With the recovery week after 100 on 100 backing things up a little, this marks week 4 of early quality. We have gotten the mileage about as high as we want to hit for this fall so we are going to stay in the low 50s on that front. In terms of workouts, the plan is a mid week hill session of repeat quarters and most likely tempo miles this Saturday.
Sun- easy 14 (1:46:01)
Due to weather and other commitments we ran early. Ike got to Canton and we were running by 6:15. We the Pyrites loop because I wanted something a little more gentle than Peirrepont, but not without some hills. In light of yesterdays race I wasn't sure how we were going to feel and promised to keep things chill. At mile one the time was 8:05 so I thought were were well within our agreement. At about 8 I checked again and we were avg 7:31s despite the fact that we had already reigned it in a few times. We made sure that we kept it in check and I finished feeling pretty good. Very happy that 14 is comfortable again, not just tolerable.
Mon- easy 5 (37:05)
Tues- easy 7 (51:52)
Wed- 2.5up, 8x400 hills, 2. down
I wasn't quite sure sure how this one was going to go so the first couple were by feel. I ended up running almost all of them at 86. The last couple were 84-85 as I felt comfortable being a little more aggressive at that point. Ike ended up 4-5 secs up on me after the first couple. Based on the HR from the track sessions I would say this workout was just what it was supposed to be with the benefit of a little strength.
Thurs- easy 5 (36:55)
Fri- easy 5 (36:22)
Sat- 2up, 3 tempo, 4 down
Seeing as Ike was out of town I was very fortunate that Folsom was in town, well G-town anyway. I was looking for low sixes for pace and despite his nay-saying we agreed to let HR determine how fast we should be running. We warmed up for two and stopped for a quick stretch. Once underway it took a half mile at 5:50s to get my HR to the high 150s. The target was 160 so we held it there. I felt pretty good for the first two miles aided considerably by the slight downhill. The third mile started to roll with some short steep climbs and the HR climbed with it. I had to back off the pace as Folsom pulled me through the last mile, but the total time was 18:10 which I was quite happy with.
Weekly recap...
With my accidental 9 on Saturday, I hit 53 for the week. Both Wednesday and Saturday were quality days and while getting thumped by Ike on the hills doesn't do much for the confidence, running three miles at a tempo effort 15 seconds faster than I raced it a month ago has me thinking I am actually getting somewhere. Having a four mile cool down for Folsom to put things in perspective helps too...
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Week 9...8/21-8/27/11
The plan this week is to get back into all things Daniels with a mid week early quality workout and the Alumni Race on Saturday. Its a 6k which is a strange distance, but if I can average around 5:50-5:55 per mile I will feel like I am making progress. As far as mileage, we are are trying to while get the mileage back up near 50 without being stupid about it.
Sun- easy 13 (1:36:30)
This run was just what I needed. We ran out in Peirrepont so there were some pretty good hills with the biggest one starting at the 10 mile mark. We didn't just survive, but felt good on this run. We finished feeling tired, but with something still left in the tank.
Mon- easy 5 (35:50)
Another run in the 'Pont. Again, I felt strong on the hills and the HR said I was well within the recovery range. It's nice to feel like 5 is short; like we are somehow cheating.
Tues- easy 7 (50:20)
"She was concentrating on her pace fer chissakes..."
-Quenton Cassidy
I never thought I would say this, but I was missing the hills today. A flat run in Canton had me running intentionally until the last mile or so to keep the HR up. I was happy however to see another day in the low 7s for pace. I seems I may be getting somewhere.
Wed- 2up, 5x 200, 200, 400 with equal jog/full recovery, 1 down
This workout was awesome and we felt great. The hardest part about this was keeping it controlled. We had thought about doing hills, but Ike must have read my mind when he suggested we go back to the track and see how our progress was coming. It had been three weeks since we had done this workout and Ike had proven he had gained a VDOT improvement and I figured a little bit faster wouldn't kill me. The target was 38s for the 200s and 79 for the 400s. With the higher weekly mileage we needed 5th set. It was a little windy on the backstretch, but the splits are as follows.
