The Long Run

Fast long run--first attempt in about a month. I ran from Bethesda down the Crescent Trail to Beach Drive and back. Set out for 14 miles cutting down to 8 fast miles in the middle of the run. The fast 8 were 47.45 and the 10 miles from 2-11 were 60.28 so this was definitely a productive day. In addition the overall pace of this run was only one second per mile slower than my half marathon in September and this was a mile longer--very happy about that. Splits: 7.11, 6.22, 6.21, 5.56, 5.57, 5.58, 5.53, 6.01, 6.00, 6.08, 5.52, 6.41, 6.30, 6.25.

Jingle Bell Jog 8k

I ran the Jingle Bell Jog 8k on Sunday morning. I decided to run this race at the last minute and I intended for it to act as a hard 5 mile tempo run to work on strength. I settled into the pack from the start and tried to stay within reach of the leaders the entire race which worked well. I wasn't intending to kick in this race but with 800 to go I was still with the lead pack so I decided to try and win the race. I took off right before the last turn and went full speed up the steep hill to the finish. It was such a dramatic change in speed that no one was able to react fast enough. I won the race by four seconds.

I ended up running 28:42 for 5:47 pace. On this course I'm pretty happy with the time and how it felt--I felt very relaxed through 3.5 miles and still in control past that point. It was also good practice to run in a tight pack for five miles--and a lot of fun to say the least since I do almost all of my workouts and long runs alone.

This will probably be my last "race" for a while (unless I decide to do a New Years Day race) so for now it will be back to training hard. I found out on Sunday night that I got into the Cherry Blossom 10 miler so that will be my focus (along with Pike's Peek) for the next several months.

Speedwork. Finally.

I finally did some speedwork on Thursday morning and it was fantastic. I went to Aspen Hill Park in Rockville (?) to do the workout on a 684 meter grass loop I'd measured out on Tuesday. The 1.5 mile out and back section of the Rock Creek trail that starts at the park is great for warmups/cooldowns and the loop is pretty runnable with good (but not perfect) footing. Cross country at its finest.

I did 4 x 200 (100j) @ 40%, 8 x 150 (100j) @ 60%, 4 x 200 (100j) @ 40%. It felt awesome and I really got moving on the 150s despite it being about 25 degrees outside with considerable wind. I put on my new cross country spikes for the 150s which really helped accelerate the workout as I've been doing basically all of my running in full weight trainers for the last several months.

I also began lifting again this week which will be a huge positive I think. I'm a bit sore but once I get in the rhythm I think I'm gonna start feeling a lot stronger on my runs.

Phase 2

Today markes the last day of my initial training phase. This consisted of almost exclusively longer runs with pickups in the middle ranging from 0.5 miles to 2 miles as well as a fast long run. After a disappointing long run today I know I still need to work on strength and will continue to do so...but its time to incorporate some faster stuff as well.

This coming week I will replace one of my interval/fartlek/pickup workouts with a shorter, faster track-style workout. This will serve as leg prep for faster interval workouts I'll likely begin in February. This should also give me a little zip to help improve my pacing on longer workouts--so I'm very anxious to get started.