Tuesday. While I certainly could be accused as being too conservative (soft?) in my approach to workouts this week after Sunday’s 18, at this stage in the game I’d rather be safe than sorry. On Tuesday, we had our scheduled track workout. The session itself was enticing 6x800s at 5 mile pace. Our coach benevolently gave the troops a break after CPTC’s strong showing at Saturday’s Team Championships. Despite enjoying 800s, I had no intention of running even at the reduced pace (normally it’s 5k pace). My legs were not particularly heavy, nor was I feeling beat up from going long. However, I had zero intention of being a hero either. Therefore, I chose to jog slowly to the track and run separately on the nice, soft, rubbery surface. @mpatent, who PR’d on Saturday, joined me on the warm up and for the bulk of easy loops on the track. My legs thanked me for the break …6mi @ 8:18 pace. No damage done.
Wednesday. Normally, this would be a recovery run. But in this case, a recovery run from what? We are now 3 days post long run and the legs were feeling fine. I did an easy run at the track on Tuesday. So what should I do on Wednesday? A recovery run. Unwittingly (or rather dim wittingly), I chose to bring along a full backpack of work clothes, shoes in 80 degree/80% humidity weather. As such, the recovery run became a bit of a slog. I cut the workout at 5mi @ 8:40 pace since this is a reduced mileage week. The backpack was not the best idea I’d come up with that day, but I tried to make the best of it. Knowing what the Thursday workout would be, I’m glad I shut it down.
Thursday. Now that the summer / short season is over, our focus shifts to longer distances in the fall … 26.2, 13.1. Thursday marked the first longer tempo to introduce us to the fall season. 2 x 3.25 mile @ MP and then HMP. The route was a horseshoe of Central Park’s outer loop … north on the West Side thru the 102nd transverse and south on the East Side, then reverse it. The terrain is equally annoying both ways. My first mission: complete the 6.5mi with no blow ups. Sounds basic enough, no? Well, despite all the running I’ve done with CPTC, I’ve never completed a tempo more than 2 x 2 mi. I joined in February in the midst of the Boston Marathon build up. The team routinely banged out 2 x 3s, 2 x 4s (all with no recovery, of course, and with the 2nd interval quicker than the 1st). My fitness was nowhere near the level to complete the workout at anything but a crawling pace. Recall, the temps then were a lovely 15-20 degrees and with the exception of a few lamp posts, it was pitch black outside. Running solo at a snail’s pace and then still blowing up was just not appealing. Our coach agreed and generally told me to stop after one 3 or 4 mile loop. We were both trying to manage my confidence as well as fitness.
With this as the backdrop, last night was a test (as is every session with CPTC). First, complete the workout with no blow ups. Second, complete the workout with a negative split (MP first loop, HMP second loop). On those measures, I was 2/3 successful. There were no blow ups. Mentally I stayed in the game. Results: 1 x 3.22 @ 7:29 pace, 1 x 3.22 @ 7.30 pace. If the assignment were to run at MP for 6.5mi, then it was a total victory. But, alas, I was supposed to hit 7:15 for the 2nd bit. The initial spin felt very comfortable, so much so that I am starting to believe that I MIGHT be able to hold it (assuming a ton of work ahead) for NYCM. Marathon pace should be around lactate threshold or slightly slower. While I don’t have a treadmill or anyone to bleed me to determine exactly where that threshold should be, my breathing is a decent proxy for it. When there were a few teammates around me at mile 3 we chatted a bit which is a nice indicator that 7:30 is a good pace. They scooted past me when we supposed to hit HMP so I had to dig a little on that nasty West Side series of rolling hills ~ 5mi. At that point, I started to work hard because I knew I was losing time. No chatting with anyone, just grinding. To make up that lost time, I hit it harder than HMP on the final mile to end up with near even splits. Missed the goal, but it’s not the worst thing in the world either. It’s only August 13th and I’ve only really completed 2 long runs. Strength and endurance will come (… hello, 4 20+ mi runs). I already feel my aerobic fitness improving over even 4 weeks ago. Therefore, with a ton of work to do, progress is being made. If anything, it’s nice to know I can hold MP for 6.5mi. There will be plenty of opportunities for negatives splits on Thursday nights. Last point, you might ask “Why not go out slower on the MP portion to ensure a negative split?” I could have done that, but chose not to. I want 7:30 pace to become second nature (7:30 ~ 3:16:30 BQ). I’ll work on getting quicker at tempos from there.
Friday. Normally, Friday is a rest day. However, we have weekend plans that make running on Saturday not an option. As such, I had to deal with a quick turnaround from last night to an early morning run. Why not run after work to give the body more time to recover? Great question. That was the plan when I put my head on the pillow at 11:30pm last night. When I woke up at 3am and never went back down, the plan changed. Knowing that I would be dragging all day, I did not want to have an insomnia-induced, grinding recovery run after work. Therefore, at 5:30am I hopped up, made coffee, ate Cheerios and got dressed. As crappy as I would likely feel running on 3.5 hrs of sleep at 5:50am, I would feel MUCH worse at 6pm. How did it go? Surprise. Surprise. Surprise. I had a very satisfying run. 7mi @ 8:27 pace. I tossed in a couple of strides to train the legs to run when tired and to focus on form. Also, after a brilliant post on drills by Washington Was Here, I added those bad boys to the end of the workout … high knees, butt kicks and quick feet. Read her post. Really good stuff.