Week 2 of marathon training went well. I got my 4 runs in, 29 miles, the highest week since March. Feels good to be a little sore and tired, but I feel pretty good considering the workload.
Tuesday - Running group night. 7 miles in the dark. Ran with one friend and chatted more than usual. Not too fast, recovering from last Sunday's 15.
Thursday - Speedwork, as noted in my last post. 3 x 1 at avg 6:54 pace
Saturday - Easy run with the dog day. We're having a heat wave so doggy got a little hot and tired, so I cut it back from 5 to 4 miles.
Sunday - Long, but not too long. 11 miles with a plan to get down under MGP (8:10) and stay there most of the run. Got out early for me (8:00) because it was already pushing into the 70's and warming up. Stayed relaxed and let my pace do its usual thing and gradually get faster over the first 3 miles. Found I was feeling pretty good at 8 minute pace so when I got to the big hill in mile 6 I pushed it all the way up just so I could avoid a slow split. It was like a hill interval dropped into the run. Had to recover a little in mile 7, and after that I was pretty tired, yet bangle rule #2 kicked in: "Once you start running fast, it is very hard to slow down." So while I felt like I was just doing the survival shuffle, my pace stayed under 8:00. I kept it up all the way home, and rewarded myself by walking up the last hill in the last block, off the clock, to maintain these (almost) perfect splits.
8:45, 8:29, 8:24, 8:15, 7:59, 7:56 (uphill), 8:07 (recovering), 7:44, 7:56, 7:49, 7:52
Total avg 8:07. Pretty encouraging on a hot day.
This week's plan: 33 miles finishing with a 16+ mile run.
Nice. I don't think that I will be QUITE that enthusiastic about the distance once I start in on my Marathon training, at least on the first one.
ReplyDeleteI like the bangle rule! I thought that was MY rule. ha!
ReplyDeleteFabulous splits as always - good luck on the 16miler+ =)
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