Long run - 36.12K / 22.43 miles...

This is the longest run thus far in this Winter's training session. I did my normal 4 mile "Boston Breakfast Club" run before meeting the rest of the group at Goodlife. Blair, Gord and I ran together. Then we went out for an 18 mile run. Here is the route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5450174

The roads were better than previous long runs, but still mostly snow-covered, which made for tough running. Still, when possible and safe, we'd get onto some of the bare roads.

Despite the less-than-optimal road conditions, I managed an average pace of 5:31 per kilometre which I'm quite happy with. And at the end of the run, I still had energy to pick up the pace a bit.

Speed work at Thompson Arena: 600 m. (100 rest) 400 m. (400 rest)

Tonight we did sets of "broken" kilometre repeats: 600 m. sprint with a short 100 m. rest, 400 m. sprint with a 400 m. rest. Erin Visser, Lisa ___ and I ran together and had a great workout. Here are our splits:

600 m.: 2:29.3 (49.77 per lap)
400 m.: 1:37.8 (48.88)
600 m.: 2:29.4 (49.78)
400 m.: 1:35.7 (47.84)
600 m.: 2:28.3 (49.43)
400 m.: 1:38.6 (49.3)
600 m.: 2:28.6 (49.55)
400 m.: 1:36.5 (48.26)
600 m.: 2:29.2 (49.75)
400 m.: 1:33.5 (46.77)

My average per lap was 49.0796 seconds, which is almost a full second faster than 2013 and certainly the fastest I've done it at the track. It was a good workout!

Long Run - 32.75 km (20.34 miles)

I did the Boston Breakfast Club 4 mile pre-run, and then the 16 mile run out to Clarke Road and Sunningdale and back. Footing was good. Cold and breezy though. Ran with Melinda, Meagan and Heather most of the way.

average pace was 5:26 per km.

5 mile easy run

I just ran north and south on Neil Rd since it was relatively dry and not super cold (-3). But it was more work than I thought it would be, likely due to the prior two days' runs.

Average pace: 5:34

Very good 7.1 mile "Pace Run"

Today I was to do between 6 and 8 miles -- 1 warmup mile and the rest at marathon pace. The route I picked was 7.1 miles (11.4 km).

I sort of screwed up my GPS, so I didn't know exactly where my first mile was done, but I guessed and then did 10 kilometres (6.125 miles) at pace. Here are my kilometre splits:

4:58
4:59
5:00
4:54
4:59
4:59
4:57
4:57
4:54
4:57

Average of 4:57.4

I'm supposed to do 4:55.7 per km to reach my goal of 3:28 -- so these times are definitely in range. Just have to do it for 4.2 times as long! :-)

10 Mile Tempo Run in the Snow...

The "in the Snow" part of the title tells you how well it went. Hard to get traction. Lots of it on snow and slush covered sidewalks. -12 degrees when we started. -17 when I got out to my truck after rehydrating.

I dressed warmly, though. Longjohns underneath my tights, 2 running shirts plus a cotton shirt underneath my black Boston jacket. Snowmobile mitts over my string gloves. Headlight cap covered with balaclava. I wasn't too warm and I wasn't too cold -- but I wasn't able to run very fast.

Here are my splits:
5:28
5:32
5:31
5:13
5:28
5:35
5:40
5:50
(Start "tempo")
5:21
5:20
5:25
5:19
5:27
5:22
5:20
4:56 (510 m.)

So the "tempo" wasn't a helluva lot faster than the "easy" part of the run. I was working to keep my cadence fast, which is something that Brian Hagemeier brought up at the running form clinic on Tuesday night. 180 steps per minute is the "ideal", apparently. I didn't have my metronome with me, but I just tried to keep the cadence quick.

Once we hit a bit of good traction at the end, I was able to pick up the pace. I was happy with how I finished the run.

Easy Run - 5 miles...

Did it on the treadmill. 42.5 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Speed Work - Ladder from 400 m. to 1000 m. and back to 400 m.

200 m. (2 minute) break in between repeats. Here are my splits:

400 m.: 1:36.45 (48.22 sec/lap)
600 m.: 2:30.13 (50.04 sec/lap)
800 m.: 3:19.01 (49.67 sec/lap)
1000 m.: 4:10.99 (50.2 sec/lap)
800 m.: 3:25.00 (51.25 sec/lap)
600 m.: 2:37.87 (52.62 sec/lap)
400 m.: 1:36.96 (48:48 sec/lap)

I ran most of it with Erin Visser before I told her to go ahead on the second 800 and 600 m. repeats -- I couldn't keep up. And I wanted to stop so many times on those two repeats. I'd put it all out there on the 1000 m. repeat and just didn't have anything left in the tank. But by the time I got to the second 400 m. repeat, my legs had recovered a bit and I could get a respectable time.

My average pace was 50.27 per 200 m. lap. Considering I was looking for 50 second laps, I'll take it!

As a comparison, in 2014, I fell apart in the 1000 m. repeat -- and the rest were about 51 seconds. In 2013, my average pace was 50.41. In 2012 (12 weeks after my hamstring injury) I was a hair under 53 second laps. In June 24 2014 on the outdoor track, I was at 49.39 seconds, and I did 49.28 in July 2010 on the outdoor track.

33.19 km (20.6 mile) Long run in wind and snow...

There is only one way to describe this run: Tough. I took it easy the whole way, although "easy" got tougher and tougher as we ran. I did the first 4 miles with the Boston Breakfast Club, leaving Goodlife Fitness at 7:20ish. Then I did another 16.6 miles through the park, up to Boler and Southdale, over the swaybacks to Wickerson and then back to Goodlife again. So a few hills. It was snowing lightly the whole time, and the temperature actually got cooler over the course of the run. But I got through it and actually felt reasonably good at the end -- especially when we hit some pavement with something resembling traction at the end!

It took me 3:11:39 to complete the 33.19 km run (5:46 per km). So, way slower that it would be in dry weather, but not bad considering the conditions.