Introducing some speed into Brooklyn Half training

Today's run (treadmill): 3.1 miles

I skipped Tuesday's speed workout due to a timing conflict but I put it back on the schedule for today. According to my training plan, this was supposed to be a tempo run that peaks at 10K pace. I've gotten out of sync on my speed work and thought I'd do intervals instead. Although this morning's weather was very nice, I was running behind schedule and elected to save time by staying indoors.

It wasn't until I got on the treadmill that I decided which workout to follow. Thinking at first that I'd run intervals, I began with a warm up at half marathon race pace. I wanted to go into the repeats with a harder than usual effort to prime myself for speed. Once I got going, I considered the tempo idea. I then thought about SIOR's suggestion that I introduce some sustained speed into one of my weekday workouts for a couple of miles. I decided to continue with this half marathon pace for the duration of the run.

Except for intervals, I have not done many runs lately at sub-10 paces. This is because I've focused on endurance and distance rather than speed. I was surprised to find myself comfortably running at a mid-9:00 pace this morning. I wondered if I could keep this pace the entire way through and it turned out that I could. All this distance and hill running are clearly helping my stamina.

It's scary to think that I only have four more training weeks before my taper week. The longest run I've done so far this year is eight miles, but I did fairly well with that. I'm hoping that I'll continue to progress as I move into double digits. My average HR finally exceeded 85% of max today. If I can push a little harder and sustain it, I should start seeing my speed improve as well.

Treadmill repeats, a little faster and a little better

Check this box ☐ if you are tired of seeing my HR charts 

Today's run (treadmill repeats): 2.5 miles - 6 x 400 plus 1 mile warm up / cool down

My Runsketeer buddy TPP has been focusing on cutting back on her sugar and carbs. Reducing your sugar intake is a good idea (provided there are no underlying issues related to hypoglycemia). Moderating simple carbs is always smart. Most of the time we don't need that sugar, but our cave-person genetics force us to crave it. The one exception is when you are 40 minutes into a 10K and you need energy right now.

I used to use GU gels frequently on my runs, even when I ran relatively short distances. Now I rarely use energy boosters, or anything like it. I've now reached the point in my half marathon training program where I'm approaching double digit base runs. That means I'm running for 80 minutes or more at a time, long enough to (supposedly) deplete my glycogen stores. So far I've avoided using supplements during this training. I took a GU gel along on Sunday, but never felt like I needed it. Then again, despite all the hills, I really didn't push myself that hard.

I'm not Brooklyn race ready yet, but I've definitely moved the needle in terms of endurance. Running seven easy miles, as I did over the weekend, would have been a struggle four weeks ago. But I felt great on Sunday. This morning I ran another set of 6 x 400 repeats, this time on the treadmill. I prefer to do this workout on the track or at least on pavement, but it was raining fairly hard outside this morning.

Considering the challenge I had running 220's a couple of weeks ago on the treadmill (at a slightly slower pace), I can see progress. Today's quarters were run at 7.2 MPH, book-ended with half mile warm up and and cool down runs. I was very pleased to see my HR reaching 85% of max by the final seconds of each interval. I plan to take the speed up to 7.3 MPH next time I do treadmill repeats.

Tomorrow is my mid-week base run, which by my formula (80% of Sunday's long run) should total 5.6 miles. I'll try to run at least two of those miles at Half Marathon target pace, per the advice of SIOR. This will be the first "bridge" workout where I partially combine a speed and distance run. I'll be interested to see if I've restored my fitness well enough by now to manage through it.

High winds and slow paces

 

Today's run (street): 3.1 miles

There was a point in this morning's run when I told myself, after calculating my final pace, to remember how windy it was today. I know from many track workouts how wind can restrict speed. I once ran 400's where my pace varied by over 15 seconds depending on which direction I was running. Today's run, in terms of perceived effort (PE), felt much harder than Thursday's, but I ended up running 10 secs per mile slower.

