Puttin' Money In The Bank (L.A.D.)

Off.

Beautiful day today ... 50 degrees and sunny at 5pm.

Wasn't sure what I was going to do when I began the run today. The stomach was doing backflips and 1/2 a mile in I thought I'd be lucky to get in 3. I settled into a nice easy pace (8:15s) that I thought I might be able to keep for 3-6 and set it in my mind that there was no shame in turning around at any point. Somewhere around mile 2 the pace got comfortable and may have begun to speed up. At mile 3 (24:45) I took a necessary pit stop and came back out a new man. I could instantly feel the pace quicken and set out for a longer run and hit the next 2.8 in 19:58. I'm not really sure about the distance, but I'm guessing I was probably hitting somewhere between 7:15 and 7:25. At this point I knew exactly where I was (Kirkwood Farmer's Market) and that I was 6 miles out on the nose taking a different route back. I fell right into the groove as soon as I began the trip back. The terrain was moderate with a good number of ups and downs. The 6 mile run time was 39:00 exactly (6:30s). I'm guesing the entire 6 was run progressively because I hit the last mile in 5:55 and could really tell the pace was steadily picking up from 3 miles out all the way in. Very pleased with this run today.

(Nike Vomero - 162.9)

Beautiful day for an easy run. 52 degrees and sunny at 2pm. Just an easy 8.5 mile recovery run today. Running time 1:04:45 (7:37s). Last couple miles probably dipped down into the marathon pace range.

(Nike Vomero2 - 171.4)

About a 15 mile run today.  Running time 1:44:48 (6:59s) Ran to Grant's Trail, did 7 miles on the trail and ran back. The run was a 4 mile warm up followed by 3 build ups in the neighborhood of  3.5-4 miles. I took a 5 minute break between build up 1 and 2 for water and a 1:30 break between 2 and 3. Because of the speed of the 1st build up (which was probably too fast, but felt good so I let it go) successive build ups were run at slower paces. But I still got at least 7 miles of threshhold work in and 4 miles of M-pace work as well as 4 miles of E-pace.

Split averages were as follows.

1st 4 in 30:28 (7:37s).

Next 3.5 in 21:43 (6:12s) Ever so slightly downhill, but for all intents and purposes it was flat, but with a moderate headwin.

Next 3.5 in 24:04 (6:52s) These were back up the previous 3.5, so uphill, but with a slight headwin. I think the wind was starting to die down by this time though. This set started out in the M-pace range, probably 7:20 or so.

Last 4 in 29:47 (7:26s). This set started out at E-pace and as I had used no energy gel on this run I was shot. I really had to fight this build up to get my last mile down to 6:45. I was absolutely shot when I finished the run and the legs were beat up, possibly from the shoes. I'm not sure if these flats will work for the Marathon or not, they might not possess enough cushion, or it may be that my training runs, having been done in a very cushy shoe, are influencing how these shoes feel.

(Asics Gel Speedstar2 - 24.55)

Easy run with Nancy this morning. 6.2ish in 48:30. Can't remember the exact mileage, but Nancy said her garmin had us at 7:56s. 9:45am and 45 degrees with no wind.

(Nike Vomero2 - 177.6)

Stairs at work again tonight. 6 sets for a total running time of 32:54. I'm estimating based on time and feel that these sets are coming out to a road equivalent of about .75 miles per set. Splits for the 6 sets were as follows:

5:50, 5:36, 5:35, 5:28, 5:17, 5:05 -- Nice negative split progression

(Nike Vomero2 - 182.1)

Did an 11.7 mile loop twice. Total distance 23.4 in 2:43:46 (Average pace 6:59? This doesn't seem right. I may have to get in my car and map this out with the odometer. I used google maps.) The first loop was in 1:23:37 and the 2nd loop was in 1:20:09. I know the first 3 miles were average 7:40s and I know the first 3 miles of the 2nd loop were average 7:20s. I have a hard time believing my pace throughout the rest built up to equal sub 7:00s. More on this later. For now I'll call it what Google Maps has and update it later. If it is correct, I may have to reconstruct what my M-pace should be. This run was a very tough one. I was battling a number of times. Strong winds in my face it seemed constantly and the route was considerably hilly. 

 Update: Ok, I drove the course and I came up with 11.3. I'm going with this because it seems much closer to my pace capacities. With a first lap in 1:23:37 that would give me 7:23s and the second loop in 1:20:09 would give me 7:05s for a total run ppm ave of 7:14s. A very solid run considering course terrain and wind conditions. This was the last of my very long training runs. BQ here I come!

[Asics Gel Speedstar2 -- 35.85/ Nike Vomero2 -- 193.5 (Switched shoes halfway through. I don't think the Speedstars are soft enough to go over a 1/2 marathon. Way too much strain on my knees.]