Track Workout

Todays workout was way harder than I imagined it was going to be. I met Justin at the track after about a 2.5 mile warm-up and then did a few more laps with him which included some strides. For the actual workout I did 3 sets of (600/400/300/200) then after that I did one mile steady. For the fast repeats I wanted to keep them all under a 5:20 pc average (80s laps). For the mile I wanted to run close to 6:00 pc on tired legs. Here is how it worked out:

1:56/77/57/38
1:59/80/58/37
1:59/79/57/38
Mile: 5:44

I was pumped at the end of this. Justin and I went and put in an easy 6 mile cool-down after.

Week of 9/27 - 10/3

27- AM 10.6 w/Montgomery (72:20) / PM 5.15 (35:00)
28- AM 8.15 (60:20) / PM 6.05 (48:00)
29- 14.65 w/track workout
30- 9.2 w/1.5 mile CPD PT test (69:00 total)
1- 6.2 (46:00)
2- AM 9.3 w/Chili Cook-Off 5K (17:28) / PM 4.2 (30:30)
3- 16.6 w/Montgomery (1:55:30)

Total- 90.5 miles

Ladder Workout

I did this workout two months ago and got my butt kicked. Granted, the weather was a lot warmer then and I wasn't nearly as fit as I am now. However, I struggled through that one. Today I felt great and hit my splits dead on. I am so pumped with how this worked out. With 4 weeks left of real hard training before a taper this was a huge boost mentally. The plan was to do 400, 800, 1200, 1600 then back down to 400 with splits at 80, 2:45, 4:15, and 5:50 for the intervals, respectively. Here's how it went:

400- 78
800- 2:43
1200- 4:12
1600- 5:43
1200- 4:14
800- 2:45
400- 77

I was pumped. All told I got in 10 miles on the morning. A 5+ mile run in the afternoon to shake out my legs.

Week of 9/20 - 9/26

20- 9.05 w/Montgomery (63:50)
21- AM 10 w/track workout / PM 5.25 (39:15)
22- 12.25 (9 solo, 3.25 w/Montgomery)
23- 7.05 (54:30)
24- 14.3 w/Montgomery (1:42:15)
25- 8 (62:00)
26- 17.5 (12+ w/Montgomery, 5+ solo)(2:01:15)

Total- 83.4 miles

RTB Relay

What a great time at Reach the Beach this year. I ran on a team of 12 really cool people and got the privilege of being in a van full of guys who were super fun to hang out with. As for the running, I had a plan going into this about how I wanted to run. I was planning on running my three legs all under 7:00 pace, but with one of them closer to 6:20 pace. The distances were approximately 9 miles, 7.75 and 5.15 respectively, giving me a grand total of 21.9ish for the whole event. Well, my plan didn't really go as it was scheduled. I ran my first leg of 9 miles at 6:27 pace. The second leg I still felt really well and ended up doing that one at 6:36 pace. That one was in the middle of the night and was far hillier than the first. The final leg I planned on running whatever felt comfortable. There was a huge amount of climbing in the last leg, but I still ended up runing it in 6:39 pace. I was happy with how I ran individually, how everyone in my van ran, and collectively how we ran as a team. Good job fellow Flaming Nipples!

Tempo Run

This morning I did an 11 mile run with the middle 5 at tempo pace. I went out Sugar River Drive and came back into town on the superhighway. A few hills and some dirt, but otherwise a pretty decent place to run tempo pace, especially the last 2.5 miles which is all pancake flat rail trail. I don't have overall splits, but I know that when I turned onto the trail at 2.5 miles I was at an overall 6:17 pace. By the time I finished I was at 6:12 pace overall. That suggests that I was pretty close to 6:00 pace on the trail. After my body got done yelling and screaming at me for running hard, I got into a good rhythm and felt pretty smooth running at these paces. I would have felt way more in control if the footing were better. I am definitely starting to see and feel a lot of improvement in my running since I have been putting in harder workouts and more mileage. Good things still to come with another month of real solid training before I start to back down before White Mountain.

Week of 9/13 - 9/19

13- 7.1 (51:20)
14- 11 w/middle 5 at tempo pace (78:00 total)
15- AM 11.45 w/Montgomery (80:30) / PM 5.25 (38:40)
16- 8.15 (58:30)
17- RTB leg 1- 9 (58:00) / leg 2- 7.75 (51:20)
18- leg 3- 5.2 (34:30)
19- 8.05 (61:00)

Total- 73.0 miles

Week in Review

I had a great week this past 7 days breaking 90 miles for the first time ever. It really started to feel like I was running all the time at the beginning of the week, but all the work was front-loaded as I didn't have to double after Thursday. Breaking 90 miles was a huge pyschological boost, because I know that my body is able to handle it and 100 isn't that much further from where I just was. Beyond the big number, I had an awesome workout on Wednesday in Swanzey and met a bunch of cool dudes down there. I also got in a killer hill run on Tuesday and a really good 17.5 miler with Justin on Sunday. A bit of a down week (70ish) this week with Reach the Beach on Friday and Saturday.

Wednesday Track Workout

This week I went down and worked out in Swanzey with the Keene guys. The plan was to do 8 x 800 @ 2:50 ea. I ended up meeting up with Clint Joslyn and doing the whole thing with him which worked out well for both of us. Total distance on the afternoon was just over 10. My legs were super heavy after about the 5th interval and then I could barely keep my eyes open after I got done eating dinner. Only a couple more days of this until I get to start a down week! Splits were:

2:45, 2:48, 2:43, 2:45, 2:47, 2:46, 2:47, 2:46

Probably the best 800m workout I have ever done and with heavy legs!

Week of 9/6 - 9/12

6- 10.15 w/Montgomery (69:50)
7- AM 8.3 White's Hill (63:30) / PM 7.6 (55:45)
8- AM 8.3 w/Montgomery (59:50) / PM 10 w/track workout
9- AM 6.3 (47:26) / PM 5.25 (39:50)
10- 11.05 (79:20)
11- 8.2 w/Rusty in BF (63:35)
12- 17.5 w/Montgomery (2:00:45)

Total- 92.65 miles

Week in Review

This was a good maintenance week for mileage. I only got in one formal workout which was a killer tempo run on Thursday morning with Justin. I still managed to get in 80 miles, but I did it in 10 runs, so I didn't put a huge amount of volume down in any one run. This coming week will be my final push before a down week. I am considering the possibility of chasing 90 miles this week. The other good things to come this week will be a Wednesday track workout with the Keene Track Club, a Friday tempo run, and a Sunday 16 miler over Jarvis Hill again. Bring on the heavy legs!

Tempo Run

Today I did a 10 mile tempo run with Justin. The plan for the run changed several times over the last couple days. Ultimately, we met at Justin's house and did a 10 mile loop which punished me. The short version is that we ran Grissom Lane, Charlestown Road, and Maple Ave at something close to a 6:20 overall pace. It was very hard with the hills, but it was definitely worth it. I am glad that I got something in that was hard this week.