Half marathon training - Week 3 - Long run

This week's long run went pretty well. I ran the 9 miles on the indoor track at the community fitness center, and while the course was no entirely obstacle free, there was much less dodging required today than in recent runs there. I think I only had to yell at one person to watch out.

I finished the 9 miles in 1:15:38, for an average pace of 8:23/mi, which was greatly helped by my last mile which I ran in 7:32. I was full of energy at the end, and felt like I could have gone much further, and faster. But I had been there long enough, and done my scheduled distance, so I went home, happy with the results. Looking forward to next weekend and breaking back in the double digits in mileage.

Weekly Total: 18.5 miles
2007 Yearly Total: 98.7 miles

Half marathon training - Week 3 - Tempo run

Today was a little more than just a tempo run. I recently joined a Nike+ challenge with a couple of other people from Flickr. The challenge is called 'The Leprechaun Run', and the goal is to run the fastest 5 miler before St. Patrick's Day. So I decided to make my tempo run my first attempt at winning the challenge. No one had run before me, but I saw after uploading my time that I'm a little over 2 minutes slower than the leader, so I think I'm bound for (hopefully) 2nd place.

As you can see from the graph, I gradually picked up my pace over the 5 miles, with a mile 1 pace of 7:52, and mile 5 pace of 7:11. Overall, it took 38:09, for an average pace of 7:37/mi. I did this on the treadmill after work, with a 1% incline. It was a better time than I had hoped for, so I guess there is hope that I might have a decent showing when I run the St. Malachi Run, a 5 mile race, in 2 weeks. I followed up the run with 10 minutes of hard biking, followed by a 5 minute cool down.

Half marathon training - Week 3 - Speed run

Today's speed run went well. I actually managed to stick to plan and was able to do the 3 repeats of 1600m (1 mile). I covered 4.5 miles in a time of 35:47, for an average pace of 7:49/mi. Each repeat was around a 7:30 pace, with a half mile in between at around an 8:30 pace. I followed up the run with about 10-15 minutes of hard work on the bike, which is my new thing. I realize I would be better off doing this on my non-running days, but I figure on the days I actually make it to the gym, it's better to mix it in than not do it at all.

Half marathon training - Week 2 - Long run

I was lazy yesterday and did not get my long run for the week in, so I stretched the week out a day longer and got the run in today. Eight miles on the indoor track at the community fitness center.

Today we finally broke above freezing for the first time in almost a month. I can hardly wait to start running outside again. While at first I thought the indoor track was an improvement over a treadmill, I'm quickly learning that it's not. Tonight I had to dodge around people and/or objects close to a dozen times. At one point I had to yell at a kid to get off the track as he was playing catch with a football, in the middle of the track lanes. Also, during the last 200m of my run, a volleyball ran out onto the track right in front of me, and I had to leap to avoid it, which caused a sharp pain to go through my left calf. I was not happy.

Weekly Total: 17 miles
2007 Yearly Total: 80.2 miles

Half marathon training - Week 2 - Tempo run

Today tempo run did not go so great. I started off at a decent pace, but had to slow down, and had trouble getting back up to a good pace until the end. I did manage to complete the 5 miles in 41:44, for an average pace of 8:19/mile, which is more of a good pace for a long run than a tempo run.

Half marathon training - Week 2 - Speed run

So today's run was almost canceled due to the ridiculous snow going on outside which made the smart people go home early. But I stuck around and did my speed run for the week, and actually achieved what I set out to do, which doesn't usually happen on anything but my long runs these days it seems.

So the plan for today was to do 4x800m repeats. So 1/2 mile slow, 1/2 mile fast, repeat, for four miles total. So I did my "slow" increments around 8:50/mi pace, and the "fast" increments at around 7:15/mi pace, with increasing pace during the last one. Unfortunately, the graph for today's run really doesn't represent it very well, but it was a tough run that I felt like cutting short a number of times. But I made it through and felt good about it. I then capped off my workout with 20 minutes on the recline bike, which covered a little over 7 miles. Well, I felt good about my workout until my normal 35 minute drive home turned into a 2 hour and 15 minute drive of hell. I guess that just shows how dedicated I am...

Half marathon training - Week 1 - Long run

Today was the first long run of my half marathon training, and the longest run I have done in quite some time. Seven miles is a whole lot of laps around the indoor track at the local community fitness center. Very not exciting, though not as bad as the treadmill. It feels nice to actually be moving, even if it is in an oval pattern.

The run went pretty well. I kept a pretty steady pace and didn't have too much problem with breathing or tiring out. My training program calls for a longest pre-race run of 12 miles, but I think I'm going to just keep adding a mile each week to my long runs and see where it takes me. 13 miles is not a big deal to me, and I'd feel better about doing a little longer a few times before the actual race.

Weekly Total: 15 miles
2007 Yearly Total: 63.2 miles

Half marathon training - Week 1 - Speed run

Today I did a little over 4 mile speed run that went well, as I managed to get under an 8:00 pace, with a 7:42/mi average.

Half marathon training - Week 1 - Speed run

Today was the first workout of my training for the Columbus Distance Classic half marathon, which is April 14th in Columbus, Ohio. I ran it last year and enjoyed it, so I'm returning this year.

The workout today was a speed workout, with a goal of doing 8 repeats of 400m (1/4 mile). So as you can see from the graph, lots of squiggly lines. The workout went well, as I finished my 4 miles in 31:40, for an average pace of 7:52/mi. So my training is off to a good start.

A 10km run

Today I got one last long run in before starting my half marathon training. The run went OK, though I had to slow down a bit from my initial pace. I ended up finishing the 10km (6.2 miles) in 50:59, for an average pace of 8:12/mi. I was happy with my performance though as it was quite a bit faster than my last 10km from almost a month ago, right before I got sick.

Weekly Total: 16.7 miles
2007 Yearly Total: 48.2 miles

Three and a half

Today was about a 3.5 mile tempo run with a slow, gradual increase in pace. I'm not too happy with having the average pace being over 8 minutes, but that's all my body was allowing today. Hopefully better luck next time.