Monthly "PR"

I finished off August today with 135.8 miles. Only the second time over 100 miles, and a "PR" by 24 miles. My total for the last two months was 247 miles! I'm currently at 630 miles for the year, and I now realize that if not for being injured earlier in the year, I'd be a lock for 1000 miles on the year. As it stands, it's still a possibility. Very cool...

(What's funny is that I'm following the "Run Less, Run Faster" training schedule. I've tried to tell some people about this - that it's not actually running less. At least not for me. I do only run 3 times a week, but the runs are intense, and the long runs are long. I'm feeling pretty good though...)

I ran my speed workout on Wednesday. The schedule called for 6 x 800m. My new target pace was 3:26. Here's how I did:
3:12
3:19
3:16
3:21
3:19
3:15
Pretty consistent, for me. I remembered something about "Yasso 800's". Apparently if you run 10 x 800m intervals, the speed at which you run each interval should match your marathon finish, in hours. I think with a little more training I could have run another 4 intervals at a similar speed. But I think running a BQ marathon (3:15 if I wait until next year) is still a ways off. (As in never!)

I ran my tempo run today. 1 mile easy, 6 miles at 8:11, and 1 mile easy. I came close, but 6 tempo miles are tough!


I seem to have got the second half in under the target, but the first few were a tad slow.

This Sunday is a rare day off for me, as I'm planning on running the 20K race in New Haven on Monday. I hope to play a little tennis and enjoy the weather.

Have a great weekend everyone!

10 weeks to go

After what seems like weeks of beautiful weather, it was pouring at the beginning of the week here. That, combined with laziness and work responsibilities, had me missing running for three days in a row. That meant I had to cram in all my workouts at the end of the week.

Thursday was speed. The schedule called for 2 x 1200m and 4 x 800m. The target pace was 5:23 and 3:31, respectively. I ended up with:

1200 5:07
1200 5:15
800 3:24
800 3:15
800 3:19
800 3:13

Fairly consistent, for me. (As I've said before, I think my target pace should be moved up. I haven't "officially" done that, but maybe I will.)

Friday, I was back out there for my tempo run. I didn't get time until the afternoon, by which time it was pretty hot. The schedule called for 5 miles @ mid-tempo (8:06) pace.



It was weird not having the usual first few easy miles, and you can see it took me a while to get started. Once I did though, I was pretty good. (And still, slightly fast. Ok fine. I'm changing my target paces.)

Sunday was the long run. 20 miles again. (This plan has me scheduled for five of these!) According to my "new" pace targets, this would be at 9:18.

Unfortunately, it didn't really cool off overnight, and at 8:45 in the morning it was approaching 80 degrees already. Fortunately, it didn't get much hotter.


Once again, it took me a few miles to get started. My overall pace was 8:55, but I probably averaged under 8:45 over the last 15 miles. Which explains why my quads are really sore today...

Once again, I can't help but make calculations. Including my bathroom breaks, I ran somewhere between 20.1 and 20.3 miles in 3:02:53. Throw in 6 more 9-minute miles and I've got a 4 hour marathon. Ok to be fair, there was no way I could have kept running for another 6 miles yesterday. But to be fair to me, it should be 20 degrees cooler on race day.

So it's definitely possible. Now, I just have to do it. (Yikes!)

Sunday 18

I went into the city on Sunday to run my miles in Central Park. I did 3 complete loops, including Harlem Hill, in order to get some "hillwork" in. It was a little cooler this weekend, probably in the high 60's, which made a big difference. Last week I really struggled, but this week was a lot better.

My target pace was supposed to be 9:30. I always start slow, but I have a hard time feeling out exactly how fast I'm going. I can just tell if I'm working hard or not. Often I can look at my Garmin, but it was really struggling in the park this time. In fact, because of all the editing, it's hard to figure out all my splits even after the fact. According to SportTracks I started at a 9:37 mile, and by a few miles in I was running sub-9's. I think I was probably a little slower than that.

My times for the loop were:
54:14
51:51 (ok, not including a bathroom break)
51:24 (no break!)

Depending on what distance I use for the loop, I get these paces:
9:53
8:36
8:32

Wow! I did feel tired at the end, and I knew I was going fast, but still. I did a little more than 18 miles in 2:35:27. Throw in another 8.2 miles at 9 minutes each, and that's a 3:49 marathon. (Ok I stopped for a few minutes, so make it 3:52. Still!)

I know the 4 hour marathon is within grasp, and it's making me nervous. I have 11 weeks left to worry about weather, injury, bad luck, or some screw-up causing me to not do it. In the past it was just some sort of dream goal, but now that it's so obviously attainable, it's scary.

I've lost my audience

The problem with posting every two weeks is that people stop coming. (Actually, for me it wouldn't matter. I read most blogs in bloglines.) I feel saddened at my dramatic decrease in comments...

And so, in an effort to reclaim my readers, here I am posting for the second time in the same week! (Will wonders ever cease?)

I've had one of the busiest weeks ever since I started this job. I did a ton of operating, and had a few things going on the social calendar as well. I'm totally wiped.

