5K, Part Deux

I added an entry to my "upcoming races" gadget on the right side of the page. Yes, I started "running" again a couple of weeks ago. The quotes are to emphasize that my current two runs per week, from the perspective of any serious runner, are quite laughable. What may draw even more chuckles is the fact that those two runs both involve speed work. Who the heck needs base training?!

Have I officially gone mad? Likely. Since it's become apparent that any halfway decent volume significantly affects my bum heel (and the associated scar tissue in my Achilles tendon), I thought I'd see how running fast (relatively speaking) will affect it, while the mileage and frequency are low. So far, so good.

Does this mean I'm back on my 5K PR Quest? Nah, not really. I'd like to not embarrass myself, but I have no desire to put pressure on myself with this small amount of training. Since my 'Where I'm At' post from a few weeks ago, I've come to realize that I enjoy small, local road races too much to completely give them up, fast times or not.

So, come May 19th, I'll toe the line in Arlington, WA to run a 5k on some short speed work and very little mileage. This should be fun.

And I promise not to gripe if I lose to a 60-year old lady.

No offense, 60-year old ladies...

Wednesday Speed

It was beautifully sunny and cold this morning as I headed down to the Centennial Trail in Snohomish for my weekly speedwork, which consisted of intervals:

1 mile warmup: 8:21
1 mile hard: 6:42
1/2 mile easy: 4:10
1 mile hard: 6:40
1/2 mile easy: 4:05
1 mile hard: 6:39
1 mile cooldown: 8:00

Tough workout! With my lungs being tight & congested, I wasn't sure what I could do. The hard miles ended up being a bit faster than I expected. They hurt, though. This will be my last structured speedwork before my 10k on Dec. 12th.
I just looked back at an identical workout I did on Sept. 23rd, in which I ran 7:16/7:03/7:01 for the hard miles. I'm encouraged that even this old guy (okay, not THAT old) can get faster!

Tempo Tuesday

Today I ran a total of 6 miles; 3 of which was run at "tempo" pace. Actually, it was probably more like a time trial. I started with two warm up miles (8:42, 8:44), then three hard miles (7:00, 6:49, 6:55 - 20:44, for a 6:55 pace), then a cool down mile (8:27). The hard section was tough. I struggled to hold my form. One thing I need to focus on is relaxing when I'm running hard - especially my upper body (shoulders, neck, head). I tend to tighten up, which wastes energy and makes it harder to keep my form in check. I am happy with my progress, though. It's been awhile since I could run three miles at under a 7:00 pace, especially on my own. I may do one more speed workout before my next 10k (Dec. 12th), then switch my focus to primarily building up my base and, particularly, my long runs as I start training for my first marathon on May 15th of next year.
Have a great Thanksgiving week, everyone!

A Bit Of Speed...In A Downpour

On Monday, I ran a little interval workout in the rain: 5 miles, starting with a 1 mile warmup, followed by 4 miles of 1/2 mile fast, 1/2 mile slow. The fast segments were:

3:35
3:27
3:15
3:14

The final two were tough; the last one being slightly uphill.
This is the last "fast" running I'll do this week, until Saturday's Fowl Fun Run 10k, in Mount Vernon, WA...which will also probably be in the rain. 'Tis that time of year here in the Pacific Northwest.

Feeling A Bit Crummy This Week, But The Show Must Go On

Been feeling sick, with very low energy levels last couple of days, thus the previous 2 days off. Decided to go short today and throw in one fast mile. Here's how it played out:
1st mile slow (8:04), 2nd mile fast (6:29), last 1.5 miles slow (11:58 / 7:58 pace). Still felt a little out of it, but ran the fast mile faster than expected. It took a lot out of me, though. Was going to go 4.5 miles, but I shut it down at 3.5. My plan is to run 8-10 miles tomorrow morning...SLOWLY, depending on how I'm feeling. I hope this crud goes away soon, since my 10k race is a week from tomorrow. The race is a "B" race, though; just a tune-up for the Spokane Half Marathon next month. Happy Friday!

Saturday Morning Long Run

This week's long run was shorter than last week's: 8 miles. Time was 1:06:47 (8:21/mile pace). I felt a little fatigued during this run. I didn't sleep well last night, and I think Thursday's speed session took more out of me than I expected. Still, I managed to log the miles today without any injuries or problems. Money in the bank, I guess.
Next week, I think I'll skip the speedwork and focus on an even longer run of either 11 or 12 miles. I feel the need to work more on my endurance at this point in my half marathon training. I'll likely do a hilly run early in the week, plus a couple of easy runs, then the long run on Friday.
Enjoy your weekend and run strong!