Thurs- easy 5 (35:47)
Fri- easy 5 (37:49)
I decided I was not going to look at the time or HR at all on this one and run subjectively easy. It was tough, but it was much better than the avg of 8s I envisioned. My avg HR was only 135 bpm.
Sat- 2up, 22:37 SLU Alumni/Run for Ryan 6k, 1 down
The last couple times that I have raced have seemed more like hard tempo runs than races so today I decided I would be a little more aggressive. I didn't think that a 5:50-5:55 pace was unreasonable so that was the goal. I managed to hang onto Ike through the 1st mile and we split 5:49. I thought perfect even if it was a little harder than I thought it should be. I managed to hang on for about a half a mile before I really started to struggle. At that point I decided 6k be damned, I was going to try to hold it through the second mile. I split mile two in 6:05. The second half of the race was just hanging on; I just tried to keep HR rate up in the high 160s. I kept fading, but my consolation prize was a little knowledge and a good workout. On a side note, the weather was much better than last year even if it was pretty warm by the end. And as always it is great to see everyone.
Splits: 5:49, 6:05, 6:14, 4:31 (6:06 pace)
Weekly Recap...
This was another solid week with the mileage total hitting 50. Workout are going well, but I am a little frustrated. I am getting more convinced that I am going to run a good 10k-half marathon before I hit my 5k goal. I lack speed/turnover and my race pace is not getting much faster, I just seem to be able to hold it longer.
Sun- easy 13 (1:36:30)
This run was just what I needed. We ran out in Peirrepont so there were some pretty good hills with the biggest one starting at the 10 mile mark. We didn't just survive, but felt good on this run. We finished feeling tired, but with something still left in the tank.
Mon- easy 5 (35:50)
Another run in the 'Pont. Again, I felt strong on the hills and the HR said I was well within the recovery range. It's nice to feel like 5 is short; like we are somehow cheating.
Tues- easy 7 (50:20)
"She was concentrating on her pace fer chissakes..."
-Quenton Cassidy
I never thought I would say this, but I was missing the hills today. A flat run in Canton had me running intentionally until the last mile or so to keep the HR up. I was happy however to see another day in the low 7s for pace. I seems I may be getting somewhere.
Wed- 2up, 5x 200, 200, 400 with equal jog/full recovery, 1 down
This workout was awesome and we felt great. The hardest part about this was keeping it controlled. We had thought about doing hills, but Ike must have read my mind when he suggested we go back to the track and see how our progress was coming. It had been three weeks since we had done this workout and Ike had proven he had gained a VDOT improvement and I figured a little bit faster wouldn't kill me. The target was 38s for the 200s and 79 for the 400s. With the higher weekly mileage we needed 5th set. It was a little windy on the backstretch, but the splits are as follows.
1st set: 38, 38, 79
2nd set: 38, 38, 79
3rd set: 39, 38, 79
4th set: 38, 38, 77
5th set: 36, 36, 73
The last set we allowed ourselves a little slack in the reigns. The rule was "don't make it fast, but if it happens to be, don't slow down to compensate". We obviously broke the rules in the last one...at least we made it to the last 150m before doing so.
Fri- easy 5 (37:49)
I decided I was not going to look at the time or HR at all on this one and run subjectively easy. It was tough, but it was much better than the avg of 8s I envisioned. My avg HR was only 135 bpm.
Sat- 2up, 22:37 SLU Alumni/Run for Ryan 6k, 1 down
The last couple times that I have raced have seemed more like hard tempo runs than races so today I decided I would be a little more aggressive. I didn't think that a 5:50-5:55 pace was unreasonable so that was the goal. I managed to hang onto Ike through the 1st mile and we split 5:49. I thought perfect even if it was a little harder than I thought it should be. I managed to hang on for about a half a mile before I really started to struggle. At that point I decided 6k be damned, I was going to try to hold it through the second mile. I split mile two in 6:05. The second half of the race was just hanging on; I just tried to keep HR rate up in the high 160s. I kept fading, but my consolation prize was a little knowledge and a good workout. On a side note, the weather was much better than last year even if it was pretty warm by the end. And as always it is great to see everyone.