The purpose of today's run to was to maintain my targeted half marathon pace over the prescribed three mile workout. That's exactly what happened on Thursday's 3 miler, but I barely broke a 10 minute pace today. During the few times on this run, when the wind was at my back, I felt like I was moving. That made me feel good about my form. I'd like to be running the easy 3-milers at around a 9:20 pace, but I'm not there yet.

The Runsketeers are doing a long run tomorrow morning. For me it's seven miles, TPP is doing 11 and SIOR is doing 16. We're trying to coordinate our rendezvous so we can all run together. Between our different paces, start times and meeting points, it's an interesting math problem. The route we chose will be hilly (I'm told). Seven miles of that should help me make progress on my endurance, but I'm expecting to be sore by the end.

Barely okay, but better than the last one

Ready for some speed play

Today's run (street): 3.4 miles

My definition of an okay run has changed a lot in the last couple of weeks. If not for the intervals I ran on Tuesday, I'd be convinced that I've lost my ability to run at any speed but tepid. Wednesday was a difficult experience, made worse by the wind. I did manage to get through my five miles that day, but it was rough. I hoped today's three miles would be easier, and they were. It was...okay.

The warmer temperature this morning seemed to help, and I improved my pace by over a minute compared to Wednesday's. I was supposed to do today's workout at half marathon race pace, but I fell short by about 35 seconds per mile. In truth, I wasn't going for speed as prescribed, I really just hoped to have a decent experience.

I think about my friends who frequently run long distances at paces that I cannot match (except when I'm running 400's and, in some cases, 200's). Are they working that much harder than me? Probably, but I suspect it also has to do with being better disciplined about their workouts and putting in the necessary miles. I understand that running 18 to 20 miles a week is not going to build enough endurance get me to a competitive state, but I don't think I can fit many more into my schedule.

I knew I wasn't pushing as hard as I could today, but it wasn't a leisurely effort. There's a certain amount of energy that I'm willing to expend during a race that I seldom bring to my daily workouts. I'm always concerned about running out of energy on a training run and I tend to hold back to conserve what I have. Tomorrow I plan to add some fartleks (Swedish for "speed play") to introduce interval level running into a continuous run. If I run out of energy, I can always take down the pace. Or take a recovery rest on the sidewalk.

Running at "pace", as Hal Higdon puts it

Can my training get me here in 2014? 

Today's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

Today's workout, per my training program, was 3 miles at "pace." I like Hal Higdon's site because he leaves nothing to interpretation. He explains it clearly on the training schedule page: "What do you mean by 'pace?'" I mean "race pace," the pace at which you expect to run the half marathon. That of course prompted me to ask myself, what I am targeting for race pace?

I ran my last Half in 2:08:47 which is approximately a 9:49 pace. In order to break 2:00 I would need to pace 40 seconds per mile faster. That's a stretch for me, but crazier things have happened. My 2:08 finish in 2012 was a full minute per mile improvement over my 2011 time. Still, I have little expectation that I'll break two hours this year. As a practical point, I have slipped in my race performance and didn't break 9:00 on any of my 2013 10K's. It will be interesting to see if my recent rebound, coupled with a focused half marathon training regime, will make a difference in May.

This morning was busy and that forced me to wait until 10:00 AM to start my run. My wife said that rain was expected mid-morning, so I decided to do my 3 miles @ "pace" on the treadmill. I chose 6.3 MPH which, if sustained for 13.1 miles, would yield a 2:03 finish time. I am feeling much stronger since last weekend, but I still have far to go before I can manage goal pace throughout a long run. The race pace training plus the weekend base runs will theoretically bridge my stamina and endurance enough to at least break my 2:08 PR.

Tomorrow is my second Sunday base run and I plan to meet the Runsketeers for 6 miles of fun. SIOC will be running Boston in April and needs to cover 17 miles tomorrow. We plan to meet at her 11 mile point and do the rest of the distance as a group run. TPP is still battling a respiratory issue and is forgoing a five mile race tomorrow in favor of our easier paced run. It's supposed to be cold on Sunday, so I need to figure out the right combination of gear. I'm dreading the hills on the Bethpage trail, but I know there's no easy path if I want to reach my goal time.

