Another Tough Tuesday
I went out to do 60 minutes in the "high aerobic" zone - which includes marathon pace, and trouble found me or I found it. The end result was success - 9 miles in 1:00:22 or a 6:42 pace with an average heart rate of 81%. But I was flagging at the end, if not the middle.
The course is the river trail in Calais. It is muddy this time of year and the gravel is soft. I'd probably get a few seconds on the total time if I was on pavement. On the other hand, it is fairly flat and is very similar to the surface quality of the first 10 miles of the Holyoke Marathon. It was warmer today and I took my outer shell off after my .9 mile warmup. The warmer weather contributes naturally to a faster pace in my opinion so I can't attribute all pace improvements to my training. My first 3 mile split was 19:51, but it wasn't too long afterward I could feel the pace start to fade with every mental distraction. The heart rate would correspondingly fall as well, basically letting me know I was slacking off the pace. The 2nd 3 mile split was 24 seconds slower in 20:15 and the final lap in 20:16 included a threshold pace "sprint" for the last .1 miles.
It could have been fatigue, motivation, distraction, and even the muddy course. But it's done and one must have faith in the training. .9 miles back to the bank felt oh so good. Top of the world. There's nothing like jogging after running hard for an hour.
Add this to my 5.1 mile shake out run this morning in 50:57 and I get 15.9 for the day. This morning's shake out run was pretty nice by the way. Out of razors, I stopped by the Irving to pick one up for the interim and instead of jogging home with my purchase in my pocket (a nod to Alison), I grabbed a coffee and walked home instead. Ahhh.
Yesterday brought 14.5 miles to my legs with a 90 minute morning run and a 3 mile evening shake out run. Add this to Sunday, and so far this week I've got 56.4 miles in the log. Tomorrow is another 90 minutes easy with a shake out run at some point. I'm not sure what order I'll do the workouts in. I'd rather do the 90 minutes at noon, but sometimes it's hard to disappear for so long in the middle of the day. I guess it depends on what time I awake.
And as a parting treat, I offer the world a glimpse of some genuine Boston Marathon sneakers, worn by local celebrity, Mike of St. Andrews, NB.
Watch these sneakers smoke down Route 135 through Framingham, merge effortlessly onto Route 16 in Wellesley, flatten the Newton Hills, and glide with the ease of well delivered curling stone down Boylston for the finish.
Mike claims that before this photo was taken, the shoes had only seen the surface of a treadmill.
(Word has it, the shoes rest in a special glass case under lock and key).
The course is the river trail in Calais. It is muddy this time of year and the gravel is soft. I'd probably get a few seconds on the total time if I was on pavement. On the other hand, it is fairly flat and is very similar to the surface quality of the first 10 miles of the Holyoke Marathon. It was warmer today and I took my outer shell off after my .9 mile warmup. The warmer weather contributes naturally to a faster pace in my opinion so I can't attribute all pace improvements to my training. My first 3 mile split was 19:51, but it wasn't too long afterward I could feel the pace start to fade with every mental distraction. The heart rate would correspondingly fall as well, basically letting me know I was slacking off the pace. The 2nd 3 mile split was 24 seconds slower in 20:15 and the final lap in 20:16 included a threshold pace "sprint" for the last .1 miles.
It could have been fatigue, motivation, distraction, and even the muddy course. But it's done and one must have faith in the training. .9 miles back to the bank felt oh so good. Top of the world. There's nothing like jogging after running hard for an hour.
Add this to my 5.1 mile shake out run this morning in 50:57 and I get 15.9 for the day. This morning's shake out run was pretty nice by the way. Out of razors, I stopped by the Irving to pick one up for the interim and instead of jogging home with my purchase in my pocket (a nod to Alison), I grabbed a coffee and walked home instead. Ahhh.
Yesterday brought 14.5 miles to my legs with a 90 minute morning run and a 3 mile evening shake out run. Add this to Sunday, and so far this week I've got 56.4 miles in the log. Tomorrow is another 90 minutes easy with a shake out run at some point. I'm not sure what order I'll do the workouts in. I'd rather do the 90 minutes at noon, but sometimes it's hard to disappear for so long in the middle of the day. I guess it depends on what time I awake.
And as a parting treat, I offer the world a glimpse of some genuine Boston Marathon sneakers, worn by local celebrity, Mike of St. Andrews, NB.
Watch these sneakers smoke down Route 135 through Framingham, merge effortlessly onto Route 16 in Wellesley, flatten the Newton Hills, and glide with the ease of well delivered curling stone down Boylston for the finish.
Mike claims that before this photo was taken, the shoes had only seen the surface of a treadmill.
(Word has it, the shoes rest in a special glass case under lock and key).
posted by Andrew at 7:47 PM
2 Comments:
Just look at those beauties! No off roading for those new sneaks I hope...not for awhile.
"Snicker" Aren't they lovely? No rain or mud for these babies till B-day!
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