Log #6: Progress!!!

This morning was round 2 of my speed workout attempt. Last week I only managed to do one 1600m repeat, and then two 800m repeats. Today I did this:



10 minute warmup
1600m @ 6:41
1600m @ 6:54
800m @ 3:20
10 minute cooldown

Again, the chest felt like it might explode, but overall that's a huge improvement. I definitely felt stronger on the first 1600. I finished it and felt like I could have gone a little farther if I wanted to. The second repeat was MUCH tougher, but I managed to maintain a pretty constant speed until about halfway through my 3rd lap, at which point I hit a wall and had to slow down a tad.

What I've noticed about these speed workouts is that they make my tempo and pace runs feel much slower, which is a good thing. I remember when I got on this marathon kick last year, and at the time I hadn't run very much for about 4 years. I remember running 5 miles @ 8:30 and just about keeling over. I got to the point where an 8:00 mile felt pretty easy, but then I didn't see any more increases in speed. Once I started doing speed workouts at the track, I found that I could hold the 8:00 min/mile pace for longer, and even run in the 7:45 range.

My goal pace for this marathon will be 8:00 min/mile. I have tried to keep this pace in 2 other marathons, and haven't been able to go past about 16 miles. I think it has a lot to do with the way I was training. My old routines involved running almost every day, which never gave my legs time to rest and gain strength. I would also do EVERY run at an 8:00 pace regardless of what type of run it was. My 5 mile tempos were at 8:00, and my long runs were around 8:00. Now I know that my tempos should be in the 7:10-7:30 range, and my long runs should be about 8:30.

Tomorrow is more cross-training. I definitely like that I have days off between running workout, it makes the whole process seem less demanding and time consuming, even though I probably burn more calories overall because I'm not bored so I push myself harder. Tomorrow is bike day.

Let's hope my grundle-callous is a little thicker. I'm not sure my prostate can handle too much more abuse.