All American or Bust

1st Interval Workout

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:09:00 +0000

On Saturday I ran 10 x half mile on a fairly flat portion of a paved bike path. The target time was 3:45 per repitition with a rest interval of 1:00. On the whole I was on target with the average repetion at 3:45.3 and the average recovery interval at 57 seconds. A key factor was my acceptance of the possibility that the first reps would be above the target. Over the past 5 years a recurring theme for my interval workouts was to force myself to hit the target time on the first repititions regardless of how much work it required. This often led to truncated workouts due to early lactate build up. On Saturday I accepted slower times for the first two reps and ended up right on the average.

1 - 3:56
2 - 3:53
3 - 3:43
4 - 3:45
5 - 3:46
6 - 3:45
7 - 3:39
8 - 3:43
9 - 3:41
10 - 3:42

The focus was to run at a level of effort that I felt I could maintain for a few hours. I probably was working a little too hard for that, but I hope to see the same times accomplished with decreasing effort as I go through the 9 interval workouts over the next 12 weeks. The other 3 weeks will include 2 marathon predictor workouts and 1 marathon distance effort.

The marathon predictor workouts are 10 miles at slightly above target pace followed by 5 miles at target pace. I'm planning on running the 10 at 8:15-8:30 per mile and the final 5 at 7:30-7:45 per mile. These workouts will occur at 12 weeks (next Saturday) and 6 weeks out from the Hartford Marathon.

The marathon distance effort will actually be 27 miles and will encompass 3 times around a 9 mile loop on the paved bike path. The Hartford Marathon is paved and flat so this should be a good test. I plan on stopping for 2-3 minutes at the end of each loop to change out my water/gatorade bottle and pick up additional GUs. The 27 mile run will occur at 9 weeks out from the marathon.

Final Single Day Before Intervals

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:45:00 +0000

Sunday was the final run of the one-run-per week phase. I used this time to test my ability to run at the pace I will aim for in the interval workouts over the weeks from now to October 9. The interval workouts will be run with reps of .5 mile to 2.5 miles at a pace of 7:30 per mile. My goal is to make 7:30 pace my 'auto pilot' pace - one that I can run with ease. In the marathon I would like to start slightly above my target pace of 8:00 and then work down to 7:30 pace for 7-9 of the middle miles. This would give me a few minutes cushion in case I don't have much left at the end.
In Sunday's workout I ran 6 x the 1.75 mile loop. The odd number laps were run slowly and the even number laps progressively faster.
Lap 1 - 17:51 / 10:12 per mile pace
Lap 2 - 14:05 / 8:03 per mile pace
Lap 3 - 16:57 / 9:41 per mile pace
Lap 4 - 13:43 / 7:50 per mile pace
Lap 5 - 16:44 / 9:34 per mile pace
Lap 6 - 13:13 / 7:33 per mile pace
The workout was a success. I was running almost totally on trails so I can factor in a few seconds less per mile when I begin the interval repetitions which will be run on a paved bike trail.

End of Duration Runs

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:39:00 +0000

Saturday concluded 9 weeks of runs that were solely to see how my body felt over increasing periods of time on my feet. The main thing that I've learned is that I am not able to recover from a 3 hour run in time to do a similar effort one week later. After coming back from the right hamstring strain that limited weeks 3-5 I attempted to pick up my original plan and run 3:15 in week 6, 3:30 in week 7, 3:45 in week 8 and finally 4:00 in week 9. Week 6 was OK over the 3:15, but when I ran 3:30 in week 7 I was really hurting in my quads. It wasn't the 'burn' that can be endured and even celebrated. Instead it was a feeling of sharp pains in the area between each rectus femoris and vastus medialis (basically the muscle in the mid-thigh centered over the knee to the inner muscle directly against the upper-inner portion of the knee). By Tuesday of each following week I was able to walk without pain and by the next week felt fine to try for the next 15 minute increment. What I discovered was that the pains began to return in the second hour and became increasingly worse in the third. If I do this type of sequence again I will modify it to have the increase weeks followed by weeks with runs of no more than 1 hour.
Here are the results of the 9 week 'time on my feet' sequence:

Week 1 (5/2): 2 hours @ 9:36 per mile. Very hot and I was not properly hydrated.
Week 2: 2 hours 15 minutes @ 8:53 per mile.
Week 3: 2 hours 30 minutes @ 8:50 per mile. Right hamstring strained after about 1 hour 30 minutes. Continued to run through it and paid the price at the end when I couldn't walk without a limp
Week 4: 2 hours @ 8:52 per mile. Supposed to be 2:45 but had to cut it short. After the first 3 miles I tried to run at same 8:30 - 8:45 pace as previous week and paid the price as my hamstring pretty much seized at 2 hours
Week 5: 1 hour @ somewhere over 10:00 per mile. Had to stop after only 1 hour when hamstring began to tighten. This time I was smart and stopped at the first sign.
Week 6: 3 hours 15 minutes @ 10:01 per mile. Ran very slow throughout with no pace below 9:18 per mile. Hamstring had some tightness but didn't seize. Quads were hurting at the end but not excessively.
Week 7: 3 hours 30 minutes @ 9:45 per mile. Made it through the planned duration, but my quads were hurting by the second hour and I was barely able to walk back to the car at the end. This week was painful through Wednesday. In retrospect this was the week I should have stopped at 1 hour.
Week 8: 2 hour 45 minutes @ 9:06 per mile. Planned for 3:45 but quads began hurting before 2 hours. Was able to gut it out for another hour, but no way was I making it to 3:45. Went faster than previous week with some loops under 8:40 pace.
Week 9: 3 hours 15 minutes. Planned for 4 hours. Quads were good through 2 hours but quickly deteriorated. By 3 hours my pace had dropped from an average of 9:20 per mile to somewhere north of 10:20.

