AM: 12-K race

2 mile warm up, 12:54

12-k went well.  The course was different than I thought.  Mostly an out and back with a loop in the middle.

Slow start, but most of the first mile is fast.  Problem with that is I knew I had to finish coming back up the hill.  So I went out in control,  4:56 through the mile.  Then the rolling hills started.

Mile 2 in 5:31
Mile 3 in 5:31
Mile 4 in 5:34

Then I hit a section of about 400 meters on dirt and grass.  The last bit of mile 5 was flatter, but the road had moss on it and it was like running on an old wet track without spikes.

Mile 5 in 5:46
Mile 6,  I got my shit back together and ran 5:16

Then the hill to the finish started.  I pushed good on this and was really happy how well I was able to push myself.

Mile 7 in 5:32

The hill continued and the last .45 miles I managed to run in 2:33

40:43 for total time, 5:28 pace.  A little slower than the sub 40 I wanted, but the course was legit, hilly, and it was super humid.  So I was really happy to break 41:00.

Afterwards I did 3.5 miles for a cool down, 23:32.

I definitely feel good running just faster marathon pace over hills.

With the 5-7 pounds I'll take off the next 2 weeks and fresh legs, I'm interested to see how the flat 10k goes in a couple of weeks.  I'm guessing I can run my goal of 32:30 there, which is 5:14 pace.

Next weeks 4-k is mostly flat and downhill, so I'll try and run sub 4:50 pace for that to work on some speed.

4 weeks until the marathon.  Heck ya, I've put myself into a great position to do well.

Easy run

4 miles, 25:08, pickups every half mile.  Pickups started at 6:00 pace at 1.5% incline, worked down to 5:00 pace at 3% incline.  I guess I never gave any of my readers an idea of what I do for pickups.

So every half mile mostly to break things up I run .10 of a mile at 6:00 pace.  Sometimes I'll bring it down a little faster, but these aren't meant to be hard.  Today I did two at 6:00 pace, two at 5:27 pace, three starting at 5:00 pace for first .05, and then 5:27 pace last .05.  Brought the incline up a little as I went to wake up legs for tomorrow.  I'd prefer to do some hill sprints outside because I can go faster than the treadmill lets me, but this works good enough.

12-k race tomorrow.  Not easy to focus at a quick pace for 40 minutes.  I really love 10+ mile races so you can zone out at a little slower pace.

Got to jump in the pool for some deep water running the next two weeks some to get my form in order and strengthen up some.  Pool running makes my running form super good.  But at 3-4% body fat its a good effort.

Easy run

6.2 miles on treadmill,  39:58.  Pickups every half mile.

Not counting the hike up Katahdin,  I managed to get in about 105 miles in last 7 days.  Took kind of a chance, but made it through injury free.  So I'm backing off now,  nor going to push my lyck, time to rest up for a few more races, get in some key workouts,  and in 4 weeks three days, the marathon.

Easy run

11.3 miles with Kephart on the roads, 1:20:54.  Basically my winter loop.  Pretty hot for mid September. 

Legs felt better as we went.  Easy runs tomorrow and friday, with some strides. 12-k race on Saturday.  Goal is sub 40:00, 5:21 ish pace.  Never been on the course, but it looks like first mile is downhill, second is up, middle miles flat to rolling, second to last mile downhill, and last mile up.  So I'll probably go out under 5:10, then run 5:30, then 5:20s in middle and then 5:10, 5:30 to finish. That's the goal at least.

With 3 1/2 easy days I'm hoping my legs recover from the beating I've given them.  We'll find our Saturday

PM workout

2.5 mile workout, 14:54, legs felt pretty good, quads are still a little sore, and they felt a little more empty than normal to start, but with the week I've had I kind of expected it.

Did 7.28 miles at and a bit faster than goal marathon pace.  39:53.  Felt comfortable

.28 miles easy

1.4 miles at goal marathon pace. 7:45,  legs were empty.

.28 miles easy 2:00

.28 miles quicker, 1:25

.28 miles easy, 2:04

.56 miles at goal marathon pace, 3:07

.28 miles easy, 1:59

.28 miles quicker, 1:25

.28 miles easy, 2:04

.84 miles at goal mp, 4:40

.28 miles easy, 2:04

2.5 mile cool down, 17:30, real slow.

17.32 total.

67 miles for the week with three days to go.

Easy AM run

3.6 miles, 24:03, treadmill.  Pickups every mile, last couple uphill to try and wake legs up for workout tomorrow.

Easy PM run

12.4 miles on treadmill.  1:19:41.  Pickups every half mile.

Legs feel much better today.