33 Days to Go (Tempo is back!)
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Date - Day - Scheduled Workouts (Intervals within desired pace)
5/7/18 - M - OFF
5/8/18 - T - MCR Stage 2A + 2 mile WU + (4 x 200m @ R (5:27) w/ 200m RI) + (6 x 400m @ R (5:27) w/ 400m RI) + (4 x 200m @ R (5:27) w/ 200m RI) + 1.5 mile CD (9/14)
5/9/18 - W - 7 miles @ EA (8:14)
5/10/18 - R - MCR Stage 2A + 2 mile WU + 4 x 1.5 @ T (6:25) w/ 2 min RI + 2 mile CD (0/4)
5/11/18 - F - 7 miles @ EA (8:14)
5/12/18 - Sat - Hunter's Challenge - The Quick Fix (Bike)
5/13/18 - Sun - 3 mile WU + 8 miles @ M Tempo (7:00) + 2.2 mile CD (8/8)
Running duration = 6:21 hours
Running mileage = 46.4 miles
Indoor Virtual Biking duration = 0:45 hours
Indoor Virtual Biking mileage = 13.0 miles
Total (training) duration = 7:06 hours
Total (training) mileage = 59.4 miles
Number of running SOS intervals within pace = 17/26 (65%)
Monday
Received an offer on the house!
Tuesday
McMillan Core Routine Stage 2A.
Front Plank with leg movements - 10 reps per leg
Side Plank with leg movements - 10 reps per leg
Scissor Kick - 2 x 10 reps w/ 10 sec rest
Metronome - 15 reps
Back Extension - 2 x 10 reps
Modified Jane Fonda - 30 reps per leg
Good Mornings - 10 reps
Still not capable of a side plank leg movement.
On to the next R paced run. I adjusted the plan again because of the lack of R paced run last week. So I decided to do that workout this weekend instead of stepping up a level. The workout was:
2 mile WU + (4 x 200m @ R (5:27) w/ 200m RI) + (6 x 400m @ R (5:27) w/ 400m RI) + (4 x 200m @ R (5:27) w/ 200m RI) + 1.5 mile CD
R pace = 5:27 min/mile (41 sec for 200m and 82 sec for 400m)
1st set - 38, 40, 40, 39
Felt good. My left hamstring was a little tight. Hoping that it wouldn't linger through the run. I had some neighbors come out of their houses, grab some drinks on the porch and just sit back and watch me work. Nice to have an audience.
2nd set - 82, 83, 85, 84, 86, 84
Holy cow! It's been a while since I've done 400m at R. Now I remember how much they suck! Like me, sucking wind. I was so out of breath and dying during/after these. I needed every second of the 3-4 min RI. That hurt a lot. The hamstring was getting tighter and more noticeable during the RI of each interval.
3rd set - 38, 38, 41, 40
Well even when I though I slowed down I apparently was still way too fast. But that hamstring was becoming more and more noticeable.
Overall, not the worst. Way too fast on the 200m and a touch too slow on the 400m. But, let's rewind back to February 2017...
Tuesday was time for a new training cycle! It was a near perfect evening for running. A 40F WC, with very little wind, a slight to dense fog over time. Goal Pace for R is 5:52 min/mile (approximately mile pace, although my PR is 6:24). AHHH, a 5... For 200m that's 44 seconds and 400m is 88 seconds. My goal is to hit these +/- 1 second, so 43-45 seconds for 200m and 87-89 seconds for 400m. I am choosing to run these Quality Speed workouts on the road rather than the track since my racing will be on the road as well. To ensure accuracy, I have satellite mapped out 200m and 400m. I will use the lap button based on man-made markers to ensure distance accuracy so I don't rely on the inaccurate GPS signal of the watch.
First 200m set - 4/4 (45, 45, 43, 43)
400m set - 4/6 (86, 87, 89, 90, 89, 89)
Second 200m set - 3/4 (46, 44, 44, 44)
I'm shocked I hit 11/14 paces overall since I've never attempted to run this fast ever before (either actual pace or relative fitness pace). Regardless, this was a very tough workout and I feel like I got nailed by a truck. FUN!
This was actually the first time I had done a Daniels speed workout and it was the exact same one as this one. Today's run was in a T+D in the 130s vs 40s for February 2017. Nice to look back and see the progress as I'm running 200m in 38 seconds instead of 43-45 seconds now. That's a big difference! #Progress!
Wednesday
Did some counter-offer back and forth throughout the day. Right as I was leaving to go running I got a call from our relator. Counter offer accepted! Now time to jump through the rest of the hoops, but...
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The hamstring was super sore. Kind of poppy throughout. I decided to take the run SUPER easy and just try to survive it. Ended up with 7 miles at 8:42 min/mile pace. The HR was quite high for this pace at 137. A lack of power made me work harder for the easy pace apparently.
Thursday
McMillan Core Routine Stage 2A.