An easy hour in weeks 7 and 9 would probably have allowed me to run for 4 hours in a tenth week. Still I managed to complete the 3 hour 30 minute run which is a confidence builder since that is the limit to the time I want to be running in Hartford on October 9.

This week will be off until Sunday when I'll run the 1.75 mile loop six times for 10.5 miles. I'm hoping to run the even numbered loops in 8:30, 8:15 and under 8:00 respectively to prepare for the 7:30 per mile pace training that will begin on the following Saturday and continue for 13 weeks.

Back In Form

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:00:00 +0000

I successfully completed the 3:30:00 long run this past Sunday. I ran without the Ace Bandage on my right hamstring since doing that the week before caused soreness in the non-injured parts of the muscle.

The run took place on a 1.75 mile loop. I completed 12 loops plus another half mile for 21.5 on the day. I ran very slowly for the first hour with the average per mile pace at 10:58 for the first loop. As I gained confidence that my hamstring was OK I let the pace come down to a low of 9:10 per mile in the 9th loop (14-15.75 miles) before slowing back to a 9:30 per mile average for the remainder of the run. The average pace for the measured 21 miles was 9:45.

This coming Sunday will be a 3:45:00 duration run. I am aiming to average 9:00 minutes per mile for a total distance of 25 miles.

Gradual Recovery

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:50:00 +0000

After a week off I tried to run again on Monday, May 31 but had to stop after only 1 hour when my hamstring seized up again.

I took off the rest of that week and tried again on Sunday, June 6 on the same 1.75 mile loop I've been running for the past few duration efforts. I wrapped my upper leg with an Ace bandage in a moderately tight fashion. I started at an extremely slow pace and while I only covered about 5.5 miles in the first hour my hamstring didn't seize up. My average pace for the first hour was 10:40 per mile.

I continued on with the thought that I would stop as soon as I felt a warning sign and surprisingly made it through the second hour with no issues. I was still moving quite slowly and I came through 2 hours having completed slightly under 12 miles. My average pace for the second hour was about 10:10 per mile.

Having come this far I decided I would try to go for the duration that I had on the original schedule, 3 hours and 15 minutes. To this point I felt strong throughout the run - due I'm sure to the slow pace - but as I approached the 3 hour mark I began to fatigue pretty quickly. I made it through to the 3 hour 15 minute mark but I didn't have much left. Over the past 1 hour and 15 minutes I covered a little over 7.5 miles at an average pace of about 9:35 per mile.

In all I covered 19.5 miles in the 3:15:00 for an average pace of 10:00 per mile.

I will rest again this week and then shoot for 3 hours 30 minutes next Sunday.

A Weak Week

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Wednesday - The tightness in my right hamstring was still noticeable, but it had lessened since Sunday. I ran a slow 7 miles and it took about half of the run before I loosened up.

Saturday - Still some tightness so I ran my full 9 mile loop at a slow pace instead of accellerating to tempo pace for the 5.3 loop in the middle.

Sunday - Scheduled 2:45:00 timed run. Hamstring was tight throughout the run. It started to feel better after 1:30:00 but by the 2:00:00 mark it was really seizing up. I cut the run short at that point.

30 miles total for the week.

In retrospect I should have skipped both the Wednesday and Saturday runs since the key for this portion of my training is to complete the timed ("Time on My Feet") runs each Sunday. I'll rest until next Sunday and retry the 2:45:00 run. If I'm able to complete that I will have only lost one week in the schedule. If I feel tightness I'll stop and wait another week.

Recap for Week 3 of 23

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:54:00 +0000

This was a scheduled pull back week in terms of mileage. Wednesday's 11 miler was cut to 5 as planned. Saturday's 8 miles with 2.2 mile at tempo was canceled due to a priority that came up during the week.
Fortunately the most important run of the week went well - the timed run that was now 2 hours and 30 minutes. Over the first 9 weeks of this Hartford Marathon training plan the only run that really matters is the Sunday 'Time on My Feet' run. As long as I complete each one and end up with the 4 hour effort on June 27 I am on track and will have successfully completed three runs of equal or greater duration to my goal time of 3 hours, 30 minutes.
The Sunday run wasn't without complications. I had to squeeze it in to ensure I was home in time to get to one of my kids' 11:30 soccer game. I meant to get up at 6:30, get to the trail and start the run no later than 7:30 following a mild warmup and stretch session. I overslept and didn't get up until 7:10. I didn't want to miss the run so I scrambled to get to the trail and I started the run at 7:50. I didn't do any warmup or stretching but I felt that wouldn't be a problem since the run would be at 10:00 pace early and never get below 8:30 pace. This didn't work out so well because I began to feel tightness in my quads and right hamstring after about one and a half hours. This was a bummer since the 7 miles from 5.25 to 12.25 were at an average pace of 8:34 which I felt was pretty good for the easy effort I was putting in. I had to shorten my stride to keep the hamstring tightness at bay so my times rose to an average of 8:50 for the final 6.75. In total I ran 17 miles in the 2:30:00 for an average of 8:50 per mile. Even with the tightness, this was 3 seconds faster than the 2:15:00 effort one week ago. I'm sure the low miles during the week had more to do with this improvement than, well, improvement.

