Tam's training for 3:45:00" in Feb. 2008

IBM 10K race. T=73-76 degrees. Humid 75%.

Slept 7 hrs. Woke up 2.5 hrs before race time. Well hyderated. Good relax warm up for 2 miles. Drills.

Ran 6.2 miles at 7:36" AVG

Warm down 1 mile.

To qualify for Boston I would need to run a 3:30:00” marathon or for a 10K I would need to run at 7:12” pace.

My last 2 miles time trial at 6:50” pace suggests that I potentially could run a marathon at 3:36:18” or a 10K at 7:24” pace. And that was my goal for this 10K.

I did not have a watch on me so the first 2 miles I was running at about 90-91% effort which seems pretty comfortable to me. Everything works as planned. I felt like I could keep going at this pace for 6.2 miles. The official clock said 8:30” for the first mile but I had a late start so it doesn’t tell me much about my pace. I felt like I was running at about 7:20”-7:30” pace. I learned later I ran the 1st mile at 7:39" pace. Going into the 3rd mile, with a little bit of incline, my body started feeling the heat. My legs and my heart (rate) started working harder and harder to maintain the pace and keep up with the group that I had been running with. At about 3 mile mark, I was sweating a lots and my breathing became uncontrollably hard (95-98% effort). I was forced to slow down and take a 30 meters walk break during the water stops. I slowed down even more during mile 4th & 5th, forced to take some additional walking breaks beside the usual water stops and it was so painful that I was seriously thinking of quitting. However, running slower allowed me to recover a little bit. I also felt a little bit better mentally and start picking up the pace on the last mile (second wind?). The downhill plus the thought of finishing the race really helped to carry me on the last mile. I probably ran the last mile at about 7:10”-7:20”, thanks to the strong finish on the last 400 meters. I was totally spent at the end.

I am very disappointed that I ran my 10K at 7:36” pace, not at 7:24” pace as planned, or 7:12” as required for BQ.

The only little consolation is I usually ran at about 8:00” pace for a 10K in October then ran a February marathon at 3:45:00”.

Should I focus more on endurance/MGP/tempo runs and less on speed? Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Drills, then 2 800M @ 7:12" pace with 200M jog, then 4 400M @ 7:00" pace with 100M jog, then 1 mile cool down. Ran with Karen & Paul. Legs felt great. Best recovery after a race. 80-85% effort.

Morning work out at YMCA:

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(10x105 lbs)]. Plus 6x20 sit ups. Plus 6x20 plunges. Strech 15 min. Good recovery from 10K race. Felt great. No soreness.

PM: Strech 15 min. Did power bench press 1 time at 135 lbs, and 145 lbs (my body weigh!) Very happy that I can finally do that.

No running today.

PM: T=90 degrees. Warm up 2 mile with Paul. Drills.

5x[400m@ about 7:00" pace --> jog100m -->600m @ 6:30" pace --> jog100m].

Ran with Joe. About 90-92% controlled hard effort. Good pace. Great work out.

Warm down 1 mile.

AM at YMCA: 45 minutes.

Slept 3hrs. Coudn't sleep but relaxing / resting.

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(10x105 lbs)]. Plus 6x20 sit ups. Plus 6x20 plunges. Took less time to recover between sets. Heart rate felt like running at 9:00" pace. Stretched 10 min. Felt great. No soreness.

PM: T=95 degrees.

Felt very tired. Right knee is very tender, especially running downhill. Had to walk going downhill. Decided to take it real easy today. Jogged 4 mile very slowly.

Morning work out at YMCA: Slept 7 hrs.

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(10x105 lbs)]. Plus 6x20 sit ups. No plunges today! Right knee is still tender. Hope it will recover in time for tomorrow 14.4 miles "run from hell" hilly long run.

No running today.

Right knee is still sore. Not feeling well. Will do the long run on Sunday.

Allergy suffering: Sneezing, eye iching, sinus headache, body tired. Slept 8 hrs last night. Took another 3 hours nap at noon! Wake up and still feeling tired! Hopefully will feel better after the Sunday long run.