Training Week (1/12-1/18)

After dealing with blistering issues and no running for a week, I was ready to explode. The blister finally healed up well enough to run on Sunday so there was no holding back from there. I typically make workout schedules months in advance leading up to a big race, with race focused driven workouts to get me ready. I'm already a week behind where I should be but that is okay. So, this week was the first week of speed and tempo work. Here's the breakdown:

Sunday (1/12): 5 miles

Easy on the grassy flat at sports park. Followed with barefoot drills, strides, and core strengthening at home.

Monday (1/13): 10 miles

First speed workout of the year at the local high school track. Two mile warm up. Drills and skips. Then 8X(200-400) with a 1:1 speed to recovery ratio. Two mile cool down. Goal for this workout was to run each interval relatively fast but focusing on maintaining a smooth and proper stride. Here is the breakdown:

(34, 1:13)

(35, 1:10)

(35, 1:11)

(35, 1:12)

(37, 1:12)

(35, 1:12)

(35, 1:11)

(35, 1:10)

Total time for 3 miles: 14:20, avg mile pace for each interval 4:46. That's a noticeable improvement over last year. Last May I started speed workouts for the first time since college (2005). I struggled to hit 5:20 pace for my intervals in the beginning and by the end of last year I was averaging 5:00 pace. I think the pace of this workout is based on three factors: one, I'm getting faster (I hope!), two, my legs were fresh, and three, I ran it too hard (which was what actually happened). We'll see if I'm able to maintain this pace from week to week.

Tuesday (1/14): Day off.

Wednesday (1/15): 10 miles

First tempo workout at sports park on flat grass. Two mile warm up, six mile tempo, and two mile cool down. Tempo is run on a one mile out and back course mostly flat with a few dips here and there; terrain is typically grass throughout with sections of gravel road, dirt and roots, and some occasional mud. Turn around points definitely slow my times; I will have to design a new course that limits tight turn around points. Legs were very tired from Monday. Here is the breakdown: 5:48, 6:00, 6:06, 6:06. 6:07, 5:52 and total 36:03 with an average right at 6:00 min/mi. The goal is to run right at aerobic threshold. I was running these a lot faster in between Moab and Cajun Coyote (5:45 min/mi) but my legs were more fresh then but I accomplished what I needed to.

Thursday (1/16): 5 miles

Easy mileage at sports park followed with barefoot drills, strides, and core strengthening.

Friday (1/17): 5 miles

Easy mileage with Grits at the sports park.

Saturday (1/18): 15+ miles

Two loops at the Beast with two loops around the top of park. Breakdown: 1st Beast Loop (51:00), 2 miles (15:11), 2nd Beast Loop (53:55), 2 miles (14:01), Total (2:14:09)

Weekly Total: 50 miles

Overall a great week, very excited to be running again. Next week is going to hurt with an increase in mileage and intensity. I have Forge Dirty Soles 10k on Saturday, it will be my first 10k in over a year, I'm looking forward to trying the shorter distance again; however, it is to early in the year to taper so I will attempt three hard workouts next week. Speed on Monday, tempo on Wednesday, and tempo/race followed with mileage on Saturday.