It's Working!!!

Weasel Boy set me up with a running plan from the first week of May until my first race, the Covered Bridges Half Marathon, on June 4th. The plan seems to be working quite well... basically it calls for one base run (3.5-6 miles), one fartlek run (3.5-4.5 mi) and one long run with various focus points. There's also room for a short (2-3 mi. EZ) run if I feel like I need it. The plan includes my normal two days of swimming and two days of easy 1 hour bikes. My focus will switch to the bike after the half marathon.

Last weekend I did my first 2 hour run and didn't feel all that great...I managed about 8.5 mi. in 2 hours and it was kinda painful...12-14 minute miles. But I did it and that's what counts.

This week I had a FANTASTIC run on Monday - base run, 3.5 mi. and held just over 11 minute miles, which for me is fast. Thursday I did a fartlek run and, on Elizabeth's advice, I lengthened my "work" time from two minutes to four minutes and my jogging/recovery time to 3 minutes, so that I was working for longer than I was recovering. Did this over 3.5 mi. and it felt ok but not as great as Monday...avg. about 11:30/12:00 min miles.

Fridays are complete rest days which is good as Thursday is a double day (swim/fartlek) and that brings us to today, my first 10 mile run.

Weasel suggested I choose a comfortable pace for the first 5 miles - I decided on 12:00/12:30, hoping that I wouldn't feel as tired as I felt last week. Then, based on the fact that I'm shooting for a 2:30 half marathon time, we picked 11:45*, the pace I'll need to hold, for the second 5 miles. This would hopefully give me a good idea where I am two weeks out from the race.

*OOPS!!! Just did the math again and realized I'll need to hold a 10:45 for that 2:30 finish...read on, after yesterday it may still be possible... **

** DUH. I wasn't converting correctly... 2:30 DOES call for 11:45ish miles.... now I'm SO PSYCHED because I think I can hold a faster pace than that even!!! Sorry for the mileage confusion...

WELL, I'm not sure if it was because I only did a third of my planned ride on Wednesday (completely rained out) or because I had a donut and an apricot scone with coffee this morning (I know I know...don't ask...it was a moment of weakness and I justified it by knowing that I had to do the run...), or if it was a perfect time of day for me, but CHECK OUT these numbers:

Warmup - 10:45, EZ ~0.7 mi. jog, included stashing my jacket, powerbar and gatorade in some bushes and some light stretching

Mile 1 - 10:43, avg. HR 137 (66%) ( I KNOW!!! I could hardly believe it myself..started really working hard to slow down because I wanted to conserve for the second 5 miles...but I felt GREAT)

MIle 2 - 11:18, avg. HR 138, still feeling great
MIle 3 - 11:11, avg. HR 140
Mile 4 - 11:27, avg. HR 143
Mile 5 - 12:02, avg. HR 140 (this was a long mile - I missed the marker)

Remember, I was HOPING for 12:00 / 12:30 but not at all sure I could hold it. Imagine my surprise!!

Walk / drink / eat: 5:18 (paced around in circles actually), avg. HR 114

So at this point, given that I hadn't pushed at ALL and my HR had stayed below 75%, I figured I'd pace myself by keeping my HR at about 79-83%, making sure to not go anaerobic...so for me, that's about 159 max. Anything above that is too high. Here's how the second half went...and yes, I kept moving for the whole time I was eating/drinking to simulate walking thru water stops, which I plan to do:

Mile 6 - 10:48, avg. HR, 145 (75%) - STILL feeling pretty good, much to my surprise
Mile 7 - 10:46, avg. HR 152
Mile 8 - 10:56, avg. HR 153
Mile 9 - 11:42, avg. HR 154 - big hill on this mile
Mile 9.5 - 2 hour mark, 1 mile more than last week in 2 hours
Mile 10 - 11:15, avg. 156 (still long but I used the same marker as at mile 5)

SO psyched about this. This is a great place for me to be 2 weeks out. I'm looking forward to next week's long run...not sure what the plan will be next week ...maybe to see if I can hold all 10 miles to the pace I ran these last 5. All I know is it feels great!!!

Train hard!!