Boston Strong

Well, I had aspirations of a 16 miler this weekend, but after the way I felt yesterday, I was happy to get in 11.5 @ a 7:45 pace.  I have pretty much concluded I race better than I train, my body is cool with running longer once or twice a year, but long training runs only serve to take the pleasure out of running for me!  Cumulative mileage can be just as effective, at least according to Hansons Marathon Method ... which is good enough for me.   :)

 On another note, Plantar Fasciitis wiped me out for about 7 months last year ... it seems that even with extended rest, if I went out and ran 6 miles, I experienced pretty bad heel pain, particularly when I got up first thing in the morning.  A friend told me about Feetures PF compression sleeves, so I bought 2 ($24.95 each), and have been wearing them to bed every night.  I went from not being able to run 6 miles without pain the next morning to running 50 miles/week without any pain ... so if you ever experience PF & want to knock it out before it sidelines you ... they work wonders!

http://www.feeturesbrand.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=210&Itemid=109

AM - 4 easy miles to coffee shop & back, no watch, but pretty sure my pace dropped into the 9's on the downhills.  :)   This is my daily plan to try to jump start the second half of my targeted weight loss.  The first couple weeks I dropped from 164 to 155, but seem to have leveled off the last 2 weeks ... goal is to get back down to 148, my racing weight in 2011.  Another benefit I figure is I won't feel bad if I stop after 5 or 6 miles in the evening, as I usually push on to get 7 or 8. 

PM - 7 @ 7:57

1.5 mile wu @ 8:10

4 x 800    3:08, 3:08, 3:08, 3:05  (500 meter recoveries around 8:30)

4 x 200    37, 34, 38, 36  (200 m recoveries, 1st & 3rd into wind)

1 mile cd @ 9:10

8:15 pace, beautiful sunny day at park ... Was cold & rainy in morning, so I skipped my jog for coffee, but don't think legs were up to it anyway ... They felt much better this afternoon though.

AM - Altered my route for my morning coffee jog slightly to include more of nature preserve trail, it is now 4.3 instead of 4.  I am not allowed to run faster than 9:30 pace on these.  Hanson actually says my recovery pace for a 3:15 marathon goal is 9:38.  My easy pace should be between 8:25 & 9:02, which is 3 of my runs per week. 

Of course, at this point, I have no idea what my marathon goal is ... I am just telling myself that because I am doing a fair amount of easy running, which is mostly faster than what is prescribed ... if I were doing the harder workouts.  Perhaps my base is built up enough to start incorporating some of those, instead of just throwing in random intervals & some faster miles when I feel like it.  Of course, I tend to enjoy the random stuff more than heading out the door for targeted workouts.  My only real goal for Boston is to re-qualify (3:23) for next year, and I am pretty confident if I just run an hour a day, that should not be a problem ... as long as it is not 85 degrees again!

No idea what I will run later in day, but we have a day & half of sunshine left before the arrival of rain ... so I will get out there for something!

16.1 @ 7:35 pace,   I am happy camper, off to have dinner with Alex

Update:  Went to Sims Lake to get in a spontaneous long run in 60 & sunny weather, with 2 days of rain in forecast.  Also, following Hanson's principles, that your longest run should be 16 miles, but coming off high mileage ... so it simulates the last 16 miles of the marathon ... not the first 16!  Since I may never have a 4 day period  with 44 miles again, I figured this was perfect timing to get 'er done!

Path is a hilly loop, 1.15 miles long.  I knew my Garmin would die early, so wanted to have accurate lap data with my trusty Timex.  Garmin actually lasted 11.9 miles, its lifespan is rapidly shortening, & not uncommon to die after 8 miles!  Anyway, I was thrilled when the last look I had was 11.7 miles @ 7:30 AP.

My goal was just 8:00 miles, but first mile was 7:30 & I just went with what was comfortable from there.  I think I held Mile 13 at same pace, but it was getting harder, so I slowed to stay comfortable.  The last couple miles were tough ... was actually glad my watch had died ... because no doubt I would have pushed to hang on to that 7:30 pace ... but the plan was to just run comfortably.

 Well, that is the back story, these are my loop splits which have less variation than my 12 recorded mile splits, because obviously each loop has 0 net elevation change.

 Loop    Time    Pace

   1         8:35      7:28

   2         8:50      7:41

   3         8:46      7:37

   4         8:44      7:36

   5         8:40      7:32

   6         8:34      7:27

   7         8:41      7:33

   8         8:34      7:27

   9         8:33      7:26

  10        8:27      7:21

  11        8:36      7:29

  12        8:50      7:41

  13        8:55      7:45

  14        9:09      7:57

Amazing what losing 12 pounds can do for your fitness! 

As I look at the numbers for the first 10 loops (11.5 miles), I find it interesting that if you throw out the first loop where I was clearly running faster than I should have been & made an adjustment ... every loop is ever so slightly faster with the focus on just running comfortable ... with the exception of Loop 7, where I remember telling myself to chill as I was not even half way done yet.  :)

Reading Anatomy for Runners ... How exciting ... Back to actually running tomorrow!