High Speeds

Celebrated the new year by doing 5 fast uphill 800m intervals + 5 downhill intervals pacing my father and Jacob. On the uphill intervals I was able to average under 2:30 - the last one was 2:24 I think. The downhil intervals were slightly sub 3:00. Total of 16 miles today.

Total of 12 miles with a fast mile pickup in 4:51 - it was cold.

Did 3 + 2 down the canyon. Got 15:47 or so for the 3 miles, then about 9:52 for the two miles. I was frozen by the end of the second interval.

Total of 12 miles. No interval due to the rain.

Total of 12 today - did two miles down the canyon in 9:48. Paced my father for two miles in 11:41.

Total of 12 with a pickup of about 1 mile.

Did a total of 16 miles with 6 at tempo pace. The goal was 2x3 miles at 5:00-5:10 pace. I had a spasm and had to stop the first interval after two miles. The second interval was better - I was able to finish it. Then I added one more fast mile after some jogging.

Did a 1 mile pickup in 5:07. Ran at 6 AM and got up at 5:30 - this is the earliest I've gotten up to run in a while, as I could sleep in over the break :-).

Did a 1 mile pickup in 5:05.

Did 2x5k on the Pflugerville Soccer Loop. Got 16:26 (8:19, 8:07), and 15:56 (7:58, 7:58). Total of 12. Noah did a 2+1 mile workout.  

Did strides with Noah instead of a pickup - I was pretty wiped out from the workout yesterday.

Did a 1 mile pickup in 4:55.

Did 7.5 km + 5km on the Pflugerville Soccer Loop. One loop is 2.5km. It was very windy - probably on the order of 20 mph. The 7.5 km was 25:28 (8:19, 8:27, 8:42). The second interval was a little faster - 16:33 (8:18, and 8:13). It may have helped that I changed directions - the first inteval I ran counter-clockwise, the second I ran clockwise. It seemed to be a little more favorable given the wind.

Total of 16 today. Noah did 2+1 (miles).

Tried to do a fast 5K - the first lap was good (7:42). Hit a spasm with 800m to go which tanked my time - ended up with 15:56. I was on track for around 15:30.

Total of 6 loops (15k) of volume - it ended up being broken into 1, then 3, then 2. There was some wind - I ended up getting 16:47 on the 2 laps and 25:40 or so for 3. The single lap was around 8:30 I think. I'm likely tired from the 5k attempts earlier this week.

Did a 5k in 16:42 (two loops) - was constrained by time from doing more.

Did 7.5k in 25:22, (3 loops, 8:19, 8:18, then 8:40 - spasm). Then added another loop in 8:16 after resting to bring the total volume to 10k.

Did a pickup in 5:00.

Did a pickup in 5:04.

Did 4x1 mile today with Noah. This workout went better than previous ones - possibly due to a new massage tool I tried. Got 4:58, 4:49, 4:54, and 4:40 (one direction had more uphill). Happy with the 4:40 - it's been a while since I got moving that fast.

Did a 15K tempo (6 laps) in 52:33. Things went similarly to how they've gone in half marathons - the first 3 miles are fine, then problems start around mile 3 or 4. Things get worse till about 6 miles, after which I start gradually speeding up. The first 5K was 16:47 or so, then the next lap was 8:40 ish, followed by one lap over 9:00 after which I was able to speed up a little. This is the longest tempo I've done outside a race for a while. 

Did a progression run with Noah for 6.5 miles averaging around 5:50-5:40 pace.

Was very tired today, just did a 5x1 mile workout, averaging around 5:00 per interval.

Today did 8x1 mile. One direction had significant headwind + a mild uphill. Ended up averaging about 5:15 into the wind and 4:56 the other way. My last interval was 4:47.

Did a 10K tempo today in 33:42 - 8:29, 8:34, 8:26 and 8:13. This is the best tempo on the soccer loop course I've had for a while - normally after three laps I have a spasm.

