This week’s training theme:
Every wee bit helps
This week looked a lot like last week, with two differences: no hills and the mileage was bumped up by five miles.
Five miles doesn’t sound like much, but four of them were tacked onto the long runs on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I did notice that extra mile or so on each of those runs, just a slight tightening of the screws.
Also noticeable is the over-so-slightly increased time commitment on weekday mornings. In just a few weeks I’ll be doing 15 miles on Wednesday and 13 on Friday. It’s odd to get on the phone with people who have likely just rolled out of bed — and I’ve already run two towns over and back!
But I noticed that the 10 x 100 meter “strideouts” were a bit easier this week than last week. And no marathon pace finish on yesterday’s long run made for an easier time out there, although by mile 16 I was feeling quite fatigued on account of having run 11 the day before.
The bad weather has moved in, bringing snow, ice and what I like to call “punishing winds.” Since Westchester’s parks maintenance dept. never sees fit to plow our paths, I was forced inside and onto the treadmill on Friday, then into the streets of Scarsdale and White Plains on Saturday. I moved my long run from Sunday to Saturday since the weather today was horrendous (rain and “punishing” winds), and couldn’t stand the thought of running 18 miles inside on the treadmill.
So instead I ran a 6.3 mile loop north of us three times through residential streets yesterday. I even picked up a friendly running partner for the second loop, a local ex-marathoner who regailed me with tales of early NY marathons and his current addictions to competitive bicycling and snowshoe racing. And that extra mile allowed me some hot chocolate when I got home.
A look back at the week:
Wednesday was the only day that had some surprises. I felt good that morning (plus it was warm enough to wear shorts) and discovered when I got home that I’d run three of the last four miles at well under marathon pace. I only look at my heart rate when I do most of these runs, hiding the pace so I’m not tempted to run outside my heart rate targets. I never got above 78%, although it did seem at times that I was going pretty fast. I’ll see if that happens again. If so, it may soon be time to adjust my paces (and marathon goal time) downward a bit.
- Monday: 6.1 miles, recovery pace
- Tuesday: 8.1 miles, easy pace with 10 x 100 meter “strideouts”
- Wednesday, 13.2 miles, long run, mix of long and race pace
- Thursday, 6.4 miles, recovery pace
- Friday, 11 miles, long run (steady) pace, on the treadmill
- Saturday, 19 miles, long run (steady) pace
- Sunday, 6.2 miles, recovery pace, on the treadmill
Total mileage: 70 miles
Paces this week:
- Easy: 8:25
- Long: 7:50 – 9:00
- Recovery: 9:45
This week’s quote:
I definitely want to show how beautiful the marathon can be. I am the opponent of all those who find the marathon bad: the psychologists, the physiologists, the doubters. I make the marathon beatiful for myself and for others. That’s why I’m here.
— Uta Pippig
Coming up in training week three: A tempo session plus another “marathon pace finish” long run.
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Races Like a Girl 