76 Days to Go (Playing Leapfrog with a Unicorn is NEVER a good idea.)
View attachment 338730
Date - Day - Scheduled Workouts (Intervals within desired pace)
7/16/18 - M - OFF
7/17/18 - T - 7 miles @ EA (8:14)
7/18/18 - W - 2 mile WU + 2x2 mile T (6:25) + 5x3 min I (5:53) + 8x400m R (5:27) + 1 mile CD (14/17)
7/19/18 - R - 7 miles @ EA (8:14)
7/20/18 - F - 7 miles @ EA (8:14)
7/21/18 - Sat - 9 miles @ EB (7:42)
7/22/18 - Sun - 3 mile WU + 13.2 mile M Tempo (7/13)
Running duration = 8:05 hours
Running mileage = 58.3 miles
Indoor Virtual Biking duration = n/a hours
Indoor Virtual Biking mileage = n/a miles
Total (training) duration = 8:05 hours
Total (training) mileage = 58.3 miles
Number of running SOS intervals within pace = 21/30 (70%)
Monday
Spent the evening with G at swim class. She's making good progress but definitely has her triggers on what she doesn't want to do. We spent a good bit of time on the past weekend working on jumping into the pool. So we were happy to get over the hump. Only to find that this week they wanted them to jump in at the deep end now. One step forward, but the class took a leap forward. We'll get there at our own pace.
Tuesday
T+D of 152. Easy day at a 8:49 min/mile pace. Kept the focus on the easy side of easy HR (132). Final HR was 132. My right ankle has been a bit sore lately. I usually get an issue every once in a while where my ankle won't "crack" when it rotates. So sometimes it has that "off" feeling. I'm semi-confident it isn't anything more nefarious.
Wednesday
I was really excited about this run. It was my first attempt at triple pacing. Start with Threshold pacing (6:25), then move to the WORST PACE EVER (also known as I pace at 5:53), and then finish off the workout with R pace (5:27). Truly an epic workout. In the past, I might do a 2x2 at T and that was a workout. Or a 5x3 min at I and that was a workout. Or a 8x400m at R and that was a workout. But this devastating workout was a combination of three individual workouts into one mega one. I've never been great at the I pace, so I was really interested to test out where my current conditioning is. You can't go through the motions on those I pace workouts. You either have it or you don't.
T pace = 6:25 + 10 sec (first half of Daniels plan adj) + 5-3% adjustment for T+D = 6:47-6:57
I pace = 5:53 + 5-3% adjustment = 6:04-6:13
R pace = 5:27 (41.0 sec)
The T+D ranged from a 152 at the start down to a 139. But honestly, I didn't actually believe it. It didn't feel like a T+D of 152. It felt more like the 130-140s. So I aimed for the faster end of the spectrum.
T pace splits = 6:51, 6:48, 6:44, 6:45
Felt in control during these. Was definitely feeling it towards the end of the second interval, but I was able to hold on. HR was around 153 which is just on the upper edge of M Tempo. Makes sense since we're intentionally adding a bit of time since this is the first half of the plan. With a goal pace of 6:47, I was really happy with this portion of the run. But the I PACE WAS NEXT!!!
I pace splits = 5:54. 5:58, 5:57, 6:02, 5:52
Not going to mince words about this one. Since we moved, I've struggled to find a nice circle loop to do these types of paces on. So there was some elevation to play with. That only compounds the difficulty of the I pace. But I had a bit of an audience around the park and I wasn't going to let my onlookers down. Very VERY happy with this portion of the run. With an adjusted pace goal of 6:04, I definitely crushed this pace. Averaged a 5:57. I was feeling it towards the end and was ready to see if I could hold on for the R pace.
R pace splits = 39.3, 44.5, 40.7, 42.5, 42.5, 38.0, 42.7, 41.0
Moved to a flat straightaway (at least as close as I can get). Set myself and I was OFF. Still haven't adjusted my watch to display "seconds" so I wasn't quite sure what my splits were at time of. So a bit tough to make adjustments on the fly. That 38.0 seconds is because I got challenged by a kid who had been watching. He was able to keep up with me for the first 50-75m but faded late. An admirable job. My left hamstring did twinge a bit during the R pace. I questioned whether I should continue but pressed on because it wasn't holding me back. I've had better judgement at other times in my life...
Anyways. Extremely solid workout. A definite confidence booster in what was good conditions, but definitely not ideal.
