Run: 5.5 miles in :57.38 min. @ 5:45 a.m.

Track Workout: 10 min. warm-up & cool-down (1.5 miles ez each way to track), 2 x (2 x 1200m) w/a 2 min. RI between sets
Weather: Cloudy, 66°F, 87% Humidity, Wind: From WSW @ 3 mph; feels like 66°F.
Total Duration: ≈0:57.38 minutes
Total Mileage: ≈ 5.5 miles
Pace: 10:21 min/mile
Course: Down Culver to East High School Track.

Four(!) years ago I used the Furman Institute plan to train for my first marathon. Now that I am embarking on a comeback "tour" of sorts, having just committed to completing my first race, a half marathon, since last July, I figured I would move forward by taking a step back first.

With eight training weeks left until the scheduled half-marathon, I will be starting the half-marathon training plan roughly half way through its entire length. The plan is based upon the idea that one can run less and still run faster if the runs are targeted in one of three areas: Speed Work, Tempo runs and a single long moderately paced run. The paces for each is determined through a series of formulas based upon a recently completed 5k.

Up first, a return to the track for some speedwork...

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

The Training Two Weeks That Were... 9/28-10/4 10/11

Here is what has gone down over the past two weeks:

Sunday, 10/4: 4.9 miles @ 7:58 min/mile pace
Monday, 10/5 thru Saturday, 10/10: Nuttin'
Sunday, 10/11: 4.8 miles @ 8:05 min/mile pace

TOTAL MILEAGE (for the month): 9.7 miles
Weigh-In*: 197.0 (+6.5 lbs. from two weeks ago) [* @ 9:30 a.m. on 1/10/09]

As my most recent attempts at training have floundered without a sens of purpose, I have decide to begin a new training plan which will prepare me to compete in a 10k. (When I finish the race, it will also guarantee my having earned a "100 miles Raced" patch from the local running group to which I belong, and will be my fourth such patch in a row.)

The plan I have opted for the the FIRST 10k Training Plan. I have successfully completed two FIRST plans in the past (one for the marathon and one for an ultra), and given the three days-a-week required, my hope is that this will fit neatly into my hectic schedule and allow me to ease back into some more moderate distances. I will, however, be adjusting the plan slightly, as I am not going to "wait" twelve weeks to run a 10k. These may seem to defeat the purpose of following a plan, but at some point my muscle-fitness memory will kick in and my improvement will proportionally "jump" forward, right?

Given all these variable, it only makes sense that my "target race," be not exactly a 10k, but rather a 5 mile run, and one I've done previously: The Southeast YMCA 26th Annual Turkey Classic.

At least, that's the plan as it stands this evening...

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

Week 15, Key Run #1

Key Run 1: 4.7 miles in :37:09 min. @ 4:00 p.m.
Weather: Rain Shower, 52°F, 84% Humidity, Wind: CALM; feels like 52°F.
Pace: 7:56 min/per mile
Course: Kaz2way's 4.75 Miles LoopdyLoop (loop, all flat, roads), found on USATF Map It!
"For Key Run #1 your pace is faster than your current 10k pace."
~FIRST Training Plan
While watching President Obama's press conference last night, I began once again filling out my "hard copy" training log with possible races, dates, key run workouts, paces and distances... Among the races I notes as a possibility was a marathon in the Spring. To this my wife asked, "You're going to run another marathon?"

Truth is, I didn't really "run" the last one I registered for , having dropped out due to the heat at mile seventeen. "Yes," I told her, "just one more... to prove that I can start and finish it."

So, for today's "speed work" I'll be running short distances at a pace slightly faster than my 10k pace. My current 10k pace (based on a finish time of 41:30) is approximately 6:41. Since I won't be running on a snowy track, but on the relatively clear(er) wet roads and sidewalks, and the suggested 4 x 800m sprints will need to be accomplished via fartlek or pick-ups.

After completing the run, I recognize that the "pace" noted above (7:56) is nowhere near the goal pace of for the 800m splits (6:41), but the pace above is based on an average of the entire run, not just pick-ups, so my success is difficult to gauge. Admittedly, my foot speed and turnover needs a little work...

Embrassez votre été invincible!

Running Math Made Not-so-Easy!

Week 6 Key Run 2
Planned Workout: 6 miles--1 easy + 5 @ MT (Mid-Tempo)
Actual Run: 6.8 miles in :48:13 min. (5.77 miles in 39:48 min.) @ 7:00 a.m.
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 62°F, 86% Humidity, Wind: From WSW @ 6 mph; feels like 62°F.
Average Mile Page: 7:07/6:54 min./mi.
Course: And and about!

The FIRST program has a series of formulas for use in determining the correct pace one should run at for each workout. There are varying paces dictated by which of the three Key Runs (speed, threshold or long) and varying levels withing each key run. Though it may sound confusing, it really is pretty simple as all paces are based, in part, on your 5k race pace in minutes and seconds.

