I am a fan of combining workouts, maybe because it’s efficient, maybe because I am lazy…
This past weekend was going to be our last long run, it could have been a slooooow 18, or a harder 15. Then I deviced the evil (muahahaha) plan that would bring the house down:a combination to make Centro weep and Shalane curl into a ball.
Blaise and I had done one like this right before my last marathon, and I wanted to compare, to see where I stood… Basically, we had done this 5.2 miles lap of the bridle path, dirt road and hills, two times, the first time was 8:26 average pace, and the second 5.2 was 8:15. As it turns out, my average pace for that marathon was 8:19.
So, I put the links in an email, explained the plan, did math, and sent it for review.
My idea was to do:
First Lap, 5.2 miles at 8:10 pace average.
Second Lap, 5.3 loop: 8 pace average
Last lap, 2.5 miles at 7:50 pace.
It’d still be longish at 13 miles, but it’d be HARD. Keep in mind, I was doing 7:36 is my 10k PR this year and 7:52 in halfs. Tough. And this was in dirt, no bounceback!!
On Thursday, Blaise read nothing and said yes and that he couldn’t on Saturday, our usual day. Crap. I forgot he was doing a Spartan race. I was going out of town but I could move my plans around and do Sunday, but would he be too tired for it? I said I am going to kill you. He said he could try not to die. I set the plan for Sunday, but then I realized I had an extra day, Friday, with no run now. Hmmm, I’ll do drills!!! Which I haven’t done in… months?!?! Years?!?! !!
Pfft. I waited until the last minute, did like 20 minutes as I was an hour and a half late to a fabo rooftop party, and had no will or time to stretch, whatever.
Holy mackerel, of course, I couldn’t even stand that night, or walk. Or look normal. Got home at 3 am, too tired to stretch or ice bath. Saturday, no walking without screaming. I am a moron. Popped some motrin and tried to sleep.
Sunday: Blaise was tired. I was super sore, the motrin did NOTHING!
The first mile of every lap, I’d curse like a… me! It’d then go away, somehow, you know how it is. What happened with the workout, you ask?
We did:
First Lap, 5.2 miles at 8:0 pace average.
Second Lap, 5.3 loop: 7:55 pace average
Last lap, 2.5 miles at 7:41 pace.
Obviously now I won’t walk for a week. But it’s worth it.
The brutal combo: long run + tempo
runningandthecity 