Treadmill 220's, surprisingly fun

220m intervals with 70 second recovery jog

Today's run (treadmill intervals): 3.2 miles (16 x 220m, 1 mile warm up/cool down)

Although you wouldn't know it by looking at my Garmin data from my weekend runs, I have turned my attention back to performance running. It isn't without irony that, despite my now-clear neighborhood streets, I did my first speed workout this year on the treadmill. My preference would have been to do this on the track, but I was reluctant to risk being hauled off by security for trespassing at the high school.

I normally take Mondays as my rest days but I really needed to focus on my readiness. If the weather holds, I'll be racing on Saturday with the Runsketeers. I didn't intend to take as much time as I ended up needing for today's workout, but it was good that I did. My plan was to start with a half mile warm up at about 9:30 a mile and then run 12 x 100m before finishing with a mile cool down. I discovered that running intervals on a treadmill can be difficult. This is because the machine lacks the hard start/stop precision of the track. I had to account for the time it took the treadmill to get up to full speed each time.

As a result, I decided to run 220m repeats instead of 100's. I'm not confident of the accuracy of the speed displayed on the treadmill, but I set it 25% faster than what I usually run on the machine. I averaged 67 seconds for the 220's (about an 8:10 pace), after factoring in the starting lag.

I started and ended today's session with regular running. I bumped up the speed on the cool down to take advantage of the fact that 6.5 MPH feels a lot easier after pushing close to 8 MPH for twenty minutes. I was surprised that my heart rate averaged only 81% of max overall. Perhaps 67 seconds isn't enough time to go up from 64% (heart rate during recovery cycle). I'm sure that if I was doing 400's at that pace I'd be in the red zone by the end of each repeat.

Treadmill intervals were more fun than I expected and I hope this was a good way of reactivating my speed. I may do another speed session on Wednesday before my mini taper. Running fast is fun. I wish I could remember that more often.

Graupel and snow, the track and the treadmill

Waiting for the skies to clear

Today's run (track & treadmill): 1.5 miles - track, 2.5 miles progressive speed run

My goal was clear this morning. Go out before the rain and do speed work at the high school track. Before I did that, I decided to finish up a small business project so I wouldn't have to think about it over the weekend. While I was pleased with the progress I'd made, the time had slipped and I was scrambling to get out of the house.

I noticed a few scattered drops on my windshield during my short drive to the track. I'd left under sunny skies, but five minutes later conditions had changed to cloudy and gray. Even so, I felt that the slight drizzle would pass and I set out on my first warm-up lap. There were a few walkers on the track and a guy I recognized running in the opposite direction. He seemed to recognize me as well and we exchanged hellos the first time he came around. I felt really good and ready for the intervals I had planned for later in the workout.

During the New Year's Hangover run, Runsketeer teammate TPP had showed me a technique for lengthening my stride while keeping a proper center. She demonstrated that form with an impressive burst of speed and I've tried to duplicate it for short periods during every outdoor run since then. I used the technique today and marveled at the effect. It is a far more potent method for rapid acceleration than what I've previously relied upon. I looked forward to using that on my repeats.

I'd planned to run six laps at around a 9:00 pace and then run a series of 100's and 200's followed by some cool down laps.  Once I was into my fifth lap, I started hearing what sounded like BB's hitting the ground. Later I heard on News 12 that this is called graupel, or small hail. I figured that if this was happening, I didn't need to worry much about rain. Wrong.

By my sixth lap the graupel had given way to wetter stuff and, when I ended the lap, I headed to my car to wait out the rain. My late start had put some time pressure on me and I knew I couldn't wait too long. Once I could see that this rain was not letting up, I decided to cut my losses and head home.

