BLOGGER BLOCK !!!
I guess you can say I have experienced "blogger block" the last few days since it seems I haven't been able to post. It even took me a while to finally get my hiking pictures up. Thankfully though, I have not let up on my running! If you are just tuning in, I am training to run my 1st race over a 10K distance and, actually, only my second race over 4 miles. I will be running the Tupelo 14.2 miler on September 3rd. Of course, I am not looking to win or anything. Finishing is more in line with my goals!
I would like to finish somewhere in the middle of th pack. I can't find the full results broken down by age group from last year, but with the time I am tagerting (2:15 - 2:25), I should finish somewhere mid-pack overall. If you want to read some comments about the overall race, click here. (This is the marathon guide website and you can find comments about a lot of races on their website.)
I finished a 10-miler this morning! It went a LOT better than the 9-miler last Saturday when I procrastinated watching the Tour-de-France and ran when it was way too hot. Last week my pace was well over 10 minute miles but this week I managed running at a 9:50 pace. I didn't really try to push the pace and felt strong throughout the run!
I am still a little worried about possible injuries as I reach the 30 mile a week mark. It was then that I got my last injury that plagued me in the weeks leading up to the Gum Tree 10K. I have felt better since taking Phil's advice to slow down on easy runs so hopefully I will be okay. You can check out my race log with the link on the side bar or here is my summary totals. I hope you have a great weekend!!!
Total Miles: 26.5
Long Run: 10 Miles 1:38:11 (9:50 pace)
Tempo Run: 5 miles 44:43 (8:57 pace)
Intervals: 4 x 1/2 mile repeats at 7:30 - 8:40 pace
(5.5 total including warm-up, recovery, and cooldown)
Two easy days of 3 milers at 9:30 pace
(I also strength trained 3 days and mtn biked 2.)
posted by Shane (mississip) at 11:13 AM
2 Comments:
Impressive numbers this week Shane. You're doing a great job building up your base.
One comment on your intervals ... you didn't provide your 800m splits by rep; only the range. If the first 800m was 3:45 min and then you progressively slowed down to 4:20 min by the 4th, I'd advise you to control your pace a bit better on the first rep ... say 2:00 minutes per 400m for a nice even 4:00 minute 800m. The purpose of this exercise is to build strength at a pace faster than your lactic threshold. If you burn yourself out on the first rep you aren't running fast enough in the subsequent reps to have the same impact.
The first 3:45 must have felt great; however, you’ll feel even better if you can run 4x800m at a constant 4:00 min. That's an 8 minute mile pace ... which is really motoring around the track. If you complete this exercise and don’t feel as if you are ready to puke your brains all over the track, think about adding a rep per week to the regiment up to 6x800. Then start decreasing the pace. I’m impressed that you are running cool downs. This is a very good practice.
Also, thanks for the pictures. We sure don't have anything like that around here. I especially liked the warning sign: "Climbing Rocks is Hazardous; Closely Control Children" ok ... like … dah!
I took a look at last year’s results on the 14.2 race. Boy you were right, the format they used didn't make it very easy to compute the Gender / Age ranges. I managed to suck it all into an EXCEL spread sheet and ran the numbers. If you are shooting for 2:15: you ‘ll end up in the following positions based on the sample field:
M 39 and Under
Average Finish - 2:02
Median Finish - 2:08
Place for 2:15 Finish - 19/36
Male All
Average Finish - 2:11
Median Finish - 2:11
Place for 2:15 Finish - 56/77
All Runners
Average Finish - 2:18
Median Finish - 2:14
Place for a 2:15 Finish - 63/118
I think you'll do better than 2:15. You're really improving your base and running your long runs comfortably at 9:45. Assuming you stick with your program and continue to increase your mileage up to the 40 mile/week range and increase your long run out the 14 to 15 mile range over the next 8 weeks without injury, this race shouldn't pose too much of a threat to your body. There will, of course, be tons of factors involved on the day of race such as Temperature, Humidity, Rain, amount of sleep you got in the days leading up to the event, etc. but ... all other things being equal, you will be in much better shape than you were for the last 10k you ran. Jumping up to a ½ marathon + on your second race is a huge step few people try. I spent 5 years running 10Ks before I tried my first ½ marathon. However, you are following a much better program than I did over those years and are sticking with it. You’ve got success written all over you.
9:56 PM
It was pretty hot the day I did those intervals and it pretty much zapped me those last few! But I probably went out a bit fast on that first one. I am still having a hard time moderating my pace.
Thanks for running those numbers!!! I am not that skilled for sure! I appreciate the encouragment. With it being my very first really long race, I will really be happy with just feeling strong at the finish. But 2:15 or faster would be REALLY nice too! :-)
8:00 PM
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