Nobody cares, run harder

10 miles + strides. 7:39 pace. Hamstrings are super tight.

11 miles, 7:18 pace

Track workout. 6x1K followed by 4x400 with 400m jogging rest between each rep.

1Ks: 3:10, 3:12, 3:11, 3:11, 3:11, 3:12

400s: 69, 70, 69, 66

Don't really like how the first rep of the 1Ks was the fastest. But at least they were all 16 flat pace or faster. Last 400 felt great, felt like I smoothely and naturally accelerated throughout the rep. Probably the easiest 66 I've run. Wish I could get that feeling more often. Overall this was at an appropriate workout effort, so hopefully that means I've got a good shot at 15:59. Just gonna plan on going out in about 5:05 and then try to hang on.

AM: 12 miles, 7:25 pace

PM: 5.2 miles, 7:26 pace

10 miles + strides. 7:32 pace

10 miles, 7:26 pace

Ran the PHSC 5K this morning. Went into it thinking I had a shot at sub 16, so planned on pacing through mile 1 in 5:05 and then just try to hang on to that. Warmed up 3 miles and did some strides, which felt kind of flat... Oh well, just see what happens when the race starts. Anyways, stuck to the plan with mile 1 coming in about 5:05ish. Could see the clock after passing the halfway point and it read 8:00, but figured it wasn't happening as I had already fallen off pace. Came through 2 miles in about 10:25, and the last 1.1 was a 5:25ish pace. Finished in 16:25. No sub 16 today but at least I didn't totally blow up to a 17:00+ Cooled down for 3 more miles after.

I think working on speed more would definitely help, as my tempos indicated I could've done it. Getting my interval work of 800s-1600s in the 4:50-5:00 pace range would be ideal. Probably will be a while though until I can give a 5K another shot with Boston training starting in December.

10 miles + strides. 7:29 pace

11 miles, 7:12 pace

Track workout: 2 sets of (1600, 1200, 800, 400) with 600m jogging recovery after the 1600s and 400m after everything else.

Set 1: 5:08, 3:50, 2:31, 69

Set 2: 5:10, 3:52, 2:33, 68

Felt pretty good on the first set, okay on the second set. Some shin tightness on the second 1600, which messed up my landing a little, so couldn't quite keep form together towards the end of that rep.

12 miles, 7:18 pace

10 miles + strides. 7:30 pace

Tempo workout: 3 x 2 miles with 2:00 jog in between targeting half marathon goal pace. Didn't have as much trouble getting on pace as I usually do.

11:14 (5:39-5:35)

11:03 (5:32-5:31)

11:02 (5:33-5:29)

It was nice to hit low 5:30s for a good part of the workout, that is some good progress right there. Still some shin pain/tightness that feels like it can mess up my landing, so I was worried my form was going to break on the last rep, but fortunetly held it together.

16 miles, 7:10 pace. Heart rate gets inaccurate in the cooler weather.

8 miles + strides. 7:29 pace

10 miles, 7:13 pace

3 miles worth of work: 1600, 2x800, 4x400 with 600m jog after the 1600 and 400m jog after everything else. Given the lower volume, the plan was to run these quicker (like 5:00 pace or better). Almost made it:

4:57, 2:31, 2:29, 70, 70, 69, 68

Sub 5 streak lives another year! Pretty cool to do it in a workout given that I was only a 4:50 miler in HS. Had some trouble getting back on pace for the first 800 so missed the time goal a bit on that one. It was still daunting to have the goal of hitting 5 flat for the 1600, even though I knew it was well within my capabilities for the fitness I'm at right now.

10 miles, 7:23 pace

8 miles + strides. 7:34 pace

Final workout before Space Coast half - 5 mile tempo targeting around half marathon pace.

Splits: 5:40, 5:34, 5:33, 5:34, 5:29

Was kind of a mess today, felt like trash from the start of it and it was one of those days where the heart rate just goes nuts, like it immediately went high even on the warmup. I think a lot of it has to do with my shins, which have been tightening up badly during workouts to the point where it feels like it messes up my landing and I can't hold form together. Had to take a 30 second break at about 3.6 into the tempo to stretch it out, super frustrated about that. Other than that the workout was executed fine, it just didn't feel good today. All things considered, I'm glad I was still able to pretty much hit the pace I wanted. Just gotta try to fix the shin problem in the next week so I will be ready to rock it on race day.

