Saturdays workout on Friday

So I have thought today is Saturday all day for some reason, so when I glanced at my workout schedule I ran Saturdays workout. Doh! Nice day however for a run, had a steady pace, only slowed down to talk to a friend who was driving by and then at Nippersink so I wasn't run over.

Long Run Report

Ran with Randy again today, we did 6.5 miles at 13 minute per mile pace. I felt quite good throughout, had a couple of Charley horses in my lower butt but slightly slower pace for a minute or two eased them. They seemed to occur on the gradual uphills.

Two interesting facts that emerge from looking at the run, are 1) We ran each lap slightly faster then the one before, a very positive progress sign and 2) I had a lot left in the tank.

Although what emptied my tank after that run was the 3 x 1/2 miles I did after a 5 minute recovery. The first one is displayed above, the next two were remarkable for their slowness. 6:34 and 7:03

Tuesday's bonks: Explained?

Since I appear to be turning my body into a science experiment with constant measuring. I can relate one more measurement that I am doing. I read somewhere (can't recall where) about taking your resting pulse early in the morning when you wake up. So I have been doing that with a nice pulse monitor that I have had for awhile.

One interesting thing you can tell from monitoring my morning pulse is that it has drifted down since I started measuring back in early January. My resting pulse rate in the first week of January and has steadily drifted down from the low 70's to the low 50's. Showing as the study said an improved fitness level, which I can tell simply because I can run further faster and easier then I could in Janaury.

But a more interesting fact that you can determine is that for example for six straight days my pulse was in the low 50's in the morning, but two Mondays and Tuesdays in a row, my pulse was in the low 60's. Mondays are my rest days after a long run on Sunday, and then on Tuesday I have had lousy runs. The time frame between runs is as long as I can make (55-58 hours) it to give my body as much rest as I can after the long run. So the last two Tuesdays my workouts have been awful. One workout I actually just broke off and stopped, the other I walked slowly the rest of way. On Wednesday however my pulse has bounced back to the low 50's again.

An interesting indicator I think perhaps and perhaps a way of determining my rest needs. Next week I shifted around my workouts  so I can get some extra rest. I also think it confirms my idea to do the marathon training with only three runs a week. So I can move around my runs to adapt to my bodies signals. Two shorter runs on Wednesday and Friday with a longer run on Sunday. Stretching and weight lifting in between on those days, mostly upper body however.

Half Marathon Goal Time?

So yesterday I was able to sustain a pretty decent pace time of 13:39 per mile for 11.2 miles, which equates to a 2:58 half marathon (13.1 miles). So squinting at the screen, I think I see my goal right there in the distance! Somewhere in the 2:50 to 3:00 hour half marathon range would be a nice accomplishment. Anything below that would be fantastic in my opinion.

With that long run yesterday which was my longest training run of this 16 week training program, I start a slow taper to the race, which is three weeks from yesterday! This weeks long run will be 8 miles, and then the week after that 5 miles, and then its race day!

5 Weeks Until my First Half-marathon

Well today's a rest day after the 8 miler yesterday, I am feeling pretty good, no soreness at all. Although I think I ate to much yesterday in response to the giant calorie burn of the run.

The next few weeks I will average 18 miles (long run 6 miles), 22 miles (long run 10 miles), 20 miles (long run 8 miles) and 14 miles (long run 5 miles) follows the race week, where I do 7 miles of short days leading up to the race on April 6.

I am also putting a sprinkling of weight training into the program twice a week generally on Mondays and Wednesday. I will have a more organized program of weight training during my 20 week program leading up to the marathon I intend to run. Right now I am looking at a program that will have runs a week (Tuesday, Thursday and long run Sunday). The weekly mileage peaks at 37 miles, currently my thinking will is to use light weights on Wednesday and then work on legs on Friday, giving me a day of leg rest before the long run. Then on Saturday I would do some stretching and pylometrics, although I might do this on Mondays.

The running portion of this is the prime importance, so if I need rest it will come out of the weight training portion of the program.

So this week the program is:

• 60 minutes on Tuesday at an easy pace
• 40 minutes on Wednesday
• 50 minutes tempo run on Friday
• 30 minutes on Saturday
• Long run of 6 miles

So the total for the week, should be between 18-21 miles depending on my pace during the week.

The Running Plan for the Half Marathon

I am working towards a half marathon sometime in early April and am using a beginners half marathon plan I got from the book Marathoning for Mortals which was an excellent read. The plan is straight forward enough and fits with my schedule.

Basically I have a long run on the weekend, with three smaller runs focusing on different aspects of the run during the week. With some adjustments the program looks like this.

Tuesday-- Easy Run for x amount of minutes
Thursday-- Cross training or run for x amount of minutes at 60-70% of max heart rate
Friday-- Form run focusing on technique for x amount of minutes at 60-70% of max heart rate
Saturday-- Moderate effort run for x amount of minutes slightly higher pace then Fridays run.
Sunday-- Long run at a slow pace for x number of miles.

In this plan I have made some modifications, since I just can't (because of work) do 4 runs during the week I don't do the rest day I should have on Saturday after the moderate effort run. However I try to do longer run later in the day and Saturday run early to give me as much rest as possible.