10/9 12 mile + 10/13 6x800

10/10 12 mile

 I needed to squeeze this in before driving up to Maine. Fortunately this was a recovery week so the goal was a fairly easy long run--9 miles relaxed and then 3 miles at 7:20-7:35 pace. I started early, which means in darkness now that we are getting into autumn. Most of the run was on side road and bike trail with a pleasant loop in one of the local parks. 

I kept a careful eye on the GPS during the tempo section to try and avoid overrunning it. I can't say I paced it naturally, but checking regular and intentionally backing off toward the end of each mile I kept it near the pace ceiling. It felt good! Very gratifying to feel like the previous hard runs are making a difference. 

Mile 10: 7:21

Mile 11: 7:17

Mile 12: 7:17

 

10/13 6x800 

A cloudy morning, starting in full darkness around 6am. I thought to bring a flashlight with me, which was good because my light vest was low on charge. Cool in the lower 50s, with a light drizzle. I did 4 striders on the pavement (field was very wet), then lined up for the repeats. 

Conveniently, the bikeway has granite plinths marking quarter mile intervals. The stretch I've been working on on is a little bit more than 1km long, and has three. So distance was easy to calculate, albeit imperial (so 1/2 mile intervals, rather than 800m). 

I was going for a fast-but-controlled feeling. Ran the first 5 that way and then just ran hard for the 6th. I messed up the 2nd interval because I misread a plinth in the dark (there were two close together, and I thought the nearer one was the quarter-mile post--it wasn't). 

Nominal goal pace @ 3:05-3:10, 90s jog recovery.  

1.  3:00

2. 2:48+0:17 (??) <-- messy, I slowed way down and then sped up when I realized my mistake.

3. 3:01

4. 3:05

5. 3:01

6. 2:57 

10/6 2 x 3km repeats

Out the door by 6am. It was full dark when I left the house, Orion bright in the southern sky and a planet (Jupiter?) shining a brilliant accompaniment to the sickle moon. By the time I made it to the bikeway, the predawn light had begun to illuminate the adjoining field. I did 4 striders on the grass to stretch out my legs. 

The goal for today was to demonstrate some more pace control and even split the intervals as much as possible. I'd award myself a partial success. I started too fast again, but I kept the first interval consistently at threshold, "short words and phrases" pace. The second interval I went out too slow and then picked it up for the 2nd and 3rd km. I felt pretty consistently strong throughout, although for the 3rd km of the last interval I was just running hard, no longer threshold. 

Split intervals as before. Goal pace 4:00/km. 

(3km)  3:52  / 4:05 / 4:03   = 11:59

3 min jog recovery

(3km)  4:04 / 3:55 / 3:57   = 11:56

 

10/3 15 mile long run (5 mi HMP)

This is close to peak long run effort in my training arc. In two weeks I will repeat the workout with 6 miles @ HMP (half marathon pace, in my case 6:55 or thereabouts). 

 Weather was gorgeous today. I left a bit late (7:30), after figuring out my route. After last workout I didn't trust the GPS to keep synced in the heavy tree cover we have around here in metrowest Massachusetts. I went old school, plotting the 5 mile tempo section on google pedometer along the rail trail, and writing down road crossings and their distances. Then I wrote down lap times on my hand. 

Results:

 10 miles easy, then:

 

The tempo section felt good, but I overran it again. In retrospect I realized that when I paused for a couple of seconds to stretch before the tempo, the GPS re-synced. It actually would have told me I was going too fast if I had looked at my pace. I think my plan for next tempo will be to make sure GPS is re-synced, and then use it to keep my pace @ 7:00 min/mile for the first 1-2 intervals, no matter how good I feel. Walked home, took a swig of OJ and lay in the grass for a good few minutes. Then I staggered up and mowed the lawn :-)   

 

 

@ 6:55 min pace (415s / mi)
                                TIME     LAP (GOAL)   LAP ACTUAL
0.0000 mi -- F*** Trail         0s       0            0
1.0343 mi -- D**** Rd           429s     7:09         6:53
1.6144 mi -- P**** Rd           670s     4:01         3:50
2.0894 mi -- H**** Rd           867s     3:17         3:16 (intentionally backed off)
2.9394 mi -- B**** trail        1219s    5:52         5:36 (mild downhill)
3.7369 mi -- O**** Rd           1551s    5:32         5:31 (mild uphill)
4.3546 mi -- H**** Rd           1807s    4:16         4:15 (mild uphill)
5.0170 mi -- 170 *** Rd         2082s    4:35         4:17 (flattish)

9/29 -- 3 x 2km split intervals

 Repeat of last week, this time trying to back off and actually run threshold pace. I don't have any good way of gauging pace mid-interval, so each 1km stretch is done by feel. I did think I backed it off successfully, and tested myself by saying some short phrases between breaths. I also didn't quite nail the pacing goals, which were 3:56-4:00 / km. 

 The bike trail was damp, with many sticks and leaves down. Footing wasn't terrible (except for the turnaround, where I almost wiped out on a mudslick in the first interval). All the same I would estimate conditions were ~2s /km slower than last week. 

 7.75mi total. Did 4 grass striders to loosen up beforehand. 

Interval 1: 3:54 / 4:04  (7:58)

Interval 2: 4:02 / 4:06  (8:08 ouch)

Interval 3: 3:59 / 3:59  (7:58)

Jog rest ~110s. 

 

9/26 Long Run + Tempo

A nor'easter blew through our patch of Massachusetts this weekend, bringing heavy rain and some wind. Fortunately the rain hadn't begun by early Saturday. It was one of those eerily quiet pre-storm mornings, fully overcast but with an unusually high cloud deck. Somewhere up there were the storm's furious winds, but down in our valley it was calm, damp but rainless. Early morning sunlight shown horizontally beneath the clouds, giving the forest a faint blueish tint. 

 The run on the menu was another 14 miler, similar to last week, but adding one more mile to the tempo section. I could not get what felt like an accurate read on the gps watch, which I think could be explained by all the turbulent clouds between me and space. I didn't quibble about the 9:30s it claimed I was running, since I felt strong and I'm sure a little extra distance couldn't hurt. 

I decided to pace the tempo section by feel: 28 minutes @ half-marathon pace. I noted landmarks as best as possible with the hope of reconstructing my route in google pedometer later to get accurate distance+time. Almost all the tempo was done on bike-trail, with just a little bit along roadway at finish.

SPLITS

1.  0:00   START (est 2.5mi from roundabout. I passed a sign "2.4mi to roundabout" 56s in). 
2. 17:08  ROUNDABOUT
3. 28:00  FINISH  (1.56 mi from roundabout).   

 Distance from roundabout<->finish is pretty reliable, because both were easy landmarks. That works out to 6:51 pace on the first stretch of bike trail, and 6:58 pace on the 2nd stretch. I did start fading on that final section, which was mildly uphill compared to the mild downhill leading into the roundabout. 

All in all a good effort, with no particular nagging pain. The tempos are certainly helped by all the nearby bike trail, which is very straight and flat (even that mild rise in the 2nd split above barely counts as anything). But the Newburyport is not reputed to be a very hilly half, so hopefully it's good race specific training.