3/16 to 3/22: Three and Half Hard Efforts

Sunday's half marathon was a great race leading up to Boston. The legs were mildly rested, and without ever feeling comfortable I was able to run a solid race. I have to believe that my training has me well prepared for Boston and that I can run the comparable full marathon (according to various calculations...1:21:04 has a ~2:50 equivalent...yikes). Only one way to find out.

I ended up putting in a pretty solid tempo-ish effort the very next day, banging out 10 miles at a ~7:09/mile pace. I just felt pretty good and let my legs go at whatever pace they wanted. This might have been a little bit aggressive the day after such a hard effort - but even more so because of the workout planned for Tuesday...

On paper, for some reason, I don't think this workout looked that hard. The plan was to run ~6 quicker warm-up miles, then 2/1/2/1/2 with the 2 miles at MP minus ~10 seconds, and a 1 mile "recovery" at MP + ~40 seconds. I started off running home from work, grabbing some things, and heading straight to the track. I tried to keep this pace quicker so that I would start the workout really warmed up and a little fatigued. So by the time I started up, I had run 6.5 at a 7:28/mile pace. I felt fatigued, but probably due to the previous two days. It was moderately nice out, thankfully, so I was able to meet up with Alex (running her own workout) for some quick drills then get right into the workout on the outdoor track at Harvard.

Long story short, I averaged 12:40 for the two mile sections, and 7:07 for the one mile "rest". It got progressively harder to maintain, but I was able to finish strong and after the 2+ mile cool down I ended the day at over 20 miles, with the 16+ workout in the evening.

Data:

16-Mar		New Bedford Half Marathon		0:06:12		14.94		Really tough headwind throughout the race, never felt comfortable, but encouraging to gut it out.
17-Mar		Recovery		0:07:18		10.49		10m at 7:09/mile plus 5 or 6 strides down Poplar.
18-Mar		MLR/Hills/Speed				20.67		AM: 4m to work at 7:42/mile PM: 6.5 at 7:28/mile, then a 2/1/2/1/2 workout on the track. Averaged ~12:40 for the 2 mile segments and 7:07 for the "rest." This was a tough workout, but I basically nailed it on tired legs. A good sign.
19-Mar		Recovery		0:07:43		6.06		Dropped the car off with Eli and ran home.
20-Mar		Intervals				13.47		AM: 4m at 7:39/mile PM: 800/1200/1000/600x4 - quick
21-Mar		Miami				0		Travel Day
22-Mar		Miami		0:09:25		5.07		An easy run with some friends. The slow pace meant I could just spend time in the heat and let my body get warm without taxing the legs.

Thursday Splits:

800-2:40.38

1200-4:00.97

1000-3:22.43

600-1:58.67

600-1:53.61

600-1:55.47

600-1:49.10

Total Miles: 70.70