Saturday, October 26, 2013

Last Long Run (12 miles) before Road2Hope...

I really, really, didn't want to go out to run today. But once the rain stopped, I figured out a route where the 33 km/h winds would be mostly at my back on the way home and headed out. Looking for 12 miles (19.2 km) at a 8:30/mile (5:20/km) pace. Here are my splits:

5:06
5:12
5:04
5:08
5:09
5:04
5:04
5:02
5:01
5:13
5:04
5:07
5:08
5:06
5:07
5:04
5:04
5:05
4:54
4:47 (pace for 220 m.)

Average pace was 5:05 per km. 1:37:45 for 19.2 km. The temperature was good -- 4 degrees-ish. I wore my orange 2007 Boston Marathon shell, which worked well for the run, but which I didn't really need once I was 6 miles into it.

Anyhow, with the muggy weather, it maybe still wasn't ideal for running. But the cool temperatures were definitely welcome. The long range forecast for Hamilton is a high of 8 degrees, 28% chance of precipitation, and a mixture of sun and cloud. Sounds pretty good -- so I may not have any excuses!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Last (7 mile) Tempo Run before Road2Hope Marathon...

Well, the taper continues. Today, I went out to do a 7 mile (11.3 km) tempo run. Rather than go into Gibbons Park yesterday (Thursday) and run in the rain and HAIL, I (wisely, as it turned out) waited until today. Still, it was tough getting out the door because it was cold and gloomy out.

But, once I was running, I felt pretty good. I had on my bright orange Corning Wineglass Marathon shirt and my black-with-blue shorts, my ear warmers and my Boston Marathon string gloves. It was 7 degrees C. (45 F.) so it was chilly, but certainly not unbearably so.

My goal was to go out at 5:13/km (8:24/mile) and back at 4:40 per km (7:30/mile). Here are my splits:
5:07
5:03
5:08
5:04
5:07
5:14 (pace 650 m.)
4:48
4:41
4:40
4:32
4:36
4:34 (pace for 650 m.)

My average pace on the way back was 4:39 per km (7:31 per mile). I was working hard to get below 4:40 as I seemed to want to settle into a 4:45 pace.

Now, this was up Saintsbury from my office and then turn around and come back. So it wasn't a hilly route, other than the first big hill in the valley after the turn-around.

Average pace was 4:53/km -- my target marathon pace.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Speed Work. 6 x 1 Mile repeats

I did my repeats at Gibbons Park today -- just 13 days until the Road2Hope marathon in Hamilton. Here are my splits:

7:11
7:07
7:06
7:07
7:04
7:05

I was happy with tonight's runs. The weather was cool - around 6 degrees C. I was tired by the end and could probably have done another repeat if I really wanted to -- but I didn't. I was targeting 7:10 per mile at the start so my average of 7:07 per mile is fine. And I was particularly happy that my last two repeats were my fastest.

With my gimpy right leg, I'm not as fast as I was back in the summer -- but I'm definitely improved over September.

May thanks to John Deputter and Marc Labreche for being pace bunnies tonight!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

7 mile tempo run

11 days since the Corning Marathon and Coach John and Coach Brian suggested a 7 mile tempo run. The ideal would be heading out at 8:30's per mile and heading back at 7:30's per mile. Here are my splits:

8:38
8:06
8:01
7:59 (pace, 0.53 miles)
7:24
7:32
7:43
7:34 (pace, 0.58 miles)

Average overall was 7:53 per mile. Average for the 3.58 miles back was 7:34 -- so a bit slower than the 7:30 I was targeting, but not awful.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Speed Work - 5 x 1 mile repeats at Gibbons Park...

My hamstring is feeling a lot better than a couple of weeks ago, but I'm still not as strong in my right leg as I am in my left. Still just 9 days since the Corning Wineglass Marathon so John Ferguson said to just do 5 miles of repeats, and Brian said 6 -- but then went back to "See how you feel about doing 6 after you've done 5". I am playing hockey tonight, so I just kept it to 5 repeats. I ran a bunch of them with John DePutter, who is running well. Here are my splits:

7:13
7:16
7:10
7:05
7:16

For that last one, we were trying to slow it down a bit to 7:20 -- but couldn't do it. :-)

Average time was 7:12 and I was aiming for 7:15 per mile, so I'm happy with how it went.