On Wednesday I had my first MP run, 8 miles with 6 at MP. It went OK. I expected it to be much easier than it was. I blame my 7am research meeting and "Entourage" (watched up to the wee hours the night before) for the sluggish feeling I experienced through it. (1 mile@ 8:30, 6 miles @ 7:54, 1 mile@ 9:00).
I was supposed to do my long run on Friday, but an uneasy stomach and the back pain from the tough bike ride I took on Thursday convinced me that I better take the day off. And I did. We went to the Cape to visit some friends for the weekend, and I managed a 30 min ocean swim. Wow, I was floating. I forgot how much easier ocean swims are.
Saturday I was up early for my 15 miler. I decided to go from Truro to Provincetown, which ended up being 7.5 miles, and turn around. The run was very hilly and I was surprised at to how easy it felt. My legs were a bit tired at the end, but nothing too bad. I struggled to keep the pace slow at the begining, and pushed the pace a bit toward the end of the run, because it felt good. Average pace was 8:35, with last 2 miles @ 8:00. The plan was to average 8:45, but at mile 8 I decided to pick it up a bit. I was very happy with this run. Plus, I managed to listen to 2 awesome podcasts, and switch to music only toward the end of the run, which definitely helped keep the pace slower, and then faster.
Sunday I woke up with fresh legs. No soreness. I decided to do a recovery run, in order to get my weekly mileage up to 35. The goal was to stay between 9:45 and 10:00 average pace, and I did (4 miles @ 9:45). Legs felt OK, music was blasting, the ocean looked beautiful. However, I did not feel the typical bliss I experience after running harder. I much rather bike or swim hard than run slow, but I know that more mileage is going to help my legs feel stronger during the marathon.
Week 2 is done! Looks like, again, tempos/MP runs are my weakness! Or it may be a mental glitch that I need to figure out (e.g., expectation that these runs are supposed to be easier). Will see.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I didn't know you were on Cape Cod! We used to vacation there when I was younger, camped in Provincetown every year. It's such a beautiful part of the country
your mp run sounds good to me! i know you are wanting it to be faster but it is still early - you'll get more 'used' to the effort needed and i bet you'll see those splits drop. nice long run too!! speed demon :)
glad you were able to keep it nice and easy for the recovery run today. the legs will thank you as you start another week of training!
ahhh...so it all gets better does it? Sounds like a dream run...warm,feeling good, listening to podcasts, what more could a runner want?
great job. fun to have a new place to run.
excellent running, and how awesome is running by the ocean, one of my favorite things to do. I'm also a fan of trying to hit my long runs at a pace closer to marathon pace.
Great job with the runs this past week! Very impressive! I love running near the water--it's so relaxing and blissful! :)
Also, thanks for reminding me that there's nothing wrong with the FIRST plan. I think I tend to get envious of people who have time to get more mileage in and dream about doing higher mileage plans like Pfitz. But you're totally right--I think I'm going to try FIRST again, but just add some extra easy miles in. Thanks for the awesome advice :)
Sorry MP it wasn't as easy as you hoped it would be. It's still so early in the cycle though so I know you'll be feeling it in no time.
Love that salt water!!
nice job on the week!!! i find those slower runs to be very relaxing and they do really help with the added mileage. it does take some getting used to though :)
Post a Comment