Week 5 — 6/9-6/15

Five weeks down, sixteen to go.

Sunday: Rest Day

Monday: 2 x Max Effort 1 Mile with 5 minutes rest between (6:01, 5:43)

Tuesday: Buy-in 400m run, then 4 rounds for time of: 15 Box Jumps, 10 KB swings @53#, 10 Hand release pushups and 15 squats, Cashout 400m run.

Wednesday: Strict Press 1-1-1-1-1, then 21-15-9 of: Chinups, Abmat Situps, Push Press @1/2 of 1rm strict press, and floor wipers with same barbell as push press.

Thursday: Easy 2 miles with 5×100 stride outs.

Friday: No workout due to race Saturday morning

Saturday: American Fork Canyon half marathon. 13.1 miles average pace 6:59. Final time 1:31:35

Total weekly “running” mileage: 17.6

Time exercising other than running: 1 hour

Walking mileage through work: 6 miles

All in all another great week. Starting Monday with mile repeats I knew it was going to be a good week. I ran the fastest mile split that I have run in nearly 15 years. I am really happy with my half-marathon time. I pr’d by over a minute but missed my goal time by 35 seconds. On the bus ride to the starting line I told a few other runners that my longest run in the last 6 months was 4 miles and that my goal was 1:30. They literally laughed at me and in jest said they would look for me on the side of the road. I had the last laugh when I crossed the finish line 15 minutes before any of them that had been preparing for that race for 6 months. Interestingly my quads weren’t sore like most of those who ran the downhill race. While my quads weren’t sore, my shins, calves and feet were more sore than expected and I attribute it to my concentration on correct running biomechanics with eliminating heel strike. After running the half, I feel like I can hit my marathon goal but I think I am going to add more volume (not in the form of LSD, but in more intervals, spread out through the days and weeks). On another note, I will have another opportunity to see where I am at as I won entry into a Spartan race that is two weeks from now. It is a “Beast” level race which means that it will be 12+ miles with 20+ obstacles. Having not done an adventure race before this will be a completely new experience that will give my more information on where my fitness really is.

Week 3 — 5/26-6/1

Three weeks down, eighteen to go.

Sunday: Rest Day

Monday: 3 mile walk with little elevation change. Interval run: 1-1-2-2-3-3-2-2-1-1.  1 minute fast (about 15% faster than race pace), followed by one minute at a recovery/conversation pace. Then two fast, two slower, and follow the pattern. At conclusion, the mileage of this run was 2.2.

Tuesday: CrossFit WOD of: Cash-in of 100 double-unders, followed by 5 rounds for time of: 5 hang-cleans @ 95#, 10 front squats @95#, and 5 strict shoulder press @95#, and then a cash-out of another set of 100 double-unders. Total time was just over 12 minutes.

Wednesday: 3 miles walk with about 500 feet of elevation. Interval workout at the track: run 400 meters, rest 2 minutes, run 400 meters, rest 2 minutes, run 800 meters, rest 4 minutes, run 400 meters, rest 2 minutes, run 400 meters. My splits on the intervals were: 1:13, 1:16, 2:51, 1:21, and 1:11

Thursday: 60 minutes of moderate intensity cycling on a trainer in my living room.

Friday:3 mile walk. 3 mile tempo run and CrossFit WOD. Tempo run was 2.96 miles in 20:00. Average pace was 6:45. After the run the workout was 4 rounds with decreasing reps (20-15-10-5) of the following exercises: barbell thrusters, abmat situps, burpees, and battle-rope slams.

Saturday: 5 mile walk/hike with minimal elevation change. 45 minutes on the cycling trainer.

Total weekly “running” mileage: 6.7

Time exercising other than running: 2.5 hours.

Walking mileage: 14

I feel “in-shape” and I no that I work hard at what I do, but I have doubts that it will be enough. I will have a chance to see how I am coming along. The company I work for will be  sponsoring a race in a couple of weeks, so I will get my first look on how this type of training has prepared me for a half-marathon. Going in, I hope to run it at the same pace, or faster, as my marathon goal pace. We will see. I have been paying more attention to what I eat. I have noticed that my attention to the work I am doing has caused me to be more aware of my food and fuel source.