My tempo run went up to 35 minutes today and I was hoping to maintain my tempo pace for at least 10 minutes. Things didn’t work out quite that way. I was only able to keep it up for 7 minutes. I will say, however, that the third phase of the run was faster than usual and I was able to sprint out the end of the run.
Actual workout
8 minutes warmup
35 minutes at ??? pace
8 minutes cool down
I hit the bike for 20 minutes today, covering 7.25 miles. When I got on the bike this morning, I felt a little stiff. After the first five minutes, my legs were just pumping at a steady cadence. I felt like a steam train. It was nice. Afterwards, I had a pretty good strength workout too.
Actual workout
20 minutes cycling
Full body strength training
Today, I was nervous heading to the gym for my speed work. This seems to be a trend. I get nervous before speed workouts for some reason. I guess it’s because the first one I did was harder than I thought it would be. Today wasn’t so bad. I did 6 400 m intervals at 5:42 pace. I think I’m going to speed things up next week.
Today was also another milestone. It was the first time I’ve ever run 5 consecutive days. I’m a little sore after the speedwork, but nothing major. Tomorrow, I have a bike workout and strength training, and then Friday is an off day. So far, I’m happy with my progress.
Actual workout
5 minutes walking
5 minutes at 9:34 pace
6 400m intervals at 5:42 pace
5 minutes walking
When I was leading up to this training plan, 3 miles was not easy for me. In fact, I was pretty disappointed about that. One would figure that after running a marathon, three miles would be a breeze. I found myself having to talk a walk break in the middle of my 3 miles workout. I guess I was still rundown from the marathon experience at that point. Now, my Monday runs, which are supposed to be 3 easy miles are actually easy. I’m certainly sweaty and slightly out of breath at the end, but I could easily go another mile, and I don’t ever feel like I need a walk break. I’ve also had some pretty good strength training workouts after these 3 miles runs. Today was no different.
Actual workout
5 minutes warmup
3 miles at 8:34 pace
5 minutes cool down
Full body strength training.
Today’s run was a nice slow jog through the old neighborhood and waterfront park of my long marathon training runs. I kept things slow, averaging about 10:15-10:30 minutes per mile and I took only two short walk breaks. All in all, it was a good run at a “conversational” pace.
Actual workout
1 mile warmup
6.47 miles at 10:23 pace
1 mile cool down
Last night was shin-dig benefit for the girls’ school. They had a bunch of stuff from a bunch of different restaurants, most of which was not really my type of food. I had a few bites, but I didn’t get much to eat at all. On the other hand, I enjoyed a Knob Creek on the rocks, a Jack Daniels on the rocks and (switching gears) a Sailor Jerry on the rocks. Needless to say, the run didn’t go so well this morning. I was scheduled for 4 miles fast, and I completed 4 miles, but fast certainly isn’t a word I’d use to describe them. There were several walk breaks involved.
Actual workout
8 minutes warmup
4 miles at 9:46 pace
8 minutes cool down
Today’s tempo run went very well. I jogged for about 10 minutes, then took off at a pretty good pace for a little more than 8 minutes, covering a mile and a quarter in that time. I did tire out after those 8 minutes and walked for a minute or so, but I was really pleased with the results. Next week, my goal will be to keep the high pace up for a longer period of time. I’ll be shooting for 10 minutes of accelerated running.
Actual workout
8 minutes warmup
10:03 running at 9:34 min/mile pace
8:10 running at 6:57 min/mile pace
11:47 running at 9:29 min/mile pace
Today, I hit the bike for 20 minutes and then headed down for a full body strength training session. It was a pretty long workout. I was at the gym for over two hours, but it felt nice and I’m looking forward to the day off tomorrow.
Actual workout
20 minutes stationary bike
full body strength training
Like last week, I was nervous about my speedwork this morning. I was scheduled to do 8 200 m intervals at roughly 5:30 pace. My first one seemed extraordinarily easy, and I glided through all 8 with little difficulty. It was a great change from the 400 m intervals last week. I think that the next time I do 200 M intervals, I’ll probably run them at 5:00 minute mile pace.
Actual workout
10 minutes warmup
8X200 m at 5:27 pace
5 minutes cooldown
Into my second week, my 3 easy miles started out tough, but I got into a groove and finished strong. Then, I hit the weights for a nice full body workout
Actual workout
5 minutes warmup
3 miles at 8:34 pace
5 minutes cool down
