Half Training Week 2: September 15 – 19, 2009

Posted on Sep 20, 2009 under running | 2 Comments
This is the 2nd week of half marathon training and it feels like it’s working. Last week, I did a pretty good job on the intervals and tempo run and ran a pretty good distance in the long run. This week, the interval distance increased, the pace for the tempo run increased, but was shorter and the distance for the long run only went up by one mile. None of the workouts really seemed impossible and should have been pretty manageable.
Intervals
This week’s intervals was supposed to be 5×1000 at 6:40 pace which was supposed to be 4:10 and to get even more specific, :25 per 100 meters. The main reason why I’m keeping track of every 100 meters is because I am terrible at pacing myself. When I ran in high school, I always ran with a teammate who was able to run at the correct pace. And whenever I had to do intervals on my own, I would always be off pace. What would happen is that I would run the beginning of the interval a little slower so I would pick it up (faster than the actual pace) to even up the pace. That just isn’t very consistent. I was able to run each 100 meters at around 21 to 22 seconds feeling pretty comfortable. The last interval or two, I was able to increase some of those to 20-21, and wanted to break 20 for the last 100 m and did it at 19.01! Great run overall, next week’s intervals will be tough too, 7×800 m.
Tempo Run
My Thursday tempo run didn’t really seem that hard, only 20 minutes at the hard tempo pace: 6:45. Last week was supposed to be at moderate pace 7:00 but for 4 miles, which I did and actually hit at the hard tempo pace. But the splits were all over the place, including the first mile which was way too fast, 6:19! So today, I made a conscious effort to not go too fast and run the warmup at an actual warmup pace, not 7:00 which I hit last week. So I did the warmup and the first mile and actually was right on pace, which was very surprising. Second mile was a little slower, but still on pace. Because I actually ran what I was supposed to run, I had a lot more energy throughout the run and had a lot more at the end to finish strong. My last mile today was a 6:19, the same time as the first mile of my tempo run last week, which killed me for the rest of the run. Overall good tempo run.
Long Run
Saturday’s long run did not turn out like I had hoped. The plan was 6 miles easy and then 3 miles at goal race pace plus 20-30 seconds. I woke up a little later than I had hoped that morning, but still got out and actually hit those first 6 miles at a reasonable 8:15-8:20 easy pace. However, by the time I got to the 7th mile (1st mile of the goal race pace), it had gotten super hot and I didn’t get any water or fuel to run any faster. The first mile was pretty much the same pace as the easy 6 I had just ran and the 2nd mile slowed to a jog. I too out of energy and just decided to just call it a day after that. I’m still happy with the miles, but I missed out on the most important part of the workout. This was the first of this type of workout and will be more like it in the next couple of weeks. But I have definitely learned how much the heat can affect someone who runs 5 days out of the week at night, which kind of freaks me out since the half marathon will not be at night. But thinking about it, it will probably start in the early morning so the sun shouldn’t be a big factor. I will just have to get up a little bit earlier next time I have to run this workout.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Intervals: 5×1000 meters
Was very eager to run intervals again. Last week’s was pretty successful and I was able to run faster than my goal pace. Today’s intervals were a little bit harder: 5×1000 meters at 6:40 pace = 4:10. I was able to run faster again today, although I was more tired than last week, which is understandable. I still felt comfortable for most of the intervals, I’m very happy about that. 5x1000m: 3:50, 3:53, 3:44, 3:39, 3:31.
Last interval 100 meter splits:
20.8, 22, 22, 21.6, 21.6, 21.4, 20.9, 21.1, 20.4, 19.01 (broke 20!)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Loop  3 mi
Slow, felt weak. Should have eaten a snack before the run. Glad I didn’t run hard today since today was post-interval day and tomorrow will be tempo run.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Short Tempo Run  3 mi 19:56, 6:38 pace
I sort of ran on pace today, what a surprise! I felt a lot more comfortable than I did last week and didn’t start off too fast, which made the rest of the run a lot easier. Bc of the smarter running, I was able to run the same last mile (6:19) that I ran on the first mile of last week’s tempo run, which got me too tired. Splits: 6:43, 6:52, 6:19
Friday, September 18, 2009
Easy Bike Ride 56:00
Another calf cramp while sleeping last night, wth! Easy bike ride today, didn’t even feel like an hour, it was nice. Biking downhill: exhilarating..not wearing a helmet: dangerous! Long run tomorrow morning, 6 easy, 3 race pace. Should be an interesting run.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Long Run 8 mi
This long run was supposed to be 6 easy and then 3 at goal half marathon pace (+ 20-30 seconds). However, the forecast said it was going to be 90 degrees this weekend! I was able to run the first 6 miles and a very reasonable easy pace (8:15-8:20ish), but once I started those last three miles, I was all out of gas. No water or fuel to help and the sun was just scorching! First mile of the 3 was around the same pace as the easy pace and just jogged out the 2nd mile and called it a day. This is what happens when you run at night 5 days a week and then try and run in the heat..

This is the 2nd week of half marathon training and it feels like it’s working. Last week, I did a pretty good job on the intervals and tempo run and ran a pretty good distance in the long run. This week, the interval distance increased, the pace for the tempo run increased, but was shorter and the distance for the long run only went up by one mile. None of the workouts really seemed impossible and should have been pretty manageable.

