800 m. repeats -- didn't go well!

Tonight we were to do 800 metre repeats at Thompson Arena. I was going to try for the maximum suggested -- 6 repeats -- at a 4:10 pace or better (3:20 per 800 m.). It started well. It didn't end well.

3:18 (800 m.)
3:24 (800 m.)
3:25 (800 m.)
1:44 (could only do 400m. at that pace)
1:51 (another 400 m.)
3:33 (back to 800 m.)

I ran with Ted who knocked them all off.

Looking at previous sessions, this one wasn't good:

http://blog.brucelamb.com/2013/06/speed-work-6-x-800-m-repeats.html
3:09
3:18
3:18
3:19
3:17
3:19
(This was best yet.)

http://blog.brucelamb.com/2012/01/blog-post.html
3:32
3:40
3:40
3:45
3:46
(recovering from hamstring injury)

But, it is what it is. I didn't have anything left to do more or faster than what I was doing.

Long Run - 21.53 kilometres, up North Street hill...

Not great weather -- but it could have been worse. -15 C plus the wind chill when I left the truck to go to GoodLife Fitness downtown London to meet the Runners Choice crew for the start of our long run today.

It was a challenging run. Up Springbank drive to North Street. Continue to Southdale, over to Boler and than back downtown through Springbank Park:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5259630

My time was 2:03:43 for an average pace of 5:45 per km (roughly 9:15 per mile). So certainly not setting any land speed records. But with the snow on the paths and having to dodge oncoming cars, I'll take it!

Tempo Run - 61 minutes / 5.01 miles on Treadmill

Around -20 C. today, so there was no friggin' way I was going to run outside. So I hit the "dreadmill".

I set the "incline" to 4, which makes it a bit tougher to run. I set the pace to 5 mph. From 2 minutes into the run, it felt tough. And it continued to feel tough. At 58 minutes, I put the pace up to 5.5 mph and it felt tougher, but I kept pushing.

I watched the 2010 World Equestrian Games Eventing (XC and Stadium) and it went well having something to watch.

So, I got it in. Not pretty, but did it.

20 km run around London

We did an interesting run today -- up to Western, over to Wonderland Road, down to Commissioners Road and back into the city centre on Ridout street.

Jed and I ran together and he was really good about just taking it easy with me up the hills (where, otherwise, he would have left me in the dust).

The average pace was 5:26 per kilometre or 8:42 per mile. It was a tough run -- lots of long uphill segments.

Tempo run on Treadmill - 1 hour

Cold out. Ran on treadmill. 1 hour. Hated it. Got 5 miles in.

First Speed Work of the 2014 Season - 7 x 400 + 2 x 200 m.

I didn't get a chance to check my blog to see what times I had done previously, so I just picked 1:40 for 400 m. and aimed for 45 seconds for the two 200 m. laps. Coach John wanted us to do a 200 m. recovery lap and I aimed for roughly 2 minutes -- although most of the time it was around 1:45. Here are my splits:

1:33
1:39
1:39
1:39
1:38
1:38
1:34
0:45 (200 m.)
0:44 (200 m.)

Comparing these times to a year ago (http://blog.brucelamb.com/2013/01/speed-work-7-x-400-2-x-200-m.html), they are a tiny bit slower -- but certainly comparable. Compared to 2012 (when I was recovering from my first hamstring injury), my times are much better (http://blog.brucelamb.com/2012/01/hamstring-treatment-day-61-first-speed.html). There aren't any other times comparable that I could find in my blog going back through the years.

Anyhow, I'm happy with tonight's results. I pushed hard, but not absurdly so. And an hour after the workout, my hamstring feels fine.

Tempo Run - 7 miles

I went out this afternoon from the office instead of running with the Runner's Choice Marathon Training Clinic in London. It was just 7 miles and it wasn't a terrible day weather-wise -- a temperature of -9 degrees C. and just a light wind from the southeast. I wore my black turtleneck-ish running shirt, my Boston tights, wool socks, my black Boston jacket, my orange touque, ear muffs and my Boston string gloves. I was warm enough.

I did this out-and-back route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6175116

Here are my kilometre splits:

5:38
5:38
5:46
5:37
5:33
5:36 (pace for 600 m.)
5:16
5:20
5:19
5:24
5:20
5:19 (pace for 600 m.)

So roughly 15 seconds per kilometre coming back than going out -- but still slow by normal standards. I'll chalk it up to the slippery footing and the extra layers of clothing.

18.4 km run to the pump house and back

We couldn't go on the trails for the first area, so we had to go on the streets.

Average pace was 5:34 per kilometre -- 8:55 per mile.

Slow slugging through the snowy terrain.