Week #4 is in the books! Yeowsy! This is the first time in this program that I've felt the effects of a long run. So far, everything up until now has been easy. Now it's time to respect the distance. What do I mean by that? I've done so many long runs that sometimes, I felt like I may have dismissed the distance as "easy". I can whip a 10-12 miler no problem, even only after a week after a marathon. The difference between then and now, was I used to just run without any kind of goal. It didn't matter how long it took me, or what shape I was in. I would do them just to do them. Now I have a clearer focus, a tool that I can understand and a goal that is attainable.
Thirteen miles for a long run is still fairly short to some people, but for me, if there's some kind of goal time or pace I'm adding to it, it can be very grueling. By respecting the distance I mean, no cockiness. I want to give the distance my sincere all.
For the last 4 weeks, all my long runs have been short, between 8-11 miles. I can get away with no walk breaks. But today, I felt like I should have included the walk breaks. By the end of the run, I was a bit more tired compared to the past few long runs. The walk breaks would have helped delay the fatigue. I know its not just because of the hard training during the week. As soon as I got home, Hubs commented, "Are you alright?" That's when I know not only do I feel tired, I look it. Next Sunday's long run is 14 miles, I will be including the 30 second walks for every half a mile. That means setting my watch to remind me to do the walks and lowering the volume of my ipod so that I can hear my Garmin alerts.
The course today was an extension of yesterday's run. I turned around at the 6.5 mile mark. Lots of small rolling hills. I had to go over my Wednesday night hill again, but much slower this time. I felt the residual from yesterday's pace work and it showed up today in my effort. Even though I was more tired in the end, I finished strong and pulled a 9:31 pace for 13 miles. I am quite happy with that. Most importantly, I ran with a negative split. I ran the first 6.5 miles at 9:37 pace and the second 6.5 at 9:26 pace. I was a bit faster in the second half. Now if I can only master this negative split thing and translate it over to when it really does counts, such as in race, then I am set.
For Week #5 the schedule looks like this:
Mon X-train
Tues 7 miles easy mid week long run
Wed 35 min tempo
Thur 3 recovery run
Fri R-e-s-t
Sat 7 miles easy
Sun 14 miles easy long run
We're moving quite fast. I cannot believe we're 97 days away from NY!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
NYC Marathon Training Week #4: Saturday Pace Run
Last night I stayed up well until midnight trying to come up with a new playlist. That meant I got up pretty late this morning at 9:44am. By the time I got out there, after breakfast, coffee and light stretching, it was already 10:30am. Luckily, it was overcast and cool.
It was a great run, although I ran an 8:58 pace: 11 seconds faster per mile than my marathon pace. It was a little difficult to hit the 9:09 pace because my neighborhood is not entirely flat. I would try to compensate by going faster or slower, but they were all misses. There are lots of varied hills--short, long and rolling. For that I should be grateful since this is good practice to run on a hilly course. Today's run had two significant hills: one with a two minute climb and another just under one minute and a half. The first hill is the same hill that I used for Wednesday night's hill workout. As I approached this hill today, I took a deep breath and anticipated the toll it would take to crest it. I concentrated on my breathing and even effort. Low and behold it was painless. I checked my pace and it said 9:04 as I got closer to the top. My best time from Wednesday night was 9:09 and that was with well rested legs! What an improvement already.
Like I said I have a new playlist. I picked up some songs by Nine Inch Nails, Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, U2, Pearl Jam, Matchbox 20, Fergie, MIA, Tori Amos, Kevin Rudolf, Lenny Kravitz, etc. As soon as I do a few more test runs with the songs, I will publish it. Today, there were some songs on my ipod that seemed great last night. Yeah, it was late, I must have been tired and not in the right frame of mind. But as I tested them today while running, I was not feeling it. So I will have to chuck some out. You're probably wondering, like what? Okay: The Heat is On by Glenn Frey, from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. The fast beat last night was awesome. Today, I couldn't take it after 10 seconds. Probably because it is so played out from the radio station.
There were a few that I really like for instance, my new favorite, a song called Sometime Around Midnight by Airborne Toxic Event. I've seen the music video two years ago on MTV and I swore when I first heard it, I wanted it, but forgot about it until last night when I heard it again. The video was awesome and had something to do with a girlfriend being a ghost. Right off the bat, you knew from just a few chords and rifts of that electric guitar, the buildup will be awesome. By the end, the lead singer is screaming. It is not an annoying screaming/singing by the way, it is perfect, well placed and necessary. It is five minutes long, and I know this will be a staple when I run my 800s, perfect build up pace.
Please don't laugh. Another song that resonated well with me today is Run Forrest Run suite by Alan Silvestri. I didn't know it was going to come on when it did. As I hit my first hill today, the music came on just as I was almost at the top. Again it was a nice buildup. It was perfect.
Then on my last 1/5 mile, I ran to William Tell Overture (Final) by Rossini. It is 2 minutes long and perfect for my visualizing the last 0.2 miles in Central Park. Yes, I ran to the Lone Ranger theme song. Whatever it takes, right?
