Week of 12/15

As a preface. This is my first week back, and as such these distances and paces will seem uncharacteristic to some, however I promise things will get a bit more intense in the weeks to come. This week was only supposed to be 35 miles in 6 runs. Ten weeks from now it is my hope (injury permitting) that I will be at 95 miles in 9 runs and on my way to over a 100 a week or so after that.

The shoes I am wearing for my runs I can not mention as I am a wear tester for a major running shoe company. However for the next month or so I am testing two pairs of said shoes and will be using them for all my runs.

Monday: First run of this unholy test. Went about as painfully as I could have imagined. Distance of 5.6 miles covered in 38:31 roughly 6:52 pace. To give you an idea of why that sucks, in season I train around 6 flat for 10 miles or more and raced my marathon at 6:25 pace. However after 8 years of running you get used to the rust that builds during time off.  Also it was 40 degrees.

Tuesday: Today was 32 degrees, and made it a bit hard to get going. I had 6 miles on the sheet but ran 6.35 instead. Its hard to find exact routes when you run from home. Completed the route in a little over 43 minutes for a 6:49 pace. Felt a little bit more in control but that went away as the run went on. Felt more tired towards the end. Today was the first day of strength work.  I'll cover that at the end.

Wednesday: Supposed to be a 6 mile day, but I did 5.6 instead. Averaged 6:45 pace and felt better breathing wise than yesterday, but legs were sore from strength work. However it was much warmer than yesterday so there's a plus.

Thursday: The glorious off day! However I did still have strength work. I completed that and then went to Emeryville to meet up with Brad, a fellow alumni. We got some lunch at the international market and watched Frost / Nixon. A fantastic movie which we discussed for a while among other things and then I headed home. Oh how I do enjoy off days.

Friday: Supposed to be a 5 miler, but I put in 5.35 again. Posted a pace of 6:23 which was fantastic, however it felt forced towards the end. This was the first day in my new shoes, so that might have been part of it. I can't help, but be happy about that pace though. Its a good sign.

Saturday: Now I feel embarrassed calling a 7 miler my long run for the week. But in the past I have tried to make my first long runs distances around 12 miles, but its always been a bit much for the first week back. Though 7 felt a tad easy as far as distance goes I was happy to get it done. Covered the 7.3 mile loop in 47:33 or 6:30 pace. Only 8 seconds a mile slower than yesterday and yet about 2 miles longer. I do love how my body is adapting to getting back to it. I also had a bit of fun on this one and let my legs go. I covered the first 4 miles in around 6:40 pace and the last 3.3 in 6:05 pace. Though I would like to get the whole run at those last 3.3 miles, I was very happy to close that run up with that quickness.

Sunday: The final day for what has seemed to be a long week. I saw that I was a little over in my miles for the week and to hit my prescribed 35 I only needed to do about 5 miles not the 6 on the sheet so I went out for a 4.6 mile easy loop. I clocked 7 flat per mile which felt very relaxed and in shape contrast to Mondays 6:52 which felt very hard.

Comments on the Week: Over all a good week and not without some gems in there. The closing of my long run at 6:03 pace for the final half of the run is very promising. Though I didn't mention it that much I did have other strength workouts on there that I was testing out and have made part of my routine for next week.  Also my next week is supposed to be a 40 miler however I feel that I will be fine skipping a week to the following (46miles) with a long run of 10 miles next Saturday. Looking ahead the days are to be 8, 7, 8, 6, 7, 10, off.

Strength Work: I mentioned that I would cover the strength work I am doing so here it is. Henceforth referred to as CMS Strength work, as it is taken from Goldhammer, my coach at Claremont. All, unless with a distance, are in sets of 15 reps.

push ups - leg lunges (30m) - V ups - L Twists - back hypers - dips - spring jumps - side slides (30m)

Goals: I mentioned in the previous post that I would cover my goals for the 2009 Outdoor season. I have not completely finished them yet as I would like to consult with my coach at CMS however, I do have some times what can serve as proxies of the times I will eventually set for this out and summer racing season.

RACE FOCUS : 5k 

1500m/mile - 4:05 / 4:20

3k Steeple Chase - 9:29

3k/2mile  - 8:54 / 9:30

5k - 14:58

10k - 31:59

10 miles - 53:00

Probably wont race, but why not  - 13.1 miles - 1:12:00 - 26.2 miles - 2:37:00