Running wise, I've gotten in my two runs this week. (Although no crosstraining, unless you count the wedding.) On Wednesday I did my speed workout. I was scheduled for 3 x 1600m with 1 minute rest intervals. My goal time for each interval was 7:19. I'd done this workout in the past, but with longer rests. This time I did it for real.

Here's how I did:
7:56 (I think I was still sleeping. Also, it's hard to push on that first interval.)
7:13 (Now we're talking.)
7:06 (A little fast, but I was happy to be finishing strong.)

Friday,I got in my tempo. Thankfully I ran in the morning, since it was thundering and lightning in the afternoon. The plan was for 2 miles easy, 3 miles at 7:51 pace, and 1 mile easy.



Turns out I was a bit fast, and really pushing that third mile. Felt good, though.


(I love the way these graphs look for tempo runs!)

Ok, time for Sabbath now. The day of Rest. (Thank God!) I'm going to gather up my strength before trying to tackle the 18 miler on Sunday.

Have a good weekend!

Week 4

I was on call this weekend, and really got hammered. (At work, not at a bar.) And so, I've really been busy this past week. I've managed to keep to my running schedule, but barely. Blogging is just becoming more and more difficult.

Quick recap of week 4.

Wedneday was speed day. I was scheduled for 5 x 1000m with 400m intervals. Target pace was 4:26. The results:

4:27
4:17
4:20
4:15
4:28

Not too bad, in my opinion.

Friday was tempo day. I was barely able to squeeze this in before candle lighting (the beginning of the Sabbath). The schedule called for 1 easy mile, 4 miles @ 8:06, and then another easy mile.

Average pace for the tempo part was 7:42. A little fast, but I felt good.

Saturday was rest, and Sunday I had 20 miles @ 9:45 on the schedule. And I was on call and had to round. And I had to be at a wedding in Brooklyn at noon. Soooo.... I woke up at 4:30 to go running. It took me a little time to wake up, but by 5:30 I was running.


I did a double out and back in the Bronx. (I didn't want to go to the city, because I was still on call.)


My averge pace was 10:02, which was slower than target. Looking at it now, I can see that I was still kind of sleeping for the first 7 miles. I was pretty much ok after that.

I rounded and rushed over to Brooklyn. Late, but in time for the reception. The wedding was fun, and somehow I ended up dancing a ton there. I think I sweat more at the wedding than I did during the run.




Week 5 is already in progress. Stay tuned for updates...

Falling behind in blogging

I've gotten behind, and the more behind I get, the harder it is to write the big blog post.Let me try to catch up here.

I last wrote at the end of week 1. Here's how week 2 went.

Speed. Scheduled for 4 x 800 @ 3:31. (I still think I should be a little faster, but the 5K race was canceled, and I don't feel like doing my own 5K just to check my speed.) Here's how I did:
3:21
3:17
3:21
3:19
I don't remember how it felt, so I'll leave it at that.

Tempo. The schedule called for 7 miles, with 5 @ 8:45.

The last few miles were tough.

Long run. The schedule called for 15 miles @ 9:30. I was at a hotel for the weekend, and was scheduled to meet people for breakfast at about 10. It was also really hot and humid, so I wanted to get the run in early. I ended up starting at 6:30 - and it was already too hot.


Average pace: 9:27.

I'm used to running out of the city boundaries on my long runs, but this was the first time I ran out of the state boundaries!


I'm also not used to seeing deer on the road in NYC. These guys were just hanging out in front of someone's home. They bolted as I got close.


Week 3:

Speed. Reverse ladder (I think that's what it's called) on the schedule. 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200. I'll give you the expected, and then the results.
1200 5:23 5:28 (a touch slow)
1000 4:26 4:15 (back to my usual fast results)
800 3:31 3:21 (on track)
600 2:37 2:25 (still on track)
400 1:43 1:35 (doing well)
200 0:49 0:44 (I was happy with this workout)

As an aside, this run closed out my July running. I reached 111.2 miles for the month, which is by far the most I've ever run. To be fair, I ran on the 1st and the 31st, and there were 5 Sunday's, but still the number was pretty cool. It also pushed me over 500 miles for the year.

Following this run, I went off to Wasaga Beach in Canada for some vacation. I wasn't playing tennis there, so I squeezed in an extra run on Thursday. 4 easy miles.

Friday was Tempo. Similar to the previous week, but the 5 miles were supposed to be run faster, at an 8:21 pace.


These were tough, but I was really running fast.

Long run. The schedule called for 17 miles at a 9:30 pace. I again woke up early to get the run in before the heat. (It was tough, since I had just barely gone to sleep.) I ran near the beach, but not on it. A pretty cool run.

Average pace: 10:04. Hard to believe - it seemed faster. Looking at my splits it seems I started really slow, but settled into an okay rhythm later.


I did a speed workout today, but I'll leave it for the week's recap later. I'm actually wondering how I'm going to get it all done. I'm scheduled to run 20 miles this weekend, but I'm on call Friday and Saturday, and have a wedding on Sunday. It's going to be tough, if not impossible.


Ok, that's it for now. You're pretty much up to date.