As the weeks have passed, the 4-miler became 5 miles. The first time I was scheduled for it happened to fall in the week I ran my marathon in Springfield, so I folded that run into my marathon race. The pace was not as quick, and no mile fell within the goal range, but certainly the effort of the race was more taxing than just the 5-miler would have been. The second time the 5-mile tempo showed up, my week fell together in such a way that the only day I could attempt it was also a day I was pacing seven half-mile repeats. Well, after running 3.5 miles at 5:25 pace, I didn’t feel up for another five at a high intensity. Still, though, I did go out and hammer 3 miles in the 5:30s.
So, this week the tempo increased to 6 miles. I remember looking over my training plan the day after the 4-miler discussed above and literally swearing aloud when I saw that I eventually had to perform a 7-miler. (“There’s no #@*&% way,” I said.) I was equally afraid of the 6-mile tempo. After all, my 10k PR was a 5:41 pace and the majority of my goal range was faster than that.
Yet, after having ran 60 miles in the four preceding days, I set my watch to run a 10k (6.21 miles) with a goal finish of 35:30 (5:43 pace). My Garmin has a feature on it that I call rabbit, where it tells me how far ahead or behind I am of the goal. So, I was able to keep track of my progress. After each half mile, I crept further and further ahead of the rabbit, so my confidence grew. As I ran, I did some mental math and realized that if I could build my gap to more than a tenth of a mile, then I would run the 10k until 35 minutes. That became my revised goal.
The key, I feel was consistency. During the first half-mile, I was flying and a quick check of my watch showed I was at 5:10 pace which was much too fast. I quickly backed off so as not to burn out. The first half-mile was 2:41, which was too quick but not catastrophic. The rest of the way, I ran splits between 2:44 and 2:50 per half-mile. Prior to mid-July 2011, I had only ever ran a single 5k in which I avoided having at least one of my half-mile splits slower than 2:50, so this was quite an achievement to double the distance and not have that occur. Finally, I managed to close out the last two-tenths of a mile at 5:07 pace, which brought out some high-pitched breathing.
The end result was a new 10k PR! It wasn’t even close. I ran 34:29, which is a 5:33 pace. I had destroyed my former self by 48 seconds. I even ran negative splits of 17:20-17:09. The last 4 miles of the run were also a 4-mile PR. An even more exciting thing it that I felt as though I could have tacked on a 7th mile and been just fine. This leaves a lot to be excited about. I set a goal 11 years ago to run a 5k under 16 minutes. The closest I have gotten was 16:06, but I am extremely confident that I will finally achieve the mark.
Furthermore, seeing progress such as this is leaving me very excited for my race in the Boston Marathon. My confidence is building as every week passes. The training feels easier and I am recovering faster. I honestly feel as though I could step up from the 18/85 plan to the higher mileage plan. I won’t make any changes now, but perhaps for a future marathon buildup.
Here is my training for the past week.
Sunday was the big long run of the week. I did two 10 mile loops on the hills and gravel NE of Ames. The first loop was solo and took 65 minutes. The second loop took 74 minutes. It was a solid long run. I remember thinking afterward that the time was the exact cutoff to make US Olympic Trials, but of course I was 10k short. Total: 20 miles – 2:19:00 (6:57 pace).
The next day I did my two-a-day, which of course eats an hour of sleep to get the first run in. I got off to a dreadfully slow start as well. The first half-mile took 3:49 and it hurt. I ran along Bloomington/Duff. In the end, I loosened up fairly well. I ran the 6-miler in 7:08 pace. In the afternoon, I ran 4 more miles through Brookside and past the Cy-Ride station. It was a lot easier and a little quicker. Total: 10 miles – 1:10:39 (7:04 pace).
On Tuesday, I paced an 8x400 workout on the track. The splits were 76,75,75,74,75,73,75,75. They felt pretty smooth for the most part. I tossed in a few extra warm-up miles to meet my aerobic run for the week. Total: 8.5 miles – 1:02:30 (7:21 pace).
I was back to another long run on Wednesday. I ran the first 6 miles with my training partner at 7:36 pace. We went to the end of Northridge Heights and back. Then, I tacked on 9 more miles running out Lincoln Way and Dayton as well as some hills near Carr Pool. They were at 6:27 pace. Total: 15 miles – 1:43:39 (6:55 pace).
Thursday was probably the best workout performance I have ever had. First, I paced a progressive run which consisted of a 1.5-mile warm-up, then 4 miles in 6:41, 6:25, 6:11, and 6:02. Immediately following that, I ran my workout. I set out for a 10km tempo run with a goal of running 5:40 per mile. I nailed it in 34:29 (5:33 pace). This ended up being a 48 second PR for the distance. However, I have never felt satisfied with my performance when I have raced a 10k. I also split a 4-mile PR in 22:08, but not an 8k PR, which I found to be a little strange. I did a short cool down running up the hill from Ada Hayden. Total: 12.5 miles – 1:16:48 (6:09 pace).
On Friday, we set out for an easy recovery run, but did the majority of it in the Hyland/Oakland neighborhoods to pick up the biggest hills in Ames. We also ended the run by adding in a few strides. Total: 6 miles – 45:43 (7:37 pace)
We closed the week out with a second recovery run and our first at the indoor rec center. The monotony of running laps was mentally painful, but we got through it. Of the 7 miles, I ran 2 solo under 6:00 pace. Total: 7 miles – 50:42 (7:15 pace).
For the week (Sun-Sat), I hit 79 miles in 9:09:01 or 6:57/mile.
Whoa!!! That's an insane training week. Nice 10k, I can only dream of doing a 10k at that pace right now. Anyway nice job, keep it up. BTW I've been reading your blog for a while.
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