Thursday, July 29, 2010

Tempo Run - 8 miles (4 at tempo pace)...

I had a chance to join the Runners Choice marathon training clinic group led by the legendary John Ferguson tonight, so Jenny and I hopped in the car and met the group at Gibbon's Park in London.

Coach Brian was there and he wanted me to do the 8 mile (12.8 km) route -- 4 miles at long-run pace (roughly 5:20/k) and 4 miles at faster-than-marathon pace -- roughly 7:30/mile or 4:40/k.

Here is what I knocked off in each kilometre:

Slow out:
km 1: 5:16
km 2: 5:12
km 3: 5:08
km 4: 5:11
km 5: 5:10
km 6: 5:11
km 6.4: 5:47 (pace)

Tempo back:
km 1: 4:37
km 2: 4:40
km 3: 4:32
km 4: 4:43
km 5: 4:37
km 6: 4:48
km 6.4: 4:31

So I was able to keep the pace respectible -- despite the hilly terrain -- on the way back. Now I get a couple of days rest before my long run of (likely) 16 miles this weekend.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Speed Work - Ladder (in the rain)...

I wasn't able to make the Runners Choice marathon training group with the legendary John Ferguson last night so I had to do my speed work today. Coach Brian wanted me to do a 'ladder' -- short distance repeats of 400, 600, 800, 1000, 800, 600, 400 metres separated by a 200 metre jog. Since I had just done a 19 mile long run and since today was quite warm and muggy, Brian suggested a pace of between 4:15 and 4:20 per kilometre -- 6:50 and 6:59 per mile.

Of course, I only heard the lower number so as went out, I was looking to do no slower than 4:15 per k. And after the first 800 m run, I decided I'd be okay to step it up to 4:10/k pace for the 1000 meter lap and subsequent laps. My paces were as follows:

400m: 4:15/k
600m: 4:15/k
800m: 4:14/k
1000m: 4:07/k
800m: 4:07/k
600m: 4:07/k
400m: 3:40/k

I stepped it up for that last 400 m. lap doing a 3:40/k pace (5:55/mile). And the last two laps were in the pouring rain. I think I mentioned it was muggy!

All in all, it was a good workout. Lots of protein afterwards!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Sunday Long Run - 19.6 Miles, Lambeth to Port Stanley

Our polo tournament was cancelled today because of all the rain we received yesterday, so I did the Runners Choice marathon training group run from Copps Buildall in Lambeth, down to Port Stanley. Coach Brian and co-trainee Jed ran with me, as did fellow runner Brian Murphy. Our gaggle of runners knocked off surprisingly consistent long-run times of between 8:27/mile to 8:47/mile, with an overall average of 8:32 per mile.

We had been targeting 8:30's to 8:40's. Jed and I ramped it up over the last 1.5 miles to 8:00 and 7:27, so we came over the finish line strong -- although I thought I might woof my cookies. Jed ran a really strong run, particularly at the end.

At the finish, a wander into lake quickly cooled me off, and the food and drink at GT's was exactly what I needed -- although my appetite wasn't huge. I was more dehydrated than anything.

Anyhow, it was a good run, especially considering the plan called for a 16 miler today.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Tough 7 mile tempo run.

It was hot and very muggy -- about 28 degrees, I suspect, when I started the run, although I waited late enough into the day that the sun was behind the clouds. Humidex would have had it well into the mid-30's, I'm sure.

My plan was to do 3 miles at long run pace, then 3.5 miles at a tempo run pace of between 4:37 and 4:40 per kilometer, and the .5 miles of cool down. The first 3 miles were fine, naturally, and so were the first couple of miles at the tempo pace. But then I started to feel the heat and it got tougher and tougher for me to keep the pace. I finally gave in at about 2.7 miles into the tempo run and had a walk break. After a couple of minutes, I was able to get right back on pace and finish the 3.5 miles at tempo pace -- but it was tough. And the last kilometre of cool down was sloooooowwww.

My warm-up laps were at the following pace: 5:21, 5:06, 5:16, 5:17 and 5:18 per kilometre (targeting 5:20). My tempo laps were at the following pace: 4:40, 4:41, 4:37, 4:41 and 4:39 per kilometre (targeting 4:37 to 4:40), and my cool-down lap was in excess of 6 minutes/kilometer.
A tough run, but I made it through relatively unscathed!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Speed work - 5 x 1k at 4:10-4:15

Brian beat me up today on the speed work course. It was warm (roughly 26 degrees C.) and there was a headwind in one direction -- so I'll use those as my excuses.

We did a mile of warm-up, and then 5 repeats of 1000 metres with 2 minutes rest in between. My first 2 repeats were at 4:07 -- and we were targeting 4:10 to 4:15/k. But I told Brian there was no way I was going to get 3 more repeats at that pace. So we targeted a bit slower -- 4:20/k -- and the next 3 repeats were at 4:21, 4:16 and 4:15. So my average for all of them was 4:13.2/k -- right between the original target.

I had some water and a protein drink afterward. My weight is now down to 180-182 lbs. which is right where I was for my last couple of fast marathons. If I lose a bit more weight, it wouldn't hurt my marathon speed. Not that I'm actively trying to lose weight -- but if it happens as part of the training, that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Starting to train for Road2Hope Marathon, November 7 2010, Hamilton Ontario Canada

Did 14k yesterday, typically at around 5:20/k (8:32/mile) -- but I ramped it up to 4:42/k (7:31/mile) for a mile near the finish. It was relatively hot (26 degrees C.) and definitely humid -- plus there was a half-decent breeze on the way home, coming from the southwest. A tough run -- I was drenched in sweat and feeling overheated at the end of it -- but nowhere near what I'll have to get to over the course of the next 16 weeks.