31 January 2011

Recap: January 2011

Before the recap, today's LR was awesome! I averaged 8:06 pace with a 3:04 negative split! And...it gave me a new PR for weekly mileage! I got in 59 miles Tue-Today.

Ok, recap.

Distance: 218.5 miles (2nd longest month ever!)
Time: 28:47:21
Pace: 7:55

Really? Did I run that pace? I hope I'm able to keep that up for the cycle. Then I'll be sitting pretty for a 3:04 @ Boston. My marathoning career started in January '09. That month marked the start of my base training before my first cycle. My running has improved immensly since then.

Jan '09 = 45 miles (yeah, that low)
Jan '10 = 158.42 miles

I am very happy with my improvement. Hopefully its something I'll be able to keep up once real life starts, because its gonna start full force [June-graduate & start working, October-wedding :)]. If only my school work was going as well as my running.

My thesis is actually going ok. I'm maybe a little behind but not too bad. I haven't started my diff eq due on Thursday and I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm a a little...ok...I'm very behind in Algebra. That slightly worries me since we are getting a take home midterm soon. Now its off to the library to pick up a book for my thesis.

28 January 2011

Long Intervals

It seems like my legs can handle two days of speed work each "week"....sort of. I say "week" since my training plan has 10-day mini cycles instead of the usual 7 days.

Today's workout called for 10 miles including 3x2 miles at half marathon pace. Here's how I wanted things to go down: 1@8:00, 2@6:40, 1@8:00, 2@6:40, 1@8:00, 2@6:40, 1@8:00. That would come out to 1:11:40 or 7:10 mile pace.

What actually happened is this: 1@7:49, 2@6:45, 1@7:55, 2@6:42, 2@8:17, 1@6:37, 1@7:58. Totalling 1:13:50 or 7:23 pace. I just didn't have it in my legs to complete the last interval. I guess they weren't completely recovered from Wednesday's tempo. Even though I didn't hit my paces dead on, I'm very happy with the workout.

Its going to be a looooong weekend. I've got my usually diff eq homework and thesis work. And I'm two sections behind in my algebra homework. And I'm heading up to my folks' house after my club run tomorrow. We're having our yearly bday party for my grandma (Jan 20), my cousin (Feb 1) and myself (Jan 26). Here's hoping that I actually get work done!

26 January 2011

Return of the Tempo

Today was the first run of my Boston cycle. It was awesome! I hadn't ran a tempo run in over a month. Even though my pace has been coming down for my easy and general aerobic runs, I was not sure I had the speed for a 6 mile tempo run. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Total Distance: 8 miles
Time: 53:27
Pace: 6:40

Tempo Distance: 6 miles
Time: 38:46
Pace: 6:28

For those of you keeping track, that's about 10 seconds per mile faster than my 10k PR. I know that my 10K is a soft PR (since it s only 3 seconds per mile faster than my HM pace) but I didn't think I'd be that quick on the tempo. The splits were: 6:14, 6:34, 6:35, 6:24, 6:36, 6:20. Oh, did I mention I was shooting for 6:4x's? I was totally stoked! If this is any sign of how this cycle is going to go or how the race is going to go, I will be very happy :)

24 January 2011

A New Hope

I think the title of this post is fitting for three reasons. I'll let you guess what they are.

This past week was my last week of base training before starting my Boston cycle! Here's the breakdown:

Mon-16.3 mi @ 8:10
Tue-SRD
Wed- 8 mi @ 7:37
Thu- 5.4 mi @ 7:35
Fri- 10.4 mi @ 7:43
Sat- 4.8 mi @ 8:23
Sun- 7 mi @ 7:21
Total- 51.9 mi

That gives me over 50 mpw for the last three weeks and 40+ for the last six weeks. Pretty good considering the base I've gone into my previous cycles with (literally 25mpw for a month before my first, somewhere in the 40's for my second, but nothing for the three weeks prior to the start of the cycle). I'm really hoping (hint) that this will allow me to run well at Boston.