Intervals

This week’s intervals was supposed to be 5×1000 at 6:40 pace which was supposed to be 4:10 and to get even more specific, :25 per 100 meters. The main reason why I’m keeping track of every 100 meters is because I am terrible at pacing myself. When I ran in high school, I always ran with a teammate who was able to run at the correct pace. And whenever I had to do intervals on my own, I would always be off pace. What would happen is that I would run the beginning of the interval a little slower so I would pick it up (faster than the actual pace) to even up the pace. That just isn’t very consistent. I was able to run each 100 meters at around 21 to 22 seconds feeling pretty comfortable. The last interval or two, I was able to increase some of those to 20-21, and wanted to break 20 for the last 100 m and did it at 19.01! Great run overall, next week’s intervals will be tough too, 7×800 m.

Tempo Run

My Thursday tempo run didn’t really seem that hard, only 20 minutes at the hard tempo pace: 6:45. Last week was supposed to be at moderate pace 7:00 but for 4 miles, which I did and actually hit at the hard tempo pace. But the splits were all over the place, including the first mile which was way too fast, 6:19! So today, I made a conscious effort to not go too fast and run the warmup at an actual warmup pace, not 7:00 which I hit last week. So I did the warmup and the first mile and actually was right on pace, which was very surprising. Second mile was a little slower, but still on pace. Because I actually ran what I was supposed to run, I had a lot more energy throughout the run and had a lot more at the end to finish strong. My last mile today was a 6:19, the same time as the first mile of my tempo run last week, which killed me for the rest of the run. Overall good tempo run.

Long Run

Saturday’s long run did not turn out like I had hoped. The plan was 6 miles easy and then 3 miles at goal race pace plus 20-30 seconds. I woke up a little later than I had hoped that morning, but still got out and actually hit those first 6 miles at a reasonable 8:15-8:20 easy pace. However, by the time I got to the 7th mile (1st mile of the goal race pace), it had gotten super hot and I didn’t get any water or fuel to run any faster. The first mile was pretty much the same pace as the easy 6 I had just ran and the 2nd mile slowed to a jog. I too out of energy and just decided to just call it a day after that. I’m still happy with the miles, but I missed out on the most important part of the workout. This was the first of this type of workout and will be more like it in the next couple of weeks. But I have definitely learned how much the heat can affect someone who runs 5 days out of the week at night, which kind of freaks me out since the half marathon will not be at night. But thinking about it, it will probably start in the early morning so the sun shouldn’t be a big factor. I will just have to get up a little bit earlier next time I have to run this workout.

This is what the car said right when I got into the car, it dropped to 80ish, but still..WTH!!

This is what the car said right when I got into the car, it dropped to 80ish, but still..WTH!!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Intervals: 5×1000 meters

Was very eager to run intervals again. Last week’s was pretty successful and I was able to run faster than my goal pace. Today’s intervals were a little bit harder: 5×1000 meters at 6:40 pace = 4:10. I was able to run faster again today, although I was more tired than last week, which is understandable. I still felt comfortable for most of the intervals, I’m very happy about that. 5x1000m: 3:50, 3:53, 3:44, 3:39, 3:31.

Last interval 100 meter splits:
20.8, 22, 22, 21.6, 21.6, 21.4, 20.9, 21.1, 20.4, 19.01 (broke 20!)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Loop  3 mi

Slow, felt weak. Should have eaten a snack before the run. Glad I didn’t run hard today since today was post-interval day and tomorrow will be tempo run.

Thursday, September 17, 2009
Short Tempo Run  3 mi 19:56, 6:38 pace

I sort of ran on pace today, what a surprise! I felt a lot more comfortable than I did last week and didn’t start off too fast, which made the rest of the run a lot easier. Bc of the smarter running, I was able to run the same last mile (6:19) that I ran on the first mile of last week’s tempo run, which got me too tired. Splits: 6:43, 6:52, 6:19

Friday, September 18, 2009
Easy Bike Ride 56:00

Another calf cramp while sleeping last night, wth! Easy bike ride today, didn’t even feel like an hour, it was nice. Biking downhill: exhilarating..not wearing a helmet: dangerous! Long run tomorrow morning, 6 easy, 3 race pace. Should be an interesting run.

Saturday, September 19, 2009
Long Run 8 mi

This long run was supposed to be 6 easy and then 3 at goal half marathon pace (+ 20-30 seconds). However, the forecast said it was going to be 90 degrees this weekend! I was able to run the first 6 miles and a very reasonable easy pace (8:15-8:20ish), but once I started those last three miles, I was all out of gas. No water or fuel to help and the sun was just scorching! First mile of the 3 was around the same pace as the easy pace and just jogged out the 2nd mile and called it a day. This is what happens when you run at night 5 days a week and then try and run in the heat..

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2 Responses to “Half Training Week 2: September 15 – 19, 2009”

  1. lindsay Says:
    September 21st, 2009 at 4:42 AM

    pacing sounds much better this week 🙂 i especially like how the tempo went this week vs last week! negative splits = good, fast finish = good. not feeling dead the entire time = obviously good 🙂 also, good job on keeping wednesday’s run slow. the times/paces that matter are the quality days. don’t worry about your easy days being slow, just take those by feel. i tell myself they are “actively massaging” my muscles from the previous hard run.

  2. aron Says:
    September 22nd, 2009 at 1:11 PM

    awesome job on the training week!

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