I've averaged 51 mpw over the past 9 weeks. Although the number is probably lower than ideal for long distance racing, I've had a bit of success, especially at the NB half in mid-March. So long as I could stay healthy and was motivated, I wanted to choose a real target race for this Spring. Originally I thought it would be Mt. Washington but, after being rejected there for the 3rd time in three straight years, I've all but written off that race. I love running in the mountains... but I don't know if I'd actually enjoy a race up an auto-road.
In any case, for a couple years I've had an interest in taking a crack at the Vermont City Marathon. I love the small city of Burlington, the race falls at a nice point in the year, and with the large gap in the NEGP series, the timing is just about ideal. I'll barely have time to recover for the Ribfest 5 miler but, I expect I'll be plenty fit enough to give a good effort there and hopefully support the team.
So, here we go. Although my average mileage has been low by marathoner standards, the average long run over the past 5 weeks has been 17 miles. I have a few specific target workouts for the next 5 weeks planned. I will try to build to 75 or 80 mpw, with big longer workouts about every 10 days followed by long, 2 or 3-day recovery periods. I've started running into the issue of going too fast when feeling good on a non-specific training day. Instead of sprinkling in 5:30 miles at the tail end of a maintenance run, I need to save that kind of stuff more for the big, planned workouts.
The goal for VCM is 2:30, or 5:43+ per mile. I'll review my most recent training below and begin logging my runs regularly during this training block.
Training of late:
Sunday: 16 easy with Tim. 6:52 pace over Newton Hills.
Monday: 12 mi MP progression: last 4.7 mi @ 5:42 avg http://connect.garmin.com/splits/467279273
Tuesday: 10 mi 66 minutes easy roads.
Wednesday: Off. Super busy and just didn't have it! Probably not bad to take the day, anyway.
Thursday: 6 x 400 on, 400 off. 70, 67, 67, 66, 66, 65 on 400m float (1:42 avg). 5:36 pace for 5k total.
Friday: 8.5 / 60 min easy. First day of the year on trails! A little dicey out there with some long patches of ice. Almost slid into Pomps Pond! Feeling almost excited for the rainy weekend ahead...should clear everything up for some real trail running!
Saturday: 8.8 @ 6:40 on roads. Ran into Evan twice while he was running long in his prep for Boston. Feeling peppy.
Sunday: 3 mi up, 5k race (15:27), 3 mi easy, 2 mi @ 5:24 tempo, 1+ mi down. 12++ total.
Monday: 8.5 miles / 60 minutes very easy in the Ward Reservation. Very muddy, some areas flooded. Fun way to spend the recovery day after An Ras Mor.
Tuesday: 11 miles, last 6 at 5:54. 68 minutes. Felt really comfortable until I started to press down into the 5:30s. There is a line somewhere between mid-5:40 and low-5:30 that, once I cross, the effort becomes considerably more taxing. May need to start leaving the watch at home on steady-state days to avoid getting excited and pushing the pace like this. First big marathon-style workout coming late this week or maybe this weekend... Warm up 5 mi, 3 x 5k @ 5:45 with 1 mi steady between each, 2 down.
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