Usually I do my LR's on Monday. I'm one of those marathoners who needs to do their LR the same day as the marathon. So today would normally be a LR. But, today will probably be a rest day. My fiance was having a rough time this past week so I decided to go visit her this weekend. After getting off the phone with her on Friday morning I packed a duffel bag, jumped in my car and drove the 5.5 hours to her university. I had a great weekend there with her. I took her out to a movie on Saturday to take her mind off of things (you should all go see No Strings Attached, hilarious!). Later that day, things turned around and she is now feeling much better about it (hint #2). I made the drive back to PDX this morning, hence the rest day. I'm not worried about it at all since I still have seven runs of 18-20 miles coming up.

Well, that's all for now. My next post will probably be a monthly recap in a week, though I may get in a fly-by post during the week. "But wait" you say. "What about the third reason?" There's a very strong chance I'm going watch that movie later tonight.

And since I know you're reading this, I love you Kid!

17 January 2011

Fly-By: +Distance

So far, 2011 has been awesome! The past two weeks were 50 miles and 51 miles. Today I cranked out my longest run since PDX back in October.

Distance: 16.3 miles
Time: 2:12:58
Pace: 8:10

I was very happy with this run. I started out very strong. This was good and bad. Bad becuse it meant I sped up too much on one of the downhills, clocking a 7:22 around mile 5. So...I faded a little at the end. Still, a run I am very happy with.

Today has been a great day too! I started off with that run and then have been very productive with homework. I've worked on my algebra a little, did laundry and typed a bit more of my thesis! The only thing I have left to do is work on diff eq a little and find some job postings I might like to apply for. Its shaping up to be a last great week of base building!

10 January 2011

Doin' Work

Its been one hell of a week! Classes started up again last Monday. Thankfully, I only have class Tuesday and Thursday. And I only work Tuesday through Thursday. Yes, that means a four-day weekend every weekend, but it is something I need. There is this silly thesis thing I need to write so that gives me the time I need to do it. I've already had one assignment due (last Thurs, the second day of class!) and have two more that I'm working on.

Somehow, I'm still finding time to run. Lots of time. Last week I put in 50.3 miles. It was the first time I've ran 50 miles when not in a training cycle! Its looking like I'll be able to throw down 200+ for the first three months of the year in prep for Boston!

Today's run was a blast! I wanted 14-15 miles but my route was a bit short. I ended up with 13.6 @ 7:18 pace, the last half @7:06 pace! I don't know how but it felt like cruise control. Which is good. That means I'm in better shape than I think. I definitely want to get in a 15 miler this week and somewhere around 17 next week.

Well, its back to the books. But first, this song has been stuck in my head for like a week.


Peace out cubscout!

04 January 2011

Over Due

Well, this post probably should have happend a while ago. First, a recap of 2010.

I PR'd at almost every distance!

(Previous PR/2010 Best Time)
5k-18:58/18:59 (so close!)
10k-n/a/41:03
hm-1:36:58/1:27:30
fm-3:54:08/3:09:29

I credit my improvement to all the miles I put in. In 2009, I ran 875 miles. In 2010, 1800 miles. For the other stats/numbers nerds (I know you're reading this) those 1800 miles were at an average of 8:06 pace, spread out over 241 days or 7.4 miles per run. Another part of it was the motivation/advice/support from my rwol friends. Can't wait to finally meet some of you at Boston! Speaking of...

I finally finished my Boston training plan. Its 12 weeks long, averaging 56mpw peaking at 67mpw. Its not a traditional 12 week cycle. It consists of 7, 10-Day weeks and a 2 week taper.

My 2011 goals are almost non-existant and (the last one) is very flexible. As many of you know, I will graduate the my M.S. degree in June and am getting married in October. So...I have no idea where I will be after graduation. Whereever work takes the Kid and myself is where we'll be. Anyway, here are the goals:
1. 3:05 Marathon
2. 1:26 Half Marathon
3. Sub-40 10K
4. 2000 Miles

As of now I only have 2 races scheduled: Mercer Island Half Marathon (3.20) and Boston (4.18). Well, thats all for now. I need to go do some homework/work on my thesis...something I did not do over my winter break...oh well.