Speedwork - Acquire the confidence

Speedwork is serious business. I set out today for some punishment, 5 x 1600m (1 mile) intervals at 5 seconds faster than 5K pace, followed immediately by 4 x 400m at 15 seconds faster than 5K pace. My planned for pace for the 5K will be 6:45/mile. The results now, analysis later:

Mile 1 - 6:34 (-11)

Mile 2 - 7:02 (+17)

Mile 3 - 7:00 (+15)

Mile 4 - 7:05 (+20)

Mile 5 - 7:11 (+26)

Average - 6:56/mile

400m intervals (paces in min/mi)

Interval 1 - 6:11

Interval 2 - 6:25

Interval 3 - 6:35

Interval 4 - 6:36

This workout was really anaerobic. I could feel the strain in muscles as if I were doing heavy squats or lunges. I believe that I held my form well: back straight, head held high, knees lifting, etc. I spent a lot of time trying to judge my pace. If I just take off thinking that I'll hold the pace for a mile I almost always am faster than a 6:40/mile pace, but I often need to rely on stride lengthening to rest mid-mile. I have always left myself with a considerable reserve of "kick" left to finish a mile, but have never used it (this should be a note for future workouts).

I wonder if these speed workouts for my 5K and the 10-miler have taught me to handle a faster pace for the mile. I have never done so much speedwork. If I train this Summer for a few 5Ks along with some marathon-specific training I am hopeful for a 3:20 marathon at MCM this Fall. The McMillan Running Calculator predicts a 3:19:51 marathon for me if I can get a 20:30 5K, which seems entirely possible given my current abilities.

I have two weeks until the Armed Forces 5K. I have 3 more speed sessions. I want to hit the mark in one of them. I have got to stop being afraid of working too hard to last the distance - I have enough training and strength. As I was told today in my mid-cycle review at my job. I have been selected to be senior leader I must acquire the confidence, no one can teach me to go to the next level, I am on my own.

Sunday Long Run (8 mi - 1:04:17 - 8:01/mile)

Short Beaver Dam Road Loop – 8.01 mi / 01:04 08:01 pace

Today's workout was to run 8 miles with the first 6 miles at an easy pace. I was supposed to speed up to 15 seconds per mile less than 10K pace for mile 7 and then speed up again to 5K pace for mile 8. I couldn't do it, but I did push the pace up to 7:16/mile for the last two.

On another note, I am slowly going on social media overload, but pretty much saying the same thing on each of them. I am on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger (here) and some running sites Active.com, Runner's World the Loop, and the Daily Mile. I really have a one track mind. I am always writing about running. I guess this is because it is my hobby and I started this to track my workouts.

Saturday Easy Run by lkwheel at Garmin Connect - Details

Today I dropped the boys off at First Tee golf class and went for a run on the Paint Branch Trail, which had me winding around the perimeter of my first Bachelors Alma Mater University of Maryland College Park. It was Maryland Day on the campus so I could hear the music and people as I scampered past the Comcast Center. I had never run this path before and I will now add it to my rotation of running paths.

I was supposed to do an easy five miles today, but my breathing and effort level was probably a bit above the easy pace. I did the five miles in 37:40 a 7:32/mile average pace. While running I saw a couple jogging and the man was doing so barefoot. His steps appeared so light and easy I can now see why many in the running community advocate for barefoot running. I personally don't think I'll be doing it, but sometime this year I'd like to transition to less shoe. Though I love my Vomero's I can see that they are a bit heavy and control my foot motion more than I want them to. I think I'll get some Nike Frees to start my transition down to less shoe.

Saturday Easy Run by lkwheel at Garmin Connect - Details

Thursday Speed Workout (3 min fast, 3 min jog)

Speedwork is hard, but sometimes enjoyable. My buns and calves are feeling the workout even now 3 hours after the run. I ran 5 repeats of 3 minutes at a pace 20 seconds faster than your 5K pace, jogging for 3 minutes between each interval.

