Cool as a Cucumber
Meh. I only did like 23 miles this week due to me being incredibly busy and having a HM on Sunday (today). I didn't sweat it, I had basically already given up on my season. Also my season consisted of easy miles and like two track workouts total.
Now the race: I was aiming for 1:20:59, and thus wanted to go out in 6:10. I had done a brief tempo on Thursday night trying to maintain 6:10 miles, but those became 6:20. In my defense, I had pulled an all nighter the night before and I was trying hard to not try.
So back to the race. Went out in 6:15, came to a big hill and that because 6:28, then back to 6:11, and then I watched my times slowly rise from there. Whomp. Peaked at a 7:08, but I think there was something that brought that about besides my general suckage.
Anyways, this isn't a full race report (I'm going to write one in my log), but I finished with a 1:25:28. It's not great, but it's respectable, so I'll take it. Looking forward to training hard for the mile with higher mileage and then turning it all into a fast HM.
The pavement fears me.
I went out to Joshua Tree last Sunday and spent the week there rock climbing. It was my first time there and I loved it. I managed to get in just over 40 miles of running as well, which I'm happy about. We got up at about 6:30 every morning and went out on the trails, then came back to camp, had breakfast, and climbed all day. Thursday we got up even earlier and did the Boy Scout Trail, which is a ~16 mile out and back with a bunch of hilly/rocky sections and lots of very soft and loose sand. We decided to take it very easy and ended up hiking sections of it, but it was still extremely challenging, mostly because of the heat and the poor footing. It was really beautiful, though, and lots of fun.
I didn't do any speed workouts while I was gone because I didn't really have the energy for that...just lots of recovery/easy running. I have my goal 5k next Saturday so I'm hoping it won't matter too much that I skipped the sessions I'd planned. I did go out this afternoon for a few miles and was pleased to be hitting 7:30s at easy effort.
treedog, nice job in the half. I understand the disappointment of not meeting a time goal, but I'd say 1:25 is very respectable. It also sounds like you know what you've gotta do to hit 1:20 in your next one.
The Scrub
Week 5 of 12 complete. My week went alright. It started out amazingly, with 2 days of rest. I did a 9 miler with 4 at threshold pace on Friday that I'm still feeling today. It made today's long run feel much harder than my lungs and heart made it out to be. I have a 10k race next weekend. Tons of hills. McMillian says I can do 7:37mile, but I don't think I can do that with 780 ft of elevation gain/loss. Here's the elevation map. Any ideas of how I should approach this?
I haven't really been doing much in terms of hill training. I have included more hills in my long runs, but not 750ft worth.
treedog - It sounds like you've been pushing yourself too hard recently given your previous post about sprints the morning after doing mile repeats. Solid time though in my book. I'd love to have a 1:25 HM. A sub 90 min half is my goal for next year. I have no idea how I'm going to do it.
youngoffender - That sounds pretty epic. I'd love to just have a camping trip that was filled with camping and trail running. I bet the lack of workouts actually helped you, but we'll see on race day. Good luck going sub 20. You and mapfe (A_Tasty_Ham_Sandwich on reddit) are both going for sub 20. I can't wait to see who will do it first!
deds - Just had a look at the elevation map. Looks pretty rough to me, but I'm decidedly *not* good on hills. Still, I think McMillan is about right when it comes to your fitness. I'll bet you can hold 7:30-7:40ish for the race. You've been putting in solid mileage. Just make sure not to take it out too fast - start a little conservatively, try for even effort on the uphills (meaning that your pace will slow a little, and that's okay), and charge the downhills. Sometimes people go all out on the uphills and have nothing left for the descent - you can try to pass all these people. Good luck!
And yeah, we'll see which of us breaks 20 first...next week will be my last race of the year I'm pretty sure, so I'd better get it done!
Monday through Saturday. Off with arch pain. Not severe, but I am just being overly cautious since I'm not training for anything in particular. Sunday easy 3 miles. Booooring.
2014 Goals
Don't die
When I first started running, I had some arch pain. I put some insoles in my shoes and it went away. It felt like my foot wasn't strong enough to support running. I eventually got over it just by running more and waited until my foot was stronger.
Maybe do some barefoot walking/running on grass. Or other foot strengthening exercises.
When I first started running, I had some arch pain. I put some insoles in my shoes and it went away. It felt like my foot wasn't strong enough to support running. I eventually got over it just by running more and waited until my foot was stronger. Maybe do some barefoot walking/running on grass. Or other foot strengthening exercises.
I got new shoes prior to arch pain (same model), and I didn't ease into them. I did one regular run, then 8 miles, then a race the next week. I blame that. I should've alternated between old and new. Feeling good now though. Going to do an easy week this week (20ish), and resume normal training after that. Was going to do a race this weekend, but I don't think it is worth it.