Fast Shoes

Bought some new shoes today. Same as last ones (Mizuno Wave Inspire 3) but they changed the color scheme. These colors looked faster so I decided to do my tempo run at the high school track this evening. (OK, the real reason is because it was dark, and there are fewer obstacles to avoid on the track).

3/4 mile warmup, then it was time for 2x3miles at around 6:55 pace. Started comfortably at 6:56 for the first 1/2 mile, then worked it slowly down: 6:53, 6:51, 6:50, 6:48, 6:44 - 20 mins 32 seconds for 3 miles = 6:51 pace. Felt pretty good, but probably a little bit over true tempo pace (heartrate was 169 at the end).

Did a 400m recovery jog at 8ish pace, got the heartrate back down to mid 150s and then set off on the second 3 miles.

Started at 6:56, and tried to stay at about that pace. 6:52 followed by 6:58 thru 1.5 miles. Then picked it up a little with a 6:45. Decided to do the last mile a little quicker and ran it in 6:31. I was very happy with that as the last mile of a 6 mile tempo. Obviously that mile was well under tempo pace, but given that I'm not doing any real speedwork just yet it was an OK substitute in my mind. Second 3 miles was 20 minutes 18 seconds = 6:46 pace.

Easy jog home for 1/2 mile to bring it up to 7.67 miles at an average of 7:15. Overall, a really solid workout.

I knew those shoes were fast.

Softer Ground

Ran tonight on a soft trail down by the Bay for 5-6 miles. Much better on the legs than the concrete of San Francisco yesterday. Still went fairly easy at around 7:40 pace with just one faster mile down near 7. Legs are feeling a little stiff from the exertion of Sunday so I need to be sure to stretch out properly this evening, which I didn't really do yesterday or Sunday night.

Tomorrow is Wednesday, so it's tempo day. Either 2x2miles at 6:45-6:50 or 2x3miles at 6:55-7:00. I'll see how I feel in the morning and how much time I have.

Doing better than the 49ers

Easy 4-5 miles in San Francisco this evening. Considering how badly the niners are currently doing against Seattle, I wish I'd decided to run long (real long) so I wouldn't have to watch this debacle.....

Nothing special on the run, just steady 8 minute miles. No achilles pain, felt a little bit in my right knee, but that is normal for running on concrete. Will try to get to some softer surfaces for tomorrow's 5 miler. Not sure how I'm gonna work that yet.

OK

Alright! Everything feels OK this morning. I will try to find time to get in an easy 4-5 sometime to double check that I haven't broken anything.

Stanford 10k - No Excuses Run!

Today was a big race for me and finally I know where I am fitness wise. It's the first real datapoint after an injury to my achilles in late May, and a miserable summer of deep water pool running, and then gradually starting out again in September, with lots of physio, ice, stretching and then building up the easy miles thru October. Today was the day when I got to see whether any of that effort was worth it or if I'd lost what little fitness I used to have.

I'd decided and posted yesterday that there was no conservative plan for me - I was going all out - it was my "No Excuses Run"! Anything short of beating my 10k PR (42:51, 6:54 pace) was going to be disappointing. I'm done with being injured, it's time to see if I'm fit or not. I set an aggressive race plan, which showed me getting a 41 second PR. It all looked great in excel.....

Race Day!
Woke up early, and really nervous. ate, stretched, had a warm shower and then got to the course about 45 minutes before the start. Did a solid warmup so that I wasn't straining cold muscles with a fast start. Lined up at the front as ready as I was gonna be.

Mile 0-1.5 - Goal 6:50 pace
Started way too fast despite having practiced 100m starts at goal pace.
First half 6:27 pace.
Eased up and got onto 6:50 pace for the next mile.

Mile 1.5-2.5 - Goal 7:10 pace (the hill)
Hill was not as gradual as I thought and the first 1/2 mile was barely noticeable so I kept at 6:50 pace. Second half mile was steep and I slowed way down to 7:25. Overall about right. Got to the top about 15 seconds ahead of plan, due to my fast start.

Mile 2.5-4.5 - Goal 6:35 pace (the downhill stretch)
This was where the race was going to be decided. I was feeling tired from the fast start and the steep hill, and the downhill was very gradual. 6:35 was a tough target but I decided it was time to go for it. The long summer of thrashing thru the pool was all for this race. Under 4 miles to go - no time to take it easy.
Ran the first 2 half miles at 6:36, 6:38 but I was now feeling it. Decided it was time to forget times and start chasing down the guys ahead. Next 2 half miles were at 6:31 and 6:20 (not sure where that came from but it hurt like hell). I was now flying and reeling in runners but feeling a lot of pain and the heartrate was up into the 170s.

Mile 4.5-5.5 - Goal pace 6:50
I knew I was on for a PR and everything screamed slowdown as the course flattened out. But I'd read too many running books with titles like "Pain" over the summer so I just kept my eyes on the next guy and pushed with everything left. Half mile paces at 6:33 and 6:38.

Mile 5.5 to home - Goal pace 6:40
Time for the kick. Pushed again, caught the next guy, and got thru mile 6 at 6:33 pace - I was dying by now but found one last kick for the final .2m and sped up to 6:27 and managed to sprint to the line for the crowd.

Crossed the line at 41:43 - beating my plan by almost 30 seconds and smashing my pre-injury PR by over a minute.

