Break Time then Speed Time

Taking it Easy

After Disney I was ready for a break and had an accomplishment to be proud of.  I know some places will tell you that a "mental break" from running is good, but it certainly isn't good for your fitness.  Rather than following a day-by-day plan (like I usually do), I just took winter to run casually, when I felt like it, and get my long runs and track work in when I was up to it.  While it was fun sleeping in I would find out that you do  certainly lose an edge that way too.

I had a few low key races in there somewhere during winter, the 4 Courts 4 Miler in early March, maybe a 5k, but nothing major.  I was signed up for the National Half-Marathon in March as a "maintenance race" so at least I had that to look forward to.

Race: National Half-Marathon
Date: March 26, 2011
Time: 1:29:44

Recap:  This was tough!  I felt a little out of shape, mostly just dead legged, and at times cold.  Other than being a bit blustery out it should have been a nice day to race so I can really only attribute it to poor race day and race week prep and a lax training period prior to race day.  I did get to stick around and see the winner, Michael Wardian ("Iron" Mike Wardian of Arlington, VA), come through on yet another victory at the Full Marathon.

Struggling to get to the finish.

Michael Wardian of Arlington, VA cruises to another victory in 2:23:01.

Race: Patriots' Cup 8k
Date: May 1, 2011
Time: 29:28

Recap:  All-right, I think after National Marathon I got my behind in gear and started getting my speed work in.  This was a smaller 8k run on a college campus (actually George Mason where I attended school a few years back).  I came in 5th overall which felt pretty exciting at the time.

Race: Delaware Half-Marathon
Date: May 15, 2011
Time: 1:29:43

Recap: This was kind of a "fun" race, as I went up with a group of friends I had started running with years back for a bit of a weekend getaway (yes - in exciting Delaware).  Cool course through the town and through a lot of urban park areas.  Ended up being pretty humid out that day which isn't good for business, coupled with a lack of endurance work resulted in a ho-hum time.  Still fun, but nothing to write home about.

Race: Army 10 Miler
Date: October 9, 2011
Time: 1:00:50

Recap:  Since spring I had decided to make a concentrated effort to work on speed, even if it meant giving up some of the longer distance stuff.  This mostly consisted of interval track workouts, tempo runs at near race pace, and longer timed intervals that I like to refer to as "Daniels Runs" (after the Jack Daniels training formula book and general philosophy).  Some sample workouts from a typical week might include:

• Monday: Easy run 5-7 miles
• Tuesday: Tempo Run 6-8 miles, starting easy, building to near 10k race pace for the middle couple miles, and then backing down for the last couple.
• Wednesday: Track Workout: 1 mile warmup, 3 x 800 meters at 5k race pace with a 400 meter active recovery, 2 x 1600 (miles) at 10k race pace with 400 meter active recoveries, and 3 more 800s at 5k race pace.  Minimum cool down of 1 mile easy pace.  Total mileage usually about 7 miles
• Thursday: Easy run 5 - 7 miles
• Friday: Rest (I always rest friday)
• Saturday:  "Long" run, 9-15 miles
• Sunday:  If tired easy run of 8-9 miles, if feeling fresh then a "Daniels Run", something like 1 mile warmup, then alternate 7 minutes ON at around 10 mile race pace with 3 minutes OFF at just below Marathon Pace.  Final mile is very easy to cool down.  Repeat these for 11 miles or 80 minutes (whichever happens first).

As an aside, I think of "race pace" as really "race effort", if you are hitting the hills, in heat and humidity, or a combination of these (as we experience in Arlington often in summer), your pace is going to be slower than you would hope to race, so I think mentally of the effort level I use in a 5k, 10k, 10 miler, etc.

This isn't really enough weekly mileage to boost up your marathon times and long term endurance, but its a good way to get fast for the middle distance stuff with less risk of injury than running 60+ mile weeks.

Anyway, it ended up working pretty well!  I was tempted to go for a sub 1 hour 10 miler, but shortly after that start I realized I wasn't there yet (a sub 1 hour 10 miler is quite the feet!).  I settled in to a pace of about 6:10 miles and was able to run the last one hard enough to come in under the 61 minute mark!  I was stoked!  Cool, dry weather helped too!

In the final stretch!  I could taste that PR by now!

At this point I had decided not to do a fall marathon but to instead sign up for the Miami Marathon in January.  The idea being that with this great speed base I could extend my training into winter and knock out a killer marathon PR.