May the Mass x Acceleration be with you

 5 miles in 39:10 (7:50/mile)

Easy day in an easy recovery week.

Splits: 8:02 - 7:44 - 7:49 - 7:42 - 7:53

Easy-mod progression run - 7 miles in 50:53 (7:16/mile)

Feeling pretty good today. The rain held off. 1 mile warmup, then a gradual increase in speed. The one mile that was under 7/mile was due to downhill. I kept the pace pretty light overall.

Splits: 7:47 - 7:22.5 - 7:22.9 - 7:13.6 - 6:53.1 - 7:10.4 - 7:03.0

Easy run on the trails - 5 miles in 40:07

Vickory route - 7 miles in 54:09 (7:44/mile)

Still kind of tired today, a little sluggish. Started with 7xLM, LL

Splits: 7:57 - 7:45 - 7:48 - 7:44 - 7:42 - 7:38 - 7:34

11 mile run on the Foothills Trail in 1:28:44

Ran with Carl. We deviated from the main trail, however, and ran along the Puyallup after Orting. It was a nice trail, not paved like the main one. At first the gravel was deep and thick, made a good resistance workout. After a little while, though, the terrain changed to a basic dirt path, wide enough for 3 to run side by side, with the Puyallup to the right.

Splits: 8:10 - 8:03 - 8:09 - 8:32 - 8:22 - 8:16 - 7:57 - 8:03 - 8:07 - 7:40 - 7:24

Warmup:

8xLM
Easy warmup run to the track - 2.35 miles in 18:20 (7:56 - 7:39 - 2:46)

2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300m recoveries
1:59.8, 2:02.3

4x150@5k pace with 250m recoveries
31.1, 33.0, 33.8, 33.5

Workout:

6 minute test run - run 6 minutes all out and carefully determine the distance covered.

I don’t think I'm entirely recovered from the 15k 9 days ago. I was feeling a little sore and a little sluggish on the warmup intervals, and I ran out of gas pretty quickly on this time trial as compared to last time. I only improved by about 2.5 seconds through 1600 meters, and only went 11 meters further for the full 6 minutes. I had expected a bigger improvement than that. Still, an improvement is an improvement. I went out too fast this time, opposite problem as last time. My first 200 was in 41s. I was thinking 82 second laps would be manageable, and that I would even been able to speed up after that. However, I got to 800m much slower, in about 2:49. But, I managed to speed up a bit on the second half, running 83 on the 3rd lap (4:12), and about 82 or so on the 4th lap (abour 5:34), then hung on the lasat 26 seconds.

Somehow the Garmin mile split was 5:33.14, and came before the 1600m mark. I did have to run out into lane two a couple times to go around a hurdle, but I don't it made that much of a difference. I covered about 1730 meters in 6 minutes, 11 more than last time.

Workout, part 2:

But the workout didn't stop there. Next I did a 4 mile tempo run at 1/2 marathon pace. I have recently run 5 miles at what I assumed was about 12-15k pace, in 6:30, but now that I've run a bit faster than that, McMillans says 6:35 is 1/2 M pace.

The course I used was pretty flat and easy, and also very familiar. 6:35 pace felt pretty comfortable. I mostly had to hold back or risk dipping into the 6:20s. It was nice to be able to run this part of the workout so comfortably, since the 6 min run was so hard.

Splits:
1 - 6:37.5
2 - 13:10 - 6:33.1
3 - 19:45 - 6:34.4
4 - 26:13 - 6:28.4

Cooldown:

2.58 mile cool down in 20:43
Pedestal, Cannonball

Easy 6 on trails in 48:14

8xLM, LL
12 miles on BPA trail in 1:30:42

Feeling pretty good today again, mostly recovered from Monday's workout. Unfortunately the weather man was wrong. It was supposed to get drier as the run went on, but instead the light sprinkles at the beginning turned to a downpour by just before halfway, and kept pouring until after I got back. I had to wring out my clothes before I could do my strength workout afterwards!