I changed out of my wet shoes and put on short sleeves to continue my workout on the treadmill. My new speed plan was to start fast and go faster. Since the treadmill's idea of speed is different than mine, I focused on perceived effort (PE). I'd just run my track warm up at a low 9:00 pace, so I was familiar with how that felt. The initial setting of 6.5 MPH felt much more challenging than the 6.6 MPH that I'd just run at the track.

I incremented my speed every quarter mile until I was running an 8:20 pace that felt like sub-8:00. I really should calibrate my foot pod and measure my true speed on the treadmill. Once my heart rate went over 90% Max, I held that speed for a quarter mile. I then began incrementally backing down my speed until I completed my run.

Second workout: view from the treadmill

The second workout of the day was pretty intense and I was pleased that I could maintain a high PE over a couple of miles. That was my goal today, as I prepare for February's trail relay. My wife had walked into the room during my treadmill run and opened up the shade to reveal heavy snowfall. I guess I made the right decision to come home. Tomorrow might be a good day to try some speed on the trails, though with this rain and snow it could get muddy. It was nice to be outside today but, surprisingly, my best running happened indoors.

Oh pavement, how I've missed you

Nice to run again on terra firma

Today's run (street): 4.85 miles

Motivation was low this morning, even though weather conditions had greatly improved since yesterday. With temperatures in the low 40's and not a cloud in the sky, I should have been excited about the prospect of running outside for the first time in eleven days. My wife was on the treadmill and I thought for a moment how easy it would be to just throw on some shorts and hop on after she'd finished. But I was not going to let myself succumb to Treadmill Stockholm Syndrome, prompted by six straight runs on the machine.

According to weather reports, the relatively mild temperatures we saw this morning were countered by 20-25 MPH winds. That brought the wind chill into the low 30's. In deference to that, I wore a long sleeved shirt with a short sleeve layer on top and a pair of lightweight track pants. I also wore an over-the-ears hat that provided good protection when the wind hit at certain angles.

I mapped my route in my head, thinking it would get me to at least 4.5 miles, which was my target. Some people have told me they have trouble transitioning from treadmill to road after numerous indoor workouts. I didn't have any such problems today. In fact, my stride felt far better on the road than it had on the treadmill.

Early on, I saw a guy running towards me on the same side of the street and I was tempted to give him the, "it's safer to run against traffic" suggestion. I'd seen him running in the neighborhood for years, and figured that he's probably set in his ways. The last time I suggested the safer choice to a runner, she yelled back that she's been running that way for many years, that the neighborhood is very safe for runners and basically I should mind my own business. So for the most part, that's what I do now.

I didn't burn up the road in terms of speed but I did throw in some surges. TPP had suggested a technique for opening up my stride by launching off my trailing foot while keeping my legs under me. It seemed to translate into a faster pace. I focused on running that way over the last mile and saw a 40 second per mile improvement.

I could have easily gone the additional .15 and made it a full 5 miles but I decided to end the run when I reached my street. I felt good and my heart rate averaged 83% of max overall, finishing up at around 87%. That was almost exactly what I'd been averaging on my prior runs on the treadmill. I have a work-intensive day planned for tomorrow so I doubt I'll run. Mondays are usually my rest days, so no guilt. It was nice to be back on the road today. I definitely missed it. I will start adding a little more speed this week as I prepare for the GLIRC 2x3 trail relay in Bethpage on February 15th.

Is 93% of max the magic number?

Not far from 180spm, so where's the speed?

Today's run (street): 3.5 miles

I'm a little disappointed with today's run because I could not generate any speed. Despite clocking my first mile in 8:57 (easy for many, but hard for me lately), I ended up averaging an unremarkable 9:29 pace over 3.5 miles. After a good start, I'd lost time on mile 2 and then tried to make up for it over the last 1.5. I felt like I'd made a good effort, but according to Garmin Connect, my heart rate across the whole run ranged only between 77-85% of max.

