Weekly Recaps and Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone rang in the new year with some Champaign and set a few resolutions/goals for 2009.

I apologize for the lack of updates. I decided to take some time off from my computer during the holidays. Below is a recap from the past few weeks.

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Weekly recap: 12/29 - 1/4
Total Runs: 5
Days Off: 2
Treadmill Miles: 10.0
Total Mileage: 51.9
Total Time: 6:53:22

This was the first week over 50 miles. The focus has started to shift from base to muscle endurance so the overall pace of the workouts increased to 80% to 90% of goal marathon pace. The key threshold workout on Tuesday included 5 miles at threshold. It was a hard session but I ran well at 6:50 pace. Looking back it was more of a mental-toughness session than anything.

I did my recovery runs on the Pink Trail in Reston and made a decision to do all future recovery runs on the treadmill. The reason is to minimize impact and also control the environment. As much as I like running out on the Reston paths, I find that the frequent hills, twists, and turns don't allow for a relaxed recovery run. In an effort to limit the risk of injury, I'm moving to the deck for all future recovery runs.

The breakthrough this week came during my long run on Sunday. Karolina and I ran on the C&O Canal trail and I tried to closely mimic my race day nutrition. I wore a Fuel Belt and took off running north from Locke 9 towards MD Great Falls. I felt fantastic on the long, straight, and flat gravel trail. I settled into 7:35 pace and stayed consistent and relaxed for the next 14 miles. Nutrition was perfect with a steady stream of Endurolytes, Heed and Hammer Gel. I made it back to Locke 9 and started to feel the efforts of the run. I slowed down a little over the last three miles and finished a little short of my 18 mile goal. In the end I ran 17.2 miles at 7:40 pace with an average HR of 154. I was within 30 seconds of my goal marathon pace and felt pumped after the solid effort.

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Weekly recap: 12/22 - 12/28
Total Runs: 4
Days Off: 3
Treadmill Miles: 0.0
Total Mileage: 34.7
Total Time: 4:45:18

Recovery week! This was well timed with the Christmas holiday. I took things very easy and did all the runs outdoors. I did miss one workout (4 mile recovery run) on Saturday which dropped the weekly mileage a bit. Overall it was an excellent 'down' week and my legs felt rested and injury free.

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Weekly recap: 12/15 - 12/21
Total Runs: 5
Days Off: 2
Treadmill Miles: 19.0
Total Mileage: 46.0
Total Time: 6:25:52

This was my last 'base' training week. It went well overall with the highlight being the threshold workout on Friday. It was a 9 mile run with 4 miles at threshold. I ran the four miles at 6:50 pace and kept my HR in the low 160s. In hind sight I might have been able to run it faster but the overall effort was solid. The 17 mile long run on Sunday didn't go too well. I ate too soon before running and overdressed for the conditions. It resulted in overheating and a much slower effort overall. Overall a solid base training week.

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I'll get back to regular weekly posts and recaps going forward. Thanks for reading.