Splits: 5:49, 6:05, 6:14, 4:31 (6:06 pace)
Weekly Recap...
This was another solid week with the mileage total hitting 50. Workout are going well, but I am a little frustrated. I am getting more convinced that I am going to run a good 10k-half marathon before I hit my 5k goal. I lack speed/turnover and my race pace is not getting much faster, I just seem to be able to hold it longer.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Week 8...8/14-8/20/11
I expected some recovery was in order from 100 on 100, but I expected it would be in the form of fatigue, not soreness. The original plan for the week call for holding the mileage in the low 50s and continuation of early quality work with some repeats and tempo work. Now I think the goal is a little more short sighted and simply calls for getting back on my feet and maybe a late week workout.
Sun-off
I am struggling to walk. Stairs and hills are particularly painful.
Mon- very easy 3.3 (no watch)
Still in the Hurt Box. The only real difference today is that now it is not just my quads, but my calves too. Had to call Folsom today to see if my current state is due to my state of fitness or if he was have a similar experience this side of leg 2. He reassured me that the source of my current condition is rooted firmly in our Leg assignment.
Tues AM- easy 3.3 (26:13)
Quads better, but still very tender. Downhills are bad, but I managed to keep this one just under 8s
Tues PM- easy 7 (53:40)
Ran with Ike in Canton. Quads better than this morning, downhills still bad, but at least I am running them and it not so much like a fast walk anymore.
Wed- easy 10 (1:14:34)
I would almost go so far as to say I have recovered. Downhills are still sensitive, but I am managing to stride out for the most part. I am still feeling tired, but my muscle soreness is all but gone which is a tremendous relief. I feel good enough that we are going to try some 2s and 4s tomorrow.
Thurs- easy 6 (44:56)
This was supposed to be a repeat session, but after warming up for 2 miles and struggling through 4x100m strides at a pace we were supposed to hit for 400m I called it. The additional 4 miles were bad enough. I am still feeling fatigue from last weekend, but maybe we will try again on Saturday.
Fri- "easy" 5 (35:48)
The pace this morning was intentional, but my HR said that I should have been running 8s. For the last few days my legs have been having trouble keeping up with my heart. I am interested to see how I feel next week when the all of the fatigue from last weekends relay is gone.
Sat-off
Taking full advantage of the down week.
Weekly recap...
34 miles in 5 days. I would have liked to hit 40 this week, but I achieved the primary objective which was to recover. I am definitely feeling better after a week of easy running and lower miles.
Sun-off
I am struggling to walk. Stairs and hills are particularly painful.
Mon- very easy 3.3 (no watch)
Still in the Hurt Box. The only real difference today is that now it is not just my quads, but my calves too. Had to call Folsom today to see if my current state is due to my state of fitness or if he was have a similar experience this side of leg 2. He reassured me that the source of my current condition is rooted firmly in our Leg assignment.
Tues AM- easy 3.3 (26:13)
Quads better, but still very tender. Downhills are bad, but I managed to keep this one just under 8s
Tues PM- easy 7 (53:40)
Ran with Ike in Canton. Quads better than this morning, downhills still bad, but at least I am running them and it not so much like a fast walk anymore.
Wed- easy 10 (1:14:34)
I would almost go so far as to say I have recovered. Downhills are still sensitive, but I am managing to stride out for the most part. I am still feeling tired, but my muscle soreness is all but gone which is a tremendous relief. I feel good enough that we are going to try some 2s and 4s tomorrow.
Thurs- easy 6 (44:56)
This was supposed to be a repeat session, but after warming up for 2 miles and struggling through 4x100m strides at a pace we were supposed to hit for 400m I called it. The additional 4 miles were bad enough. I am still feeling fatigue from last weekend, but maybe we will try again on Saturday.
Fri- "easy" 5 (35:48)
The pace this morning was intentional, but my HR said that I should have been running 8s. For the last few days my legs have been having trouble keeping up with my heart. I am interested to see how I feel next week when the all of the fatigue from last weekends relay is gone.
