Monday, June 16, 2014

Summer 2014 Base Training, Week 7

Monday, June 16th: 

5:10am, 59 degrees, 86%, calm.  Maple Ave out-and-back.  Mizuno Wave Rider 17.

6mi very easy

Legs were pretty heavy after the weekend.  Kept a comfortable, enjoyable pace.  Temps a little cooler, but I still felt the humidity.  Still, a pretty nice Monday morning.

Tuesday, June 17th:

6:05pm, 90 degrees, 45%, 5-10mph.  CHW Track.   Nike Pegasus 29 USATF, Adidas Adios Boost.

8mi, including 16x "form" 200s w/200m slow jogs

Somebody really turned up the furnace today!  No matter, as today's workout was neuromuscular in nature and I really took the warmup/cooldown/recoveries very easy.  As usual, I also ran the workout according to feel, running the first 100m at roughly 5k effort, the middle 50m at roughly 400m effort, and decelerated the last 50m to a coast.  Broke up the workout in my mind as 4 sets of 4x200m with a quick swish of gatorade after every fourth 200m both to stay hydrated and to help keep count.  Fun workout to do on a hot day - I really started opening up on the fast 50m segments over the last 4 reps.

Wednesday, June 18th:

5:30am, 78 degrees, 60%, 5-10mph.  2x Neighborhood Loop.  New Balance 1260v2.

4mi easy

The heat felt very oppressive this morning.  Tough to breathe.  Didn't try to push the pace it all, just took it for what it was.

Thursday, June 19th:

Rest.  I decided not to double back last night and take at least today off.  My left ankle and calf still have some residual tightness from the callus effect from last week.  I will be heading to the beach for the next few days, so I won't be posting again until at least Saturday night.  We'll see between now and then if I am up for getting some running in.  Until then...


Friday, June 20th:

5:10am, 66 degrees, 100%, 10 mph.  Wildwood.  Nike Pegasus 29 USATF.

8mi easy progression (1:04:02): 8:37 15 13 11 07 7:53 33 14

Well, my ankle felt good enough to run this morning, and I felt patient enough to type this on my Nook, haha.  After seeing a video that Larry posted recently about proper POSE running, I figured I would tweak my form a little this morning and practice "falling forward."  Quite surprisingly, my ankle felt immediate relief and my form as a whole felt much, much smoother - even though my quads initially felt like they were working harder and my left forefoot took some getting used to a new push off.  Still, by the last couple miles I was easily starting to roll and I finished feeling strong.  Let's hope this little tweak is a long-term fix for my occasionally nagging ankle/calf/soleus issues.

11:45am, 80 degrees, 49%, 10-15mph.  Nike Pegasus 29 USATF.

4mi easy (30:22) (7:36/mi).  Strides.

Really felt great this afternoon.  I feel this new stride is much longer, more open, and more powerful than before.  Progressed from 8:11 7:30 28 13 quite easily.  Cruised miles 2 and 3 - mile 4 included 4x :20 fast strides.


Saturday, June 21st:

6:00am, 68 degrees, 88%, 0-5mph.  Wildwood.  Nike Pegasus 29 USATF (old ones)

12mi total (1:25:41), as cutdown :10/mi from easy pace to goal marathon pace (8:05 7:51 43 34 24 14 05 6:55 43 33 25 12)

The first day of summer saw my strongest cutdown tempo in quite awhile.  I caught myself several times having to hold back, as my body was naturally itching to go faster than the prescribed pace per mile.  I noticed that I had to start working the last 4 miles, but by the last mile I was just cruising - I caught myself running at 5:55/mi pace through .2mi and 6:03/mi through .6mi before really easing off the throttle.  Still, I have quite a ways to go before I can start contemplating 6:15-6:25/mi pace for 26.2mi.  But today, I'll take it. :)

Sunday, June 22nd:

6:30am, 64 degrees, 87%, 0-5mph.  Moorestown.  Mizuno Wave Rider 17.

8.5mi total: 2:00 light jog, strides, 8mi easy (1:04:09) (8:01/mi)

Ran easy with Steve this morning.  My quads were pretty tight after yesterday's cutdown, so I did the light jog and strides before we started to help prime my muscles.  Felt great once I got moving.  The pace was an enjoyable pace to end the week.

Weekly Total: 50.5 miles

After a not so promising start to the week, I really ended things well Friday-Sunday, mostly due to just a minor tweak in form.  The "form" 200s on Tuesday and the cutdown on Saturday both went perfectly.  I know I have a ways to go to get to marathon fitness, but I have no doubt I will be ready to roll on week one of the actual marathon cycle next month.

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