Week 2 Done, 21 To Go

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:49:00 +0000

Saturday - Throughout the training plan Saturday workouts will be speed sessions. Speed is relative to marathon goal pace
and quite a bit slower than what would be required to train for track races.
This weekend I ran a 9 mile loop that consisted of an out/back portion measuring 1.85 miles each way that leads to/from a 5.3 mile
loop. The workout is a tempo effort over the 5.3 mile loop. I say 'tempo effort' and not 'tempo pace' because a tempo run
should be based on perceived effort and not pace per mile. The perceived effort is to run as fast as you can while still
remaining below the point where you feel your body begin to incur oxygen debt. That point is known as the lactate threshold.
Effort beyond the threshold results in an anaerobic effort which is not sustainable for much more than 15 minutes. 'Tempo
pace' is what you calculate after the run is completed. Ideally your tempo pace will decrease over a training cycle for a
consistant tempo effort.
On Saturday my tempo time was 38:24 for a tempo pace of 7:15 per mile. This is very good for the early stage of my training. The pace is well below target marathon pace (8:00) and also below the interval training pace of 7:30/mile that I will look to run beginning in July. It was also a good performance because my legs did not feel fully recovered from the tough workouts last weekend in the 85+ degree heat. The temperature for this workout was in the mid-70s which also made a big difference over the conditions for last Saturday's track repititions.

Sunday - The duration of the 'time on my feet' run increased from 2:00:00 last Sunday to 2:15:00. This time around the temparature never exceeded 50 degrees. The physical effect of running in temperatures almost 40 degrees cooler than the heat I ran in last Sunday was awesome. At the 2 hour mark I was almost at 13.5 miles, a full mile beyond where I finished the run last week. I went through the approximate half-marathon at around 1:57 and logged almost 15.5 miles at the end of 2:15:00. the overall average pace was 8:53 and the average pace for miles 8-14 was 8:34. If the temperature on October 9 is below 50 degrees I will be in good conditions for a great performance.

Week 2 Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:44:00 +0000

Yesterday was another 11 miler. I covered the same hilly trail course that I ran last Wednesday and will run on many future Wednesdays between now and October. Later in the summer the course will be extended to about 15 miles. In terms of quantifying the 'hilliness', this course is seldom flat and the elevation range is about 350 feet from lowest to highest point.

I ran the same time for this course yesterday as I did the week before, 1:45. I had nothing. The efforts in the heat over the weekend manifested themselves in my body in the same way that a half-marathon race has done in the past. Soreness in quads, hips, calfs, etc. and very little energy made yesterday a recovery run rather than a workout.

Week 1 Done, 22 To Go

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:14:00 +0000

The first week of training for the Hartford Marathon ended with two difficult sessions. The workouts themselves were not difficult, but the temperatures in the mid to high 80s were something I was not prepared for.

Saturday was an 'In/Out' workout. This involves a repetition of 100m fast, 100m slow, 100m fast, 100m slow, 200m fast. As the sequence repeats the 200 increases to 300/400/500/etc.

Three weeks ago I was able to run the fast reps at 5:40/mile pace and I made it to the 700m rep. Yesterday I was only able to manage 5:55 pace and I had to stop after the 500m rep. The difference was the 25 degree temparature increase. I felt winded from the start and never got past that feeling.

Today was the same story. I ran for 2 hours at a slow pace and was completely wiped out by the end. Last Sunday I covered 12.5 miles in about 1 hour and 39 minutes. Today I was only able to manage the same 12.5 mile in 2 hours. This was also on a course that is much easier than the one I ran last week.

Conclusion - I am currently overmatched by high temperatures. As the summer comes and progresses I should get better at handling the heat, but at this point a Boston Marathon qualifying time seems a long shot if the temperature on October 9 is above 65 degrees.

32 miles total this week.

One Down, 68 To Go

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:52:00 +0000

Now that I've put it all into my calendar, the complete Hartford Marathon training plan works out to be 23 weeks x 3 runs per week for a total of 69 sessions. Quantifying a plan allows me to view it in a specific time frame rather than a more open-ended viewpoint such as "I'm training for a marathon in the Fall. I'll be in shape by then".

My running week ends on Sunday, so yesterday was workout #1. The Wednesday session is intended to be recovery from the back to back runs on each preceding weekend. From a macro view Wednesday will be easy distance, Saturday will be repetitions/speed work and Sunday will be long distance.