It was a great run, although I ran an 8:58 pace: 11 seconds faster per mile than my marathon pace. It was a little difficult to hit the 9:09 pace because my neighborhood is not entirely flat. I would try to compensate by going faster or slower, but they were all misses. There are lots of varied hills--short, long and rolling. For that I should be grateful since this is good practice to run on a hilly course. Today's run had two significant hills: one with a two minute climb and another just under one minute and a half. The first hill is the same hill that I used for Wednesday night's hill workout. As I approached this hill today, I took a deep breath and anticipated the toll it would take to crest it. I concentrated on my breathing and even effort. Low and behold it was painless. I checked my pace and it said 9:04 as I got closer to the top. My best time from Wednesday night was 9:09 and that was with well rested legs! What an improvement already.
Like I said I have a new playlist. I picked up some songs by Nine Inch Nails, Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, U2, Pearl Jam, Matchbox 20, Fergie, MIA, Tori Amos, Kevin Rudolf, Lenny Kravitz, etc. As soon as I do a few more test runs with the songs, I will publish it. Today, there were some songs on my ipod that seemed great last night. Yeah, it was late, I must have been tired and not in the right frame of mind. But as I tested them today while running, I was not feeling it. So I will have to chuck some out. You're probably wondering, like what? Okay: The Heat is On by Glenn Frey, from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. The fast beat last night was awesome. Today, I couldn't take it after 10 seconds. Probably because it is so played out from the radio station.
There were a few that I really like for instance, my new favorite, a song called Sometime Around Midnight by Airborne Toxic Event. I've seen the music video two years ago on MTV and I swore when I first heard it, I wanted it, but forgot about it until last night when I heard it again. The video was awesome and had something to do with a girlfriend being a ghost. Right off the bat, you knew from just a few chords and rifts of that electric guitar, the buildup will be awesome. By the end, the lead singer is screaming. It is not an annoying screaming/singing by the way, it is perfect, well placed and necessary. It is five minutes long, and I know this will be a staple when I run my 800s, perfect build up pace.
Please don't laugh. Another song that resonated well with me today is Run Forrest Run suite by Alan Silvestri. I didn't know it was going to come on when it did. As I hit my first hill today, the music came on just as I was almost at the top. Again it was a nice buildup. It was perfect.
Then on my last 1/5 mile, I ran to William Tell Overture (Final) by Rossini. It is 2 minutes long and perfect for my visualizing the last 0.2 miles in Central Park. Yes, I ran to the Lone Ranger theme song. Whatever it takes, right?
 |
| Rossini: Your William Tell Overture will accompany me to my finish in NYC |
Happy Running!
Friday, July 29, 2011
NYC Training Week #4: Thursday Recovery Run
What a fantastic day for a recovery run. A little warmer, but with the breeze it was just gorgeous. Again I ran late at 2:40.
I had minor reservations about even running today since I ran my 3-in-1 workout last night, but all was well as it turned out. Again, another good sign that I can do this program, without getting beat up the next day. The success of the program lies in the very fact that I can continue each day to follow the training without getting injured or even miss a day because of fatigue. I know, we are only on Week 4, but I hope it keeps going like this.
I had to go without my Garmin today because I didn't want the added pressure. If it’s with me I tend to be a slave to it. My goal today was pure recovery. I want to enjoy the short run by going slow. Leaving the watch in my gym bag was helpful. Although by, habit, I keep wanting to stop my watch at cross lights. It felt silly reaching for it and my wrist was bare. At times on a downhill, I would wonder how fast I was going. I really wish someday I can peg this pacing thing down by feel.
I am looking forward to a restful day tomorrow. The rest will allow me to prepare for a nice pace run on Saturday: 6 miles is on the menu. I am also looking forward to my run on Sunday, my longest run to date at 13 miles in this training cycle, since The Avenue. Training for the Avenue of the Giants in May seems like ages ago. I haven’t decided on a route yet. It will depend on how quickly I can bounce back from the Saturday pace run. If I feel good I will go for a flatter route. I said flatter, since Los Osos is pretty much rolling. If I feel stronger, Turri Road it will be, with lots of long hills.
Happy running!
I had minor reservations about even running today since I ran my 3-in-1 workout last night, but all was well as it turned out. Again, another good sign that I can do this program, without getting beat up the next day. The success of the program lies in the very fact that I can continue each day to follow the training without getting injured or even miss a day because of fatigue. I know, we are only on Week 4, but I hope it keeps going like this.
I had to go without my Garmin today because I didn't want the added pressure. If it’s with me I tend to be a slave to it. My goal today was pure recovery. I want to enjoy the short run by going slow. Leaving the watch in my gym bag was helpful. Although by, habit, I keep wanting to stop my watch at cross lights. It felt silly reaching for it and my wrist was bare. At times on a downhill, I would wonder how fast I was going. I really wish someday I can peg this pacing thing down by feel.
I am looking forward to a restful day tomorrow. The rest will allow me to prepare for a nice pace run on Saturday: 6 miles is on the menu. I am also looking forward to my run on Sunday, my longest run to date at 13 miles in this training cycle, since The Avenue. Training for the Avenue of the Giants in May seems like ages ago. I haven’t decided on a route yet. It will depend on how quickly I can bounce back from the Saturday pace run. If I feel good I will go for a flatter route. I said flatter, since Los Osos is pretty much rolling. If I feel stronger, Turri Road it will be, with lots of long hills.
Happy running!
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