On yesterday’s recovery run home I was draggin’ my butt after Monday’s long run. I cheated myself out of six minutes:
Time: 1:23:50
Distance: 9.1 miles
Pace: 9:10 minutes per mile
Average Heart Rate: 149 bpm
Today’s “hard” effort was a bit on the sluggish side:
Time: 58:45
Distance: 7.31 miles
Pace: 8:05 minutes per mile
Average Heart Rate: 167 bpm
Too tired to say anything more. 
Time: 2:29
Distance: 16.4 miles
Pace: 9:05 minutes per mile
Average Heart Rate: 159
Last week’s long run was absolutely brutal (no energy). The week before, hindsight tells me I pushed the pace a bit too much (8:52 min/mile). Today was just right. I am depleted but not completely exhausted. I think it will set me up well for the rest of the week.
In other news, I submitted the following video clip to the posetech forum. I got really excellent encouragement from some of the gurus (Jack is King there). Historically, I’ve been nervous about posting video there because the coaches can be perfectionists whose detailed comments can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. That said, the coaches there are really excellent and have the best of intentions – to help you achieve good Pose Method running form.
It turns out that today my nervousness was not warranted – all I got was positive praise. I am relieved. Before I posted the video, I thought my form was looking and feeling good but, I was not certain of it. Now I am. That’s a good feeling for someone who’s spent the better part of two years at this!
So, for those of you who are interested, here is a link to a full-sized video of me Pose Method running (QuickTime mov format). In case you don’t have QuickTime, I’ve also embedded a smaller, more universally viewable Google Video version below.
After yesterday’s run, I had a feeling I’d be bettering my “hard” run pace as well. Only question seemed to be, “by how much?” Turns out, by about 20 seconds a mile.
Time: 1:01:45
Distance: 8.01 miles
Pace: 7:43 minutes per mile
Average Heart Rate: 169
This was an awesome run. In addition to the 20 second per mile improvement, it was awesome because:
1. It felt really good running at that pace and heart rate.
2. 7:45 minutes per mile was the pace I ran in my PR 1/2 marathon. Do I think I could have sustained today’s pace for another five miles? Yup.
3. Give me another month and I’m pretty confident I’ll be running these 60 minute hard runs at 7:30 minutes per mile.
And it was easy.
Time: 1:27:30
Distance: 10.48 miles
Pace: 8:21 minutes per mile
Average Heart Rate: 161 bpm (that’s the bottom end of my easy target heart rate zone)
8:21 was a difficult hard one hour pace for me only a few weeks ago.
Lydiard continues to rock my world.
Goals:
Upcoming Races:
That’s it for now, although I’d like to do some shorter races if I can fit them in somewhere within my training schedule.
Well, I beat myself anyway. Today, since I was supposed to be in rest mode, I decided to throw one fast mile into the mix – just to see how fast I could comfortably run it.
I think my mile record prior to today was 6:25.
Today, without much difficulty at all, I clocked in at 6:19. Neat. I wonder if a six minute mile is in my future? I’m not sure if I’ll get many chances to try but it sure would be a fun side goal to shoot for besides the marathon.
The entire run (including the fast mile) amounted to the following:
Time: 59:40
Distance: 6.86 miles
Pace: 8:42 min/mile
Average Heart Rate: 166
I had another smokin’ busy day at work – a day that ended in a meeting going extra long making my run home happen later. Regardless, it was a run that felt so easy I found myself smiling most of the way. Details:
Time: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Miles: 10.4
Pace: 8:33 minutes per mile (it’s becoming easier and easier to imagine running faster than that for 26.2 miles)
Average Heart Rate: 163 bpm (a real sweet spot near the low end of my “easy” heart rate zone)
Following the crappy start to my running week, it’s a nice feeling to have lightness return to my steps. That said, I’m still going to do my next two runs at easy pace (8:30 to 9:00 min/mile) to rest up from the previous two weeks hard work.
A big “hello” to all of you who’ve left comments this last few days. I’ve been pretty swamped at work and home and look forward to answering your comments and questions this evening.
I’m in rest mode. Today’s hard run was replaced by a nice, easy paced one. I feel great. A few of these babies and I think I’ll be feeling fabulous.
Time: 60 minutes
Distance: 6.54 miles
Pace: 9:10 minutes per mile
Average Heart Rate: 155
Worst long run I’ve had this training season. Felt sluggish and had stiff calves for the first half. I had no energy from the start to when I packed it in 15 minutes earlier than scheduled.
Time: 2:15:30
Distance: 14.75 miles
Pace: 9:11 minutes/mile
Average Heart Rate: 146 bpm
Although it was an extremely frustrating run, it was not without something positive. It felt like I was running very slowly and my average heart rate was extremely low – as low as it has been in past runs paced at close to a minute per mile slower.
Positive aside, I traded emails with Coach Andrew where we agreed it’s a good idea to do my next several runs at recovery pace. It’s time for a bit of healing before the next stage in training which Andrew says is coming within the next several weeks.
What a brutal run. Today’s hard run was compounded by: Sluggishness, unbelievable wind and slush/water puddles. It felt enormously exhausting even though I was unable to get my heart rate and pace where I would have liked them to be.
Time: 61:20 minutes
Distance: 7.36 miles
Pace: 8:20 minutes per mile
Average Heart Rate: 163 bpm
I hope things are better for tomorrow’s long run (2.5 hours).
