Not bad for 2 weeks work

 Training has been different as of late.  Running faster has finally taken its toll, but I guess this was already known.  It does an excellent job of making one tired.  The plan will remain the same, but the paces are being dialed back substantially.  The stride rate is still being worked on.  Small improvements have been made, though there is some doubt reaching 180 per minute will happen.  I have went from about 152 to 160.  Today it was 162 at 10:26 pace.  That was with trying to make an effort towards improvement.  My best result was at 170.  That was closer to sub 8:30 pace.  Also this is primarily on the roads.  The trails require a different technique.  Less shuffle and more high stepping.  At least on the Ice Age trail.

Really enjoyed a 21.5 mile run this past Sunday with Angela, Tina, Brenda, and Nicole.  They were on there second day of running a 50k.  We moved well.  I was fairly waxed for a couple days.  It is so nice to just move along.  No pressure.  Enjoy getting out.  I kind of miss piling up the 70-80 mile weeks.  It was all super slow (yes I know 10:30 is slow), probably between 12-13 a mile when by myself.  But...it is also nice to change things up a bit.

Big Iron

So now that I am back traveling a bit more for work, I am going to have to adjust how some runs play out. The plan to continue moving faster in short runs still played out. After reading a nice piece by Beck the idea of increasing cadence was added.  I had five faster efforts as follows w/ cadence noted.  There is no warm up, just start rumbling.

4.4 @ 8:44 (?)

4.4 @ 8:45 (160)

4.4 @ 8:25 (166)

4.4 @ 8:33 (172)

5.1 @ 8:26 (168)

Another decent level of volume pace work.  

So the trails are still in bad shape.  I opted for a mostly road run on Sunday to finish the week.  I had last Saturday off and struggled a bit with 14 last Sunday.  Glad to report this 15.1 went fairly decent with a pace of 9:36 and a 158 cadence.  I was surprised at the lower number, as I felt like the turn was better than that.  Still have a lot to discover here.  If anything it gets me thinking about different ways to do things.  The week odometer ended at 51.3 miles.  

I set my watch up in time zones of sub 7:30, 7:30 to 8:00, 8:00 to 8:30, 8:30 to 9:00, and 9:00+.  Would like to try and see if any progress is made as I continue.  Knowing one is tracking data is hard to ignore, but I am trying.  

Vanishing Point

Recently I learned the Ice Age 50 mile has been moved to September 11th. This falls on my 60th birthday. It has promoted me to drop my current habit of running at a very slow pace in the name of just piling up miles. After much thought and writing out various schemes I have developed a strategy. It is as follows. Monday thru Friday Run twice a day at an up tempo pace for 35-40 minutes. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings run with Big Kick Track Club easy. Fridays will be looked at as well if I am gassed. Saturday off. Sunday I will alternate weeks with a long run and a trail pace run at goal pace. The pace run will allow me to figure out what I can possibly achieve. The A goal for now is 8:30. The mileage will fall between 55-65 per week. Last week I was a bit aggressive. This left me waxed at the end of the week. I will attempt to back off a bit on the up tempo runs. I did 6 out the door up tempo runs of 4.3 miles and averaged 9:01, 8:44, 8:13, 8:14, 8:29, and 8:21 on those. Friday I opted for 6.2 easy and Saturday off. Sunday was 14.0 @ 10:52 and I struggled a bit the last 5 miles. Ended the week with 58.2 miles. It wouldn't hurt to cut weight. I was 178 on Tuesday. I am 5'11" so there is room there. Historically if I am in the low 170s that is good for me.