ORN: 'Twas 28° and sunny as I sped through four miles in a blistering 37'06". I'll save you from having to do the math; that's a 9'16" per-mile pace -- a ridiculously good time. I planned on doing a 3x800 interval workout today, and was in the midst of my first one, when I realized I was breaking a cardinal rule of running. Never do speed-work and increase mileage at the same time. I backed off the plan, yet I still pushed it pretty hard. I had the strength and energy, so I went for it.
I've been reviewing my data, and I have to brag. For the past 5 weeks, I have made or slightly exceeded all of my distance targets. The last time I had a similar stretch of consistent running like this was February-March 2008 when I ran consistently for seven weeks. Not coincidentally, that was during prime half-marathon training season, which I am in now as well. I have high hopes, therefore, that this streak of good behavior will continue.
This observation leads me to think that the key to my good behavior is having a big race on the calendar. Louisville has two marathons scheduled six months apart, and so if I register for both, then I can plan on 32 weeks of consistency, at least. My challenge for 2009 will be two-fold. First, I have to run the plan. In week 3 of my 16-week training plan, I am running 100% on-schedule and a little better than 100% on-mileage. Go me. But I have to stay the course, to quote the ex-president. [Ding, dong, the witch is dead!]
Second, I have to stay busy between races. I'll need to set some goals for myself and sign up for some races in those 10 to 12 high-risk weeks of late spring and late fall. There are a ton of 5Ks over the summer, and a few longer races in the late fall/early winter that would be good to add to the schedule. Summer can be my intense speed-work time of year, and winter can be my ... I don't know... other speed-work time of year? Or maybe I can focus on trail running in the winter/fall when the weather is more forgiving.
You are awesome. I haven't had that discipline, even with a marathon in my sights. BLAH!
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog thanks to Google--I was searching info about running the River Walk. I've got some catching up to do! If you're interested, come on over to www.RuntheVille.com and make some friends! You're more than welcome!!!
ReplyDeleteHa ha reminds me of those t shirts that say "I'm kind of a bid deal". Seriously though it's impressive that you're able to maintain your training in that frigid eastern winter.
ReplyDeleteI think a bonus that you may or may not have included in your plan is that it should get significantly easier for you to train longer distances faster once the weather gets better. At least that's what I've found, I don't think that's a cognitive bias.