Workout #1 was 11 miles on trails with many hills. My lower legs took a long time to loosen up so the first few miles started at a slow jog and probably averaged about 11:00 per mile. I needed to stop twice for stretching and flexibility exercises but I was able to continue non-stop for the remaining 9 miles or so. Overall I averaged about 9:30 which means I picked up the pace as I went, but never much faster than 8:30-8:45.

How to BQ in Just 3 Days Per Week

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:20:00 +0000

I've decided to run a marathon. Actually I'm going to run three marathons.

Here is my plan:

October, 2010
Run the Hartford, CT Marathon in under 3:30:00

that will qualify me for the ...

April, 2011
Boston Marathon, which I will run as fast as I possibly can run a marathon

followed by the...

November, 2011
New York City Marathon, which I will run just for the experience

I'm going to try to do this on a program that has me running Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. This is due to time constraints and the recovery time I need to train hard and not miss weeks with injuries.

I'll post regularly with my workout details, but the highlights of this plan are:

- Sundays, Week 1 - Week 8:
Time on My Feet Runs - slow as necessary to complete duration runs that will begin with 2 hours on May 2nd and increase by 15 minutes each week through the final duration run of 4 hours on June 27.

- Marathon Pace Training
Every Saturday for the 13 weeks leading up the the Hartford Marathon will be an interval workout with reps ranging from 1/2 mile to 2 1/2 miles. The total volume of reps will increase from a minimum of 5 miles (10 by 1/2 mile) to a maximum of 15 miles (6 x 2 1/2 miles). Each rep will be run at 7:30 per mile pace with a 1 minute recovery interval

- Two Marathon Tests
1 marathon length run on trails followed by a second marathon on pavement three weeks later. These are to be run as slow as necessary and are intended to gauge fueling/hydration and the experience of completing the distance

To run 3:30:00 means averaging 8:00 per mile for the race. Yesterday I was able to run 12.5 on a pretty difficult trail course in 7:52 per mile so I'm in decent shape with six months to go.

The Lost Year

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:22:00 +0000

I don't know if anyone will read this but life is good.

2009 was a lost year in terms of blogging. From my last post in October, 2008 to March 4, 2009 I was working 7 days a week trying to deliver on three projects that I hoped would keep me employed. I hit 2 out of 3 with the 3rd only 4 weeks from delivery when I was shown the door in a 'Reduction In Force' with 139 of my colleagues.

I barely ran during that time so there was nothing to write about. March thru June was kind of fun. I took advantage of my lack of obligations and volunteered as an assistant coach for my town's high school track team. I trained with them a little, but after not running for months my body couldn't take the paces that these kids run routinely.

In June ( on my birthday) I was bitten by a tick in the woods near my house and developed Erlichiosis. A 7-day headache, 3 days of fever that reached 102.5 and total body aches followed before a 21-day dose of antibiotics eventually got the job done.

In August I began working as a consultant and that is where I am today.

I trained for the yearly October half-marathon and ran a 1:36 and change. Then ran about 1 day per week for the rest of the year and gained about 15 pounds.

I started training again this past January - 15 pounds overweight and slow. I've managed to lose 8 of the 15 and now that the Easter candy is gone (that was an enjoyable process) I hope to shed the remaining 7.

At 46 my recovery plainly sucks. I've settled into a 3-day-per-week training schedule where I run easy on Wednesday, speed/tempo on Saturday and long distance on Sunday. This past weekend was the best so far with 3900 meters worth of speed reps on Saturday (avg 5:25 mile pace) and 13 miles at 7:45 pace on Sunday. I'm still no where near accomplishing a sub-5:00 mile and sub 1:30 half marathon this year, but the progress has been there so I'll keep at it.

The general running-malaise of the past year also meant I didn't read all of my favorite running blogs. I'm catching up now, so see you soon.

Not The Way I Planned It

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:22:00 +0000

I didn't break 1:30 today. Based on the way I ran I think it was within my abilities but by cutting it too close getting to the starting line I blew any chance.
I ran my easy 2 mile warm up and with 7 minutes before the 8:30 AM start (by my watch) I headed to the 'portos' for a quick pit stop. When I came out of there I jogged along side the pack to get up the the front. This race is on a parkway so I was on the on the other side of the guardrail. When I reached about 200 yards to the front of the pack the horn sounded to start the race. I glanced at my watch and saw 8:28. I couldn't believe that the one time a road race started early for me was this time. I climbed over the rail and squeezed into a section of the pack that was moving at about 20:00 per mile pace.
From here I played Ricochet Rabbit and 'bing-bing-binged' my way through the crowd to find some running room. After a while I reached the starting line and started my watch. For the next half mile I continued to play Barry Sanders until I finally found some room.
At the first mile split I looked down and saw 9:03 and knew my goal of sub 1:30 was already not likely to happen. I said earlier that I felt good for sub 1:30 over 13.1, but I didn't see how I was going to manage 1:20:xx for 12.1.
Still, I tried.
My original plan of 7:00-6:55-6:50-6:45-6:40 was out of the question. Now my first goal was to get the 9:03 average down to the 7:00 range. I went through mile 2 in 15:37 for a split of 6:34. Too fast for my plan, but my average was down to 7:48 and I felt OK. I didn't take splits for the next two miles. Mile 5 came by in 34:38 which brought me down to 6:56 pace. My split for those three miles was 19:00 which means I had run 6:20 pace or faster than I ran the 3 miles in my 5K tempo run/race three weeks ago. Now I knew I was in trouble. Miles 6-7-8 were 6:59, 7:05 and 7:13. I took advantage of a downhill in mile 9 and managed a split of 6:43. At this point my time was 1:02:40 and my average pace was 6:58. I still had an outside chance of breaking 1:31 but my legs were feeling the effort.
(One thing that became obvious today was my lack of training on pavement. The harder surface, while faster than the trails, really pounded my legs. Next year I'll run my intervals on the paved bike path.)
Mile 10 made it clear that the 6:43 was my last gasp at speed today. This split was 7:07. From here I logged 7:30, 7:24 over mild rolling hills in miles 11 and 12 and then a poor imitation of a kick for a final 1.1 in 7:38 (6:56 pace). My final clock/gun time was 1:32:57 and my final watch time was 1:32:19 which means it took 38 seconds just to reach the starting line.

