our choices show what we truly are

I took advantage of the holiday to do some miles and a fast workout.

My plan was to do a 10X200m with 200m recovery. I knew that to do at least 10 miles total I had to do a long warm up, because after 10 fast 200 I would be totally done.

I am not used to runnig in the morning so I did a 10.1k warm up that was also great as a wake up. After the warm up I started with the workout. These were my splits: 37.6, 38.7, 38.3, 38.05, 37.5, 38.3, 37.5, 37.6, 37.6, 36.9   AP 37.8. I then finished with a 2k cool down. I have to say this was the first "bad" workout in a couple of months. I really wanted to hit 36" but I knew today was not going to happen, it felt really hard since the beginning, it was like running a 200m at 400m pace and the speed was not going down in spite all my efforts. I honestly went all out for all 10 intervals but the outcome was always the same.

This workout coincides with the highest mileage week of the year so at least there is an explanation for the poor outcome of this workout. I was happy because the effort for sure was there and during the 2k cool down I knew my best and fastest effort.

Easy recovery run for the first 10k, I sped up during the last 6k. No watch and no garmin, just some fun time with myself.

Easy run nothing special.

Progressive run from very easy to HM pace, I felt good.

Second consecutive day without running, rain was really coming down tonight. I will transform this week in a cut down week, I am not tired from last week big mileage, but a few days off are always refreshing.

Hardest workout of the year, last friday I was inspired by a friend who did a 10x400m  uphill interval training on the road close to place where we leave our cars (he also measured it with the wheel and marked the asphalt). After 2 rest days I was eager to start, after a 3.6k warm up I reached the bottom of the hill. This hill has probably a total of 50m altitude change, the incline is steeper at the beginning and flatter at the end, I was not sure how fast I could go going up and how to distribute the effort. I run on this road almost everyday and it is usually the very beginning of my run going out and the final stretch coming back and even going all out it is really hard to see the speed going under 4:00/k on the uphill. I started easy and relaxed and finished the first interval with 85 seconds, then from the second interval things were much more difficult. These were the remaining 9 splits: 89, 91, 91, 92, 90, 92, 94, 92, 94. AP 91. After 4 I started negotiating when to quit or whether to switch a couple of hills with some flat terrain, somehow this internal debate took me all the way to the end of the run without skipping my original plan. I was really tired at the end, it was hard to maintain the concentration and the will to push. This workout can be done only once a month.

Easy 10k at 5:15/k followed by 1k at HM pace (4:00/k) then another one at 10k  pace (3:51) and then the last one at 3:42/k (5k pace?). It was easy to switch to HM pace, almost natural, then going down it was hard. The last k didn't feel sustainable for 5k tonight.

Four easy miles.

Great race overall. It is a two loop course over three big hills (to be repeated twice). The only real problem of this race is the start in a narrow road with cars parked on both sides on a slightly downhill slope for the first 200m, after that, the road is wide and the hills will "dilute" the runners. I went into this race knowing that finishing in 44 minutes (for an 11k race) it would be a great result and it would be a virtual 10k PR. It is hard to go at a constant pace because the continuous up and down. I decided to use my effort level and ignore the garmin. I went out really hard and I finished the first lap in 20:3X something, I thought about finishing the whole thing under 43 minutes, but during the last two hills I was done, my legs were heavy and I struggled to maintain a decent pace on the hills. I finished with 43:42. It is my first official race sub 4:00/k, I have to improve my resistance over the distance, speed is there, but I have to be able to maintain it for the whole distance. I don't want to overkill myself, on a more flat terrain it would have been easier to maintain the same pace. A great race.

Slow and easy recovery run, 10 miles started really slow and finished near MP.

Cool and pleasant for a run.

Another recovery evening run, just easy miles to bring back some life into my legs.

No run tonight, the heavy rain was discouraging. This is going to be the rainiest spring of the last 20-30 years. I hope at least it is going to wash out the pollen.

My goal for tonight was a 10x1k at 10k pace with 1:30 recovery. Before going into details, when I started I knew I was going to crash, the question was just when and how. After a 2k warm up I started with the repeats: 3:49, 3:53, 3:51, 3:51, 3:52, 3:51. I started #7 but I stopped after 200m (it was a mental crash that anticipated a physical one) and kept running at slower pace until I hit 13k for the total run .

I felt disappointed but not surprised, I was happy because all my splits were consistent, just the recovery was too short (and the speed too high) for my current level of fitness.

Easy recovery run. 

2k warm up then I started a tempo run, goal distance was 8k at HM pace.

I was doing great until k 6.5 when I had a sharp pain in my left quadricep, I continued for another 100m because the pain was the same I stopped and started walking, after 3 more k walking the pain almost disappeared and I started jogging back to the car. When I got home the pain was still there, I iced the part and massaged it and for the next few days I will avoid any fast workout. Since last sunday I did too many fast kilometers. Just for the record the tempo pace was 4:02/k, I could have kept it easily for another 1.5k, but keep pushing for the sake of completing the planned workout it was not worth the risk.

Five easy miles, for the rest of this week no fast workout just miles without any pressure to go faster. The pain or its ghost is there.

Tonight the pain was almost gone, but I will stay focused on my plan of avoiding any fast workout. Cool night.

Very cold evening, about 10°C with a light rain, it was like mid november. I had to go to the winter running closet and find a long sleeve shirt and the wind/rain jacket. 6.2 easy miles I was really tired from a long day at work.

Five easy miles, my ghost pain is barely there but it is still there.

My left leg is back to normal, I decided to keep my plan (no workout for this week) and I started easy and relaxed, after 7 k I found myself speeding up and finished near HM pace, almost without pushing. It was fun. This is the effect of 5 days of easy running.

Five easy. Winter is back 9°C, strong cold windand rain.

Easy 10 miler, next week I will resume my regular schedule, adding some workouts.

Another five easy with winter conditions, I never had the furnace on at the end of may. It is unbelievably cold. 

I decided that my left leg is totally fine and it is time to resume some fast workouts.

This evening it was again cold and windy and the rain was coming. I wanted to do a short warm up for a couple of km then start with 6X400 with 200m recovery jog. After 2k I was still lethargic and it was mentally difficult to start pushing, I extended my warm up to 5k and at that point I wasn't feeling better but at least my legs were warmer. As soon as I started the first repeat I felt transformed, my legs after one week of slow stuff responded quickly and all the laziness disappeared. These were my splits: 76, 76, 78, 78 (this pace was more reasonable), 81 (here a car refused to move over and I was forced to run on the tall grass on the side of the road), 78.

I stopped the cool down once I reached 7 miles. A great workout.

It was another coldish evening for a run, at least there was natural light until 9:10pm.

It is really great to be able to run so late, nobody is around (no cars, bikers, people in general, just bats flying around), and if it was just a little bit warmer it would have been perfect.

10 easy miles, at the end of the run I felt completely recovered from yesterday run.

Short run, I started easy, I was feeling recovered and almost without any effort I finished at 5:00/k AP. It was surprising how that pace was easy. It was still cold and windy, it is really unbelievable this year.

Another cold evening run (temperatures below 50F are cold for the end of may for this part of the country). Nothing special about the run, I decided to keep the pace easy, saturday I will do another hilly 10kish race, I have somehow to taper for that.

Five easy miles, I am feeling rested and ready for a good race.