New Goal - December Marathon

Sticky - The focus of this blog is going to shift into a maintenance mode over the next few months (a few short runs during the week and a somewhat-long run on weekends) in preparation for marathon training beginning in August. (Originally posted on 4/8/09)

8@914

4.19m at CH (Repeats)

4.19m at 9.44 pace w/ Avg HR of 155 (Zone 2, 79.6% of max)

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Mile Splits:
10.27/149
8.95/152
9.20/159
9.52/160
1.63/163 (8.58 pace)

Splits in Intervals:

Split/Time/Dist/Pace/AvgHR/Max/HR
1/0:10:12/1/10:12/132/177
2/0:01:00/0.15/6:46/156/166
3/0:03:00/0.28/10:43/147/167
4/0:01:00/0.15/6:48/157/169
5/0:03:00/0.29/10:28/151/169
6/0:01:00/0.15/6:31/161/173
7/0:03:00/0.29/10:27/153/174
8/0:01:00/0.16/6:24/165/176
9/0:03:00/0.29/10:24/156/176
10/0:01:00/0.16/6:16/169/181
11/0:03:00/0.3/10:04/160/181
12/0:01:00/0.17/5:48/175/185
13/0:03:00/0.29/10:11/164/186
14/0:05:24/0.52/10:27/158/165

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This was a 1mile/1min/3min/1mile speedwork session where I just ran the 1 minute "really fast" and backed way off on the 3 minute recoveries (10min/mile+). I also cut the cooldown about a quarter to a third of a mile short because I didn't want to skyrocket the HR going up the hill to the house.

I was a little surprised when I saw those interval paces above...I didn't realize I was running that fast, especially the sub-6min/mile one. I also liked that my later intervals were faster than the earlier ones.

Cross Training - Cycling

Did the first XT of my FIRST training plan.

Did 45 minutes on the stationary bike at work. 15 minutes of easy spinning at level 1, then 15 minutes of level 2 and 3 and 4, then finished off with 15 minutes at level 2.

Was monitoring my HR manually and was only getting around 21 beats per 10 seconds, equating to about 126 HR, which is below 66% MHR.

My legs felt pretty worn out at the end of it and they were still tired late into the evening as I climbed stairs and so forth.

4.30m at work (Hills)

4.30 miles @ 8.64 pace w/ avg HR of 167 (Zone 3, 85.9% of MHR)

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8.65/152 - Kept pace under control on this long downhill.
8.40/159 - 2/3s of this was downhill but that remaining third was tough!
8.67/175 - Rolling hills spiked the HR
8.85/179 - More of the same.
2.58/182 (8.60 pace)
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I skipped the treadmill and decided to brave the elements (85 degrees with 70% humidity, and really sunny). Probably not a good idea but at least it got me off the treadmill.

LOE was pretty high on this especially on those hills. I tried to recover on the downhills, but the heat/humidity/bright-sun punished my efforts.

New Annual Mileage PR...and counting.

I just noticed in the running log that I've eclipsed my personal annual mileage PR *already* for 2009.

The log shows 539 miles so far in 2009, with 2008 only totaling 472 from Jan to Dec. Not interested in looking up the previous 7+ years mostly because I know that the total won't even come close to the 2008 one, since my running schedule pretty much ended for the most part after CRBR each year due to burnout.

Weekly mileage for the year so far is right at 20mpw on average too, compared to about 11.25 in 2008. I know that number is going to go up even more once Marathon training starts in a couple of weeks.

6.14m Trail Run (EZ)

6.14 miles @ 10.05 pace w/ Avg HR of 152 (Zone 2, 78.2% of MHR)

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9.32/141
9.75/150 - Entered the trail halfway thru this split
9.90/150 - Downhill trail portion
11.23/155 - Serious uphills on Trail
10.48/155 - More uphills
9.70/161
1.33/166 (9.29 pace)
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This was a run from my house, to the trailhead at H Forest, then the 3 mile loop, and then back to the base of my neighborhood.

I was determined to make this an "easy" pace and consequently keep my HR in the 150's or below. I significantly slowed down on the trails just for that reason.

Only saw 2 people on the trail this day: A jogger that joined in at the parking lot about half way through, she didn't pass me despite my sloooow pace in that section...and a mtn biker who I kept hearing behind me for a good quarter mile before he finally "on yo left" and passed me. He was really creeping me out just hanging around back there, but I suppose I could've heard him way in advance of his catching me. Still I kept an eye on him as he went by.

Running log shows this as my second best jaunt on this particular course yet according to my HR Efficiency score . I ran it 2 weeks ago "fast" and recorded my best showing, but running it slow this time wasn't far behind. I guess the ol' ticker is really shaping up.