Mileage 55.6, with a break-through tempo run, a double, a set of strides, two races (same event), a long run, a bootcamp, and some additional scattered core. This week marked the arrival of our first really cold weather (wind chills in the single digits), and I will admit I started wondering why I decided to run a February marathon! Running in the cold seemed to take more out of me than running in nicer temperatures, which I don't really remember happening in past winters, so I'm hoping that I will get more used to it. I typically toughen up as winter goes on!
Monday - Cross-training MonYay with 40 minutes on the elliptical to warm up and 50 minutes of bootcamp. I was still a little sore from jumping lunges on Friday, so I was thankful we didn't do lunges in this class! We did plenty of squat variations and weighted swings though, and at one point enough push-ups to make me drop to my knees (6 sets in a row of 6 push-ups/6 plank jacks, holding plank position the entire time, was a little too much for my arm and chest muscles...I know I can do 36 push-ups in a row so it had to be the plank jacks between that put it over the edge).
Tuesday - 9.2 miles total (2.6 warm-up, 4 mile tempo in 24:03, 2.6 cool-down); warm-up and cool-down with Missy. This was my first tempo run of my new training cycle, and I felt like it was a major victory (except for wishing I'd run 1 second/mile faster...it's always something, bahaha!)! It was just a really good day, and temperatures in the mid-30s seem to agree with me. My coach sped up my tempo goal pace range to 6:05-6:20 this training cycle, and said to start slower and speed up as the workout progressed for this one, as usual. I felt good from the gate and went through my first mile in 6:05, and then I figured I'd try to stay at the bottom of the range throughout, because as you know I am obsessed with negative splitting everything. I really worked on running by feel instead of by my watch on this tempo, as I ran 5 laps around my 0.8 neighborhood loop -- one long side is a gradual decline and today the wind was behind me on that portion, making it the "fast side"; the other long side is a gradual incline and today the 12-15 mph wind was in my face on that portion, making it the "slow side" -- otherwise I don't think I'd have started quite so fast.
Mile 2 was 6:03, and I still felt good and like I could sustain 6:05ish for the second half of the workout. The way this loop lines up and based on where I start, mile 3 is always fast (you get to do a nice decline portion twice in this mile - since the entire loop is 0.8 you're repeating the fast part to get to 1.0), and I ended up with a 5:58 third mile. I'd already been thinking that I'd try to get mile 4 under 6:00, and after mile 3 being under I really wanted to go for it! Mile 4 on this course is always harder (you get to do an incline portion twice on this mile), so I knew I'd have to push to keep it under 6:00, but I was able to do that with a 5:54. I finished feeling like I had a solid workout, but not pounded, and definitely like I could race a 10K at about that pace, especially if I hadn't sped up the final mile.
When I saved the workout, my Garmin told me that I ran my best 5K during it! The course I ran was certainly easier than the Joplin Turkey Trot course, so that was the ticket. I'm going to have to find a certified 5K and go for under 18:25 for sure! My gut reaction is "You'd better find a 5K, like tomorrow, to do this!" and "Find a 10K - you can run under 6:05 pace for a 10K, you need to do it now!"- because I've been so conditioned to think I need to race ASAP when I'm in good shape in case I get injured and don't have another chance. But I'm not so worried about it right now; I am staying healthy following my coach's plan, and if I work to achieve the crazy half and full marathon goal times I've dreamed up, my 5K and 10K times will have to fall in conjunction. Or maybe the real reason is that there are no certified 5Ks or 10Ks nearby at this time of year, haha! I know this because I looked for one on December 10!
I looked back at the 4 mile tempo I did at the beginning of my Prairie Fire training cycle (under Thursday here), and I averaged 6:12 pace on it and was very happy with that at the time, so it was really nice to see my improvement from then to now (I ran the exact same course both times). The temperature was better on this run than on June 9; however, the wind was definitely harder today so I'll rationalize it that way. When I went inside after this run, I told Jon, "Now I 'just' have to work up to running 13.1 miles at that pace." Hah. Between now and my Arizona races, my tempos will get longer and my goal pace range will stay the same, so hopefully I can rise to the occasion and stay in the 6:0Xs or at least at 6:15 on the 6, 8, and 10 mile tempos to come!
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| Now to go 10 seconds faster in a certified race |
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| Splits - didn't quite get my watch stopped immediately |
Related fun fact: whenever I stop runs on the nose on my mileage (e.g., 3.0 instead of 3.1 or 3.2), it means I either felt crappy or was in a hurry! The 3 miler was the former.
Thursday - 8.2 miles with 6 x strides in the last mile at lunch (7:27). This was my first run of more than 4 miles from my current office, as we expanded into a new building in April 2016 and I only run my main runs over lunch when it's really cold out, so I'd only done short second runs a few times from this location. I tried a route I ended up liking pretty well that included a Springfield Greenway trail (it was 1.7 miles to the trail). It was 23 degrees with a 14 degree windchill on this run, but that was much better than 6 degree wind chill and dark at 5:30 a.m.! I was fine temperature-wise, and it's amazing how much warmer the same temperature feels in sunshine vs. pitch dark!
Friday - No running today, in the cold and blustery 14 degrees. I did the elliptical for 30 minutes and a 15 minute core/arm strength workout; no bootcamp due to my Saturday races.
Saturday - 9.8 miles total, including the Christmas Mile and "5K" races (race reports here)! My mile time was 5:34, and I ran the long 5K course at 5:57 pace (6:00, 5:54, 6:00 mile splits and 5:54 final 0.21). The race director announced that the 5K course was long at the starting line, so it was hard to give 110% knowing that the course wasn't accurate, but I did my best and would have finished an actual 5K in about 18:30, beating my Tuesday tempo time on a harder course (but I missed the Garmin "Fastest 5K" photo!). The 1 mile was accurate and a nice point-to-point course (the only downside was that it was against the wind most of the way, but the race organizers can't control that part!). I wasn't the most excited about these races due to the forecast for them, but I needed them for a 2016 competition I'm doing through my local running club. It ended up being a little warmer than expected (26 degrees/"feels like" 18), but I still raced in tights, which is a very rare occurrence. I was very pleased with my times in that temperature, as performance starts declining when it's that cold. I placed overall female in both events, behind the same one man in both.
Sunday - 15.1 mile base pace steady long run (7:34), with Missy on farm roads. The wind was insane this morning, making me even more thankful to have Missy along! I was also thankful that it was 42 degrees, because that wind at 15 degrees would have been awful. We ran out into the wind a little slower than usual (7:45-7:50), but I told her that I guaranteed that when we turned around we'd be running 7:20 pace at the same effort, and that is exactly what happened! 15 felt short and I am ready to ramp up my long run distance and also have some workouts during long runs in the upcoming weeks!
I have my training schedule through the Arizona Rock 'n' Roll Half on January 15, so it's feeling pretty real! I am thankful that I have that race to kind of split up my marathon training, as it's 5 weeks away so feels pretty close. The Phoenix marathon is 11 weeks away, and for me that would be a very long time to go with no races! I know I'll question why I picked a February marathon on every really cold day, and certainly on any treadmill runs I do, but big goals know no off season!
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