Well I just finished my 21k long run a few hours ago and I can now sit back and enjoy the next day off, unless I plan on cycling tomorrow. As of right now, I'm going to leave the horses in the stable tomorrow.
This was my first full week of marathon training and it felt awesome!! That extended period of recovery after the Bluenose left me feeling refreshed and anxious to get running again.
This week I cycled to work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a total of 136km. I'm going to try to cycle to work on the days that I don't run, which will provide a good low-impact form of cross training to work the muscles that the running doesn't. Plus, I really enjoy cycling to work. It takes me almost the same time as it normally would when I ride the bus and I get to work feeling more awake and alive before my job beats me down to a mindless pulp for the day but thats another blog. lol
Tuesday and Thursdays runs were 12k and 11k, respectively, with the speedwork on the track on Thursday. Friday was a short recovery run followed by my long run of 21k today.
I'm really pleased that of all of my runs this week, today was the only day I ran with a traditional running shoe on. For every other run I either went with my Vibram Five Finger Bikilas or my New Balance Minimus trail runners. Todays run in the Kinveras felt like I was running on clouds compared to the other runs. Not good but I'm not ready to run 21k with the minimalist shoes just yet. Yet being the operative word there. I will continue to run every run except for my long Sunday run in the minimalist shoes.
I was looking forward to todays long run all week and I found that this morning I was really restless. It was like the horses were just itching to get out for a long run. The plan today was to break the 21k into 3 separate paces, getting faster for each section. the first 7k at 6:20 per km. the next 7k at 6:00 per km and the last 7k at 5:40 per km (my marathon pace). This works out to a predicted time of 2:06 for the whole thing. I finished the run in 2:05:10, very close to what I predicted. For the humidity today, i was very happy with that time. The last 2k I could feel the lactic acid building up in my legs quite a bit, especially on the hills. I got home feeling hot, tired and great. My smartphone's music app was pissing me off somewhat during this run. It was skipping on a lot of my favorite running songs, but I managed to ignore this and keep plodding along. Last year, I didn't run this distance until some time in August or early September so I'm way ahead of my training for the Valley Harvest, PEI or Moncton marathon this fall (yes, I know I haven't totally made my mind up yet and I likely won't until October lol).
Next week's distance is 55k, a 10% increase in distance. The week after that gets interesting, we're going to Alberta for our vacation and I have to find a way to keep the running going to the tune of 60k, 66k and 70k weeks. Running in Canmore should be interesting as well, being over 4000 ft in elevation, means that I'll be getting less oxygen than what I'm used to running here in Sackville (300ft in elevation). Obviously, that'll mean a slower pace for sure. Can't wait.
Great, now its time to kick the feet up and enjoy a well earned rest.
Onward and upward!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Recovery done!! Back to work!
Well after almost a month of short runs (6-10k), the real work begins again this week. There's been a couple of nice things about this recovery period. First and foremost, I needed the time off to rest. I didn't think I did when I started this recovery phase but looking back at it now, I was tired and sore. Now I feel refreshed and all ready to beat the crap outta myself again for the next 14 weeks. Second of all, I got a great opportunity to get back to running in my minimalist shoes. I think almost all of my runs since the Bluenose have been in my Vibram Bikilas or my New Balance Minimus trail runners. Now that my feet and stride have adapted somewhat to the minimal way, I'll continue wearing them on as many runs as I can, except for my long runs on Sunday. For those I'll stick with my Kinveras.
Now that the mornings are light and warmer, I've started incorporating cycling into the training as well. I commuted to work (26k) 4 days last week and drove back to Bedford one day as well for a weekly total of 120k over 5 rides. I hope to continue with the cycling because I love it and its a great way to get some cross training in. Plus I save money in bus tickets. lol
So this week begins the fall marathon training program. This weeks total distance will be 50k, 21k of which will be my long run on Sunday. This may sound crazy but I'm actually looking forward to the long run this weekend. After so many shorter runs that actually feel like warm ups, it'll feel good to get out and just run for a couple of hours. Great therapy. Of course by the time October rolls around I'll be looking forward to just being able to run some shorter runs again. lol. From now until October 7th, I'll be running at least a half marathon every Sunday. The goal for this training session is to get my marathon pace from 5:50 a km down in the 4:40 a km range. I've been told this may not be realistic but I'm going to shoot for it and lets see what happens this fall. I'd rather set my goals too high and miss than to set them too low and hit them.
So I'll be updating this again on a weekly basis, usually on Sunday evenings when I can look back and reflect on all the happenings on the week. I hope that anyone reading this will find them somewhat informative, humorous and motivating.
Onward and upward.
