Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 2 hours 10' on the trainer. 209W. HR 123.

3x30' Tempo

I was going to do an easy run and strides before my race tomorrow, but I only got in one ride this week, and so I decided to do some lighter quality. 3' recoveries.

220W (126 BPM), 227W (131 BPM), 229W (134 BPM)

I have a five-mile race in the morning, my first foot race since last June. I think I have settled back into my running enough to know I can just make up a race pace and expect to run it. I think as I got fitter over the last 2-3 years, I had specific times I needed to run and it didn't work out, and I got disappointed. This was true for almost every race except Churchill's Half in 2023, when I actually surprised myself. A 5-mile race is enough of distance to get a good mark in the books, get a sense of lactate threshold, a projected current 10k time, and an updated subthreshold pace target to calibrate workouts, and if I run hard enough a lactate threshold heart rate.

AM: 2.4 miles, averaged 10:32. HR 118. 

Pre-race shakeout/pre-warmup warmup. Got up to get the legs moving a little in case I run short on warmup time before the race.

AM: Veteran's Memorial 5-Mile Race

2.8 up, 4.9 race miles, 2 miles down

I had a decent race. Probably could have race more aggressively when a guy or two passed me, but I haven't raced in almost a year and only did one race last year, so I was trying to have a sensible start. I went from third to fifth and stayed there. The race has some up and down, making it pretty honest and a good place to attack if the race is close. I think I managed to run a pretty even effort and maybe a click back from 100% race effort. Feel pretty good about the result. 

The course was billed as being short for some reason, the exact one I cannot remember. Going into the race I knew I could run at least 6:45 pace as I think that is in the middle of half-marathon pace, and figured 6:35 would be doable and hopefully close hard. I was able to press a bit but mostly even to slightly slower at the beginning. I figured 6:20s would be possible, but likely wouldn't start there and certainly wouldn't do it on the hills. 

Legs felt a little up and down and form felt okay here and there, but inconsistent. I haven't done much true threshold running, so that's okay. I still think the approach is paying off as I will do my subthreshold workouts closer to 6:40s than low 7s to just under as I have been. Weeks have been averaging in the 60s, so I figure with consistency things will continue to improve. 

4.9 miles @ 6:33 pace @ 168 BPM

6:23, 6:46, 6:44, 6:20, 6:28 (for the partial mile)

AM: 6.6 miles, averaged 9:54. HR 115. 

Legs felt pretty good, but a bit sore and tight in places. Hit it with the new massage gun, which is plenty intense on level 2.

PM: 5.4 miles, averaged 9:36. HR 130. 

Warming up nicely. 

AM: 7.2 miles, averaged 8:58. HR 127. Did some strides.

Lunch: 3 hours 12' on the gravel bike, 54.2 miles @ 16.9 MPH. 184W. HR 124.

Weather was really nice so I decided to ride. Went to Holly. The roads were in near perfect shape. Tested a new camera setup I got. It is a dash cam setup rather than an action came, which is what I wanted in case I get hit or someone tries to hit me or run me off the road, I have evidence of it. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:29. HR 130. 

+ weights and 21' sauna. HR 99.

I might skip Thursday Night Dirt and do my own thing this week. 

PM: 2 hours 13'. 38.7 miles @ 17.4 MPH. 197W. HR 128.

3x12' Lifts

10' around sweet spot to threshold effort and then 2' @ threshold to vo2. Legs weren't willing to move too much but felt okay once I got going. 256, 264, 268

AM: 17.3 miles, averaged 7:27. HR 151. 

5-4-3 Mile Sets @ Moderate-to-Marathon

Another solid one today. I was goign to do 5 x 3 miles, but worried I would loose count of where I was at, so I decided this would be an appropriate progression from last weeks 3 x 4 miles. Figured I would start around 7:20 to 7:teens and just see where it went as my legs were pretty loaded from last night's bike session. 

7:19, 7:14, 7:10, 7:09, 7:05 (4' steady jog): 7:11 avg @ 154 BPM

7:06, 7:04, 6:59, 6:49 (3.5' steady jog): 6:59 avg @ 156 BPM

6:54, 6:54, 6:52: 6:55 avg @ 161 BPM

+30' sauna. 

PM: 3 hours 17'. 53.7 miles @ 16.3 MPH. 192W. HR 120.

Roads were perfect, weather was amazing. Dry and sunny, decently warm, but so dry it almost felt cool. Legs were crabby to start, but I just kept it light endurance and enjoyed the ride. Imagine that!