Last week ended up being more of a transition week than a real week of training.
The intense cold kept me inside, and prevented me from getting in some of the real workouts that I had planned. But I did manage to get my mileage back up to 70 miles for the week – from the 60ish that I had been running throughout the late fall.
This week, it’s time to get serious.
The weather looks much nicer, so I’ll be back outside. I’m out of town for the weekend, so I need to juggle things around a bit. But since it’s still the holiday break, I’ll be able to do a long run in the middle of the week.
By the end of the week, I’ll hopefully get in my two workouts, 70 miles, and be able to get some real pace feedback from being outside. That’ll give me some guidance as to where to go in the next few weeks leading up to race day.
The Plan for the Week
Here’s the plan for the week:
- Sunday: 7 miles easy
- Monday: 8 miles easy
- Tuesday: 16 mile long run, w/ workout
- Wednesday: 6 miles easy
- Thursday: 6 miles trail easy AM, 5 miles treadmill PM
- Friday: 8 mile R workout AM, 6 miles treadmill PM
- Saturday: 8 miles easy trails
And here’s how things went.
Sunday: The Back Roads of Lancaster
We’re out of town for the weekend in Lancaster, so I’m pushing my usual long run to Tuesday when we’re back home.
I woke up a little late today, and I planned to get in 7-8 miles of easy running. But I also needed to be back in time to shower and get down to breakfast.
I jogged through the golf course behind our hotel, which involved a big hill in the beginning. That was tough. On the back end, though, my legs started to loosen up. I hit the roads, and at mile 3 I glanced at my watch. I was a little slow, so I decided to turn around at 3.5 miles and wrap things up at 7.
I went up and over a little hill, turned around, and retraced my steps. I ran by a horse and buggy along the way. My pace improved considerably, and the last three miles were all 8:10-8:20. Nice.
Monday: Hilly Loops in Lancaster
The roads were busier than I expected Sunday morning, and I expected things to be worse on Monday. The roads aren’t that wide, and there aren’t sidewalks, which makes me a little uncomfortable running with a lot of traffic.
So I decided to just loop the golf course behind our hotel. It was just about two miles long, and it was pretty hilly.
The first one was a little slow as I warmed up. I passed by some young kids walking to a nearby farm. The next two loops felt much better and faster. I checked my pace at the end of mile 6, and I was pleased to see 8:07 for the lap. I kept pushing it a little in the final lap, and I split 8:09 and 8:00 for those last two miles.
Overall finish time of 1:08, with an average heart rate of 141. It spiked a bit on the inclines, but it was a pretty solid aerobic run.
Tuesday: Back Home For My Long Run
I slept in a bit on Tuesday. It was New Year’s Eve. Nothing pressing going on until the evening.
It was pretty warm – in the 30’s when I started and going up to the high 40’s or low 50’s. So I put on a tank top and shorts and hit the road.
I started with my usual route for a ten mile out and back to Verona Park. Felt great, and the last couple of miles were casually 7:55-8:00.
I stopped about a mile from my house, at the north end of a long street. It’s slightly hilly, with a net decline from north to south (and a net incline from south to north). My workout plan was to run 6×1 mile repeats – alternating south (downhill) and north (uphill) – at around half marathon pace (~6:30/mi).
The first rep felt good. Took a bit to really loosen up, but I finished in 6:28. Rested for about two minutes and started back uphill. I started off a little fast, and I ended up splitting this mile in 6:20 – super fast, considering the net incline.
The next two were perfect. 6:25 downhill, 6:29 uphill. But after the fourth rep, I was starting to feel drained.
I did the 5th rep, and I lapped 6:34. I decided to bail on the final uphill rep. It was just too much.
I jogged it out for a mile or so to hit my 16 mile total for the day.
But I felt amazing. The initial part of the run felt great for an easy long run, and the mile repeats were strong. Feeling good after this.
Wednesday: An Easy Six Miles On New Year’s
New Year’s Eve was, of course, a late night. So I slept in and woke up late on Wednesday.
I put on my shoes and crawled out to the street. My legs felt like lead at first – not sure if it was the (mild) hangover or the previous days workout.
But after my first loop around the Reservoir, things started to feel much better. The last four miles were 8:15-8:30. Feeling good.
Thursday: Doubles to Hit My Mileage
To hit my 70 miles for the week, I needed to double up twice. It wasn’t logistically feasible earlier in the week, so I ended up doing consecutive doubles on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday started with a six mile trail run. Uneventful. A slow warm up, followed by 9:15-9:30/mi for the final four miles. Decent pace.
Thursday evening, I hopped on the treadmill for 45 minutes. Did my five miles and felt fine.
Friday: Workout in the Morning, Treadmill in the Evening
Friday morning started with a quick R workout. Eight miles around the Reservoir, with 4 x (40s, 40s, 80s) as a workout. Essentially, this is the time based equivalent to 4 x (200m, 200m, 400m).
I was willing to give myself a bit of a pass on the pace, given how hard I pushed in Tuesday’s long run. My legs were feeling a little heavy. But I still wanted to get out and get them moving – and I hoped I’d do much better than the previous week.
I warmed up with about two miles. The first set felt great. The next two, I didn’t quite feel 100%, but I still felt pretty good. The final set, I was ready to be done.
I looked at the pace afterwards, and my pace started out fine (5:30-5:40/mi), but over the course of the workout I drifted up to 5:50-6:00/mi. Not the best executed workout, but a decent effort.
The week’s work was a little compressed, and I’m more concerned about the long run workout coming up in two days on Sunday. So I wasn’t about to kill myself in this one. I’m happy with how it turned out.
Saturday: An Easy Eight On The Trails
Oh yeah, the cold is back.
I woke up and it was in the high 20’s. It was windy. I put on long sleeves and gloves and hit the trails.
On my way in to the trails, the wind was biting. My hands were chilled. I had second thoughts about being outside.
But after two miles, I was further in the forest. The trees were buffering the wind, and my hands had warmed up. I saw a surprising number of other runners on the trails, and I happily greeted them all. Noticeably, I was the only one wearing shorts.
I got to the southern end of the Reservation and turned around. Four miles back north. They ticked off fairly quickly.
Finished in 1:18, with most of the later miles around 9:30/mi. A little on the slow side, but perfectly acceptable for a long recovery day.
Reflections and Looking Ahead
This week was undoubtedly a success.
I hit my mileage goal. Tuesday’s long run workout was great. Back on the roads, my pace feels amazing.
My workout on Friday was a little subpar, but that wasn’t the real emphasis for the week. I’d be more concerned if the long run workout had been lackluster.
From here, I’ve got three more weeks of training until the Fred Lebow Half Marathon. With a couple more tough, hilly, long run workouts, I should be plenty ready.
I’m now certain that the Peloton Tread isn’t calibrated correctly. When it reads a pace of ~8:45/mi, my heart rate is getting up into the 140’s. On the roads, that effort puts me at around 8:15/mi.
It’s not a big deal, as I’m always a bit wary of accepting the distance and pace readings of a treadmill. Just something to make a mental note of. I’ll continue to plan my treadmill workouts by time and estimate what distance I should have covered in that time.