Next up is an easy week with no running until Saturday. The following week I begin the next phase of training where I will run less reps on my interval workouts but at faster paces. I'm aiming at 3 races of 5K/5 Mile/10K respectively in February and March. The first two races are two weeks apart with 4 weeks until the 10K. The interval workouts will have reps geared towards sustaining sub 6:00 mile pace for those distances.

Some time around January I'll see what kind of shape I'm in and decide if I'll forgo the March 10K to instead compete in the National Masters Indoor meet.

Half Off

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:20:00 +0000

I meant to run 32 x 440 @ 1:37 this morning, but I stopped at 16 x 440 @ 1:41 (w 40 seconds recovery jog over 110 yards). My legs felt pretty whipped from the combination of the 7 mile HM pace run last Wednesday, the fast tempo on Saturday and the go-out-fast-and-hold-on 14 mile run on Sunday.
For the past 7 weeks I’ve run a track workout on Wednesday morning and each week was a familiar pattern of gradually loosening up in the 2 mile jog to the track, working a little hard in the first mile of reps, and then cruising on autopilot for the remainder at better-then-target pace.
Today I felt fatigued through the 2 mile jog. Fatigued through the first 2 miles (8 reps) of the workout. Fatigued through the second 2 miles and fatigued on the jog home, especially up the big hill. I never hit autopilot today. Instead I needed to push a little bit on every rep to come in around 1:40. When I reached the 16th rep it was clear that in order to finish the planned workout I would have to put in far more effort than I’d needed to run 1:40 pace the previous 7 weeks. This would be too close to race effort - and a bad idea with the race in 11 days – so I live to run another day.
Tomorrow will be a jog to the track, 1.5 miles of diagonals (135 meters) at about 5:20 pace to get the rust out, and a jog back home. Ideally when I run the same next Thursday I will feel light years better then I feel tomorrow. Between those two diagonals workouts I will run 9 miles on Saturday including a trip around the 5.3 mile tempo loop at a pace northwards of 7:30.In a nutshell, my taper from already low mileage will be: 10/2 – 5 miles with fast/5:20 diagonals, 10/4 – 9 miles w 5.3 at 7:30, 10/9 – 5 miles with fast/5:20 diagonals, 10/11 – 3 miles with HM pace diagonals, 10/12 – Race. I would normally run easy distance on Sunday 10/5, but I’m traveling to Seattle for business. I may run 5-6 on a treadmill at the hotel on Monday or Tuesday.

Half Marathon Training - Week #6 of 8

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:18:00 +0000

The past weekend marked my final 5.3 tempo effort for the Saturday workout and my final Sunday long run. This weekend was certainly a tester. The prior weekend I ran a 5K on Saturday and then in my long run I purposely started slowly and was able to build to 7:22/mile pace by the end. I felt very strong at the finish and based on my un-scientific estimates the average mile on the trail is 30 seconds slower than the same effort on the track so I was right about at half marathon pace in that 14-miler.