I took a look at my race history and compared my pace performance with my average heart rate. Since I've only run about a dozen races using a heart monitor, this wasn't a statistically significant representation. Directionally, it seemed to indicate that my best times happened when my heart rate averaged 93% of max HR or greater.

Does this mean that I'm somehow holding back, even as I work to push my speed during a run? The numbers seem to point to an opportunity to unlock some speed by adding even more effort. My cadence rate has actually improved over the 5+ years since I've starting daily running, but that hasn't translated to speed. I will do my best to hold the effort on Saturday. I'm not asking for much, but beating 27:50 would be nice.

Speed in the morning, lost in the afternoon

Quiet at the track this morning

Today's run (track workout): 3.3 miles - 1 mile warm-up, 8 x 200m repeats, 1.3 mile cool down 

With its forgiving and flat surface, I should love the track. But, believe me, I don't. Running around a big oval is boring. It's not as tedious as the treadmill, but the repetitive scenery undercuts a sense progress in a similar way. My difficulty with the track also relates to the type of workouts I do there. If I'm at the track, I know I'll be feeling some pain.

If I do have to run at the track, I prefer to do it with as few other people around as possible. I try to get there early, before the crowds, but it's rare that I get the place to myself. This morning was very quiet, with a lone woman walking around the outside lane and a couple walking together. A little while later another man joined us, walking at an impressively fast pace. Even with that, it seemed peaceful, with the low sun illuminating the track and field like a scene from Field of Dreams.

I started with a mile warm-up at an easy, mid-9:00 pace before shifting to my speed workout of 8 x 200m intervals. I usually go for 10-12 repeats at 100m, but I thought it would be useful to stretch out the distance this time. I averaged 54 seconds for each repeat and covered that mile in 7:18. Not exactly burning up the track, but good performance for me over a series of 200m segments. The two workouts this weekend represent the last real race training I'll do prior to the 5K.

One of Muttontown Preserve's descending trails

Later in the afternoon my son and I paid a visit to the Muttontown Preserve to see if we could find the ruins of the old mansions from the 1930's. We didn't locate them, but we managed to get very lost, something I do every time I go there. It took us about 20 minutes longer to get through our hike than planned, because we got turned around a few times. No matter, hiking places like the MP are fun, even when you're not exactly sure where you are.

Measure for measure, I don't like this change

New and improved?

Today's run (street): 5 miles

In business, many people subscribe to the idea that, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I made my career challenging that notion and I firmly believe (at least in technology) that complacency is the enemy of success. Okay, no more clichés, but I do believe that open source technologies further the cause of progress. So am I a hypocrite to condemn the new Gmaps version that just went up, using OpenLayers in place of the Google Maps API?

I've relied on Gmaps for years as a tool to precisely measure my routes. Foot pods and GPS watches/apps both fall short due to calibration, route angles or weather. I always use mapping, combined with time, to calculate my exact pace. This morning I was surprised to see a new interface for Gmaps. I also discovered that Gmaps is now an open source supported framework, and will now be called Milermeter. It wasn't until I tried mapping this morning's run that I started to grumble.

I won't go into the specific issues that I had, but I will say that the interface can use some refinement. I'm not sure of the reason, but items flicker on screen and the tools behaved inconsistently. I'm also unsure about the accuracy. I mapped my route using "Milermeter" with both Chrome and Firefox and saw a 1.5% difference in distance between them. Both measurements fell short of what my Garmin captured, surprising because that usually under-counts distance.

Forgetting the technology issues for a moment, this morning's run turned out to be a really good workout. I ran over to the business park to run the loop a few times. This route offers either a steady uphill for almost a mile, or a shorter but steeper section if you run it in the opposite direction. I took the steeper option and made three circuits before heading home.

