It's been too long!
My running has been going really well. I am consistently running, which is great. I still struggle every morning - it takes me a while to get out of bed. Sometimes I don't get out of bed at all - like this morning! More often than not, I can will myself out of bed.
The count down is on, just a touch over 4 weeks until my half marathon. I think my training is going well. I am getting in some speedwork, tempo runs and, of course, long runs. This weekend I will bump up my runs to 2 hours. Hopefully that will get me close to 13 miles - though probably closer to 12.
Some highlights of my week:
My hill run!
I decided instead of a tempo that I would run up a hill close by to my house. I started with a mile warm up, then start to climb. I'm lucky that I have this hill, and it pretty much goes for as long as I like. I think I got to about 1.5 miles, then turned and raced back down. I tried to keep my legs turning as I went down. I have heard this helps improve cadence.
My splits:
| 1 | 9:23.1 | 1.00 | 9:23 |
| 2 | 9:24.6 | 1.00 | 9:25 |
| 3 | 9:12.3 | 1.00 | 9:12 |
| 4 | 7:24.6 | 1.00 | 7:25 |
| 5 | 8:40.7 | 1.00 | 8:41 |
You can tell where I was running downhill for the full mile! 7:25min/mile!! I climbed almost 400ft too!
4 x 800m
Now, I missed my spadework on the Tuesday, so I decided to perform it on Friday, the day after my hill run. I ran in the afternoon, after a lot of coffee during the day - I really believe this helped me out! I was in shock with this run. First, my watch wasn't working - it just wasn't saying the correct pace or distance. I stopped, and reset my watch and started my run again. I kept looking at it, thinking it was off, as my pace was too fast. However, the distances were spot on (as I was running a normal route, where I know what mile I should be hitting and when).
I wanted to go comfortably hard, and was aiming for around an 8:20min/mile pace. I was shocked with the end results:
| 1 | 8:39.8 | 1.00 | 8:40 |
| 2 | 3:55.3 | 0.50 | 7:51 |
| 3 | 2:32.0 | 0.25 | 10:08 |
| 4 | 3:50.9 | 0.50 | 7:42 |
| 5 | 2:27.6 | 0.25 | 9:50 |
| 6 | 3:44.4 | 0.50 | 7:29 |
| 7 | 2:28.5 | 0.25 | 9:54 |
| 8 | 3:43.4 | 0.50 | 7:27 |
| 9 | 2:22.3 | 0.25 | 9:29 |
| 10 | 8:44.1 | 1.00 | 8:42 |
The 800m splits: 7:51, 7:42, 7:29 and 7:27. The last one hurt a little more than the others. I did try to push myself for the last two splits.
What I am amazed with was how easy this felt. It felt comfortable. My recovery was done at a jog, and my warm up and cool downs were below 9 minute miles. This is a first! I really believe this could have something to do with the previous days hill run - maybe my legs were thinking of the downhill part! I'm definitely adding more of those hill workouts!
Long Run
This run I did not want to do. I was planning on going for 2 hours, then I slept in. I then decided an hour and a half. While I was running I thought I wanted to hit 10 miles, so I ran 5 miles to my turn around point, which made me run the other 5 miles back home! I thought that I should do this run as a 3/1 - three quarters slow and then the final quarter at, or close to, race pace. At the 7 mile mark I did not think I could pick up the pace. However, my last long run I told myself that different muscles are in use. I need to find my fast muscles and use them.
It worked - I managed to get a faster pace and hold it! I did stop just before the final mile to stretch, as I was going to use it to cool down. Then as I started running again I thought, 'No, I want to keep it up!'
| 1 | 9:37.7 | 1.00 | 9:38 |
| 2 | 9:25.6 | 1.00 | 9:26 |
| 3 | 9:34.0 | 1.00 | 9:34 |
| 4 | 9:25.6 | 1.00 | 9:26 |
| 5 | 9:21.2 | 1.00 | 9:21 |
| 6 | 9:40.3 | 1.00 | 9:40 |
| 7 | 9:35.6 | 1.00 | 9:36 |
| 8 | 8:40.1 | 1.00 | 8:40 |
| 9 | 8:16.5 | 1.00 | 8:17 |
| 10 | 8:22.9 | 1.00 | 8:22 |
I'm really happy with this run. For not wanting to go, then being able to pull out 10 miles - with the last three fast, it shows what you can do if you put your mind to it!
Now for this week. I have done 3 easy pace miles - which I ran too fast (again!) and then didn't run today - Tuesday. It was my 4x800m day, according to my training plan, but I am thinking I will do that tomorrow morning. Let's see if I can get out of bed!