This weekend I ran both the tempo and the long run from the other end of the pacing spectrum. I started fast and tried to hold on. The theory behind this plan was to see if I could hold form physically and mentally when my body was hurting. In the tempo run I aimed for an overall pace of 6:58 or 37:00 for the 5.3 miles. I took the pace out hard and came through the 1.4 mile mark in 10 minutes flat. This was an average pace of 7:08, which is certainly slower than target pace, but the first 1.4 mile segment includes a tough hill that covers a .35 mile at 5.7% grade. I felt strong as I began the 2.5 mile inner loop that includes the Eagle Hill loop which carries a 7.3% grade on the initial quarter-mile incline. After returning to the bottom of the loop I was about 3 miles into the tempo and down to a cumulative pace of 6:55 per mile. A downhill-to-flat section of almost ½ mile follows Eagle Hill and I covered this in 3:02 which means I had run the 2 miles following the 1.4 split in about 6:40 pace. This brought me to the dreaded Pocantico River Trail hill which goes from the Rt 117 underpass to the top of the previously mentioned .35 mile hill (13 Bridges). This is where I’ve stopped many times in tempo runs that began too ambitiously. This hill is only an average grade of 3.2%, but it takes 1500 yards to complete the 300 foot climb to the top. It is simply a persistent hill that has made me pay the price a number of times at around the 500 yard mark when I’ve spent too much en route. Saturday was no different. The effects of what I equate to 6:10 track pace took charge at – you guessed it- the 500 yard mark one third of the way up this incline. The pace to this point was too close to race effort for me to continue. I needed to stop for a quick walking break that turned out to be 1:37. From there I was able to resume the tempo and complete the 5.3 miles. I ran a split of 2:00 on the trip back down the 13 Bridges hill which is only 2 seconds off of my all time best and overall my time was 36:58 when I subtracted the rest stop. I guess this ended up being a cruise interval workout of 3.5 miles, 1:37 recovery, 1.8 miles. I’m still no where near the fitness I had in February when I ran this tempo (non-stop) in 36:16, but I think this hard effort will pay dividends for the half marathon in two weeks.

Yesterday’s run should also qualify as a solid investment. One week ago I started out at 8:45 pace for the first 2 miles before descending to that 7:22 pace in the final 2. I didn’t drop below 8:00 pace until the 5th mile. As mentioned, that run felt strong throughout. Yesterday I was at 8:00 pace through the first 2 and I hit 7:26 pace by the 3 mile mark. I kept the effort constant and predictably my times began to back off as the miles progressed. After the first 3.25 miles this course covers a 2.5 mile loop 3 times. This is the same loop that makes up the center of the 5.3 mile tempo course and includes the Eagle Hill and the first 900 yards of the Pocantico hill. I was well under 8:00 pace for the first loop (19:24 / 7:46 per mi) but lap 2 was in 19:55 and lap 3 was in 20:20 / 8:08 pace. The final 3.25 back to the start took over 27:00 and I was completely wiped out at the finish. This was truly a mental test because I didn’t feel strong/efficient/fast for the final 7 miles. It brought back memories of bonking in last year’s half marathon at mile 5 and struggling to bring it home. My final time was 1:52 and change for an average of 8:03. Quite a bit slower than last week’s 1:51 / 7:55 but still a good workout following the 7 mile half marathon workout on Wednesday and Saturday’s tempo/cruise.

34 miles total for the week in 3 sessions. The upcoming week includes the final track workout which will be 8 miles of volume in the form of 32 x 440 @ 1:37 with 45 seconds recovery on Wednesday morning. From there I have 11 days to run easy and rest up for the race on 10/12.

The 3-days-per-week model has worked out well for me. A hard Wednesday morning interval workout followed by two days rest into a Saturday tempo and Sunday long run followed by another two days rest before the next Wednesday interval session has given my body the ability to run 3 hard sessions per week without breaking down. The fact that I walk 4.5 miles Mon-Fri as part of my commute to/from work means the days off aren't completely rest days as the walks probably serve as some level of recovery effort.

Dress Rehearsal… Boffo!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:26:00 +0000

This morning’s 7-mile half marathon dress rehearsal was the recipient of rave reviews from Timex. I was at or below all target splits and, best of all, when I maintained constant perceived effort through miles 5, 6 and 7 my times continued to drop.

For the record:
Mile 1: Target was 7:00, actual was 6:58.6
Mile 2: Target was 6:55, actual was 6:55.4
Mile 3: Target was 6:50, actual was 6:46.6
Mile 4: Target was 6:45, actual was 6:42.7
Mile 5: Target was 6:40, actual was 6:39.8
Mile 6: Target was 6:40, actual was 6:35.1
Mile 7: Target was 6:40, actual was 6:30.9
Total: Target was 47:30, actual was 47:09

My legs were tight and somewhat out of synch for the first 2 miles (due to only a jog warm up w no strides and it being 5:30 AM). Between miles 2 and 3 I settled into a good rhythm and from mile 4 to the finish I fell into a nice auto-pilot groove that kept the times coming down while not drawing any noticeable increase of effort. If my final two weeks of preparation go well I see no problems (short of 80+ degrees and humid) that will keep me from breaking 1:30. One thing I will need to pay attention to is holding back after mile 5. This morning the splits were too fast after that point for me to sustain for another 6.1 miles.

11 miles total including the big hill back to home.

Finally 14

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:22:00 +0000

On my second try I got through the 14 mile run. I set a goal of running it at 8:00 pace but following the 5K yesterday I realistically thought today would be in the 8:15 range and maybe next Sunday I'd run it faster in the final long run before the half marathon.

I started slowly and for the first 6-7 miles my legs felt tight but things changed soon after and my cumulative time began to drop. I was at 8:14 average pace through the 5.75 mile mark and then brought that down to 8:08 through 8.25, 8:03 through 10.75 and finished at a cumulative average of 7:54 for a 14 mile time of 1:50:36.

I'm wiped out now and really appreciate my scheduled Monday and Tuesday rest days coming up. Wednesday will be the half marathon dress rehearsal on the track where I will hopefully run 7 straight miles at 7:00, 6:55, 6:50, 6:45, 6:40, 6:40 and 6:40.