I used my metronome app and set it to 87 SPM. Although I felt I was coordinating my steps with metronome, I didn't end up with a particularly fast pace. To be fair, except for the hill, I didn't push that hard, although I kept a steady stride throughout the run. Right now, I care more about managing up my cadence than speed. If I understand how this all works, better paces should follow

Just me and the road, and the cars, and the buses

My worst nightmare

Today's run (street): 3.3 miles

After three consecutive indoor workouts, I was finally able to get outside today, and it was beautiful. The sun was bright and the temperature was cool. While I waited for the Garmin to acquire a signal, I noticed a breeze that actually made it feel cold in the shade. I knew once I got started that any feelings of being cold would disappear, but it was nice to start out that way. 

Due to a scheduled call, I had to get my run done in a certain amount of time. I could have gone out earlier, but we live close to both an elementary and a middle school and I didn't wish to compete with all the buses. By the time I hit the streets, a few buses still remained, but car traffic had picked up. You can't win, but you can run on the sidewalk. I ended up yelling at a guy who rolled through a stop sign as I approached the intersection. To his credit, he sheepishly said "sorry."

I continued my focus on speed and moved along, although I was having some trouble with my form. I didn't feel like I was getting good turnover and I was concerned that I'd end up with a disappointing time. Still, I knew that I was making the effort. Most of the time, that will yield a satisfying result.

I ended up averaging 9:05, which surprised me in a good way, because I expected I'd be about 15 seconds slower per mile. My speed described a bell shaped curve, with the first and last half miles being the fastest. So far my training strategy is working, but I still haven't put fast and long into the same run.

Great progress, suddenly

Surprising results

Today's run (street): 3.4 miles

I think my training program is working. I've been encouraged by the improving paces I'm seeing after taking a more performance-oriented approach to my training runs. Overall, my average pace has dropped about 5% since I started training for Cow Harbor. The trend line was getting me closer to 9:00 per mile, but I hadn't yet reached that goal. That is, until this morning, when I blew right past it.

I wasted no time getting out today, hitting the road about 7:00 AM under very cloudy skies. Going out fast is becoming easier now, although I still suffer through the first few minutes while I hit my aerobic stride. The visual I keep in mind these days is putting my foot on the gas with no letup. Just like in a race, I know that to run faster, I have to think about running fast. Complacency only leads to slow results.

Like yesterday, I used my heart rate as a guide and saw that I was pretty much where I wanted to be. I considered breaking out of my 3 to 3.5 distance range that I typically follow on weekdays. I decided that while I'm developing my speed technique, I'll take a careful approach to adding weekday distance.

When I reached the last few streets that lead me back home, I decided to step it up even more. No reason to reserve more energy than what was necessary to get me to my driveway. After reviewing the metrics, I saw that I'd covered the last half mile at 5K pace. After mapping the run, I calculated that I'd paced 8:50 overall for the run. That was the fastest training run (excluding speed sessions) I've done since early February.

I was both surprised and pleased to have cracked the 9:00 threshold and encouraged that I surpassed my target. Tomorrow may be a good time to start working in a little more mileage while I try to hold the gains. I'm not expecting to repeat today's performance, but hey, you never know.

Fast track to performance gains

Flow of the workout

Today's workout (track): 1 mile tempo, 12 x 100M, 1.25 mile cool-down = 3.1 miles

This morning I headed out early to the local track to run intervals and tempos. I took the Virratas out for their first run, and thought they responded well to fast pacing. My plan was to run one mile at 5K race pace, which I'd follow with intervals and a cool-down run.

The track had a few walkers and a couple of runners when I arrived. I got started quickly on my tempo warm up and found a pace that felt hard, but sustainable. I locked into that pace for four laps, guided by perceived effort. Along the way, I passed everyone including the other two runners on track. After last Sunday's low point of the race, when I was being passed left and right around mile five, it felt good to be the one who was doing the passing. I averaged 8:18 for the mile.

Next, I ran a set of 100 meter repeats, averaging 6:40 per mile. I was surprised when I later looked at heart rate data and saw that I'd averaged between 74-80% of MAX. Knowing that, I can probably get my pace down to 6:25, while still staying under 90% MAX. However, I'll probably keep it to 8 x 100's for that session.

