I have had a great end to a light week of training. I cut back on a few days because of work obligations and to give my legs a bit of a rest. I picked it back up the past three days and have had great workouts. I had a 10 mile run on Friday followed by a 40 mile ride yesterday.
Today, my goal was to do an 8-ish mile run just to get the miles in. I ended up doing 7.5 miles in 59:48 accompanied by the lovely Jennifer on the bike. I really thought the course was going to be the full 8, but my distance estimations must have been a bit off. Nevertheless, it was a very strong run. There were 3 decent sized hills and I was able to push it all the way to the top without feeling sluggish. In fact, two of my fastest three miles included hills: 7:44 and 7:47 respectively. I had a strong finish as well with another sub 8 mile and a 6:59 pace for the final half mile.
This run put me above 30 running miles for the week again. I am aiming to do a fall marathon of some sort, so it is good to get this base mileage in. I haven’t decided which marathon, but the Grand Rapids Marathon will probably be my fall back because it is in town. The OBX Marathon sounds like a lot of fun, but I don’t know if I am up for the travel. Either way, I really need to nail down a decent training schedule for the next few weeks. I am sure that I can get my mileage up where I need it to be, but I like to have weekly goals written down so that I don’t get off target. In the past I have followed Hal Higdon’s wonderful training plans, so I may just use those again. However, I was thinking of trying something new that I read about in Runner’s World a few months ago. The gist was to focus less on long runs (18 – 20 miles) and more on medium distance quality ones (12 – 16 miles). It even suggested that rather than doing a 20 mile run, to do back to back 12 miles with the second day at a faster pace than the first.
Weekly Report
| Running | Swimming | Biking | Totals | |
| Number | 5 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Total Distance | 32.18 mi | 5400 yd | 53.34 mi | 88.6 mi |
| Time | 4:20:11 | 2:06:33 | 3:03:39 | 9:26:26 |
| Average Pace | 8:05 min / mile | 17.43 mph |
Birthday Wishes
On a completely unrelated note, Happy 26th Birthday to the bestest, most wonderful, wife, supporter, and best friend.
A cake complete with a tub and a half of frosting and Jennie’s first wetsuit
2 comments
Tricia
August 31, 2009 at 9:44 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Great week and a happy birthday to Jennie ! I’m a big fan of HH’s plans … I used the intermediate II for National this year.
David
September 1, 2009 at 3:42 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Kevin – If Jennie got her first wetsuit, does this mean she is particiapting in tri’s next year? If so, who is going to take pictures next year?