Sat-off
Taking full advantage of the down week.
Weekly recap...
34 miles in 5 days. I would have liked to hit 40 this week, but I achieved the primary objective which was to recover. I am definitely feeling better after a week of easy running and lower miles.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Week 7...8/7-8/13/11
This week will be a little different. The plan is to hold steady on the mileage or increase no more than 2-3 miles at most. We have shifted the long run to Sunday in light of a Tuesdays Summer Sunset and the upcoming increase in time constraints of another school year. The other difference in the substitution of the midweek workout for the Sunset which will stand in for intervals and Saturdays Groovy Gouvy 5k which I will use as a tempo effort. I think if I do it right it will be a nice change of pace and leave me no worse for wear.
Sun- easy 10 (1:17:03)
Ran the flat course in Canton again with Ike. Legs were a little heavy from yesterday, but the pace and HR were exactly where they were supposed to be for this run.
Mon- easy 3.3 (25:08)
Tues- 2up, 19:01 Summer Sunset, 2 down
I've said it before...I love this race, but hate the course. Tonight was no exception. I was pouring rain when we got there and there was some construction that created even worse footing. I did however manage to run the way I wanted hitting 6:07, 6:05, 6:00 for splits. I just couldn't find my top gear. I only managed to get my HR up to the high 160s, 170 a couple of times. I ran the entire last mile in Clayton around 175. I felt like I could have run another mile at this pace, I just couldn't go any faster.
Wed- easy 8 (59:44) Pierrepont
I was a little surprised by how well this run went while respecting the HR even with the hills.
Thurs- off
There has been a change of plans. I will be doing 100 on 100 afterall. With a 15-20 mile day on Saturday I want to make sure that my weekly total doesn't jump too high.
Fri- easy 4 (29:35)
Sat- 100 on 100 relay in Vermont
There has been a change of plans as I was not sure until Wednesday that I would be on the team. I ran about a half mile warm up before each and ended up with about 20 miles for the day. I am now officially wrecked. The leg descriptions can be found here. My splits are as follows for runner 2:
41:11 for 6.4 (6:26/mi)
The first two mile drop was fast, but leg pounding and I would carry that abuse through the next two legs.
55:46 for 8.3 (6:43/mi)
This leg was just long, but after the gentle, almost non-existent climb of the first two miles it was all downhill.
29:15 for 4.0 (7:18/mi)
This one caught me be surprise even though I knew what I was getting into. After the initial climb there is a big downhill through mile two. I averaged 6:40s to this point before starting a 2 mile climb that never let up until the last quarter mile. I haven't wanted to stop and walk that bad in quite some time.
All in all this was a great day. We merged teams and ended up running with some great guys who made the day truly enjoyable. Thank you Dan, Rich, and Peter, I hope your first 100 on 100 was memorable.
Sun- easy 10 (1:17:03)
Ran the flat course in Canton again with Ike. Legs were a little heavy from yesterday, but the pace and HR were exactly where they were supposed to be for this run.
Mon- easy 3.3 (25:08)
Tues- 2up, 19:01 Summer Sunset, 2 down
I've said it before...I love this race, but hate the course. Tonight was no exception. I was pouring rain when we got there and there was some construction that created even worse footing. I did however manage to run the way I wanted hitting 6:07, 6:05, 6:00 for splits. I just couldn't find my top gear. I only managed to get my HR up to the high 160s, 170 a couple of times. I ran the entire last mile in Clayton around 175. I felt like I could have run another mile at this pace, I just couldn't go any faster.
Wed- easy 8 (59:44) Pierrepont
I was a little surprised by how well this run went while respecting the HR even with the hills.
Thurs- off
There has been a change of plans. I will be doing 100 on 100 afterall. With a 15-20 mile day on Saturday I want to make sure that my weekly total doesn't jump too high.