Now that the mornings are light and warmer, I've started incorporating cycling into the training as well. I commuted to work (26k) 4 days last week and drove back to Bedford one day as well for a weekly total of 120k over 5 rides. I hope to continue with the cycling because I love it and its a great way to get some cross training in. Plus I save money in bus tickets. lol
So this week begins the fall marathon training program. This weeks total distance will be 50k, 21k of which will be my long run on Sunday. This may sound crazy but I'm actually looking forward to the long run this weekend. After so many shorter runs that actually feel like warm ups, it'll feel good to get out and just run for a couple of hours. Great therapy. Of course by the time October rolls around I'll be looking forward to just being able to run some shorter runs again. lol. From now until October 7th, I'll be running at least a half marathon every Sunday. The goal for this training session is to get my marathon pace from 5:50 a km down in the 4:40 a km range. I've been told this may not be realistic but I'm going to shoot for it and lets see what happens this fall. I'd rather set my goals too high and miss than to set them too low and hit them.
So I'll be updating this again on a weekly basis, usually on Sunday evenings when I can look back and reflect on all the happenings on the week. I hope that anyone reading this will find them somewhat informative, humorous and motivating.
Onward and upward.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
18k for the week? really?
Well I just got home from my last run of this week, a very nice 7k run around Point Pleasant Park. It was supposed to be only 6k, but I got lost. Not a bad place to get lost though and no matter which way you go, you're always going to find your way back to where you started. I didn't go with my Vibram Bikilas for this run, opting instead for my New Balance Minimus trail runners.
This was recovery week number two. I had three runs scheduled totalling only 18k for all of them. Up until 3 weeks ago, 18k was a short, Sunday run. It feels nice to be doing these short runs though, especially when I know whats starting later this month.
Tuesdays run was a nice and easy 5k at about a 6 minute/km pace. Nothing too taxing. I wore my Saucony Kinveras for this run, the first time I've worn a traditional pair of running shoes since the Bluenose. Thursdays run was a little longer, 6k in total with a 3k section that I ran at a 5:30 min/km pace (aka marathon pace). I wore my Vibram Bikilas for this one since it was on a nice, soft track here in Sackville.
Last week in my blog I was still wondering what to do this fall. During the week the answer became clear to me. I have to run the Valley harvest marathon again. I need retribution for 2011 and I will get it. I'll put an attempt on qualifying for Boston on hold until 2013, unless I make a huge improvement this summer and run a 3:25 or faster in the Valley. The only way I won't run it is if Stacey decides to run her first half marathon there and wants me to pace her. If that happens, I'll run the PEI marathon the following week. The PEI marathon is also a Boston qualifier.
Now that I have a plan for the fall, I rehired my coach to come up with a new program to reflect my goals. And yep, he didn't disappoint. Starting the 3rd week of June, I'll be running 5 days a week with only Fridays and Mondays off and I intend to cross train on the Fridays. My longest weekly mileage will be 74km which is almost 10k more than the Bluenose training schedule. Lets hope these old legs hold up for the summer. lol This will also be the first summer where I will be running while we're on vacation as well, both in Alberta in July and in New Hampshire in September.
I'm also running the Navy 10k run in August as well. I've never run a 10k race before, only 5k's and marathons so this should be different for sure. I'm looking forward to it.
This week is another recovery week, with 3 runs totalling 21k planned. Yawn.
onward and upward.
This was recovery week number two. I had three runs scheduled totalling only 18k for all of them. Up until 3 weeks ago, 18k was a short, Sunday run. It feels nice to be doing these short runs though, especially when I know whats starting later this month.
Tuesdays run was a nice and easy 5k at about a 6 minute/km pace. Nothing too taxing. I wore my Saucony Kinveras for this run, the first time I've worn a traditional pair of running shoes since the Bluenose. Thursdays run was a little longer, 6k in total with a 3k section that I ran at a 5:30 min/km pace (aka marathon pace). I wore my Vibram Bikilas for this one since it was on a nice, soft track here in Sackville.
Last week in my blog I was still wondering what to do this fall. During the week the answer became clear to me. I have to run the Valley harvest marathon again. I need retribution for 2011 and I will get it. I'll put an attempt on qualifying for Boston on hold until 2013, unless I make a huge improvement this summer and run a 3:25 or faster in the Valley. The only way I won't run it is if Stacey decides to run her first half marathon there and wants me to pace her. If that happens, I'll run the PEI marathon the following week. The PEI marathon is also a Boston qualifier.
Now that I have a plan for the fall, I rehired my coach to come up with a new program to reflect my goals. And yep, he didn't disappoint. Starting the 3rd week of June, I'll be running 5 days a week with only Fridays and Mondays off and I intend to cross train on the Fridays. My longest weekly mileage will be 74km which is almost 10k more than the Bluenose training schedule. Lets hope these old legs hold up for the summer. lol This will also be the first summer where I will be running while we're on vacation as well, both in Alberta in July and in New Hampshire in September.
I'm also running the Navy 10k run in August as well. I've never run a 10k race before, only 5k's and marathons so this should be different for sure. I'm looking forward to it.
This week is another recovery week, with 3 runs totalling 21k planned. Yawn.
onward and upward.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)