Philadelphia Distance Run Training, Week 10

Monday, August 26th:

6:00am, 66 degrees, 80%, 5mph.  Moorestown.  Adidas Supernova Glide 5.

7mi easy - (8:13): 2:00 jog, 3x strides, 6mi easy, 5x strides

Nice casual run with Colleen and Jamie.  Started very slow and progressed to 7:50s the last two miles.  Strides after felt very smooth.

Tuesday, August 27th:

5:45am, 72 degrees, 84%, 5-10mph.  Moorestown.  Nike Pegasus 29 USATF.

12.5mi total - (7:10): 3mi@8:15/mi, 6mi@6:40/mi, 3.5mi@7:00/mi

Felt much, much better than last Wednesday's attempted tempo run despite the high humidity.  I also backed off the pace a little since I was pacing Steve and Mike for their workout this morning.  Having the company really helped the time fly by, and I comfortably maintained a moderate pace afterward by myself.  Solid running.

Wednesday, August 28th:

Rest.  Hadn't initially planned on taking today off, but it's good timing with a big workout coming Friday and (hopefully) a 5K race on Monday.

Thursday, August 29th:

4:55am, 71 degrees, 93%, calm.  Maple Shade Loop (M).  Adidas Supernova Glide 5.

6mi easy - (8:01): 1mi@8:29, 4mi@7:30-8:00, 1mi@8:19

Humid, foggy morning.  Got into a great groove after 1.5mi.  Cruise control the rest of the run.

Friday, August 30th:

5:35am, 70 degrees, 85%, 0-5mph.  Kelly Drive-MLK Loop.  Adidas Supernova Glide 5, Adidas Adizero Tempo 4.

12mi total - 2mi warmup (8:15), 4x strides, 3x2mi ~HMP (12:05 11:54 11:42) w/.5mi recovery jogs (3:55 53 59), 2mi cooldown (8:19)

Another day, another monster solo workout in the books.  Played with running several distance paces for the 2mi HMP segments to see which one felt the most comfortable.  First one felt very easy, second one required more effort but was still comfortable, third one I was definitely working hard (but it was very good mental practice for finishing fast at the end of the Distance Run course).  I think for next week's 2x3mi workout, I will try to run a steady 5:57-:58 pace and see how that feels.  I think that's the sweet spot for max potential.  All in all, more solid running.  Very happy.

Saturday, August 31st:

6:00am, 72 degrees, 92%, 0-5mph.  Moorestown.  Nike Pegasus 29 USATF.

8.5mi recovery - (8:33): including light jog and 3x strides beforehand

Very easy casual run with Larry's group for the first 4mi, and with Jamie and Anita for the second 4mi.  Definitely needed this pace after yesterday's hard workout.  Felt great to just fall into the crowd and not think about the pace.

Sunday, September 1st:

7:30am, 74 degrees, 92%, calm.  Hialeah-Chapel-Neighborhood.  Adidas Supernova Glide 5.

5mi easy - (8:07): including 4x strides afterward ~mile race pace.

Very warm, humid morning.  Sun felt like it was just beating down on me today.  Conditions aren't looking great for tomorrow morning's 5K either - I will probably just run it hard based on feel and not check my splits.  I can't see myself running a fast time in soupy conditions - instead, I will just treat it as an underdistance effort to make HM pace feel easier in two weeks.

Weekly Total: 51 miles

Really ran well on Tuesday and Friday's sessions.  Hard to believe there is just one more week before the taper.  Now it just practicing all the small mental tricks and making sure I stay healthy.