Ladder - 400 m to 1.6 km and back...

Tonight we did a "ladder" for our speedwork. I was targeting a pace of 1:45 per 400 m. Here are the times I was able to achieve:

400m: 1:32
800m: 3:19
1200m: 5:04
1600m: 6:45
1200m: 5:10
800m: 3:27
400m: 1:36

Breaks between each of 200m, which varied between 1.5 and 2.5 minutes.

So I beat the target time each loop, but it got harder as the times went on.

Speed Work - Parloff Relay

Jenny and I did a Parloff Relay today at Runner's Choice speed work, held at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London today. We did 400 m. loops of the track and passed off the baton to each other. Here were our times:

1:33 (Bruce)
1:42 (Jenny)
1:34 (Bruce)
1:41 (Jenny)
1:33 (Bruce)
1:38 (Jenny)
1:36 (Bruce)
1:39 (Jenny)
1:31 (Bruce)
1:43 (Jenny)
1:29 (Bruce)
1:42 (Jenny)
1:29 (Bruce)
1:41 (Jenny)
1:20 (Bruce)
1:37 (Jenny)

My left hip was really sore afterwards -- started getting sore when I was into my second lap. But 5 ibuprophen later and I felt okay and was able to sleep. The next day, Brian and I went for an 8k run and the hip was fine.

Easy run - 3.5 miles...

Speed work was hard last night and it was hot today. We ran from Brian's place, around to the Van Arenthals trail, through Huggy's Trail, down to the Clandeboye Curve and back to Brian's Fridge. Total distance 3.5 miles in 29:30. Beer tasted great!

Easy Run - 8K

Just did 8k with Brian. The mile splits were:
8:20
7:55
7:38
7:58
7:37
6:37 (.18 of a mile).
Not bad! It was hot, and the beer tasted good!

Easy Run - 8K

Brian and I went out for an easy 8k run. For mid-June, the temperature was on the cool side of normal (about 22 degrees C.) with a breeze from the south. Having done speed work last night, I didn't really want to push it and it was, after all, supposed to be an "easy" run. We ended up doing just over marathon pace (4:52/k.) for most of the run, with an average of 5:01/k for the entire run including the warm-up mile. A few replenishment carbonated barley-based beverages afterwards plus a swim in Brian's pool, and I felt pretty good about the run.

First Speed Work Session of 2011

Where have I been? Healing! Mentally, physically -- but it doesn't mean I've been a couch potato. Jenny has had me out to Val's One-To-One fitness north of Lucan about once a week, and Coach Brian keeps dragging me out to "easy runs" (for him) most Wednesdays -- anywhere from 4 to 10 miles at around an 8 min./mile pace.

So my goal this year was to _not_ do a marathon -- at least not a tough one. But at Speed Work tonight, I did say the words "marathon" to the Legendary John Ferguson -- that I would be okay to pace someone(s) to a 4 hour marathon, if anyone was looking for a pace bunny. So, there it is -- I _may_ be training for a marathon -- or maybe not.

Today, it was speed work. Johnny said we could do 3, 4, 5 or 6 repeats of 600 m. So Jenny and I chose 6. Here are my splits:

2:18
2:20
2:21
2:26
2:23
2:20

So, not bad. An average of 2:21 per 600 m. = 3:55 per kilometre. I wasn't sure if these were good times or not, but in looking at Johnny's pacing charts, these splits would have me somewhere between a 3:15 and 3:30 marathon (closer to 3:15, actually). So I was pretty happy when I saw those numbers!

5th Annual Canada Day Half Marathon (ACDLTEOETLISHM)

Did the 21.1 k in 1:44:23 today -- but that included about a minuted and a half on Arnie's truck's tailgate sipping beer from dixie cups. Felt much better, and I didn't puke after crossing the finish like I did the year before!