Pool Running is Fun

still sick.  Not running.

6 x mile @ strength pace. As you can tell from the splits one direction was directly into the wind and mostly uphill while the other direction was the opposite. I guess the average best reflects the effort. averaged about 5:27, which is actually probably too fast for the purpose of this workout yet I wanted to get after it so I can get back on track with my training after the disaster that was last week.

10 min WU 

5:43, 5:10, 5:42, 5:10, 5:48, 5:09  with 2 min. jogs between

10 min CD 

8 miles easy at lunch.  It warmed up so much today that it was 69 degrees!  Holy shit.  Mind you it was 20 and windy last Tuesday. I even went shirtless today because it seemed so hot.  Shirtless in January...you've got to be kidding me.  Anyway I took advantage of the weather and ran 4 more miles after I got home.

8 easy at lunch.  It was warm again, 70, but the wind was ridiculously wicked due to the screwed up weather patterns.  Last Wednesday there was snow everywhere, the wind was howling, and I was still cold in full under armor and overlayer with gloves and a hat.  Yesterday I ran shirtless.  It is supposed to snow on Friday. WTF.

well today sucked terribly.  I started with a WU mile then a 6:01, 5:49, and a 5:51 before backing off. The wind was so strong that I lost the will to fight it and scampered the rest of the run easily.  I then added four 12 second steep hill sprints into the mix.

I was dreading my run today at first. It was about 30 with a 12 degree wind chill when I started but the wind slowly began to die down during the run.  I ran 8 easy. I ran through the woods, and through a lot of frozen mud and water and explored a little more around the area.  It still isn't a great place to run in Ashburn but it will do.

This week the weather has been totally $@^&*@ up.  On Tuesday I ran shirtless since it was a humid 70 degrees.  Today I wore tights, under armor, long sleeve, shorts, hat and gloves. WTF. 

I need to get a new pair of 890s.  My red ones are going to kick the bucket in two weeks. 

so today I planned on 20 miles.  Unfortunately all of my running buddies are injured or are recovering from injury and thus didn't join me.  So I loaded up my ipod shuffle and headed out the door.

The Hanson's plans focus on a shorter long run but done at a quicker pace, i.e. 16 at 6:20-30 pace. However, I've noticed that I really needed to work on my base endurance after having to stop in that very fast 18 mile run with Scott two weeks ago. I have focused on speed this past season but never went over 12 miles so I need some long base work My goal today was to run 20, but a slow 20, no quicker than 6:50 pace.  I ended up dong this and going a little quicker.

even with a slow warm-up mile and going up the extremely steep and long hill during mile 20, I still averaged in the 6:40s. You will notice that I held back for awhile and increased the pace until the end. Job accomplished for today. I want to get my mileage up and try to do a 20 miler every weekend while slowly increasing my pace during this run.

7:19, 6:52, 6:50, 6:53, 6:55, 6:52, 6:50, 6:41, 6:49,6:53   = 6:53 avg

6:45, 6:52, 6:45,6:48, 6:52, 6:30, 6:30, 6:28, 6:27, 6:50   = 6:41 avg