Total of 12 with a pickup in 4:56. Happy Pi Day to all!

Did a mile pickup in 4:48.

Did a progression run with Noah. The target was 6 miles at 6:30, then 5:30. then 6:20, then 5:20 down to 6:10 and 5:10. We hit most of the targets except the last mile - 5:17.

Today did 8x1 mile on the same course as before. This time the wind blew uphill - which made the uphill slightly faster, and the downhill much slower. The uphill intervals were 5:12, 5:08, 4:57, and 5:04. The downhill intervals were  5:15, 5:13, 5:08 and  4:59

Did  a mile pickup in 5:00.

Repeated the 10K tempo from last week. This time I got 33:00.00 (yes, the hundredths of a second aligned perfectly). The laps were 8:18, 8:10 (16:28 5K), 8:19, and 8:13 (16:32 last 5K). After two laps my left leg started hurting, and I was expecting a spasm, but the spasm never came. This is a marked improvement from previous workouts - where I would have to stop after two or three laps. I think the 8x1 mile workouts have been making a difference.  

Did a workout with Noah - 3x1 mile. We got 5:10, then sub-5 for the next two.

Today decided to mix things up - I did 3x3000 on the soccer loop. Got 9:30, 9:28, and 9:21. I felt good and was pretty happy with the workout.

Did a 10K workout in 33:15 - the first lap was with Noah in 8:25, then 8:09 (16:34 5K), followed by 8:14 and then 8:27. Had a spasm in the last lap - think I was more tired today. Noah did 2x5K - sub 16:50 on both.

Did a mile pickup in 4:56 today.

Did a mile pickup in 5:03 today.

Did 8x1 mile today - alternating directions (up then down). Got 5:11, 5:03. 4:50, 4:50. 5:03, 5:03. 4:56, and 4:47.

Nine miles today with a mile pickup in 4:51.

Total of 9 today - did 6x100 strides.

Today did the Bubble Run in Austin as a workout. It was supposed to be a 5K, but was likely .05 or so short. I got 15:24. The run was not timed - hence it does not qualify as a race. Noah ran it as well and got 16:04. The course was hilly - more so than the soccer loop I normally train on. Part of the course goes on a Formula-1 track, which was cool.

Still tired from all the Bubble Run hills so no pickup.

Did a mile pickup in 5:00.

Today did 12x400. The course was slightly inclined, and there was wind. Consequently, one direction was about 4 seconds faster than the other. Got 73, 67, 71, 64, 67, 63, 67, 63, 67,  63, 68, 60. Felt pretty tired afterwards and when doing my second run in the evening.

Mile pickup today in 4:54.

Did a 10K workout again - this time I had serious spasm troubles after the first two laps. Ended up with 35:05  (17:01 and 18:04).

Tried to do a 10K workout today - did a 5K in 17:01 at which point the heat and humidity had significantly slowed me down. Stopped the workout there and fnished Noah's workout with him - he was doing 1K repeats. I did 3.5 of them with him at about 5:10 pace.

Today was less hot and humid, so I decided to try the 10K workout again. The first 5K was better - 16:32, but then I fell apart on the next lap and was barely doing sub-6. Ended up cutting it short after 3 laps (4.5K).

Was tired from the two 10K attempts this week and so just did a 5.5 mile tempo at 5:50ish pace with Noah.

Did a mile pickup in 5:00.

Did a mile pickup in 4:55.

Did 3x2 miles on an out-and-back course. Got 10:08 (5:01, 5:07), 10:24 (5:03, 5:21), and 10:18 (5:08, 5:10). Kept running into problems in the last half mile.

Repeated the 3x2 workout - 10:14, 10:24, 10:18.

Did 3x2 again - the conditions were better today. Got 9:57, 9:58, 9:50.

Attempted 2x3, but ended up doing 3 miles in 15:17 and 2 miles in 10:36. I overheated in the  second interval and ended up stopping.