It was simply an awesome feeling after the disappointment of injury and struggling back. All that slogging thru the pool and running those boring, short, slow, flat miles had paid off. And the good news is that I had no achilles pain at all - I think the solid warmup was key there.

Now I get to plan out my marathon training for London in April with a solid race behind to use as a basis for pacing.

Nervous...

I am weirdly nervous about tomorrow's 10k. I've decided that I am going to go all out, there is no conservative plan for me!

I'm going to shoot for beating my 10k best of 42:51 which means running better than 6:54 pace. I definitely have the speed as I found it in some of my faster tempos, but I'm not really sure if I'm fit enough to do that for 10k yet. I've been doing steady mileage but only one run of 10 miles since May. I'm also not sure my achilles is going to hold out for 6 fast miles. But there is only way to find out.

Course is flat for first 1.5m, then it climbs 100' in the next mile, and drops 100' in the following 2 miles, and is flat thru the finish (6.2 miles).

My aggressive pacing plan is as follows....
....0-1.5miles at 6:50 - steady start
....1.5-2.5 at 7:10 - ease up the hill
....2.5-4.5 at 6:35 - fast downhill miles
....4.5-5.5 at 6:50 - steady flat mile
....5.5-6.2 at 6:40 - kick for the finish!
Overall pace 6:47
Time 42:10
PR by 41 seconds!

I'm either recoverd and fit, or I'm not. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

Easy does it

Easy 5 this morning at 8ish pace after an even easier 5 yesterday at 8:30ish. Should be nice and rested for Sunday's race.

Comfortably Hard

Strange expression, seems to be an oxymoron, but it's how people describe how it should feel when you are doing tempo runs. Definitely not easy, but not flat out.

Anyway, it's Wednesday, so that's tempo run day. Same course as last week. 3/4 mile warm up. 2 miles straight up the road (gradual 100' climb) 1/2 mile recovery jog and then 2 miles straight back down again. Last week was 7:11 pace up and 6:49 down, so 7:00 for both legs. I was feeeling very good this morning so decided I'd try to go 7:00 up and see how i felt coming down.

Warmup was quick at 7:30 pace, and as I started the uphill quickly got down to 6:40 pace. It felt OK, somewhere on the pleasant side of comfortably hard, so I kept at it. Went through the first 3 halves with paces of 6:41, 6:39 and 6:42. By now it was at least comfortbaly hard, but I decided to push for the final half mile uphill and did it at 6:39. A 2 mile uphill (albeit only slightl) run at 6:40 pace surpirsed me. That is only 2 seconds off my best 5k pace.

The 1/2 mile recvery was much needed and it would be a big stretch to use the word comfortable to describe any part of that last half mile. Decided I would run the downhill 2 miles at a more sensible effort level and would concentrate on constant effort and finishing strong.

Started steadily and quickly found 6:46 pace. Slower than the uphill but was still paying the price for the first leg. Second half at 6:45. Third half mile slowed a little to 6:49 so focused on finishing strong and brought it in at 6:39. 6:46 overall for the downhill 2 miles.

Average for both legs was 6:43 which is up there with my pre-injury pacing. On the way up, heartrate was climbing unsustainably, but on the way back down, at a more managed pace it was steady in the low 160s.

Three easy days now and then it's race day! After this morning I'm feeling confident that I can do a 7:00 pace for the 10k (43:30) and if things go well I have a chance to go under my current 10k best of 42:51 (6:54 pace). Although that will be a little more than comfortably hard.

Getting Smarter?

Went out early this morning for an easy 5 miles. Felt great and started fast. Before the first mile was over I was running under 7 minute pace. And then I thought "Why am I running this fast?". There are no prizes for training faster than planned and ultimately there is a reason for those easy days. So I decided to stop, stretch properly and then run at a more reasonable pace. Kept things going reasonably fast and averaged about 7:35. Still faster than planned but better than the 6:50 I was going to do if I'd kept going.

Maybe I am getting a little smarter about this?

Daylight Savings

7am is much more tolerable this week compared to last. It's lighter, warmer and I'm much less sleepy.

A nice 5 miler at 7:40 pace to kick off the week. No after effects from last week's 42 miles (did 6.5 Sunday vs the planned 5), so I am thinking that I can now officially declare my "injury phase" over. Obviously I could easily go crazy now and quickly start my next "injury phase", so I will be continuiing to keep things steady. Ramp mileage gradually, keep off the big hills and try to keep speed out of a lot of the runs.

Double Digits

Ran an easy 10 miler yesterday afternoon. It was hot and I set out about 1:30. Ran with a friend and it was an easy 8:10 pace through some rolling hills trying to find the shady side of the street where possible. Felt fine during the run and this morning everything seems good. I'll do an easy 5 in a while, which will bring my weekly total to just over 40.

Next week will be a little lower as I will be racing a 10k on Sunday instead of doing a long run. That will be the first real assessment of my fitness. I'm just hoping I am somewhere near my pre-injury levels.

2 more runs....

Very easy 4 this morning - it's getting a little colder, maybe time for some sleeves.

A good 7 yesterday. Started slow but got down to high 6's. A little faster than planned but all OK.

A new long run milestone planned tomorrow of 10 miles. Finally back to double digits.