty years or so). Luckily there hasn't been a lot to say. I've been getting in the odd run, swim, and bike ride and eating a boring, but reasonably balanced and well-proportioned diet. There has been some progress in the weight room (note the 325 pound deadlift) but gains have, for the most part, been modest.

This is why I'm pretty psyched that this week signals the beginning of my ten week half marathon training camp. Last year I clocked a 1:52:57 (chip time) and this year I'm aiming to finish in 1:45 flat. I know this sounds like a lot, but here are the reasons I think I can do it:

• Last year I was late arriving and had to start at the very back of the pack without any warm up to speak of.
• Last year I was around 200 pounds on race day, this year I expect to be closer to 175.
• Last year I was building my fitness base with this run, but this year I'm building on the already pretty decent shape I'm in.

Readers can expect weekly (or so) updates with reports on mileage and training plan compliance for the next two and a half months. I'm following the same training plan that I did last year, but I'm doing the longer-distance variation and I'm aiming for 95% compliance this time.