Did 12x400 today with Noah, targetting around 69-71.

Did 2x3 again - this time I was able to finish both intervals. Got 15:33 and 16:05.

Did a two-mile pickup in 9:39 down the Provo Canyon.

Did a 5 mile tempo down the canyon in 25:27. The first 3 miles were close to 5:00 pace, and then I had a spasm in the last two.

Paced Jacob for a 3 mile tempo run in a little over 17 minutes.

Total of 12 in Kennewick.

Did a tempo run of about 6 miles in 34:04 - Google maps said the distance was 6.08. I ran on Keene Road Trail in Kennewick, WA. There were a lot of hills.

9 in the morning + 3 at night. Measured a mile stretch with a wheel. Did a pickup in 4:49.

Did a tempo today in 31:34. I thought it was 6 miles - but it ended up being about 280 meters short. That is according to Google Maps, which doesn't account for elevation changes. My time for the first half (downhill) was 15:17 - the uphill half was 16:17. Part of the course is a mile stretch I have measured with a wheel - on that stretch I got 5:10 (ish) on the way down and 5:40 or so on the way up.

There was also busy stoplight about 1K from the finish that I had to stop at both times. 

Today did 2x3 in 15:21 and 15:50. This time the course was 3 miles according to Google maps, however I think what I ran was a little longer. Will measure with the wheel to be sure.

Today ran 12 miles on the Sacawagea Heritage trail - I decided to use the holiday to explore a new trail. So far it is the nicest trail I've found in the area - no intersections and mile markers. Large portions of the trail are close to busy roads, which isn't the best, but according to the map it is over 20 miles long. Did a pickup in 4:59 according to the mile markers.

Did a pickup in 4:50.

Did another pickup in 15:08 on the same course I ran on Saturday - which is likely a little over 3 miles.

This was my best half marathon since the Monumental half back in November. In some ways it was better - the first two miles were around 5:00 pace, then my leg troubles started and I slowed down. However, instead of crashing to 5:50 or worse, I was able to hold around 5:20 pace even for the rest of the race. This is a positive step forward. I'm also very happy to be on the right side of 1:10!

Limped through 10 miles today - legs still hurt after the Utah Valley Half Marathon.

Did 3x2 miles on the trail  by the Columbia river. Got 10:26, 10:49, and 10:25.

Did a mile pickup in 4:54.

Did a mile pickup in 4:45.

Did 2x3 in 15:24 and 15:59 on the Keene Road Trail course.

Did 4x3K or so today. I went by the mile markers on the Sacawagea Heritage trail, but they were a little innacurate. I finally found a stretch that is flat enough to run both ways - which makes workouts so much easier. My times were 9:42, 9:32, 9:32, and 9:25. One direction is a little faster than the other, but not by much.

Tried 2x3 today - the first one was about 5:10 pace or so. I had to stop the second interval with a half mile to go due to my spasm. I started out at the same 5:10 pace, but things went south in the last mile.

My knees were hurting today, so I ran about half of the distance on grass and did not do a tempo. I think this is due to running too much on hills.

Tried 2x3, did the first one in 15:25, then the second one was 16:39 - I overheated halfway through and started going like 5:50 pace.

Did 4x2 miles in 10:16, 10:35, 10:18, and 10:27. Then I measured the course with a wheel - it was 124ft long, so the actual two mile times were 6-7s faster.

Did a mile pickup in 4:51

Did two times four miles in 20:54, 20:59. There was headwind.

Today did 2x4 down the canyon - 9:57, 9:56, 9:54 and 9:58. There was a bit of headwind. This was the first time I've done this workout in a while - I'm glad I was able to go under 5:00 pace for all of the intervals.

Did a 3 mile tempo down the canyon in 15:25 (5:05, 5:17, and 5:03). The cold got to me, and I ended up not doing a second interval as planned. Jacob got a PR of 15:28 - he was with me until about 800m to go.