Nobody cares, run harder

10 miles with strides. 7:32 pace

3 mile warmup then a workout, 4x2 miles tempo with a 2:00 jog recovery in between, shooting for about 5:40 pace. Splits were:

11:32 (5:49-5:43)

11:18 (5:40-5:38)

11:13 (5:37-5:36)

11:10 (5:37-5:33)

cooled down 1.25 miles to get to 13.

18 miles. 7:15 pace

8 miles + strides

10 miles, 7:14 pace

Critical velocity workout at the track this morning. 3 mile warmup, then 8x1K at roughly 10K pace with a 200m jog recovery in between. Finished up with 4x200 to get something faster in at the end. Splits were:

3:24, 3:22, 3:22, 3:22, 3:22, 3:23, 3:22, 3:23

200s went 33, 32, 32, 31

The workout felt pretty easy aerobically, which is a good sign.

10 miles, 7:14 average

8 miles + strides

Long run workout. 3 mile warmup, then 2 sets of 6 miles continuous with 5 miles at marathon pace + 1 mile at threshold. Mile easy between the sets.

Set 1: 6:01-6:01-5:58-5:57-5:53-5:35

mile easy in 7:18

Set 2: 5:59-5:57-5:56-5:59-5:55-5:34

Cooled down 2 miles to get to 18. Solid workout overall.

8 miles, 7:22 pace

10 miles + strides

12 miles, 7:15 pace

Track workout. Workout was a ladder up and down: 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 with a 600m recovery jog after the 1600 and a 400m jog after everything else.

Splits: 70, 2:30, 3:49, 5:09, 3:51, 2:32, 67

Tough but good workout. Last time I did this workout I hit 5:15 on the 1600 and ended up holding that pace for 5K a week later. Hopefully that means I'm right around 16:00 5K shape right now given I hit 5:09 this time.

AM: 12 miles, 7:27 pace

PM: 6 miles, 7:40 pace

10 miles, 7:37 pace. Started slow, stayed slow... Felt like I never really warmed into it. Seems typical the morning after a double. Finished with some strides after.

13 miles with a tempo workout: 3x3 miles with a half mile recovery jog in between.

17:17 (5:53-5:46-5:38)

16:53 (5:39-5:36-5:38)

16:48 (5:39-5:36-5:33)

Couldn't seem to get up to speed on the first rep, felt like I was still warming up. The other two were good though. Kept the recovery jogs around 7:30-7:40 pace.

18 miles, 7:15 pace

10 miles + strides

12 miles, 7:12 pace

Not the greatest workout this morning. Plan was to do two sets of (1600, 4x400) with a 600m jog after the 1600s and a 400m jog after the 400s. Started out pretty good with a 5:05, 70, 70, 69, 70. Started the 1600 of the second set but my form just felt powerless. Decided to split it to 2x800. So finished in 2:35, took a 400m jog, then did the other 800 in 2:35. Did the last 4x400 in 71, 71, 71, 68, felt like I couldn't quite match the first four. Didn't feel like I passed my limit aerobically; didn't even hit 95% max HR during the workout. Felt more like it was the legs, just couldn't get them going on the second set. Not a bad workout just not what I wanted it to be.

AM: 12 miles, 7:23 pace

PM: 6 miles, 7:32 pace

10 miles + strides

10 miles, 7:24 pace. BDR Half tomorrow.

Was planning on doing this race as more of a long run workout, originally planning on running the first 10 at marathon pace and then cutting down on the last three. Obviously that planned changed when the race started. Got into the first mile a little under 6:00 pace, but by mile 3 I was running low 5:40s and it felt easy. That's when I figured I could run under 1:15 without having to dig too deep. Pace held a little under or a little over 5:40 for the rest of the race. Felt very controlled up until the last mile when the effort increased some, closing in sub-5:30 pace for that mile. Overall pretty happy with how this went. Looks like I'm in better shape than I thought I was. This helped build some confidence of running under 2:30 for a marathon someday.

Splits: 5:58, 5:50, 5:43, 5:44, 5:39, 5:37, 5:41, 5:39, 5:43, 5:37, 5:42, 5:38, 5:29, 0:35

8 miles + strides. 7:45 pace. Felt better as the run went on

12 miles, 7:06 pace. Seem to have recovered well from Sunday.

3 mile warmup to the track, then a workout: 3x1600, 3x1000 with 600m recovery jogs after the 1600s and 400m jogs after the 1000s.

1600s: 5:11, 5:09, 5:08

1000s: 3:12, 3:13, 3:10

Cool down to 13 miles. Good workout. Weather was nice.

AM: 12 miles, 7:25 pace

PM: 6 miles, 7:38 pace

10 miles, 7:34 pace + 6 strides

Workout today was 2x4 miles with a mile steady in between. Pacewise, wasn't the greatest but it was still decent in terms of volume and effort.

1st tempo: 5:50-5:47-5:46-5:41

steady mile in 6:40

2nd tempo: 5:44-5:45-5:43-5:40

Would've liked to have been in the 5:30s and wanted to keep the steady mile around 6:30, so overall about 10 seconds/mile slower on everything. Aerobically it felt pretty manageable for most of the workout, just couldn't get my legs up to speed today - they felt kind of stiff and not very bouncy today. Still good to get another workout checked off.

18 miles, 7:11 pace

10 miles, 7:26 pace + 6 x strides

11 miles, 7:22 pace

Workout at the track: 4x2K at CV/10K pace with a 400m jog recovery between + 4x200 after.