12 miles, 7:17 pace

8 miles + strides. 7:29 pace

8 miles, 7:19 pace

7 miles, 7:18 pace

Ran the turkey trot as a final tuneup for the Space Coast half. With that in mind, did not plan on going all out and trying for sub 16. Instead was going to just shoot for 16:40-17:00, so more of a tempo effort. But with it being in a race setting it is hard to hold back so I settled into a 5:15 pace, but it still felt like I was cruising it at the mile mark. Definitely felt harder than a tempo effort closer to two miles, this was another 5:15, so 10:30 at two miles. Lost a little speed going up the hill in the third mile, so this one came in at 5:20. The last 0.1 was downhill so the pace naturally picked up, didn't feel the need to go as hard as I could here so I just kind of cruised it in. Finished in 16:20, 2 seconds off my PR which is pretty good considering I didn't go into this one with the intention of trying to get a PR. Harder than a tempo effort, but not quite all out, I would say 90-95% effort. Felt like I probably could've gone to 4 miles at this pace (Maybe in 16:00-16:05 shape right now?). Anyways, focus is on Sunday now. My goals are:

A: 1:12:xx

B 1:13:xx

C sub 1:14:35 (PR)

The C goal I should definitely get and will be pretty disappointed if I don't. The B goal seems reasonable and I think its something I can honestly shoot for without risking a major blowup. The A goal is a little bit of a stretch, but I don't think is totally out of reach, I would probably need to be having a very good day to hit this one. Race day weather is looking decent, mid 50s and not too windy, so I've got that going for me.

6 miles + strides. 7:24 pace

5 miles, 7:14 pace

Space Coast Half Marathon race report

Ran the south course of this race. Was shooting for a 1:12-1:14, so planned on starting at 5:40 and then dropping it down if I could. Weather was good for racing, 55 degrees and little wind.

The race started and there was already no one near me. Came through the first mile in about 5:40, so right on target. After that I settled into the 5:30s for a while, although the watch beeped before the mile markers so each mile was probably a few seconds slower than what it said. After about 2 miles my shins were already tightening up, which made this race kind of rough. This problem had started a few weeks ago due to not getting new shoes in time. I was worried it was really going to ruin this race. By about 5 miles the shin tightness was at the point where it felt like I couldn't land correctly. Just tried to focus on not worrying about it and getting through it hoping that it might subside, which it eventually did. Came through 10K just under 35:00, so I was at least on pace to break 1:14 at this point. Wasn't feeling the greatest though so I knew there was the possibility that I would just totally fall apart. Miles 7-9 slowed to the 5:40s. Tried taking a gel around this time but the fumbling messed up my flow so I only took like half of it. It must've at least done some good as I seemed to have gotten a second wind after 10 miles, was feeling better and pace got back into the 5:30s. Sub 1:14 didn't look as likely, I would really have to pick it up for the last three miles to do it. Just missed it coming in at 1:14:12.

Not overly excited about the time, but I did at least hit my C goal of getting a PR, so I can't say the result of this race was bad. The shin issues definitely didn't help. I think having others to race with would help out a lot, It can get tough doing these solo as there is no one around you to push you to try to stick with them and potentially get pulled to a faster time.

So that wraps up my training cycle. Going to take it easy for the next two weeks without any planned workouts before starting training for Boston.

Splits (by watch): 5:40, 5:33, 5:33, 5:35, 5:34, 5:38, 5:39, 5:40, 5:42, 5:40, 5:35, 5:39, 5:33, 1:10 (0.22 mile, 5:27 pace)

6 easy, 7:23 pace

Joined in on the group's workout this morning. They were doing 2x1200, 4x800. Paces were in the 6:00-6:20 range, so nothing hard but just something to help get the legs moving a bit after Sunday.