5K Tempo Test

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:59:00 +0000

This morning I ran the 5K race that I mentioned in my last post. With my first 14 miler planned for tomorrow I didn't intend to put forth a race effort, but I did want to see what pace my current tempo effort would bring. I hoped that I would be able to run at 6:15 pace. That may be possible on the track but on a course with two decent hills the best I could do was 6:30 pace for a total time of 20:10. Since this was a tempo effort I felt pretty good the whole way and my legs feel like they will be able to cover the 14 this time around.
On the plus side I ran this following a tough interval workout on Wednesday so maybe I would have been a little closer to 6:15s with less tired legs.

8 miles today for 19 week to date.

5 Down, 2 to Go

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:57:00 +0000

This morning I survived my 5th Wednesday half marathon pace track workout. With each week I’ve added 1 mile of reps so today’s total was 6 miles in the form of 12 x 880 yards with 220 yard jog recovery. Targets were 3:20 per rep and 1:15 per recovery jog. When I ran 880s three weeks ago I did 6 reps at an average of 3:16.5 with the 220 jogs averaging 1:16.6. Today I was able to improve on both marks with an average rep of 3:16.4 and an average recovery of 1:14.7 while running twice the volume. The 12th rep was in 3:08.8 which just edged out the 6th rep from three weeks ago which was 3:09.9.

This was not an easy workout for me. My quads were tight from the weekend workouts and while they loosened up after my warm up they really started feeling hammered around rep #8. I was surprised that my splits stayed consistently in the 3:16-3:17 range from this point, but certainly encouraged that I’m developing an ‘auto pilot’ at the 6:40 per mile pace. The faux cool down back up the hill to my house was not a pleasant experience to say the least.

11 miles today and for the week to date. I’m going to run a 5K race on Saturday so I may skip the fast diagonals tomorrow to allow my quads to recover and be ‘hitting on all eight’ (he, he, pun) for the race. If I can run 6:15 pace on the tired legs that will result from today’s effort I will be happy.

My Inconvenient Truth

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:21:00 +0000

I can’t handle humidity.

Last weekend I bonked during my 5.3 mile tempo run on Saturday but came back strong on Sunday in my long run. This weekend I ran well in the tempo run on Saturday but bonked during the long run. The cause of the bonks was the stifling humidity the prior Saturday and this past Sunday. My body just cannot crank it out when the conditions are muggy. This means I will be watching the weather.com site diligently in the days approaching the half-marathon. My preference is for 55 degrees and no more than 60% humidity. If I believed in claptrap like ‘The Secret’ I would ‘throw it out into the universe’ and watch it come to pass. Alas I think I’ll do better to keep on training and adjust my race plan as needed when the day comes.

Saturday
For the 5.3 mile tempo, I improved my time from two weeks prior by 33 seconds with a time of 38:15. This is a per mile average of 7:13 over a fairly challenging course. Of note was the final 1.4 mile leg which I ran in 9:39 for an average pace of 6:54.

Sunday
Last train to Bonksville. I started out well and was almost a minute ahead of last week’s decent long run (11.5) at the 3.25 mile mark. From there I seemed to spring a leak in my fuel tank. My initial plan to run 14 miles, but I cut it to 10. My ambitious starting pace of 7:45 ended up as an overall average of 8:30.

19 miles over the weekend to end half marathon training week #4 with a total of 34. My mileage progression is now 20, 25, 30, 34.

4th Run is Added

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:05:00 +0000

This week I am adding a fourth day of running. Thursday mornings will now be 12 x diagonals on a local soccer field at around 5:40 per mile pace. The key to Thursday is to maintain leg speed and efficient form throughout what is primarily a distance/strength training cycle. This morning I was anxious to see if I would be able to run fast following 20 x 440 yesterday. Everything turned out fine. I ran the diagonals at an average pace of 5:33 per mile with the fastest at 5:14 pace.

There was an added difficulty to this session - and every workout where I run from home to the track. This is the “anti-cool down” that I need to run to get back home. I live on a considerable hill where the 2-mile run to the track is always a nice, easy warm up down the hill followed by a fairly level remainder to the track. Coming back is a different story. According to gmaps-pedometer, the final ¾ of a mile to my house climbs 250 feet. This includes a ¼ mile hill that climbs 145 feet – about an 11% grade! Suffice to say my cool down from a track workout is non-existent.*

5 miles for today and 15 week to date.

----------------------------**
* When I am approaching a race or running a very fast/intense interval workout I will tend to drive to the track and run the 2 mile warm up and cool down there to avoid the extra helping of lactate I have to onboard from the anti-cool down.

** Throwing in a footnote to pay homage to Nitmos and J-Money in case they actually read this virtual Sominex.

Interval Workout # 4 of 7

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:51:00 +0000

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I began the half marathon training program with 8 x 440 at an average of 1:39.3 with a 110 jog recovery (fyi, avg was 43.4). That’s because it wasn’t that long ago. This morning, only three weeks later, I was upping the volume from 2 miles of 440s to 5 miles of 440s. The target time was still 1:40 per rep with 45 seconds or less recovery. It took all of my 2 mile jog to the track to get loose. Both of my Achilles have been tight for the past month and I’ve needed to warm up gradually to prepare for each workout.

