Of Mice and Marathons

AM/Lunch: 120' on the trainer. 225W. HR 136.

4 x 12' Under/Overs

Got a good night of sleep, sleeping until almost 9:30. The 3 x 12' version of this workout was tough two weeks ago, mostly due to muscular fatigue. Aerobically, it is not terrible. Today I felt a bit better, but it was still challenging to concentrate. I was slightly under targets on a few of the intervals but mostly close, at, or slightly above in some cases. Having lost quite a bit of weight recently and rapidly I know that it is a bit harder to put out higher power. This was also the second week at 17+ hours of total training time. I think this week I will try to cut volume and not do a "midweek" (Monday, that is) workout and just run very easy until Friday's long run workout and do whatever is on my cycling schedule. I don't wont to get too manic about my training, but boy it feels good right now. 

Lunch: 6.1 miles, averaged 9:31. HR 121.

PM: 6.5 miles, averaged 9:10. HR 119. 

Cold and windy on both runs, but felt good to run twice. 

AM/Lunch: 14 miles, averaged 7:32. HR 146. 

6 x 1 Mile

It's been a while since I have done mile repeats outside. I did them on the treadmill in early February and I think the fastest was around 6:40. I think I started at 7:05ish pace. Today my goal was to run approximately 10 seconds faster than the 2-mile repeat pace from Friday, which would put me slightly faster than 15k-10-mile pace to around 10k pace. The boys went to their friend's for a few hours, which was welcomed given how things have been lately and that Tuesdays I am with them for the day. So instead of getting a bunch of work done, I decided to sneak this in. With two recovery runs yesterday and no bike workouts just the day before as I have been doing, I figured I would have decent legs today. I did. 

Goal was to start around 6:20-6:22 and cut down, hoping to hit 6:10 or faster by the end. Pretty much was on target. Quite chilly and decently windy, though this loop is just over a kilometer so it isn't all in the wind. 

6:16, 6:20, 6:14, 6:16, 6:15, 6:12

I took just over 2' jog recoveries. About 1/5 of a mile (2:10-2:15). 3.2 up/3.6 down. I think this is right around half marathon goal pace in about 8 weeks. I think that is double with some consistent mileage and working these midweek workouts a bit, try to extend these out to 2k next week or the week after and then maybe to 4 x 10' in about 4-5 weeks, and then about a week out do 4 x 2 miles. 

PM: 73' outside ride. 181W. HR 111.

Brrr. It was cold and spitting snow. Wind in my face for a good bit of it. Felt pretty sluggish from the morning session, so I probably should have just sat on the trainer to minimize leg fatigue. I just felt like getting outside. I am not sure I will get outside on the bike this week. Thursday Night Dirt is on, but with the boys on break and the schedule out of typical order, I think I will wait. 

AM: 90' on the trainer. 220W. HR 132. 

3 x 15' Sweet Spot (5')

I wasn't sure how my legs would feel after yesterday. They felt fine throughout the day, but they were quite sluggish and slow to warm up on this session. I am glad it wasn't threshold. HR was nice and low and my average was slightly above target and I got stronger with each interval, which was good. Not a tough workout when you have recently done two hours at the same effort, but good to stack some quality. 

267 watts (148 BPM), 274 watts (148 BPM), 276 watts (151 BPM)

PM: 3 hours 6' (54.6 miles @ 17.4 MPH). 214W. HR 141. 

Thursday Night Dirt Season Opener!

The boys have been on break so our schedule has been a little jumbled and I wasn't planning to do the ride, but I didn't have much time planned for my classes this week and I took the boys for some extra time so Megan could sort some things out for her parents. I decided it was okay to do the ride, which I really wanted to do but didn't think it was appropriate if Megan was going to be with the boys for most of the day when they are typically in school and she is on campus. 

It was in the 50s with a decent bit of wind, so I dressed for about 40-45 degrees and it worked out well. Rode to the ride as usual. Greenshield west was loamy and sandy, but the bike was actually floating over it quite well. It is amazing what the weight loss has done on the bike. Takes no effort to get going and maintain speed. Met the group coming up Sheldon. Stayed at the back to get used to riding next to people again then moved up. 

One guy off the front going up/down Hixon, so a few took off and I took a strong pull up the hill and put a gap on the group temporarily. I got into a fast group of a few guys and we were moving. We cornered and I thought they would let up, so I tried to get some fluids in knowing I needed some carbs to keep up. That was a mistake. Gap opened and I was never going to cover it. 

A few guys caught up with me and I tried to work with them a bit but our rhythm was off. The group caught us going through the Proving Grounds so I figured I would stick with them. A very good ride. Not super fast overall, but windy and an uneven effort. 

Chatted for a while and then rode home. I wasn't going to RJ's as I wanted to get home and I didn't want to sit around and then freeze on the way home. It was cold enough and sometimes even in May doing that is too cold. 

Loop Data: 19.1-19.3 MPH 247 Watts (275 Normalized). 30.2 miles in 1:33:50.

AM: 15.3 miles, averaged 7:22. HR 149. 

8-Mile Tempo @ Marathon Effort

I was going to be sensible and do 2 x 10k recovery runs, but I wanted to get in a long run. Originally I was going to do 2 x 5 miles @ high marathon to steady state effort (around 6:28-6:35), but Megan had a meeting and I needed to be back, so I figured this would be a better focus and I could get in what I wanted and have a good idea of how much time it would take. My legs were tired from last night, but knowing they actually can do well if I don't run the day before even with a longer harder bike workout, I just went with it, running under 8:00 for the first mile, which almost never happens. I had the goal of being slightly under my pace from about 10 days ago (6:42 pace), but not to force things if I felt overly tired or if I was out of my target zone. Felt quite solid if a bit tired toward the last mile to mile and a half, but I expected that. 

6:37 average @ 161 BPM

6:44, 6:39, 6:36, 6:36*, 6:36, 6:38, 6:35, 6:35

The fourth split was 6:28, but I knew that couldn't be right, and the data confirmed a pace glitch. Figured it was in line with the other splits, so I put it down as 6:36. Did a somewhat longer cool down. 

3 up/4.3 down

18 seconds faster per mile than exactly one month ago. I'm pretty much back to where I have typically been as a base since 2013 or 2014, so that feels good. 

My weight is down 8.75 lbs from one month ago, which is almost 4 kilos. I have never lost weight so quickly in my life, even when I first started running. I think I lost 10-12 lbs in early 2014 over an 8-week period, so that was close. I was also 11 years younger. That was after a serious injury. 

PM: 3 hours 10'. 52.6 miles @ 16.6 MPH. 191W (201 Norm.). HR 119. 

Decided to roll the dice on the road conditions and weather. I lost. It was fine to start. Roads a bit damp, but not bad. Got a few sprinkles and then light rain and the roads were a bit messy. I was just going to keep going, but I decided to trun back thinking I would finish on the trainer. I heard grit in my brakes, which is usually a sign to be done. I was kind of ticked at myself, but that happens some times. I had checked the forecast and thought there was a window. Oh well. I still managed to get in over 3 hours and had it not been raining I would have done 4+ hours even though my training program told me it was best to cut it down. This was somewhere in the middle. 

I had my hydration pack loaded with Flow Formula and two 25 oz bottles, so I was ready for abotu 4 hours. It worked well though I didn't ingest a ton. I did have a decent meal prior: two granola bars, a small stack of Ritz, and a bowl of yogurt with granola.