Today's workout, Key Run 2, is intended as a "threshold run" and should be run at "Mid-Tempo" pace. For me, who on average can put together a 19:20 5k finish (meaning a 6:14 per mile pace), this is still faster than my general average training time of between 7:15 to 7:40. The Mid-Tempo pace is determined by adding an additional 35 seconds to my 5k pace. This comes out to 6:49.

If I am to follow the plan, there are two things (as I see it) which I need to do: first, honor the "1 mile easy pace." Often I'll set out to do this, but will quickly decide just to go after it. If I am to do the second thing, I'll need to the first... uh... first. Secondly, I'll need to increase my training pace by (on average) by 35-40 seconds... OUCH!

Before running, it tales a little bit of planning to hit the correct mileage (1 easy, 5 threshold); I need to map out the course, with distances, in advance, and internalize the points at which I need to increase an decrease pace. Following my run, and without the "benefit" of one of those fandangled-wrist-super-computer-thingies, it takes some basic Math skills (which I lack!) to determine how closely I came to meeting my running goal. In the end, I ran a total of 6.8 miles in :48:13, an overall pace of 7:07). The first mile, which was intended to be "easy," I probably took it too easy and clocked it at 8:35. The remaining 5.8 miles was run at what I had hoped would be "threshold pace." The 5.8 took 39:48 minutes (48:13 - 8:35), for an average mile pace of 6:54.

So, I felt I did pretty well, by missing my targeted threshold mile run pace of 6:49 by only five seconds. Considering I went almost a mile (.8) beyond the necessary distance, I'm off to a pretty fair (though complicated!) start.

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

The Training Week That Was... 7/28-8/2

Midway through Summer, I have found myself being fairly successful with working through the five-day-a-week ultra-marathon plan I created using the Santa Clara Runner's Club generator. In an effort to keep things fresh and to more fully target some specific weaknesses, this week I am going to shift my training slightly and move toward a modified FIRST training plan, similar to the one I used in preparing for the Buffalo Marathon in late May which garnered me my first sub 3:30 marathon.

There are two clear changes to my training which will take place: first, moving to a four-day-a-week training schedule as opposed to five, and second, the employment of targeted pace for each of four "key runs," the fourth of which is not not part of the FIRST plan, but rather a personal concession I am making for myself as one who enjoys running four days weekly in order to maintain an ultra base.

Here's what took place:

Legend: R = Running, ri = recovery interval, ez = easy, mt = mid-tempo, wu = warm-up, cd = cool down, ez = easy, B = Bicycling
Monday: Rest, B 24 miles
Tuesday: R 5.1 miles, B 24 miles
Wednesday: R 8.1 miles
Thursday: R 6.6 miles
Friday: Rest, B 17 miles
Saturday: R 11 miles
Sunday: R 8.9 miles

TOTAL (Run)--39.7 miles (-5.8 miles from the previous week)
TOTAL (Bicycle)--65 miles (+55.5 miles from the previous week)

This past week was my final one working Summer School, so how well I'll be able to continue building bicycling weeks into my day is up for debate. I felt strong running this week, and with no "races" registered for, I am looking forward to some good relaxing training for the balance f the summer recess.

The only potential "blip" in my following the "new" schedule is that Anne and I will be flying out to Colorado next weekend (and into next week) to stay with he brother, and just how often or far I'll be able to run is wide open at his point. If I were to miss any (or all) of my scheduled runs, I think it would have little negative impact and might even allow for me to rest a little. Despite the fact that I've devoted an entire blog to this hobby, I do realize (and accept) that there are more important things in life other than running...

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

Week 12, Key Run Workout #1

Scheduled Workout:
10-20 minute warm-up
5 x 1k (400m RI)
10 min cool-down

Total Run: 5.5 miles in :44:13 min. @ 5:15 p.m.
Total "Laps": 22
Settings: Hi 9.2, Lo, 6.0, Avg. 7.5
Average Mile: 8:00 min/mi

Today is my second overall, and first "running" day of, the FIRST training plan. The FIRST plan is predicated on the concept of three targeted weekly "Key Runs," the first of each week being, in essence, a speed workout of sorts. I've also taken this opportunity to again venture into the local YMCA (away from the frozen track surfaces of Upstate New York) and back onto the treadmill. (Another plus was that it gave me the opportunity to have my wife come with me so that we could train together.)

Today's training "term-of-the-day" is:

RI = recovery interval; which may be a timed rest/recovery interval or a distance that is walked or jogged

AS I suspected might be the case it took me some time to figure out the particulars of speedwork on the treadmill took me a few minutes. Some things I recognized about my own speed workouts on the treadmill: headphones are NOT good as the dangling chord made me apprehensive and overly cautious with my arm swing for fear of catching it on my wrist, bring water--something I normally don't do with such a "short" cumulative distance (5.5 miles), the conversion for times doesn't seem consistent (does 9.2 really equal a pace of 6:35 per minute?).

In the end I actually enjoyed being on the treadmill (mostly due to the company of my wife) and learned a great deal from the experience.

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!