Front Plank with leg movements - 10 reps per leg
Side Plank with leg movements - 10 reps per leg
Scissor Kick - 2 x 10 reps w/ 10 sec rest
Metronome - 15 reps
Back Extension - 2 x 10 reps
Modified Jane Fonda - 30 reps per leg
Good Mornings - 10 reps
Still not capable of a side plank leg movement.
Still not feeling great. I hemmed and hawed whether I should go through with the run. Decided to play it by ear and choose to do it or not based on the WU.
2 mile WU + 4 x 1.5 @ T (6:25) w/ 2 min RI + 2 mile CD
The T+D was 121 so I put an adjustment up to 6:32 pace. But based on how I was feeling, I felt that was probably too aggressive to aim for. Plus, my fitness has seemed to suggest that my original pacing scheme is still above and beyond my current fitness. So I went with a semi-blind T paced run. Just run what felt like T pace on the first interval. Then aim for consistent splits on each and every T pace. After the WU, I wasn't feeling great about the hamstring, but I decided to give it a go and see if it would loosen up as I ran.
T Pace = 6:58, 6:55, 7:02, 6:55
Not too shabby. The hamstring was noticeable, but allowed me to hold/maintain the pace. The worst was RI though as it seemed to tighten up. Puts me about 24-30 seconds off original pacing with the TD adjustment. Plus, the hamstring has me reconsidering doing 3 hard per week right now. I've already been considering moving to 2 hard per week for Chicago training, and this has pushed me to consider it for the remainder of the HM cycle as well.
Friday
Easy of 7 miles. But can't say it was all that easy with the hamstring. Just surviving. Pace was 8:30 and HR was 133 which is much closer to reasonable.
Saturday
Bike day. Kind of worked out as Steph was to be at work, and I wanted to sleep in. So G just came downstairs with me and cheered me on during the bike. As a reminder, I chose bike workouts that represented similar training loads to do 90 min at EB pacing (which the bike was replacing). This was a step up in difficulty in bike workouts from my Beginner FTP Training Plan I followed during my recovery phase.
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I was super excited to give it a shot. Well that excitement was short lived as this workout really really challenged me. My hamstring wasn't feeling great during the WU, but that had little to do with the outcome of this workout.
I made it through the first two workout sections, but as soon as the third started I knew I was shot. This was WAY harder than a 90 min EB run. This was adding way more fatigue than I wanted before my 8 mile Tempo. So I pulled the plug early. I tried to do the third section, but my legs just wouldn't take me to 100% FTP anymore.
In total, 13 miles in 45 min. We'll see if I try another one of these super challenging Hunter's Challenge bikes.
Saturday evening we were on our way to dinner, and G said the following:
Hey guys, so I have an idea. I was thinking while Dad and I were playing Mario Kart. I came up with an idea but I wanted to keep it secret until mommy came home from work. I wanted to tell both of you at the same time. We should paint a picture of our old house, and then hang it in the house. That way we never forget our first house. What do you think?
Some days the things she says...
Sunday
M Tempo day!
3 mile WU + 8 miles @ M Tempo (7:00) + 2.2 mile CD
I was so excited I slept in.... Not a good choice since Steph had to leave for work at 8am. I was to wake at 5am, but fell back asleep until 5:45am. This was going to cut my 105 min workout really really close (like too close). Extra motivator to hit pace because I didn't have any time to spare.
After the T pace workout, I knew that 6:48 min/mile pace wasn't happening. So I decided to trust the M Tempo effort again. Thankfully it was only in the 40s instead of the 130 T+D like all week. So this run set me up for success.
The hamstring was actually feeling better for once. Noticeable during the WU, but not nearly as bad as all week. The WU was a bit too fast, but honestly, I was too excited for M Tempo to slow down. Got started on the first mile and it clicked off at 7:00. So I said, alright M Tempo is 7:00 now based on the first interval. Let's hit 7:00 for the next 7. Stayed relatively blind and just continued to trust the effort.
6:58, 7:05, 7:02.
I was starting to struggle as a I rounded the corner on mile 3.5 of 8. This is when I hit the "aid station". I convinced myself I was not going to be able to maintain pace and needed to take a short break at the "aid station". Then at the last second, I said, nope keep running. It was a split decision and I was hopeful I could work on the mental game. I really really wanted to stop. But I just said, if you stop you might be able to speed up, but what's to say you'll actually fail if you keep going. Let's go for it!
6:55, 7:10, 7:02, 6:58
I did make it for another few miles, but I did eventually stop and take a break. Just needed a few seconds to reset.
All in all, a solid first M Tempo run back. I averaged a 7:00 min/mile through the 8 miles. The HR was solid as well. M Tempo is usually 148-152 historically. Today's run was 151. So my effort was right on target with the HR.
A solid week overall, but it's probably time for a few adjustments to pace and number of hard days per week.