Speedwork Thursday

At 10:00 this morning, I ran 6 miles on the Centennial Trail in Snohomish, where it was sunny and about 68 degrees F. Instead of doing speed work on a track this week, I decided to run them as part of this run. I ran the first mile as a warm-up (8:25), then ran 4 x 1/2 miles hard, 1/2 miles easy. Times were as follows:

3:23 hard, 4:13 easy
3:19 hard, 4:19 easy
3:20 hard, 4:13 easy
3:15 hard, 12:31 (1.5 mile cooldown)

These were HARD, but I was happy with how it all played out. First of all, these were true half miles (as opposed to the 800's on the track last week), and I didn't stop and rest in between each, as I did last week. I just slowed down and ran easy half miles until the next hard one. During the last hard segment, I had a nasty side stitch. I was surprised to have run it so fast, for me, anyway (6:30 mile pace). The total time for the run was 47:01 (7:50 mile pace). I'm not currently using a heart rate monitor, but my finishing HR was 150...but that was after the 1.5 mile cooldown. Still elevated above my usual finishing HR, but post-hard segments, it was likely much higher. Overall, this run was a confidence-builder.

My plan is to rest tomorrow, then run 8 miles on Saturday morning. Next week, I'll probably forgo the formal speed work. I may run some hills instead, then bump my long run up to either 11 or 12 miles.

Rest Day

Well, I do feel a bit better this morning, but I can tell I definitely need a rest day. After spending several days out of town, not sleeping especially well and running a hilly course 3 times in 4 days, my body is sending me a message. After dinner last night, I laid on the couch to read and rest and quickly fell into a deep sleep. I ended up going to bed at 9pm. My throat isn't sore like it was last night, so I'm hoping it was just fatigue and not a cold. That soreness in my tendon behind my left knee is still there, so there's another reason to rest. Like I hinted at a few posts ago, the boost in running mileage after doing more cycling than running might take a more gradual effort on my part, given the injuries I've dealt with in the past.

If I feel up to it tomorrow, I'll do some sort of tempo/speed/fartlek workout, then maybe take Friday off, then do my long run on Saturday.

First Track Workout, Plus a Question

Well, I did it. I got back onto the track for a speed workout. First time in many years. It hurt a bit, but I really enjoyed it. After a 1.5 mile warmup, I ran 4 x 800 meters with 2 mins rest btwn each, followed by a 1.5 mile cooldown (5 miles total on the track). My splits for the 800s were:

3:27
3:22
3:26
3:20 (3:23.8 avg)

I wanted to run them in 3:30 (about a 7 min pace), but my track pacing skills are very rusty. As expected, my body was saying "what the heck are you doing? No lo comprendo!" (Yes, my body is often bi-lingual during times of stress). These weren't exactly "race pace" intervals, which they probably should be. There's no way I can currently sustain a 6:46 pace for anything over about 1.5 miles right now (my 5k race pace back in June was 7:12), so I'll probably have to back off the next time I do these. After my cooldown laps, my right IT band was barking a little - probably from the speed, as well as running 20 laps counterclockwise, which put more stress on the outside of that leg, so I stretched, used my foam roller and took an ice bath when I got home.

As my title suggested, I have a question for those of you who have done this: is it smart for me to start doing speedwork while I'm also trying to build up my mileage for a half marathon? Given my history of injuries, I'm a little nervous, but I really want to work on both, if it's realistic. Thoughts?

Beautiful Monday Morning!

Got out at 6:30am on a beautiful late summer morning for a little 4.5 mile run (8:21 pace; 128 finishing HR). Tomorrow morning I'll be doing a workout I haven't done in years - track intervals! I'm excited to do them! I'm planning on a 1.5 mile warmup, then 4x800 meters at around 3:30 each (with 2-min. rests), then a 1.5 mile cooldown. I don't necessarily need to do speedwork to train for my first half-marathon, but I'm really eager to do some. Not enough to be an injury risk (hopefully), but maybe enough to boost my threshold and average pace just a little. My current plan is to do this once a week, at most, and the rest of the week will be composed of a hill run, a long run (getting longer every other week), plus a couple of short, easy recovery runs. And if time (and energy) allows, I'll throw in an easy bike ride for cross-training purposes. This is all subject to change, of course.
Enjoy the rest of your Monday!

3 in a Row

This morning was the first time I've run three days in a row in a long time. It was an easy 4.5-miler (8:34 pace), which finally put me over 300 miles for the year. Not much, but it's 300 more than I thought I'd ever run again. I'll take tomorrow off, then run short and easy on Friday, then do a long-ish run Saturday morning. I haven't yet decided if I want to do any specific speed work leading up to the half marathon on Oct. 11th. I want to make sure I re-build my base and endurance first and foremost. If I can meet that objective and still squeeze in some speed work, I will. Happy training!