Of Mice and Marathons

AM/Lunch: 17 miles, averaged 7:30. HR 149.

10-Mile Tempo, Averaged 6:50

I wanted to get in a halfway decent long run of at least 2 hours with some quality aerobic miles (about 8-10 miles around marathon effort to a bit steadier if feeling good). I thought my legs would be heavy after four hours on the bike yesterday, but they were pretty decent.

Honest 3-mile warmup at sub-8 pace straight into the workout. I figured I would start around 7:20-7:25 and cut down, but I was already in the low 7s headed uphill and progressed nicely from there, staying in control and never really struggling or pressing though not really able to cut down much beyong the low-6:40s, which was fine as I haven't been able to run that fast in a few years. My HR never got that high and I will sometimes press solidly into the 160s and even low 170s if I am feeling good the last 2-3 miles. 

7:08, 6:55, 6:52, 6:53, 6:50, 6:48, 6:47, 6:46, 6:48, 6:43

HR was just under 160 average, which seem about 5-8 beats low, but who knows. HR dropped down a beat or two in some miles, when it should have climbed slightly due to cardiac drift if nothing else. Effort was right in any case. Cooled down to 17 at a honest easy pace, while allowing the HR to drop back down. 

It's taken me two years of fairly consistent training/running, but I think I am on my way to my old self. I still have a lot of work to do, but this is really the first longer aerobic workout where I have run significantly faster than my planned pace. A few weeks ago 6:40ish pace for 8 miles in a race felt pretty hard. Today it felt comfortable, and if I were doing 6-8 miles of work, I would have cut down into the 6:30s or even high 6:20s possibly. One for the positive column for sure.

The boys had their 4th birthday. We didn't have a party other than the immediate family. They have had colds so the timing wasn't great, but they had a good day I think.

AM: 6.3 miles, averaged 10:28. HR 119.

PM: 6.3 miles, averaged 9:38. HR 126.

Chilly and damp. Good day of recovery runs. Legs felt decent. Kept both runs to mostly soft surfaces of the Polly Ann.

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:09. HR 144. 

PM: 60' on the trainer. 227. HR 133.

Megan took the boys to the pediatrician, so I snuck in a morning run when I have more typically been running on the treadmil while they nap on Tuesdays.

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:15. HR 145. 

Did a 1-mile pickup in 6:07. Felt decent. I picked it up progressively after a slower start. Felt like running a harder mile just because. 

PM: 4.1 miles, averaged 8:33. HR 146.

7 x 200: 41, 41, 41, 40, 40, 39, 39

PM: 90' on the fat bike. 214W. HR 147.

Did 3 x progressive laps of Orion Oaks. Just under 52' 15.7 MPH. 239W. HR 157. I think I needed a little more pressure in my tires, but I am trying to get out of the habit of inflating them too high for trails. 

AM/Lunch: 17 miles, averaged 7:39. HR 156. 

10-Mile Tempo @ Marathon Effort

69:16, averaged 6:56 @ 168 BPM

I thought given how I felt last weekend I would be able to run a bit faster, but my legs were tired and it was a good bit warmer than last week (not complaining). I'm also trying to not get caught up in split times week to week. In fact, in an entry from 2015 or 2016 I think Rob Murphy gave me some advice about comparing times week to week. I don't recall the exact wording, but the takeaway is not to get caught up in. I ran my effort and kept an eye on heart rate without being a slave to it. I am almost 100% certain my HRM was off last week as I have run enough by HR to know where it is at. 

Started in the mid-160s, which feels about like marathon effort once you get the first miles under your belt. I had thought I might do 8 miles, jog, then do 2-3 x 1 mile, but I figured I would just do the last two miles to be consistent with last week. And I wasn't sure I could move too much faster (I planned on the mile repeats being something like 6:35, 6:25, 6:18). 

Splits were good, but I kept an eye on them: 7:07, 6:56, 6:55, 6:56, 6:56, 6:54, 6:58, 6:52, 6:54, 6:50. Avg HR 168

PM: 4 hours 31' ride. 82.8 miles @ 18.3 MPH. 213W. HR 137.

The weather was absolutely awesome, so I figured a long gravel ride would be what I wanted even though I should be riding my fat bike for Iceman prep. Picked up a few new miles. Took in about 520 calories in gels and about 500 in drink mix. Energy was very good and didn't really hit any low energy points.