January 30 - February 5 Training

Mon: AM - 8.3 miles easy with 8x20s pickups (7:04); PM - 5 miles very easy (8:19)

Tue: AM - 15 miles including 3 miles tempo at sub 5:30, 1 mile easy, 4x1/2 mile uphill, 2x1/2 mile downhill with jog down/up recovery.  This was a long morning at the office.  Ran the 3 mile tempo in 16:17 (5:24, 5:25, 5:28) with the first 1.75 miles on the track and the remaining 1.25 miles on the road.  The last mile felt tough because of a slight gradual increase in elevation.  After the tempo, I jogged a mile to the golf course, where I ran some hill repeats at tempo effort.  Man, running 1/2 mile uphill repeats is no joke!  Ran 2:42, 2:44, 2:44, and 2:42 for the uphills and then two downhill repeats at 4:50 pace (2:25, 2:25).  PM - 5 mile easy (8:02); a 20-mile training day.

Wed: AM - 10 miles easy (7:06); felt lazy early in the run, smooth for the middle miles, and tired in the end.  PM - 5 miles including APFT 2-mile in 10:30. I had my Army Physical Fitness Test, which to be honest, I wasn't expecting much for the push-ups and sit-ups.  I haven't done much muscular endurance workouts over the last six months, so I would have been happy if I knocked out 80 push-ups/sit-ups.  I exceeded my expectations and cranked out 100 push-ups and 95 sit-ups.  For the 2-mile, I ran at a hard tempo effort finishing in 10:30 (5:20, 5:10).

16 years and keeping the streak alive!

Thu: AM - 8.3 miles easy (7:12); upper body and abs are tight and sore from the APFT. PM - 5.2 miles easy (7:33)

Fri: AM - 10 miles including 12x400 at 70-72 with 200 slow jog.  400 splits were 72, 71, 72, 71, 70, 71, 71, 70, 69, 69, 69, & 70.  I actually ran a 69 for the last rep but stopped my watch a little passed the line.  PM - 5 miles easy (8:25)

Sat: 22 miles long run (6:51); Nothing spectacular about this long run.  I ran a workout yesterday, so the main purpose of this long run was spending time on my feet.  Did two loops of a 10-mile loop that included some flats, uphills and downhills.  The uphill was a long 2 mile climb from 6.5 to 8.5 miles and 16.5 to 18.5.  Running the hill on the 2nd loop was a bit tough, but it was a good simulation of the Newton Hills (in terms of the mile markers). 

Sun: AM - 8 miles easy (7:10); PM - 3.1 miles easy (8:05)

Weekly Total: 110.3 miles on 13 runs/ 7 days.  This was my highest weekly mileage since March 2011.  It's also my 5th 100+ mile week of this Boston Marathon training cycle. 

January 16 - 22 Training

Mon: AM - 9.3 miles with 8x20s pickups (6:58); ran the pickups lightly because the legs really didn't feel like running fast.  PM - 4.7 miles easy (7:39)

Tue: AM - 12 miles including 4 miles threshold at 5:20-5:30, 1 mile easy, 2x800m w/ 800m jog; ran the 4 mile tempo in 21:34 (5:28, 5:25, 5:22, 5:19), 5:24 avg pace.  The first 2-3 miles felt relatively smooth and comfortably hard.  The last mile, however, was a bit tough and I could feel the legs starting to get heavy.  After a mile easy jog I ran 2x800.  The goal for the 800 at sub 5:10 pace, but I was much faster than that.  Ran 2:29 and 2:28, respectively.  PM - 5.8 miles easy (7:28)

Wed: AM - 9.3 miles easy (7:04); PM - 5 miles easy (7:19)

Thu: AM - 9.5 miles including 3x90s uphill, 3x90s downhill.  Didn't treat this as a "real" workout, but more like some tougher and longer strides.  Covered .29 miles of uphill and .33 miles of downhill for the 90 seconds.  PM - 5.1 miles easy (7:20)

Fri: AM - 7.3 miles easy (7:28); PM - 5 miles easy (7:17)

Sat: Did not run. Caught the stomach bug.  Probably the worst sickness I've had in a very long time. 

Sun: 8.6 miles easy (7:21);  legs felt heavy in the early miles, but better as the run progressed.  I had planned to run another 5-7 miles in the late afternoon, but decided it was probably best to give the body a bit more rest coming off the flu. 

Weekly Total: 81.7 miles on 11 runs/ 6 days
I would have ended the week at 105 miles had I not caught the flu.  Oh well.  The good thing is that I have a really strong base and background, so a missed day or two of training wouldn't affect my fitness.  If anything, it will likely charge my batteries a bit more. 

January 2 - 8 Training

Mon: AM - 8.2 miles easy (7:20); PM - 4.1 miles easy (7:38).  Looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, only because I'll be able to knock out my second run during lunch hour and have the evenings free to play with the kids.

Tue: AM - 10.7 miles including 5x1k at sub 5:05 pace w/ 400m slow jog, 4x200m fast w/ 200m jog.  Workout went really well, probably one of my better interval sessions I've had in a while.  My 1k splits were 3:06, 3:08, 3:06, 3:06 and 3:06.  I was pretty happy to see that all of my splits, with the exception of the 2nd rep, were consistent at 3:06 (4:59 pace). For the 200s, the goal was to close hard and fast while keeping good form.  Again, I surprised myself with the splits and ran all of them in 30s.  PM - 5.1 miles very easy (8:11); Running 8:00+/mile felt really good after this morning's workout. 

Wed: AM - 8.1 miles easy (7:20); PM - 5 miles easy (7:12)

Thu: AM - 9.3 miles including 4x1/4 mile uphill, 4x1/4 mile downhill.  Ran the uphill repeats in 72, 73, 73, 72 and the downhill repeats in 61, 63, 61, and 61.  Got in some really good work, and by the end of the workout I felt like I needed a new set of lungs.  I ran this same workout three weeks ago in 76, 78, 79, 80 for the uphill and 66, 65, 64, 63 for the downhill, so today's workout was a nice improvement.  PM - 4.9 miles easy (7:32)

Fri: AM - 7.5 miles easy (7:41); PM - 5 miles easy (7:21)

Sat: 22.4 miles long run (6:49).  Man, it was freezing (23 deg with a real-feel of 15).  I managed to finish my run before the roads were covered in snow.  This week's long run was nice and easy with the main purpose of spending time on my feet.  Ran the first 13 miles on rolling hills and then the last 9 miles on fairly flat ground. 
 

Sun: AM - 6.6 miles easy (7:23). Today was even colder with a real-feel of 3 degrees!  There was also snow on the ground from yesterday, but luckily the roads were still runnable; PM - 4 miles easy (7:30)

Weekly Total: 101.1 miles on 13 runs/7 days
A good week of training that included some decent variety (speed, hills and endurance).  It was also the coldest week with temperatures well below freezing from Thursday through Sunday.  I really don't mind the freezing temps, as long as the roads are not too icy/snowy to run on.