Splits:
7:46 - 7:44 - 7:45 - 7:26 - 7:58 - 7:43 - 7:33 - 7:23 - 7:27 - 7:14 - 7:20 - 7:22

Easy 6 miles on the trails in 47:26

8xLM, LL
8 mile progression run on Military Road in 58:37

Feeling pretty good today. I seem to be adapting to the 60 mile week much better this time than when I tried it several weeks ago. It was a dry day today, between storms, thankfully. But the long run tomorrow is supposed to be in the rain. I didn't want today to be too tiring, since I have a long run tomorrow. I ran 2 mile warmup, 1 mile cool down.

Splits: 7:46 - 7:44 - 7:32 - 7:14 - 7:06 - 6:51 - 6:53 - 7:31

Brookdale Road route - 16 miles in 2:01:28 (7:36/mile).

This is a moderate route. There are a couple big hills in the middle and you have to run both ways, and there is an overall gain of elevation on the way out of about 250 feet or so in 6 1/2 miles. It actually wasn't as hard as I remembered. The rain fell the entire run, but never very hard. It wasn't as bad as the pouring rain on Wednesday, even though that was a shorter run.

Splits: 7:48 - 7:49 - 7:38 - 7:34 - 7:34 - 7:39 - 7:25 - 7:41 - 7:35 - 7:37 - 7:25 - 7:45 - 7:30 - 7:24 - 7:32 - 7:30

Warm up

8xLM
Easy warmup jog to the track - 2.36 miles in 17:55 (7:36/mile)
Skipping exercises, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)
2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300 recoveries (2:00.9, 2:01.0)
4x150@5k pace, with 250 recoveries
32.3, 33.8, 33.3, 32.5

Workout

30x144m (470 ft) in 30s with 30s recoveries

30.0, 31.3, 31.4, 30.5, 29.6, 30.0, 29.8, 29.5, 29.4, 29.6, 30.0, 30.7, 28.9, 29.7, 28.7, 29.5, 29.3, 29.8, 29.6, 29.5, 28.0, 30.0, 29.6, 29.8, 29.3, 30.3, 30.5, 43.0 (forgot to stop), 30.2, 30.6

Not too hard, though my groin injury was aggravated and pretty bothersome over the last few

Cool down

Pedestal, Cannonball

Cool down - 2.37 miles in 18:43 (7:54/mile)

Easy 7 miles in 56:18

I felt pretty good the first 4 miles, but very tired after that. Also, my groin injury has resurfaced over the last few days, becoming more aggravating.

Splits: 7:53 - 8:00 - 8:01 - 8:03 - 8:06 - 8:09 - 8:07

Weights

Warmup:

8xLM, LL
Warmup run, with 1x500m at 1/2 marathon pace

Workout:

8 mile tempo run @ 1/2 marathon pace, run in 53:05 (6:38/mile)

I had hoped to run between 6:30-6:35 pace, but that wasn't realistic, for several reasons. I'm not quite that fast over 8 miles yet; I'm still tired from Monday's track workout and yesterday's weight workout; I was wearing my regular trainiers instead of the light-weights.

I really had to work at pushing myself frequently to keep anywhere near pace. Typically I'd check my pace and find I was running 6:45 or slower and then have to force myself to speed up, usually on an uphill, to try to shave a few seconds off. My body was pretty fatigued musculo-skelatally. I wasn't having trouble with oxygen debt, though. Just tired body. In the end I was pleased with the effort. A few weeks ago I ran a 5 mile tempo in 6:30/mile, then ran 6:25 pace the following week at the 15k race. This time I ran 6:38/mile for 8 miles, so I'm hoping that translates into a 6:32 or faster 20k next week. I will need to make sure I am well rested going into the race.

Splits:
1 - 6:40.75
2 - 13:11 - 6:31.25
3 - 20:06 - 6:54.75 (main uphill)
4 - 26:39 - 6:32.5
5 - 33:19 - 6:40.5 (usually this is a faster split)
6 - 40:00 - 6:40.5
7 - 46:43 - 6:43.0
8 - 53:05 - 6:22.0 (downhill)

Cooldown:

Easy Cool down 2 miles in 17:04

Cannonball

4xLM
Easy 6 miles on trails in 47:43 (23:54, 23:49)

I actually felt pretty good today, more energetic than usual after a tough tempo run.