Fri- easy 4 (29:35)
Sat- 100 on 100 relay in Vermont
There has been a change of plans as I was not sure until Wednesday that I would be on the team. I ran about a half mile warm up before each and ended up with about 20 miles for the day. I am now officially wrecked. The leg descriptions can be found here. My splits are as follows for runner 2:
41:11 for 6.4 (6:26/mi)
The first two mile drop was fast, but leg pounding and I would carry that abuse through the next two legs.
55:46 for 8.3 (6:43/mi)
This leg was just long, but after the gentle, almost non-existent climb of the first two miles it was all downhill.
29:15 for 4.0 (7:18/mi)
This one caught me be surprise even though I knew what I was getting into. After the initial climb there is a big downhill through mile two. I averaged 6:40s to this point before starting a 2 mile climb that never let up until the last quarter mile. I haven't wanted to stop and walk that bad in quite some time.
All in all this was a great day. We merged teams and ended up running with some great guys who made the day truly enjoyable. Thank you Dan, Rich, and Peter, I hope your first 100 on 100 was memorable.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Week 6...7/31-8/6/11
We are a week ahead of schedule, but Ike and I have laid out a rough calendar. We are going to start our Daniels plan with some early quality workouts while shooting for low-mid 40s for this week. The target for this macro cycle is the December indoor meet at SLU with a goal of running under 16:30 in the 5k. It maybe a little ambitious, but i don't think it is unrealistic.
Sun- off
Mon- easy 10 (1:17:45)
I initially had reservations when Ike suggested doing our long run in Pierrepont, but I figured some hills would be good. I actually felt better than last week on a course that had significantly more hills. I would say we are making progress.
Tues- easy 5 (38:22)
Typical slow morning run, but felt better than expected after yesterdays 10
Wed- 2up, 4 sets of 2,2,4 with equal jog/full rec, 1 down
1st set: 40, 40, 83
2nd set: 40, 40, 81
3rd set: 40, 40, 81
4th set: 39, 39, 77
The workout was perfect. With the exception of the first and last 400 we hit the 40s and 81s we were after. The hardest part about the workout was showing restraint. I guess it is a little evident in the last set...
Thurs- easy 8 (1:02:13)
Sun- off
Mon- easy 10 (1:17:45)
I initially had reservations when Ike suggested doing our long run in Pierrepont, but I figured some hills would be good. I actually felt better than last week on a course that had significantly more hills. I would say we are making progress.
Tues- easy 5 (38:22)
Typical slow morning run, but felt better than expected after yesterdays 10
Wed- 2up, 4 sets of 2,2,4 with equal jog/full rec, 1 down
1st set: 40, 40, 83
2nd set: 40, 40, 81
3rd set: 40, 40, 81
4th set: 39, 39, 77
The workout was perfect. With the exception of the first and last 400 we hit the 40s and 81s we were after. The hardest part about the workout was showing restraint. I guess it is a little evident in the last set...
Thurs- easy 8 (1:02:13)
This was an attempt to find some happy medium in keeping the pace up and my HR down. The first 4 weren't bad, but I kept making Ike slow down in the second half. Even easing it up had my HR above 150.
Friday- easy 7.1 (54:55)
If i couldn't keep my HR down yesterday, I couldn't keep it up today. This run took 4.5 miles to find a rhythm, but I ended feeling decent.
Sat- 2up, 3x1mile, 1x800m@tempo w/70sec recovery, 1.5 down
6:22, 6:19, 6:17, 3:08
I like cruise intervals and this was another great workout. Going into this workout Ike and I were wondering how easy 95s were going to feel after 80s on Wednesday. Two laps into the first one my HR was right where it was supposed to be for tempo effort. Our legs were feeling a little heavy by the last 800m, but the pace was quite manageable and we had some difficulty keeping it in check.
Weekly Recap...
This was a solid week and I am very happy to be back in the mid 40s. The last time I did Daniels I was too aggressive often ignoring the prescribed paces because I felt good or they seemed slow. This time around we have agreed to err on the side of caution and risk running too slow rather than too fast. With the increase in intensity partnered with the continued increase in mileage I am feeling it a bit, but I am excited that I can already tell we are getting somewhere.
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