I ran my last long tempo run on Sunday. The previous weekend I had run my fastest ever 10 mile tempo run. That run was an unplanned ladder than walked down to a 6:15 pace for the last two miles. The average pace for the run was 6:33 – which, to be honest, surprised me a little bit.
Read more at www.powermultisport.com
As you know, I have been nursing a mild injury the past few weeks. This has forced me to rethink my sub-3 hour marathon goals. I just do not believe that it is possible to put forth that effort considering that I have not been able to run farther than 11.5 miles in the past month.
However, what has happened is that I have reduced my run volume in half and an unexpected thing has happened. I mean, it makes complete since but my body has absorbed all of those long, hard efforts and bounced back with speed. I have been running faster than ever this past month.
The Yasso’s are faster and the tempos are faster. There just have not been any long runs. I ran a 10 miler this past weekend at 8 seconds per mile faster than my half marathon PR time. This run was faster than my 12K PR (7.45 miles). And the last 2 miles were in the 6-teens (6:15, 6:16).
I won’t be getting a marathon PR but I am going to PR at the half marathon in NOLA.
Decisions, I hate decisions.
Completely unrelated, the moon last night
I have not run more than 6 miles continuous in the past couple of weeks. It has been frustrating not being able to venture far from home for fear of having to walk back.
I ran 5 miles on Saturday (of the 14 miles scheduled) and skipped the long run entirely on Sunday. On Monday I ran the indoor track for 6 miles and did a progress ladder – 7:15, 7:15, 7:05, 6:55, 6:05 and a cool down of 7:30. Only a few light irritations towards the end.
Tuesday I did 8 Yasso’s at 2:55ish (sub 6 minute pace for the half mile repeats). There was no pain at all and I while I can’t say they were easy I was able to complete them without difficulty. So, while I may not have the endurance for the marathon I still have the speed.
I have also been on the bike trainer a lot these past couple of weeks. Also, I do not have the bike endurance but my power numbers for short durations are as high as they have ever been.
So, what is my decision regarding the prioritization of the marathon or the half ironman. Well, I don’t think I can run a sub-3 marathon in 3 weeks. It would have been difficult regardless of injury. But I do believe I can still put up either a ‘good’ marathon or possibly a PR half marathon while focusing on the bike. There you have it, I will be continuing to run but I am going to add the bike back into the mix. The sub-3 marathon goal will have to wait for another race.
The other day I noticed that the bar tape on my road bike matches the color of my study (I don’t use a formal dinning room much). I have written about bar tape a couple of times (here and here).
Read more at www.powermultisport.com .
I am a little hurt right now. That pains me to admit it. That ‘Worst Run Ever’; is still haunting me. If you remember, I raced a 5 miler on a Saturday and then did a 22 miler that was supposed to be at 7:30 pace. The prior week I had nailed a 20 miler at 7:2x pace and felt strong at the end. I was firing on all cylinders.
Well, after that ‘Worst Run Ever,’ I felt a lot of pain in my left leg (ITB). I took a complete day off, but just one. I attempted to run an 8 mile tempo the next day. That run was going great until some pain started creeping back into the left leg. I ran 5 miles of the tempo at the correct pace, slowed dramatically and did a run / walk for the last 2.3 miles.
I was hurt.
Read more at www.powermultisport.com