I finished the workout with a 1.25 mile cool down, run at a moderate (9:21) pace. In total, it wasn't a lot of distance, but the intensity made up for that. I'm planning a long run tomorrow, either on the Bethpage path, or another route that will facilitate a 6+ mile distance better than my neighborhood roads. My performance has improved greatly for runs between 3-3.5 miles. It will be interesting to see how my pacing holds up, when I double that length tomorrow.

Today's good run becomes tomorrow's expectation

The daily burden

Today's run (street): 3.5 miles

I was a little sore this morning, possibly because my last three runs were done at high effort (though perhaps not at high speed). I haven't put up any sub-9 runs yet, but I'm moving in that direction. My saving grace today was the need to have an early call to Asia. That allowed me an extra hour to loosen up my leg muscles before my run.

Have you ever thought about how great everything seems after you've completed a fast run? You can point to it with pride and feel good about what you've accomplished. But as they say in Hollywood, you're only as good as your last movie. And when training for a race, you're only as good as the last time you ran. Time for resting on your laurels = 1 day. And that day ended for me this morning at 8:00 AM.

I started to prepare for my run after completing my call. Wednesday's good experience had now become today's burden. I knew I couldn't default to my easy running pace and, while I wasn't planning to go all-out, I had mentally set my target. I was determined not to come up short. 

A slight soreness in my legs threw me off on the first half mile. I willed myself to run faster, but I'm not sure the effort fully translated. I do know that when I'm actively thinking about performance, my speed will usually move into the acceptable range. My goal today was to do better than that, so I kept up the mental pressure and hoped that would yield a good result.

I was pleased to see that I ran 5 seconds per mile faster than yesterday. It was great to repeat a good performance and I feel I'm heading in the intended direction. I have the rest of the night to enjoy today's gains. Tomorrow morning, expectations return.

I think, therefore I pace

Today's run (street): 3.4 miles

Okay, now we're talking. After two days off from running, I went out this morning for the first time since the Dirty Sock race. I recognized the need to keep my focus on speed, despite having come off a fairly hard run. It's always a lot easier to do that if you're energized from the start. I was pleased that my legs responded to the challenge.

Everyone has a different default running pace. By that I mean the speed that you'd run if you didn't care about performance. It's probably what people think of as their easy pace. For some, "easy" is 8 minutes a mile. For me, it's much slower than that. When I need to run faster, I know I need to think about running fast. No zoning out and letting my legs carry me along. I've read that running performance is largely mental and my experience supports that.

Today I put priority on cadence and form. I focused on holding a faster pace than my body naturally wished to run. At times, my mind would drift and I'd detect a little deceleration. I dialed back up to "urgent" and tried to reengage my focus. This was not running at 10K race pace, but it was much faster than I've been averaging.

For all that work, I'm still worrying about my readiness to sustain that pace for 6.2 miles in Northport next month. With James Street, Waterside Ave. and Pumpernickel Hill in the mix, I'll have to do a lot more than I did today. But it was a start.

When pacing average is better than average

Today's run (street): 3.5 miles

I spent most of the day in the city, but I managed to get out for a run around 6:30 AM. I always walk down the driveway to get the paper while my Garmin acquires its signal. This morning I was struck by the pleasant coolness in the air and the soft light from the sun that would feel much hotter in an hour. The difference between running at 6:30, versus 7:30 AM, when I usually go out on weekdays, is measurable.

It was probably due to the speed work I did on Sunday that I took off with an energy that I haven't felt in many weeks. My stride was smooth and I felt the sensation of moving. That might sound funny, but my runs can sometimes feel static and plodding. I guess that happens when you run faster. I should probably do it more often.

My overall performance was right around my average training pace. My 2012 average, that is. This year I've been averaging 15 seconds slower than that. But that's about to change. I don't know why my focus on speed tends to drift over time, because I generally enjoy running fast tempos and intervals. I guess I should try to remember that more often.

