"Chasing Sub 65" Cycle Weeks 6 and 7 - 132 and 140 miles

"Chasing Sub 65" Cycle Week 6 - 132 miles

Quality Session1: 3x2 mile repeats with 2 minutes rest - I am ready
Following a week where I had a breakthrough mile repeats workout midweek followed by a couple of decent quality sessions over the weekend, I was feeling a little tired. The plan this week was to take 4-5 easy days and then resume workouts. However, by Tuesday I started feeling the "pop" back in my legs again so I met myself halfway on the revised schedule and decided to do a workout Thursday. I took a second shot at the 3x2 mile repeats workout I didn't finish last Saturday.

What a difference a few easy days make! Last Saturday I decided to bail on the workout after a 9:59.8 and 9:55.6 because I felt like I was running too hard by the end of the 2nd repeat. This time I started super conservative with a 5:01 first lap followed by a 4:56 for a 9:57.74 first rep. I kept up the same effort throughout the second rep and ran 9:54.96 with a couple of 4:57s. After another quick 2-minute rest I was full of run and came through the first lap in 4:56-high, I gradually dialed up the pace and ran as hard I could while keeping it comfortable, finishing off the workout with a 9:52.67. Overall summary - 3x2 "MVP Miles" with 2 min rest - 9:57.74, 9:54.96, 9:52.67 -> 9:55.12 (Average = 4:57.56/lap)

This workout projects to a HM of 65:00.8 based on the 4:57.56 pace. I am there! I was so excited I think I even made my first "workout" post on facebook in years.

Quality Session 2: Sunday 20-miler with Kenny Foster
This was more of a moderate / long aerobic stimulus. We started out pretty easy but was in the 6:30s by mile 3. Around mile 12 we started a progression and ran in the 5:40-5:50 range for the next 4 miles before dialing it back a little. 20 @ 6:30


"Chasing Sub 65" Cycle Week 7 - 140 miles

Quality Session1: 20x400s, 5x200s.
On Wednesday Kenny and I met up for another session on the track. The original workout plan was 25x400s with 1 min rest, and taking a full lap jog in 2-2:30 after every 5th 400. However, it was a little humid out and my right IT band felt like it was at the very beginning stages of tightening up by the 15th, so I told Kenny that I was going to do 5 more to see if my IT band got worse but probably stop at 20 either way.
I ended up doing all 20 between 70.97 and 69.10 and averaged 69.83. Also, since the IT Band didn't feel too bad we ran 5 more 200s with a 200 jog. I managed to run these in 32-34 and felt pretty good.

Quality Session 2: 20 mile long run with 10 @ MP+3-5% and 5 @ LT
On Sunday, Kenny, Jason, and I went up to Denver to run the Rocky Mountain Road Runner Marathon training series. This is a small low key race on the Platte River bikepath where the runners are offered a 10 mile and 20 mile option. You run out for 5 miles and back to the start/finish line for 10 miles. and then repeat again if you are doing 20. The plan was to run 10 miles @ 5:40-5:45 with Jason for his marathon pace tempo, and then Kenny and I would start progressing down from 5:30 pace and hopefully close around 5:10-5:15 at the end. We ended up going:

5:42.63, 5:41.98, 5:39.70, 5:40.19, 5:42.98
5:40.56, 5:42.82, 5:41.72, 5:37.08, 5:26.24 

Jason picked it up a bit on the last mile of his workout and I went with him, I then waited a little bit for Kenny to catch up and we both took a pit break that  was a little under a minute. Then we got going again, but apparently we both were a little anxious to dial down the pace and got out a bit quick.

5:15.08, 5:12.84, 5:13.16, 5:16.92, 5:19.05

I was really cruising along and pulled away from Kenny about 2 miles into the 5 mile tempo and was really feeling awesome, but with 2 miles to go my legs apparently remembered they were at the end of a 140 mile week. I tried to keep the effort controlled and relax my form without killing myself, and was able to hold it together some what the last 2 miles. Then, Kenny and I then cooled down the last 5 miles and finished the 20-miler in around 1:58:30. Not a bad day of work. Summary: 10 @ 5:39.59, 1min break, 5 @ 5:15.41.
Total average for 15 = 5:31.53. (Total for 20 = 5:50-5:55 depending on whether one counts the break, and whether one includes the extra bit of jogging/backtracking I did here and there to get my watch to read 20.1 miles at the end of the run).

This was another huge confidence boost. I was hoping to run 5:20 average for my progression after running 5:40-5:45s, but not only did we help Jason exceed the fast end of his goal for his workout, but I also averaged almost 5 seconds/mi faster than I expected for the next 5 miles. The 5 mile tempo @ 5:15 was a run that I could barely handle a few months ago as a stand alone workout on my treadmill, now I did it on a bikepath with some mild rolling terrain and hills after running slightly slower than marathon pace effort for 10 miles first. My overall average of 5:31.5 @ 5200 feet elevation also converts to sub-5:20 pace at sea level, which makes me kind of wonder what I can run for a marathon right now, hopefully I find out next February in LA!