Splits: 6:42, 6:43, 6:41, 6:41 and then 32s for the 200s. Came through the 1600 in 5:21ish for each one.

Good workout. Didn't feel too hard.

AM: 12 miles, 7:25 pace

PM: 5 miles, 7:33 pace

10 miles + strides. 7:35 pace

8 mile tempo at half marathon-marathon effort this morning. 1st mile was a 5:54 and cut down a little each mile with the last one at 5:38. Overall average for the tempo was 5:45. Felt pretty controlled, but once again, it felt like my legs were more of a limiting factor than my aerobic fitness was. Especially at the beginning of the tempo, I'm sometimes just stuck at a certain pace no matter how much it feels like I try accelerating. Should try to make an effort to warm up better to see if that makes it easier to get into a faster pace early on.

17 miles, 7:11 pace

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.

8 miles, 7:13 pace

8 miles, 5 in the 6:30-6:40 range helping pace the group with their tempo.

8 miles + strides. 7:18 pace

10 miles, 7:08 pace

12 miles, 7:10 pace

10 miles + strides. 7:19 pace

10 miles with 6x800 pacing Jacki. 7:14 overall average.

Decided on doing a short tempo to start getting back into workouts. Planned on doing 4 miles tempo and wanted to see if I could hit 5:30 pace without going to hard. First mile was 5:36 then the last three were 5:30, 5:30, 5:29. Halfway into it I decided to at least get to 20 minutes but that turned out to be almost 4 miles when I hit that mark so I decided to just get to 4 miles. 5:30 pace is definitely a little bit of a stretch for tempo, not quite at that level yet. Need to stick to the 5:35-5:40 range still.

10 miles, 5 in the 6:30-6:40 range pacing Jacki.

10 miles + strides. 7:26 pace

18 miles with a marathon paced tempo thrown in at the end. Started easy for the first 12 and then dropped the pace for the last 6.

Last 6 miles: 6:01, 5:58, 5:58, 5:57, 5:54, 5:49

Wished it would've felt a little smoother, stride felt kind of choppy during the whole thing. Felt alright aerobically, breathing never got too hard, though the heart rate started climbling at the end, so I'm not where I need to be right now. Not worried about it though, plenty of time to improve on this.

12 miles, 7:12 pace

11 miles + strides. 7:27 pace

12 miles, 7:11 pace

First workout of this training cycle - 3 mile w/u, 8 x 1 mile at threshold w/1:00 jog between, 3 mile c/d. Times were:

5:40, 5:35, 5:31, 5:31, 5:30, 5:30, 5:28, 5:19

Pretty controlled effort throughout until pushing the last one a bit. Good to come in under 5:20, and that one was into a slight headwind too. Let's see if I can get into 2:30 marathon shape by April.

12 miles, 7:25 pace

11 miles + strides, 7:21 pace

Long run/workout: 2 mile warmup, 6 miles MP, 1 mile recovery, 6 miles MP followed by a 1 mile push at threshold pace, then 2 mile cooldown.

First 6: 6:00-5:53-5:52-5:51-5:50-5:49

Mile easy in 7:05

Next 6 + threshold mile: 5:51-5:49-5:46-5:50-5:48-5:44-5:29

Starting off this cycle in good shape. This is a great sign.

11 miles, 7:29 pace

11 miles + strides, 7:56 pace

12 miles, 7:26 pace

Track workout: 6x1K + 4x400 with 400m jogging recovery between repeats. Been a little while since I've done a track workout, so doing these paces felt uncomfortable from the start. Also there was some wind. The extra straightaway for 1K repeats meant the even reps had unfavorable wind and the odds had favorable.

Splits: 3:10, 3:10, 3:09, 3:11, 3:11, 3:12 and 70, 70, 70, 68 for the 400s

Wanted to stay close to 3:10 for the workout, so was pretty much there other than slowing down a bit on the last one. Part of it might've been the wind, but I think I also just mentally backed off on it. Not happy about that. Hopefully on a better day I would've been able to stay under 3:10 for the second half instead of slowing down a little.

12 miles, 7:24 pace

12 miles + strides, 7:15 pace

12.25 miles for 12/25, 7:20 pace

Long run moved to Sunday due to Christmas. Plan was to do 2 mile warmup, 3 mile tempo, 8 miles easy, 3 mile tempo, 2 mile cooldown.

1st tempo- 17:01 (5:46-5:40-5:35)

8 easy- 7:05-7:15 pace

2nd tempo- 16:33 (5:31-5:32-5:30)

Had some trouble getting up to speed on the first tempo, couldn't seem to get the watch to read faster than 5:45, finally got a little better towards the end. 2nd tempo was faster, settling into a 5:30 pace, though after about 2 miles I was worried I wouldn't be able to make it through without stopping. Fortunately did make it straight through. Figured there was really no reason to stop because, though difficult, the pace wasn't slipping and I seemed to have been holding it fine. I figure it's not supposed to be easy anyways.

8 easy + 6 strides, 7:32 pace

10 miles, 7:18 pace

Mid-week workout. 2 mile w/u, 8 mile tempo, 2 mile c/d. Started at 5:50 and worked down to under 5:40

Splits: 5:51, 5:50, 5:46, 5:45, 5:42, 5:46, 5:42, 5:38

10 miles, 7:24 pace

8 miles + strides, 7:29 pace. Cut back weeks make me feel out of shape.