Speed work, if you can call it that

Running in circles makes me lose my tempo

Today's run (track): 3.1 mile tempo, plus 5 x 100m - total: 3.4 miles

This morning I headed to the local track to run intervals. I was not looking forward to the workout, but if I wanted to improve my speed, I needed to do my homework. Conditions were good, 66° with indirect sun, so I had little excuse to take it easy. I decided to start with a few warm up laps before taking on intervals. I ended up doing a three mile tempo run, followed by 5 x 100 meter strides, run two minutes/mile faster than 10K race pace.

I was concerned that I'd be dealing with some leg fatigue after yesterday's run. Once I got going, I became confident that I'd be okay, although I was frustrated with my limited ability to hit my targeted pace. By the second mile, I was running faster. There were others on the track during the time I was there, but it never got crowded. I appreciated having the first lane to myself, with no need to shift around any walkers or slower runners.

Observations: 

1. I'm still running pretty slow these days. My goal was to break 27 minutes, but I didn't succeed. However, I did run negative splits, with a 9% improvement between miles 1 and 3.

2. I was able to meet my speed target on the intervals. While these runs felt faster than the 6:54 average I recorded, the last time that I did speed work, I averaged under 6:30. Like I said, I'm still slow.

Overall, I'm pleased with this weekend's training. With a couple of tough workouts coming up this week, I feel like I'm setting up well for the competition on the 18th.

Rain disrupts my plans, but not my running

Weather fit for neither beast nor trail runner

Today's run (treadmill): 3.1 miles

I ended up skipping yesterday's workout altogether, choosing to wait until this afternoon to run the trails with my friend. The early morning's weather was perfect, but unfortunately, it was the only good weather we had today. I glanced outside throughout the day and watched the sky grow increasingly darker. It would either clear up, or I'd be looking at rainy and muddy conditions at 4:00 PM.

Around 3:00 PM, my friend Chris called to check in. He was on Long Island for business and preparing to finish a meeting, before heading to my house. The rain was coming down in buckets and any hopes that it would taper off were gone. We decided to postpone our trail run until next week.

With my afternoon freed up, I refocused on a business project. I knew I had the option of running on the treadmill so, by 4:15, I'd decided to do that. In keeping with my plan to train at faster paces, I started on the edge of comfort and increased my speed periodically throughout the run.

Some people find treadmill running easier than outdoor running, but I have the opposite experience. 6.6 MPH (9:00/mile) on my Sole F63 feels like 5K race pace. I was determined get through the run, despite increasing discomfort. I bumped up the pace with a quarter mile to go and held it until I'd "covered" my planned distance.

It was definitely one of the hardest runs I've done in the last four weeks and I was glad that I didn't back off on my speed, even as the run got tougher. I need to maintain that mindset as I go through my Dirty Sock training. Even without Chris to push me or the challenges at Stillwell, I think made some good conditioning progress today.

Speed decline, is it nature or nurture?

My story in two axis

Today's run (street): 3.25 miles

Conditions were near perfect when I went out for my morning run. The 7:00 AM sun was low enough to cast great shade along my route and the air felt cool and dry. The neighborhood was quiet, with just a few cars and a couple of walkers. I moved along well and thought about the fact that my running performance has suffered greatly this year.

A few years ago, I would average around 27 minutes for a three mile training run. Over time, my normal training pace has edged up almost a minute per mile. Back in 2010, I went out on every run with a pace goal in mind, and I was racing far more frequently than I have this year. That may explain some of the loss of speed.

I'm not willing to concede any performance drops to age at this point. Although I really want to run for the sake of running, I do find myself thinking about turnover and stride length while on the road. If I look at my pace on the Garmin during a run, I'm often surprised by how much effort it takes to break 9:00 minutes.

Every time I find myself on a run, struggling to stay under 10:00/mile, I vow that I'll go back to doing core exercises and speed work at the track. Somehow I forget that commitment once I get home. I think it's time to get serious about speed. I'm due to run with a friend this week who tends to push me past my comfort zone. Maybe that's exactly what I need right now.