Thursday
Right ankle still bothering me. Then when I was doing my pre-run dynamic WU it became quite clear my hamstring was screaming. Kind of like the feeling I had back at Dopey 2018 pre-races. Just put in a really strong workout, and my legs weren't quite fully prepared for it. Decided to keep it easy and not push it.
Average pace 9:21 with no desire to go a second faster. HR was 123 which says it all. Cardiovascularly I could handle more (123 vs 132 usual HR), but muscularly I was just not in the mood. Easy isn't easy unless it feels easy.
Friday
Right ankle still bothering me and now the left hamstring still needed some work too. The hamstring felt better, but it was important to continue to focus on easy. Sunday was going to be another mega day and I needed to be ready. Mother nature decided to not play nice though. An ABSOLUTE DOWNPOUR. I was soaked within minutes of being outside. But you never know what race day is going to be like. So onward and upward.
Average pace of 8:40 min/mile, HR of 128 (still slower than the easy side of easy). I just wasn't willing to push it anymore because of the rain and the little niggles I've got going on.
Saturday
Finally got some decent sleep. Out the door at 9:10am. Average pace of 7:58 min/mile for a total of 9 miles. Since this was a 90% week, then it meant a non-standard 9 miles on the weekend. Average HR of 138 which is nicely placed given the purpose of the run. Just as the run was coming to a close the wind started to pick up. A little brutal since it was a northern wind which just so happened to be the same direction of the big hill. An omen for tomorrow perhaps?
Sunday
The whole reason I chose to do the Daniels 4 week plan was the focus on really far M Tempo workouts. Well this was it. A 17 miler with 14 miles at M Tempo. The M Tempo workouts have been a nemesis of mine. You'd think I'd be better at them since they're my favorite distance. But once I get up into the 9-10 mile M Tempo workout it usually becomes super tough. So if 9-10 is tough, why not bump that up to 14-15 miles...
I was up at 5am and had my pre-race breakfast. I also prepared two servings of Maurten 320 drink mix. I placed the drinks on the top of my car trunk because I wanted to run by and grab them and keep going. Unlike the majority of my runs where I take a very short break to drink, the goal for this M Tempo was to be a non-stop workout.
T+D was 129 to 132 and cloudy. Given what I've had lately sounds like ideal conditions. However, there was a nice northern wind of 15-20 mph. So almost great conditions. Just got to deal with it.
The right ankle was still bothersome, but the hamstring was feeling closer to 100%.
M Tempo = 6:48 min/mile + 10 seconds (first half) + 2% T+D adjustment = 7:06 goal pace
The WU was uneventful. Things felt pretty good all things considered. I had a lot of confidence and was ready to see some 7:06s, maybe 6:50s, maybe even 6:40s. Time to see what I could do.
M Tempo = 7:17, 7:16, 7:21, 7:21, 7:10, 7:21, 7:29, 7:06, 7:13, 7:28, 7:08, 7:17, 7:17
Average pace = 7:17 min/mile
Heart said "GO!"
Legs said "NO!"
Brain said "Let's compromise and meet in the middle and be consistent."
The first split came in at 7:17 and I was like, alright I can deal with a conservative start. Then the second mile came in and I was like, well maybe this is where I want to be today. Then the third split came in, and I was like yep this is today's pace. So I changed from a goal 7:06 pace to finishing a consistent workout from beginning to end. I was able to hold on to the pace throughout without any stops. Even with a grade adjusted pace of 7:11, I was a bit off from goal pace.
Can't really say why I didn't have it today. Felt a lot like Lakefront 2017 where I had the stuff, but things just didn't line up. There was a big difference between Lakefront 2017 and this workout though. My HR. For Lakefront 2017, I truly was near the maximal (if not past) the marathon HR (in the mid/upper 150s). But today, my HR was actually in a great place. I hit a maximal HR of 152. My normal average HR for marathon's is between 148-152. So a maximal 152 means even on the hills I was never actually pushing "that hard". The average HR at 143 (way below M Tempo). So it says to me I was cardiovascularly capable, but didn't have the muscle/power to make it happen. Probably a combination of bad sleep lately, and didn't eat well enough yesterday. I'm also at Week 5 of the plan so possibly getting that cardio near maximum and the muscle still lagging behind as normal (cardio at 8 weeks and muscle at 12 weeks).
Sometimes when you mess with the unicorn you get the horn.
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