Fartlek Workout

Today's workout was different, but it was still a good one. I had very little time to run and I wanted to put in at least 8 miles. I decided that I would mix in some harder running to help cut the time down a little bit. I ended up leaving my house and running through the neighborhood and down to Maple Ave. The first 8:00 (1.15 miles) was the warm-up and I felt really good. When I got to Leslie Ave I turned and ran up the hill "hard." When I got to the top of the hill I made the corner and continued my hard effort to the Stone Ave intersection. This is just over 1/4 mile. The purpose of this interval was to get a hard effort into my legs early and wake them up a little, but not to ruin the rest of my run. I ended up doing this at about 6:19 pace, which still felt like 5k effort because of the hill. I then made my way back to the Avenue and down to the Junction. When I hit the tracks I ran the Ainsworth Loop (1.06 mi) at 5:42 pace. I then turned left and headed out Plains Road for a 1/2 mile at an easy pace . When I got to the Old Church Road intersection I ran that loop (1.04 mi) in 5:41 pace. I then made the same 1/2 mile trip back to the junction at an easy pace and when I hit the bottom of the hill at the junction I ran up the hill hard (0.4. mi; 5:53 pc). I took the next 3/4 of a mile down the flat of Maple Ave as a "recovery" and when I got to the golf course I ran the final mile (entirely uphill) to my house at Marathon Pace. The effort was closer to 5k and I thought my heart was going to come out of my throat at the end. I ended up running the final 1.07 miles at 6:28 pc which was pretty much top end with all the climbing that I had to do in that mile. The entire run worked out to be at a 6:39 overall pace. It was a good workout to put in the books and I still made it to work on time!

11/28 - 12/4

28- 15 miles w/Montgomery and Rod Viens (6:52 pc)
29- 8 miles w/Fartlek workout (6:39 pc. overall)
30- 10 miles (6:55 pc)
1- AM 10.5 miles w/20:00 @ 5:55 pc. / PM 4 miles (7:30 pc)
2- 6.5 miles (6:50 pc)
3- AM 7 miles (7:07 pc) / PM 5 miles (7:28 pc)
4- 10 miles w/Jingle Bell 5k (17:22)

Total- 76 miles

Hanover Turkey Trot 10K

I really wish that more race directors would certify their courses. I have run 5 races since July, 3 of them were not certified and I dispute all three of those distances. Yesterday's 10K in Hanover was a bit short I think, and I am guessing it was short to the tune of 20-25 seconds or so. Either way, I had a very good race for myself. My time was 35:29 and my splits were generally all about 5:50 or a few clicks faster. I ran a very consistent effort the entire way. As the race went out I found myself back in about 12th place or so, even though I was running faster than my goal pace. At the mile mark (5:40ish) the course goes up a long steep hill and on the way up I worked myself back to 6th place. I ran with another guy for a few hundred feet down Rip Road then took off for the next dude. The guy running in fourth was real strong and I never could gain anymore ground on him. I ran in 5th place the whole rest of the way. I had to fight at the end of the race to hold off a guy who worked his way up on me in the final mile, but I was able to hold him off with a finishing kick. All told, it was a great race for me.

Week of 11/21 - 11/27

21- 11.5 miles total w/Hanover 10K Turkey Trot
22-AM 9 miles w/Montgomery (7:10 pc) / PM 4 miles (7:22 pc)
23- 9 miles (7:35 pc)
24- 0
25- 10.5 miles w/Montgomery (7:59 pc) Trails and Mountains
26- 15 miles w/Montgomery (6:46 pc) incl. strides
27- AM 8 miles (7:19 pc) / PM 4 miles (7:30 pc)

Total- 71 miles

Week of 11/14 - 11/20

14- 8 miles w/Montgomery (7:15 pc) (I was sick)
15- 7.5 miles (7:20 pc, still sick)
16- 12 miles (7:25 pc., almost better)
17- 10 miles w/4.5 miles @ tempo pace (5:58 pc)
18- AM 10 miles w/Montgomery (6:51 pc) / PM 5 miles (7:08 pc)
19- 11.5 w/Montgomery (84:00 total; incl. 7 x short hill repeats)
20- 6 miles (7:34 pc., racing tomorrow)

Total- 70 miles

Ladder Workout

This was my third go-round with this workout since summer. I find it to be challenging, but it is probably my favorite one that I do. I think it is a real good measure of fitness. What is most encouraging is that I am still making improvements and haven't lost anything since White Mountain, which would surprise me if I had because of my short rest in between. Here's the splits:

400-80
800-2:45
1200-4:06
mile-5:29
1200-4:08
800- 2:44
400- 73

The plan prescribed for 400m of rest between each rep, but I shortened the rest after the last 800 and only took 200. Then I only did a 1oo jog recovery after the 400. With the warm-up and cool-down it ended up being just about 10.5 on the afternoon. Very pleased with how this went, and comparitively it is my best of the three Ladders I have done.

White Mountain Half Marathon (Couple Things)

Week of 11/7 - 11/13

7- 7 miles w/strides (7:20 pc)
8- 0
9- 8 miles (7:00 pc)
10-10.5 w/track workout
11- 9 miles w/Montgomery (7:03 pc)
12- 9 miles w/strides (7:20 pc)
13- 10 miles w/LOTS of hills (7:03 pc)

Total- 53.5 miles

A new way of doing my mileage. I will be utilizing a Sunday-Saturday format. This is more in line with the Jack Daniels method. I won't be starting that program for several more weeks, but it will be good to start tracking my mileage that way now.

Week of 11/1 - 11/7

1- 0 (Finally!)
2- 0 (why not)
3- 5 miles (7:00 pc)
4- 9 miles (7:00 pc)
5- 5 miles w/20:00 @ T pace (6:38 pc overall)
6- 11 miles w/ Montgomery (7:20 pc)
7- 7 miles w/strides (7:20 pc)

Total- 37 miles