Monday, January 13th:
4:50am, 29 degrees, 86%, calm. Cherry Hill Blvd. Saucony Cortana 3.
9.1 mi (1:11:15): 2mi warmup, 10x.25mi hill (90 85 85 86 85 85 87 85 85 85), 2mi cooldown
It takes a special kind of crazy to get up early hours on a Monday morning to do this workout. I was THIS close to climbing back into bed this morning. Glad I toughed it out - workout went fairly well and I could have pumped out a few more reps comfortably if I so desired. Figured 10 reps was enough the first go-round at hill repeats. :)
Tuesday, January 14th:
7:00pm, 45 degrees, 89%, 0-5mph. Maple Shade Loop (M) - Neighborhood. Nike Pegasus 29 USATF.
7mi (55:35) (7:57/mi)
Fought the urge to stay in tonight and headed out the door a little groggy. Was feeling pretty tired around 4mi and at that point thought about ending the run when I hit 5.5mi on a straight shot back to the house. But when I got back to the neighborhood I felt smoother and stronger, so I added on the end until I hit 7mi. Sounds funny, but I guess tonight was an easy run that I toughed out. Glad I did.
Wednesday, January 15th:
7:00pm, 44 degrees, 82%, 5-10mph. Hialeah-Kilmer Loop. New Balance 1260v2.
7mi (55:45) (7:51/mi)
Much, much smoother and stronger tonight. I feel like my form has entirely come back around. Getting great pushoff on my stride again.
Thursday, January 16th:
6:00pm, 36 degrees, 58%, 0-5mph. 2x CHW Loop +. Adidas Adizero Boston 3.
9mi: 2mi warmup, 4x strides, 4.5mi@6:03/mi, 2mi cooldown
My Garmin was almost dead tonight so I didn't time the warmup and cooldown but I am familiar enough with the route to know the right distance. Took a little bit to get moving during the tempo segment as I went through the first mile in 6:07 and then worked my way down from there. Started to feel the effort of the run about 3.5mi in, but held tough the last mile and could have continued another couple miles at that pace if I had to. I also took my first Gu of the cycle prior to starting the workout to get used to the taste of those things again, and I got a gulp of Gatorade at about 2mi and 3.5mi of the tempo. Solid solo run by myself in the dark. Definitely tougher than in the daylight.
Friday, January 17th:
9:00am, 30 degrees, 75%, 0-5mph. 2x Woodcrest Loop. Nike Pegasus 29 USATF.
6.1mi (48:40) (7:59/mi)
Ran a very easy recovery effort. The effort felt slower than the actual pace, which is always a good sign. It was nice to run in sunshine for a change after early AM/late PM efforts every other day this week.
12:25pm, 41 degrees, 59%, 5-10mph. 2x Neighborhood Loop. Nike Pegasus 29 USATF.
4.1mi (33:23) (8:09/mi)
Another very easy recovery effort. This time the actual pace was more in-sync with the effort pace. :)
Saturday, January 18th:
6:15am, 35 degrees, 85%, 5-10mph. MRC, Maple Ave out-and-back. New Balance 1260v2.
10mi (1:19:28) (7:56/mi)
Really nice group run with Mike, Jim, and Steve. Range of 8:47-7:35/mi, all of them feeling very comfortable.
Sunday, January 19th:
7:00am, 28 degrees, 48%, 5-10mph. Haddonfield. Saucony Cortana 3.
17mi (2:03:24) - 2:00 jog, 4x strides, 12mi@7:26, 4mi@6:22 (6:23 23 22 20), 3:30 jog
This was my first "big boy" workout in a while. I did the warmup and first 4mi by myself, and then had Ashley keep me company for the next 8 mi. Felt very comfortable during the entire 12mi easy segment, and was surprised how easy it was to click off mile after mile in the 7:20s.
The tempo segment was a different story. It took me all of the first mile to get down to the pace I wanted - I was at 6:47/mi pace for the first .25mi, 6:31/mi pace at the .5mi, and 6:28/mi pace at the .75mi. Thankfully the first mile ended at the bottom of Washington Ave, so I made up the deficit on the downhill and went through the first mile in 6:23 having felt like I grinded the whole way. Because I had some decent hills in each mile (Upland - Mile 2, Greenmount - Mile 3, Triple Hill and Ellis Ave - Mile 4), I felt like I was grinding much of the tempo segment - I would work hard to get to the top of each hill, but then recover quickly and feel comfortable on the downhill/flat segments. I am sure if I stuck to a flatter course, the effort would have felt much easier - but I was proud how I fought and maintained pace on a challenging course. It was encouraging to know that despite running harder than marathon effort at times, I still had more and more in me each time I dug deep - and with 12mi already in my legs today and 10 mi yesterday. Very pleased with the results.
Weekly Total: 69.3 miles
Happy with all 3 workouts this week. Feeling marathon strong again. It will be nice to have just one workout and an easy long run next week, as well as a day off. If I can keep to this same routine going (13 days on - 1 day off, with 4 workouts and an easy long run over those 14 days), I will feel really confident going into whatever marathon I pick.
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