The Week of February 4-10, 2008

Synopsis of Week’s Training:
Hi, my name is Bryon and I’m a runner. This past week and this past weekend, in particular, definitely showed me that I’m a runner again.

I started the week with an easy run of my flat five mile loop (actually a 4.75 miles), except I added on a bit over a mile midway through in accord with my plan to slightly increase the length of my default training runs. On Tuesday, I ran home from The Firm with a 4 mile excursion with another Haverford runner as part of the local running store’s Tuesday night run. When I got back to the running store, I hooked myself up with a new pair of shoes, which I badly needed. Not surprisingly, they were from the Asics 2–0 line that I’ve been wearing since the 2040s. These are my first pair of Asics 2130s and I’m really enjoying them.

I followed Tuesday’s 11 miles with an easy 4 on Wednesday. While Tuesday was pleasant with temps near 60 when I ran, it was almost TOO hot in Wednesday’s 70+ weather! On Thursday, I added one of my standard training routes back into the mix. It’s a hilly 6.5 that added about 30 seconds per mile onto the equivalent flat ground pace. It felt good to bring back another running option and to get in some hills in on weekday. On Friday, I did an easy 5 knowing that I had a long run planned for Saturday morning.

Sean Meissner stopped by bright an early on Saturday morning for a progressive long run on some local bike paths. We ended an easy 8.5 mile start to the day at nearby Bluemont Park for the start of a local 12k race. I went out a bit harder than I had intended averaging around 172 bpm for the first 2 miles. Then I picked it up for 3 or so miles to around 177 bpm. Finally, I kicked it up into the low 180s for the final two miles withe the final mile being nicely under 6 minute pace. In total the 12k took 49:11. (I measured the race at 7.67 miles which would put my pace at 6:25.) After waiting for quite awhile for the award ceremony (Sean was second overall), I came away with a $20 gift certificate to a local running store – score! Sean and I then went out for another 4 miles to bring our total to just over 20 miles.

Heart rate data from Saturday’s progressive run
(ignore the data from around mile 6 to 9 as my monitor was malfunctioning)

The progressive run with Sean was very encouraging as it was both my fastest and longest run on the year. I felt really powerful with plenty of speed generated just from strength. I had no problem accelerating over the course of the race and felt strong pushing it at the end. I was also happy with my easy 5 on Sunday as while it was slower than normal, I still felt strong and comfortable.

By The Numbers:
Monday – 6. Easy.
Tuesday – 11. Mostly easy with 4 quicker miles.
Wednesday – 4. Easy
Thursday – 6.5. Hilly.
Friday – 5. Easy.
Saturday – 20.5. Long and hard. Raced 12k.
Sunday – 5. Recovery.

Weekly Mileage: 58
Year-to-Date Mileage: 255
Three Week Moving Average: 48
Year-to-Date Weekly Average: 44.2

Upcoming Training Goals:
My training goals will remain mostly the same for next week. Make it out at least six days. Again try to increase my standard run to 6. Shoot for one or two weekday runs that are longer, faster, or hillier than standard training runs. Another 20+ mile run as a last prep for the Mount Mitchell Challenge. Must remember not to over do it! I went from 38 miles to 48 miles to 58 miles and have two big weeks coming up after this week!

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Filed under Bryon · Tagged with Training Update, Weekly Update

Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
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