Philly RnR RR and a new training tool

I haven’t written on this in a while and this will be a short post. Since the last post, I’ve returned to the States and raced in my first HM. This half was meant as a workout in preparation for my Marathon in Baltimore (Baltimore has been pushed, but more on that in a different post).

My coach’s direction for  Philly was…

                Sunday, Sept 19-run this workout inside the HM race

Please avoid running faster-this race is too close to your marathon to race it

20-22 mile total moderate run including 12 miles of alternating mile paces below:

1 mile 10-12 sec’s faster than GMP then 1 mile 45 sec’s slower than GMP. Repeat 5 more times without rest between pace changes. Run the last mile as hard as you prefer

So my thought was easy. Run 8:20/9:20. Simple right? Uh-huh! Rather than explain it, here is the chart of my Garmin  times (note: I didn’t worry about tangents and used the miles listed on the course for lap pace).

So that was not exactly what my coach prescribed, but I’ll take it. My goal was to run under 2 hours (but really under 1:55) and hit that goal with a Chip Time of 1:54:54.

The course was pretty nice. I really wish I had driven the entire course before the race. I assumed that it would all be in the city and that was about half wrong. All-in-all, a good day and a good race. One of the weekends major disappointments was the Hotel. I stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn and they were horrible for race details and help. The people at the desk didn’t even know where the start was, really!

The race felt pretty good all of the way through until about 10 miles. I actually had to stop during my slower miles to adjust my shoe. First, I adjusted it looser. Then tighter, then way way looser (more loose?). I think I was/am in the beginning states of Plantar Fasciitis. Which leads me to my new training tool (read: toy).

Today I brought a new training tool. It is a 2010 Trek 6000 Mountain Bike. I will use it as a commuter/Cross-Training bike. I really enjoy it so far and think that I will get a lot of use out of it.

Well that is all for now. I will be updating this blog more often…promise!

 

Upcoming Workouts:

Thursday, Sept 23-move to Friday if tired or run easy both days

8-9 mile easy run including 10-15 x 30 sec’s @ 5k effort w/1 min jog rests

Friday, Sept 24

XT 30-45 min easy

Saturday, Sept 25

4 -5mile easy run

Sunday, Sept 26

15-16 mile total moderate run including Yasso 800’s. Run 10 x 800m ~ 4 min w/2-3 min recoveries. Finish w/ 3 x 100m @ mile effort