When I set out on the first rep I figured this would be a session of ‘mathematically encouraging mental statements’ to stay motivated through 20 reps. To my surprise I found out that the recovery jogs were short enough to make the reps click by quickly. I was on to the next before I could dwell upon the last. This workout turned out to be the best of the bunch so far in my half marathon training. I was slow at 1:43 for the first rep, but by rep #6 my splits were all sub 1:40. The most encouraging sign of improvement was that the last 6 reps were the fastest including the final rep in 1:27 / a finishing kick at 5:48 pace. Overall I averaged 1:37.4 per rep and 42.8 per recovery. That is an improvement over the 8 x 440 workout by almost 2 seconds per rep and more than half a second per recovery.

10 miles for the day and the week to date.

End of Training Week #3

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:11:00 +0000

A mixed bag this weekend in terms of performance. On Saturday I ran the third 5.3 mile tempo and had an awful result. I set out at around 2 PM which was 3-4 hours before TS Hannah rolled through. Her prelude was 90% humidity and my performance reflected that. Before I started the 1.85 warm up section out to the 5.3 loop I noticed a woman coming off the trail after walking her dog. The ‘harbinger of doom’ should have been obvious, the back of her shirt was wet with sweat and she was only walking.
The tempo started out well. During the warm up I felt fast for the first time in this training cycle. My check points were good for the first 1.4 mile leg (9 seconds ahead of last week) and the following 1/2 mile segment (now up to 13 seconds ahead of prior week). Then some inner switch was flipped and I was back in time to last year’s half marathon where I went on pace for the first 5 miles and then struggled for the next 8. I had nothing. I made it through to the 3 mile mark and then I had to stop. I walked around for 4 minutes and then continued to about 4 miles when I had to stop again. This break was a little over 2 minutes after which I pretty much jogged the rest of the 5.3 loop and then back to my car. I averaged 7:39 per mile (running time) which was 29 seconds per mile slower than my target.

Yesterday was a different story. Hannah was long gone and the day brought a temperature of 75 with no noticeable humidity. My run was the scheduled long-run with the first increase in distance – from 9 miles to 11.5 miles. I set out cautiously, not sure of the toll taken by Saturday’s difficulties. I passed the 2 mile mark in about 18 minutes and then ran by feel the rest of the way. The 11.5 mile course was the same as the tempo course – 1.85 miles to the 5.3 loop, 1.85 back – but I added a second internal 2.5 mile loop around 13 Bridges-Eagle-Pocantico. My pace dropped from the initial 9 minutes per mile to 8:12 on the way to the 3.25 mark, 7:59 to the 5.75 mark, 7:48 to 8.25 and 7:33 to 9.65. I felt strong the whole way. Ideally I will run the half marathon at this final level of effort, but at a pace averaging 6:45 instead of 7:33. The change from the difficult trails in Rocky’s to the fast, fairly flat Bronx River Parkway will supply a good portion of that decrease in time but the rest will have to be found over the next 5 weeks of training.

I finished the run at around 8:00 pace for the final 1.85 segment. Total running time was 1:33:31 which is an average of 8:08 per mile. The average per mile following the slow first 2 miles was 7:56. My 9 mile distance run the prior Sunday was at 8:01/mile so aerobically I have made some progress.

12 miles total for the day brings me to 30 for the week. Distance progression for weeks 1-3 is 19, 25, 30.

Half Marathon Pace Workout #3 of 8

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:01:00 +0000

Running intervals at 5:30 AM still sucks, but the workouts are showing signs of improvement. Yesterday was the third half marathon pace training session. I have run 2 miles of 440s and 3 miles of 880s which set yesterday up as 4 miles of 1 Mile repeats. Recovery is still ¼ of rep distance or a 440 jog here. All workouts are set at 6:40/mile pace. This means that as each 3 week cycle progresses (440->880->1 Mile) the reps get harder since I’m holding the same pace for a longer distance. Strangely enough, next Wednesday’s 20 x 440 should feel much easier than this 4 x 1 Mile.

The splits yesterday morning were all better than 6:40 and the recoveries averaged below 2:30:

Rep 1 – 6:35 with 2:25 jog
Rep 2 – 6:36 with 2:24 jog
Rep 3 – 6:37 with 2:29 jog
Rep 4 – 6:22

Rep 4 was run at a steady state for the first 3 laps (1:38.7, 1:38.4, 1:38.2) with the final lap run as a simulated kick to the finish in 1:26. My aim was to increase turnover at the bell without moving from my distance stride. A finish at 5:44 pace would be awesome if I can manage that on race day, after 10 x 1 Mile with no recovery!

Looking forward to week 6: I was going to run 7 x 1 Mile in the same manner as today but I think it would be more beneficial (or at least a confidence builder) to run a 7-mile rehearsal of my race plan. My schedule for 9/24 now calls for a 7 mile run at descending splits of 7:00/6:55/6:50/6:45/6:40/6:40/6:40. I’d like to try to pick it up for the final 880 if possible.

9 miles today and for the week to date.