Intervals

• 0.47 mi - 6:22/mile
• 0.48 mi - 6:18/mile
• 0.45 mi - 6:36/mile
• 0.45 mi - 6:35/mile
• 0.45 mi - 6:36/mile

Total - 6.02 mi in 48.19

Tuesday Quality Workout (Ladder Workout)

Today's workout: Standard one mile warm up, ran 1 x 400/800/1600/800/400 super sets. Run 400 meters at 15 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace, 800 meters at 5K pace, 1600 meters at 10K pace, 800 meters at 5K pace and 400 meters at 15 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace with no rest in between. Jogged 800 meters to cool down.

I put the effort in on this workout during lunch at work. This was not your run of the mill lap around the track. I really felt tired at the end of the workout and had to put my hands on my knees and catch my breath. That to me is success. I don't often run to exhaustion and I recovered really quickly.

I need to learn my watch a little better. I don't have good data for the accuracy of my paces on the stages of the run, but the pace is a slight curve in the general range of my goal paces. The first 400 meters was definitely too fast - the first mile was in 6:37. The 10K pace (middle mile) was too slow and the final 1200 meters was also probably too slow, but the last 400 was right on the 6:30-ish pace I was going for.

Test 5K in 21:51 (7:01/mile)

Today's workout was a test 5K race to be run at my 10K pace. I plan to run the Armed Forces Week 5K in 4 weeks at a sub-21 minute goal time, which is a 6:45/mile pace. Most predictors think you lose 15 seconds off of your pace when going from 5K to 10K, so the goal pace today was 7:00/mile.

I decided to do this run on the treadmill and set the pace to 8.5 mph (7:03/mile). I ran a slow 1 mile warm-up and then started in. I actually thought of quitting on the run several times starting around 1200m. I was glad that I was on the treadmill because I had the visual stimuli to keep telling myself I just need to hold on for one more mile, or you can do another lap, or even you can manage any pain for 800m. The bottomline is that I made it and feel like I am on pace to get the time I was looking for. I let the last 0.1 mile go at 9.5 mph with plenty of kick left in my legs.

Good luck to everyone tomorrow running Boston. Hopefully I can join the qualifiers by 2012.

Thursday Speed Workout (600/1200s)

The plan today was to do the standard one mile warm up, then run 3 x 600/1200 meter repeats. I had to run the 600 meters at 20 seconds per mile faster than 5K pace, then slow down to 5K pace for 1200 meters.

This workout was done on the treadmill because I had to get my daughter to ballet practice. It was a challenging workout. The 600 meter pace was run at 9 mph (6:40/mile) the 1200 meter was at 8.5 mph (7:03/mile). I think the 600 meter run was a tease to get me used to the surges that a 5K run may require out of my pace comfort zone in order to achieve my goal time. The 1200 meter portion is intended to teach me to recover at the pace I want to run at. It is funny how a quick pace can be recovered from at a pace only 20 seconds per mile slower.

Wednesday Easy Run

Today's workout was to run 5 miles easy with 5 acceleration strides. My legs felt really dead due to last night's track workout, but I have to put in the work. I have talked a lot of junk about running sub-21 in the office 5K on May 12th. I plan on living up to this big talk so I am following an advanced training plan on the running planet website.

5.02 miles in 39:18, a 7:49/mile pace

Splits

Mile 1 - 8:08

Mile 2 - 7:46

Mile 3 - 7:40

Mile 4 - 7:37

Mile 5 - 7:48

Tuesday Quality Workout (5 x 1600m: avg pace 7:04)

The Cherry Blossom Race has been completed and I am now preparing for my next race - the Armed Forces Week 5K. Today's workout was run at the local track:

Standard warm up. Run 5 x 1600 meter repeats at 5K pace. Jog for 400 meters between repeats. Cool down with 800 meters of jogging.

The total mileage was 7.75 miles in 1:02:21.

Intervals

Mile 1 - 6:45

Mile 2 - 7:03

Mile 3 - 7:10

Mile 4 - 7:08

Mile 5 - 7:17

It was a miserable rainy day at the track at DuVal High School. I shared the track the DuVal track team. Since I arrived before them and was putting in the work the coach used my effort to shame them into trying harder. It was nice to have the company. I found myself wondering what kind of short distance wheels I have. They must've done a dozen 200 meter sprints. Maybe one day I'll see if I can run with them.

