I had planned on writing about how it was 70 degrees at 1 a.m. on Dec. 1 and 30 degrees with wind chills in the teens just three days later. But since I don’t understand science or meteorology, I’ll just skip it. Today I did my first 20 miler since the before the Harrisburg Marathon even though I had planned on quitting at 9 miles. Then 10 miles. Then 11… 12 and 13.
When I got to the 13-mile mark, I figured I would run a quick two-mile loop around Franklin & Marshall before calling it an afternoon. But suddenly I started to feel OK. It wasn’t necessarily a second wind, but my hamstrings felt better, each step was no longer a chore and the wind that sent the temperatures spiraling near single digits was either at my back or absorbed into the building or the trees.
That’s when I figured I might as well get 20 miles under my belt and grinded it out in 2:13:38.
Considering I was ready to pack it in 11 miles earlier, I did pretty well.
Besides, after eating and drinking like a pig the day before I figured I owed it to myself to run long. My wife and I had a few friends and their kids come over for her “soup night” so I figured I had to indulge.
And imbibe.
I did all the above.
Since I’m gearing up for the National Marathon on March 24 it was time to get serious – diet excluded, of course. Add in the fact that I plan on racing a 5k next Sunday, it’s time to run off the pounds of bread, cookies, wine, beer and soup(s) I stuffed into my stomach.
It couldn’t have been that bad, though. Despite running just 11 miles on Sunday as part of a 10-mile tempo run (in 59:23), I put in 94.5 miles last week. It didn’t plan on doing so much, but I just couldn’t help myself.
Here’s what happened:
Monday
14 miles in 1:33:05
The first 5 miles went in 32:37 just like the second 5. The last 3.3 miles on the field were slower, but I was oddly consistent.
Tuesday
14 miles in 1:32:31
Same run as yesterday, except that I ran 3 x 1,000 meters during my final five miles. I ran the surges very controlled at around 5-5:30 pace.
Splits:
first 5 - 33:15
first 10 - 65:57
last 3.3 - 20:48
Wednesday
15.5 miles in 1:49:14
Felt solid and relaxed, which is the way I needed to be after the past two runs. I ran a bunch of hills, which seems to affected the time, because I was running easy 6:45 miles.
Thursday
13 miles in 1:28:29
Ran very consistently and slow. I felt a little tight and maybe even tired after three decent workouts this week. It was also 70 degrees today, which is odd.
Friday
16 miles in 1:45:07
I liked this one. I rushed to get out the door before the windy storm and even though I started a little tight and couldn't do another set of intervals, I worked on running each loop faster than the previous one.
Splits:
First 5 miles - 33:50
Next 5 miles - 32:37
Last 5 miles - 31:43
Saturday
11 miles in 1:12:28
I actually stopped myself from running 13 or 14 today. I figured 11 was enough, especially since I had only planned on running between 70 to 75 miles this week. Nevertheless, it seems as if I'll be at 100 miles before the new year. I guess that's good.
Today I felt a little tight and tired because of yesterday's run and not enough sleep last night. Plus, it was very windy and colder than it has been. Nonetheless, I battled through and did my first five miles on the field in 33:00. I kept that pace for the following two circuits before doing the last one a little quicker to finish in 32:37. I definitely didn't feel that fast, but I'll take it.
Sunday
11 miles in 66:00
Ran strong but surprisingly didn't feel like a labored. In fact, it feels as if I really didn't push it at all. I ran the first 5 miles in 31:16 and the second 5 in 28:07 for 59:23 over 10 miles. I thought I could go a little faster, but to go 59:23 and not feel tired is pretty good.
That’s 94.5 miles with a little more than three months to go and a 20 miler in the bank.