9 miles on the BPA path in 1:09:44 (7:45/mile)

Another run where I was running slow for the effort I felt I was giving. Looking forward to a recovery week next week before the 20k I had originally thought I'd do a progression run, but the pace wasn't getting faster so I gave up.  I just kept running barely under 8/mile until, with a few miles to go, I forced myself to pick it up. Funny how, whenever I do that, it only takes a minute or two, and then the new pace begins to feel normal.

Splits: 7:59 - 7:45 - 7:44 - 7:36 - 8:01 - 7:53 - 7:37 - 7:29 - 7:40

Vickory route - 15 mile long run in 1:48:53 (7:16/mile)

The plan was to run a 2 mile warmup, then do a block progression run of 4 miles each block. I wanted to do 7:30, 7:15, 7:00, and then with the last mile either cool down or kick it in, depending on how I was feeling.

The first block at 7:30 required more effort than expected. However, 7:15 block came easier than expected, though I had the help of a downhill the first mile. I started having "bathroom issues" on the 3rd block and really struggled to stay at 7/mile until the last mile of that block. For some reason I had no issues the last 2 miles, so I gave the last mile a good charge, hoping to get down to under 6:50. Surprised to see such a fast mile at the end of 15 miles!

Splits:
Warmup 1-2: 8:00 - 7:44 = 15:44
Block 1: 7:30 - 7:26.5 - 7:23.7 - 7:27.5 = 29:48
Block 2: 7:10.8 - 7:12.1 - 7:17.6 - 6:59.5 = 28:40
Block 3: 7:17.6 - 7:02.5 - 7:08.1 - 6:58.6 = 28:27
Last mile: 6:14.1

Warm up

8xLM
Warmup run to the track - 2.35 miles in 18:04 (7:42/mile)
Skipping exercises, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)
Skipping routine, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)
2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300m recoveries (1:57.9, 1:58.8)
4x150@5k pace with 250m recoveries
31.9, 32.9, 32.6, 32.1

Workout

15x288m in 60s with 144m recoveries in 60s

59.1, 61.2, 59.9, 59.3, 60.5, 60.4, 60.3, 60.0, 59.6, 60.6, 60.5, 60.5, 60.0, 59.8, 59.0

I got to move up from 30x30s to 15x60s. Still 15 minutes of hard, and at the same pace as before, just in fewer but longer durations. This was a harder workout that the 30x30. The last 3 were pretty challenging, but no reason to stop. I feel like I got more out of this workout than the 30s workout, too. Looking forward to doing another 6 minute test in a few weeks.

Cool down

Cool down (8:26/mile)

6 mile easy run on Vickory in 47:27 (7:54/mile)

Not feeling too bad, given the difficulty of yesterday's workout. For an easy day this was a decent pace. I don't seem to be needing to crawl at 8:30/mile anymore.

Splits: 8:01 - 7:48 - 7:55 - 7:50 - 7:53 - 8:00

8 miles in 1:00:39 (7:35/mile)

Feeling a little tired and sore, but the pace was not too difficult. Not feeling ready to race, but isn't that always how it is on easy weeks? A little weird having a day off yesterday.

Splits: 7:56 - 7:28 - 7:38 - 7:30 - 7:35 - 7:22 - 7:41 - 7:30

Easy 4 miles, with 1/2 mile at race pace.

Splits: 7:54 - 7:50 -
.5 mile split in 6:33/mile pace (goal was around 6:30)
8:09 last mile

Warmup in 19:34
10 minute warmup
Skipping exercises
2x2 min @ 1/2 marathon pace (6:32, 6:37) with recoverey jogs in between

Race:

Perfect day for a race - low 40s and some light drizzle. Actually the rain only fell during the first few miles of the race. I took off my hat just past 5 miles. Not much competition in the race. It was pretty spread out.

I continue to struggle mentally in the first half of these longer races. I am afraid of going out too fast, so I end up holding back too much. McMillan's said I should be able to handle about a 6:35 pace,. My 8 mile tempo from last week suggested I could go 6:32 or faster. Yet, I averaged around 6:38 for the first 6 miles. Once I get to the turn around I tend to let loose. I start thinking of the race in terms of miles left, and I think "I can go faster than this with only 5 miles left", etc. Consequently I dropped my overall time a lot in the 2nd half (see splits, below). Once I past the turn-around I decided I was not going to allow myself to run slower than 6:30 in a mile unless it was uphill. I knew whatever I did that the last 3 miles would be fast.

