Last night, my friends celebrated my birthday which was on Friday. Two shots of tequila, some delicious chocolate cake, karaoke, and in bed at 1:30 am. I don't recommend this plan the night before a key long hard run of 20+ miles.
I woke up five hours later feeling okay. The first thing I did was drink about 12 oz. of water knowing that I needed to be hydrated for my workout. Next thing I did was check the temperature. Brrrrr.... 30 degrees. That calls for some gloves, beanie, and a jacket. The planned workout was 20 miles with the last 6 to 8 miles at goal marathon pace. After last night, I expected the worst. As I ran the first few minutes of my 2+ hour run, I realized that my body and legs was feeling pretty good. I cruised along for the first 12 miles in 1:20:12 (avg. 6:41) before ending up at the track for the next 6-8 miles at goal pace. I told myself that I'll see how I felt after the 6 miles at goal pace, and then finish the last 2 miles or call it for the day depending on the legs. When I got to the track I did a lap to transition into the pace. I felt good for the entire run and ended up completing the 8 miles at goal pace. I wasn't too surprised to see that I was hitting my splits with ease and feeling comfortable. I did the 8 miles in 47:12 (5:54 pace).
Here are my splits:
1-12M - 1:20:12
13M - 5:58
14M - 5:58
15M - 5:57
16M - 5:56
17M - 5:57
18M - 5:53
19M - 5:51
20M - 5:42
2.1 miles cooldown - 14:10
I looked back at my training log from my last marathon (2:38 in Austin) and compared the same workout with today's.
1/15/06: 1st 12M in 1:23 (6:55 pace); 8M @ goal pace in 47:39
11/05/06: 1st 12M in 1:20 (6:41 pace); 8M @ goal pace in 47:12
I'm very happy with the way my training is coming along. Today's 22 miler was my 5th 20+ miler in the last 7 weeks. The way things are looking so far, I should be able to run another PR and hopefully sub-6:00 miles for 26.2 miles.
Today's Run: 22.1 miles (2:21:34 - 6:24 pace)
Weekly Mileage: 90.4 miles
5 comments:
Wow nice run, Wayne. Especially considering the prior night's...er...preparation. Hopefully it doesn't catch up to you too badly on Monday. heh.
You've been doing some really solid workouts lately. I agree, you are going to show some very good improvement over that 2:38.
Nicely done Wayne. Looks like it's coming together at the right time. The fact that you're feeling good at the end of these runs is encouraging. I'm with Eric, I think you stand a very good chance at averaging faster than 6 minute pace.
Your training is coming along great Wayne. Very solid. You've got PR written all over you.
Good comparison and solid performance on your effort. You are on the right track!
Thanks guys.
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