I got it done with a couple group runs.
This past week has been one of my better ones it quite a while. It started off with a group long run last Sunday out here in Langley. The plan was 28km with a 10km pick up at 12 km- 22km. We started out at a moderate pace hitting around 6:20 pace for the first 12.4 km before picking it up for the next 10km. Wykes put some distance on us pretty quickly, which was fine with me, as I settled into a pack with Gant and Simpson. I felt surprisingly good and knocked off that 10km with Gant in just under 34 minutes, for me right now that was a good starting point to see how much faster I can go next time we do something similar to this again. We ran back to the start of the run and a good clip and rounded out almost 29km.
Next I met the group again out at the Coquitlam track on Wednesday for some repeat miles. Gant and Simpson and I formed a good group and ran 6xmile off 90 seconds jog together. We averaged 4:56 per mile which may not seem that quick but it was solid with the short jog rest and for me it was my first tough effort on the track in a long time. I felt reasonably relaxed during the workout but taxed from the amount of work we did that evening. Last time I built up for a marathon and did this workout I don’t think it went this well and this time I am still further behind that I was the last time so things are moving forward in a good direction.
Saturday I made the trip to the Island off the island so I was not able to run the Tempo with the group at Stanley park that morning. Instead I had to solo my tempo run that morning. I warmed up 5km and then got right into it. My workout was 15km at tempo pace so I set my garmin on workout mode and ran an out and back route on the main road around Gabriola island. I forgot how hilly this run was as I ran the first 3km gradually up hill with a nice steep climb in there before flattening out a bit at the top and then a slight downhill grade leading up another good climb before I turned around at 7200 meters and headed back toward the start. Coming back seemed like an even harder grind then going out, probably due to the fact that it was a long gradual climb to the flat section before I got to the final downhill section. It felt like I was crawling that final 3 km that I figured my pace was going to be pretty slow and because I didn’t look at my pace during the workout I was quite surprised at what it said I ran after I was done. I made a dal with myself before the run that a really great day under the circumstances 5:10-5:15 would be a great workout, 5:16-5:20 would be a good workout, somewhere around 5:30 pace would be alright and much slower than that and well at least I got out there and tried to get it done. At the end of the run I really felt like I was clipping of maybe 5:45 pace but to my surprise I averaged 5:17 pace for the 15km tempo; so on the 5km cool down I was in a pretty good mood.
I quickly decided that I was going to head out the next day and run the 35km long run I wanted to do last week end and running all the way around the island is something I have wanted to to for a while but hadn’t yet so I decided to get both done in one shot. With Karen following in the van with water and the video camera I felt ready to make the attempt. My plan was to run the an easy long run and just get the distance in. I started off easy and hit the first 10km in 38 minutes. It was a hell of a hot day out so I was glad I brought a water bottle for this run, I didn’t eat before or drink anything so this was one of those long depletion runs I like to do to tech the body to burn fat before glycogen and early on I was feeling good. The next 10km clipped along just fine and I hit just over 36 minutes for that leg. This island turns out is hilly, really hilly and right past 20km I had this one mutha of a hill that went on and on. I made sure not to push too hard but to keep the tempo going. Then next 10km went by in just over 36 minutes again and with the amount of hills I had to climb in that section and to this point in the entire run I was really happy with the way this run was going. The final 5km I ran in 16:50 and it was mostly up hill so I finished strong still feeling relaxed and not depleted. 2:07 for the 35km run.
This rounded out a good mileage week for me well over 100 miles. Next week I am looking forward to building on the solid workout I have been having and making sure I use my easy days as recovery so I don’t dig myself in a training hole. I think I may have done this during my last build up with all the catching up I had to do to chase Mosley and Wykes and this time round I want to do the work and get in the right amount of recovery and when my body says I am ready make another attempt at the marathon