My workout on the other hand was not exactly as planned. I hit the first mile interval in 6:45, which is right where I planned to be, but I did not hold the pace through the remaining intervals. Nevertheless, I am satisfied that I did the workout in spite of being in a cold rain the whole time and struggling with a stiff neck from a bad previous night sleep.

Cherry Blossom Race Report

The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run was a complete success for me. I love setting a goal and then hitting it on the nose. I told myself for weeks that I'd run 1:13, but in the last few days I started to change my goal to 1:16 because I didn't feel confident.

When the race started I lined up in the red corral with the other mid-packers. When they finally let us go (3 minutes behind the lead pack) I ran with my natural projected pace. I dodged around a few people who were taking it pretty slow, but who knows if they were the ones passing me late in the race. I looked at my Garmin often to ensure that I wasn't going out too fast. I maintained very even splits for the entire race and the first two miles were my slowest as I planned.

My declared plan was 2 miles 7:40, 4 miles 7:30, 2 miles 7:20, last 2 miles give it all I've got. I stuck to the general structure of this plan, but actually felt really fresh. Running the mostly flat course in the great weather must have really had an effect on me. I kind of felt mile 9 on the way back from Hains Point, but I focused on a person I wanted to beat who was picking up the pace.

This girl in pink shorts passed me and I decided that she would not beat me, but slowly she left me behind as we approached the end so I found another target. A man and his son were ahead of me. His nine year old must have joined him from the sidelines and was keeping pace with him for at least a quarter mile. Worse yet, they both stayed ahead of me! I had enough, I picked up the pace with about a half mile to go and said, "Way to go, kid" as I passed them both. Then I stretched out for an almost all out dash. I hit a 4:50 pace for the last 100 meters or so and finished with my best mile of the race. I ran a negative split and hit my goal time with the unofficial 01:12:57 (Garmin said I did better). Good enough for 935 out of 6,881 men and 211 out of 1,402 men in my age group.

I feel very accomplished and that I have quite a bit of improvement in my racing skills to go. I know that I can close better than I did - I should've left a bit more on the course.

Splits

Mile 01 - 00:07:33

Mile 02 - 00:07:22

Mile 03 - 00:07:03

Mile 04 - 00:07:20

Mile 05 - 00:07:19

Mile 06 - 00:07:13

Mile 07 - 00:07:21

Mile 08 - 00:07:16

Mile 09 - 00:07:08

Mile 10 - 00:06:57

Last run before Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race by lkwheel at Garmin Connect - Details

Last run before Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race by lkwheel at Garmin Connect - Details

Simple run trying to focus on striding with full range of motion. I put down 3.58 miles in 27:12 for an average pace of 7:35/mile. I haven't hydrated very well during this taper and need to really focus on getting a lot more water down before the race. This was the last scheduled run before the race. I feel good and am now going to rest and hope for the best.

Tuesday Easy Run (4.70 mi - 35:59 - 7:38/mile)

I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." ~ Muhammed Al

Heatwave today. I ran after cooking dinner in the dark of night, but it was still hot. It made a fairly brisk run a little more challenging. I ran wearing my reflective vest through just about every street and cul-de-sac in my neighborhood to total about 4.7 miles int 36 minutes a 7:38/mile pace. I feel that the 7:24/mile pace I predict for the Cherry Blossom will be tough, but I have trained and should be able to do it if I have the guts.

Tuesday Easy Run by lkwheel at Garmin Connect - Details

Tapering toward Race Day and Vacation

I have been putting together a series of race pace runs that are actually fairly easy to maintain from 3 miles to 6 miles. I feel like I can run the 7:30-ish pace for the full 10 miles no problem. This becoming more apparent as I am getting more rest and can run with energy. I was on vacation this week and ran only one time while relaxing at the beach, but the 7:00/mile pace over 2.61 miles I maintained was pretty easy. I have a little over one week left until this race and am feeling strong.