Posts Tagged ‘long run’

Sunday Long Run in Allentown

6, Jul 2009

Sunday’s long run was a mixed bag, much like my entire training schedule these days. I ran 11 miles in about 84 minutes, 7:40 splits. Here’s a rundown of the variables, from best to worst.

Ironton Trail 11 Milerhttp://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/pa/allentown/730124681226155924

The Course - We were visiting Lauren’s parents in Allentown for the July 4th weekend. It was refreshing to do a long run in a different neighborhood and get in some trail running on the Ironton Rail Trail. I’m officially sick of the Westside Highway / Greenway. www.irontonrailtrail.org

The Weather - Even though we didn’t get out the door until almost 9am it was relatively cool, with very little humidity. Compare that to the hot soupy weather at last weekend’s Achilles 5 miler in Central Park and yesterday was a perfect summer morning for running.

Met-Rx Amped Shot – Took it 10 minutes before going out for the run. 250mg of caffeine condensed to 2 ounces = rocket fuel. http://www.metrx.com/labels/015784.pdf

Proper Rest – There’s something to be said about getting a full 8+ hours for 3 nights in row. Then waking up and casually getting dressed, eating and stretching. Over the last few weeks I’ve had to really condense my prep time and you really feel a difference once you’re out on the course.

My Ankle – I can run on it for sure, but its still not right. I rolled it about 10 days ago and although the podiatrist gave me clearance to run, I know it’s not back to 100%. Running on an uneven surface, like trails, makes me nervous as hell. Just stepping on an oversized piece of gravel was giving me anxiety. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I ran so slow.

The Pace – I wasn’t thrilled about doing 7:40’s. Just a month ago, my 10-mile pace was 7:03. Two weeks ago it was 7:17. Starting to see a trend here? Of course, I think part of the reason it was a little slower than usual was because I stopped/slowed down to console Lauren who was victim to…

A Dog Bite – I thought this was just runner’s folklore, I didn’t know runners actually got bit by dogs. Apparently, Lauren was running along minding her own business when one of the 3 dogs some guy was walking just kind of jumped up and bit her. Aside from scaring the shit out of her, it left a pretty bad mark. I caught up with her about 2 miles from home, jogged with her for about a half mile, then tried to sprint back to get the ice/first aid stuff together. If you can’t control your dogs people, don’t walk them in groups of three.

Of course now I’m off to a good start this week, that will soon be completley reversed by the effects of a bachelor party weekend in Montreal. I think its safe to say I won’t be running any more PR’s this year. Of course with some of the times I’ve posted already this year, maybe that’s ok.

J

Weekly Training Wrap-Up

6, Jun 2009

Here’s how my week went in terms of training. On Monday after work, I banged out 5.5 miles at a 6:31 pace, right on schedule. I lifted/biked on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday I was supposed to do my interval workout, but life got in the way.

Have I mentioned I hate running in the morning? On Thursday morning, I woke up and had zero ambition to run, but knew that I shouldn’t go more than 2 days without running. So I did a hill workout on the treadmill that was actually a lot more fun than I was expecting. I mostly just played with the angles, doing some 2-3 minute bursts at 7-8% incline, some flat cooldowns, some fast walking at 15%. It was challenging, but not draining. Then I lifted/biked on Friday.

Today, I did my hudson river greenway long run and felt like a million bucks, so maybe cutting back a little this week was the key.

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I started off at a brisk 7:20 pace and before I knew it, 10 miles later, my splits averaged down to 7:03 which is way fast for me for a long run. I ran the first 5 miles in 35:45 and the second half in 34:49 so the negative splits made me confident that I’ll do well in the NYC half marathon in August.

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Speaking of doing well, my lovely fiancée placed 2nd in her age group in today’s 4-miler in Allentown, PA with a time of 31:17. I couldn’t be prouder of her, especially since she had some pre-race nervousness about breaking 8-minute miles, and ended up shattering eights with 7:49 splits.

Thanks for reading, make sure to bookmark my site and come back often. Feel free to email me at Jason@nycin310.com. You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NYCin310.

J

A Mid-Run Motivational Strategy

28, May 2009

Wednesday after work I set out to do four sets of 1 mile repeats on the treadmill. After warming up with a 7 or 8 minute jog, I began my first repeat at a 10.5 mph pace, about a 5:42 mile. I really hoped that I would feel comfortable at that pace, enough to even push it up a notch in the later part of the mile.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that 5:42 is pretty much my mile threshold and that there would be no speeding up beyond that point. I felt strong enough to hold my 10.5 mph pace for the second repeat, but by the middle of the third split I knew my miles were numbered and that the 4th was just going to be awful if I even attempted it.

So I took a quick break and negotiated with myself, mid-session.

I think this is something every runner has found themself doing at one point. You’re in the middle of a pretty hard training run; a weekend long-run, a fast tempo, or like in my case some intense repeats. You take a step back and make a deal with your body. If it will just allow you to get through most of the remaining work at hand, you’ll reciprocate by cutting the session a little bit early. Doesn’t that sound fair?

Anyway, I don’t know for sure that anyone else does this, but I do it all the time. Sometimes it feels great to stop a little early and know that you still did a good job. Usually though, by the time I finish most of the “hard work” I have enough left over to get through the last 10% anyway, so its more of a mind game than anything else. Long story short…

That’s how I finished my run on Wednedsay night. I compromised by agreeing to run my 4th mile as 2 seperate half-mile splits. And by the time I was done, I even had enough gas in the tank to do a third and final half mile.

J


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