Unfortunately, the one guy who was close to me in front of me, the one I had spent that last two miles gaining on and was getting ready to pass, ended up being in the "miles" race instead of the "k's" race, so at my turn around he kept going straight. That is, he was running 20 miles, and I was only running 20k. The next person ahead of me was a group of three guys that were so far ahead I could barely make out a blur of colors off in the distance. They were probably 1 1/2 - 2 minutes ahead of me, and since they had each other, and all I had was my Garmin, I didn't figure I would catch up to them much. Never the less, with 4 miles to go I noticed they were much closer, and also that one of them had fallen off the pace. I spent the rest of the race chasing after him, but fell 8 seconds short by the fninish line, though I gained steadily the entire second half.

All in all, I am very satisified about the race, particularly that I was able to continue to push myself to my limits the last 6 miles, even with no competition near me. At the finish I had left all other competitors behind. I think it was about 4 minutes after me before the next person came in. Too bad the course was a little short, by about .13 miles. That would add about 43-45 seconds to my time, which would put me over 1:20. 1:20:27 or so. The pace calculates to a 1:20:37 20k. Not bad considering McMillan said 1:21:30 should be my goal time. That indicates I've improved my overall pace by about 5-6s./mile over the last 4 weeks! I ran 6:25/mile at the 15k 4 weeks ago, and only 4s/mile slower, or 6:29/mile today for the 20k! I feel like I am finally getting into good shape. I am looking forward to a couple weeks off, and then get back to building up the mileage a little higher. Next race won't be until June, which will kick off the summer racing season.

Splits:

1 - 6:41 - a little disappointed. I ran about 6:37 at the 15k, and was hoping to run about that today.

2 - 6:42 - Even more disappointed. The pace feels harder than the time suggests. I think it is mental, as I don't want to have any fatigue 2 miles into a 20k, which isn't realistic

3 - 6:52 - This is the main uphill mile. Nothing steep, just mostly gentle climb over the entire mile

4 - 6:24 - One fairly steep downhill, but the rest of the mile is also either downhill or flat. I took advantage and pushed the pace to make up some lost time. The lead girl who had been near behind me fell back out of earshot on this mile

5 - 6:31 - content to run under goal pace here.

6 - 6:37 - Surprised this mile ended up so slow. I think at one point I intentionally eased up because my pace had been under 6:30, but I eased up too much.

7 - 6:30 - Here I decided not to go slower than 6:30 anymore on flat or downhill

8 - 6:27 - feeling good, gaining on the competition, cheering on the back of the packers who were still heading towards the turn-around of this out-and-back course

9 - 6:41 - The steep uphill, challenging mile. I was pleased with the time. This was faster than I ran this split at the 15k

10 - 6:12 - Once I cleared the steep hill I cranked up the pace, even though I was still out of breath. i made a lot of headway on the guy in front of me during this mile

11 - 6:12 - Another 6:12! Sadly, I made less progress on the guy in front of me this mile

12 - 6:20 - Really glad to stay so far under pace on this mile. I ran the 11th and 12th miles faster than I did in the 15k last month.

12.29 - 1:34.5 (5:27/mile) - decent kick. I just wasn't able to close all the way on that guy in front of me. I believe I had enough energy, but not enough speed, to do it. This is why I need to go faster in the first half.

Cool down jog with Carl and Mike 1.5 miles in 15:11 (10:03/mile)

Easy 3 mile run on trails in 24:46. This is going to be a very easy, almost off, week. Next week easy, too. Taking a couple week break and then starting up for a long season into late summer.

Today I turn 40. i will celebrate later by going for a run. Thanks, in part, to running I don't feel 40 .

I ran 6 miles in about 46:30. It was raining just very lightly. I was hoping to have a downpour, so I could embrace turning 40 by running shirtless in a downpour. But, with just some light sprinkles it wasn't worth taking off the shirt. So, I just ran. I'm still a little tired from the 20k on Saturday, will continue to take an extra easy week this week.