Half Marathon Training: Week #5

I apologize for getting this out late. Again. We had family visiting this weekend so not a lot of time for blogging. That being said, I'm going to make this short and sweet, as I'm sure you're here for the food, not the running.

Sunday: 4 mile easy run

Nice, easy, and definitely necessary to stretch my legs back out after Friday's run. Thank goodness my very sore glutes and calves were calming down.

Monday: 7 x 400 speed work + Strength

Although the original goal for my training involved performing all of my runs outdoors, I decided that I was more concerned about getting my body to actually hit and maintain certain speeds during my speed workouts versus incorporating slight terrain nuances and wind resistance. Thus, I opted to move indoors to the treadmill where I could have full control of my pace.

According to the McMillan Running Calculator, my goal pace for these should fall between 1:46 and 1:52. My splits turned out:
1 - 1:50
2 - 1:49
3 - 1:48
4 - 1:48
5 - 1:45
6 - 1:42
7 - 1:41
Seeing as I was able to go under the bottom end for several of the splits, I need to focus more on starting out faster and holding that pace.

Tuesday: 3.4 mile easy run

Once again, another easy run falling within in my goal pace range (9:30-10:00 min/mi). A little bit longer than originally intended, but I had to switch routes mid-run or end up swimming through a good mile of slippery thick mud. Yeah, it didn't take much to veto that mud.

Wednesday: 3 mile @ pace

I knew going into this run that "pace" means to run at your goal race pace. But I just couldn't help myself and had to push a little harder, ending up with a 24:29 (8:09 min/mi) pace. And I proved to myself that I will not be racing at that pace anytime soon.

Even though I felt like I had a pretty good run, going in the gym, on the treadmill without the constant switching of the pace every 2 minutes-ish (like with the interval training), was really hard for me. Of course I didn't bring any headphones to listen to the TVs, or my ipod, so I was struggling to stay on task. Outside, I almost never have a problem with getting bored, but inside is just a whole other story. I need to make sure I bring headphones/music of some sort next time I do any treadmill work that isn't intervals.

Thursday: Strength

All day was spent cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, in preparation for our company, so I really only had time to squeeze in a quick strength session before having to shower then head out to the airport. Oh well, if anything is going to get cut, I'd prefer it to be yoga.

Friday: 10 mile run

It's hard trying to keep yourself on schedule with eating the right things and the right amounts before a long run when company is around. For some people this isn't all that important, but I tend to run into GI issues when I start getting into higher mileage, so it's really important I don't bog myself down with too much or the wrong kind of food ahead of time. Luckily, we went to a local cafe where I was able to get something light before heading out.

After last week's run feeling so great, I was a bit worried I'd swing back the other way again this week. Especially since I kind of felt like I struggled a bit with the speed workouts. Fortunately though, we started off at a great pace and fell right into a rhythm. The only issue I had pretty much the entire run was getting stuck at a traffic light (twice) which held us up for easily close to 90 seconds. Can I just say how much my body hates starting back up from a stop when I'm well over 5 miles into a run?

On the bright side though, 7 of the 10 miles were under a 9 minute pace and one of the miles which wasn't, included the time stuck at the light. I was a little concerned how I would feel near the end of the run since I was jumping 2 miles this week instead of 1, but surprisingly I held in there pretty well. I'm starting to think I may just be able to pull off a half marathon in under 2 hours.

Saturday: Rest

The countdown is on: 2 weeks until my 10 mile race and 7 until the half. I'm starting to get excited! I can't believe next week marks the halfway point. Since I've cruised into the double-digit mileage about 3 weeks early, I'm going to rearrange the long runs in the back-half of the schedule to better reflect my higher mileage and to better prepare me for 13.1.

Up next though, I'm going to insert a drop down week (8 mi) between now and my 10 mile race to help really firm up my endurance at this mileage.