Middle Distance Saturday

I hadn't planned on working out Friday, but I decided to check in at Pure Fitness just to get credit for a visit, even though there was no chance I wasn't going to make my minimum this month.  It's just that with the boot camp and running sessions, I don't get over to Pure Fitness as often, and I just want to make sure I don't come up short.

Well...I discovered I had a pair of running shorts in my trunk and realized I had everything I needed for a treadmill run; so I decided to do a short afternoon workout after all.  I just did 30 minutes all together, 10 of which was warm up and 5 of which was cool down.  During the other 15 minutes, I chose to go hard, including a 9.0 - 9.2 mph for a mile and a half.  I had thought about going for 3.1 miles at that pace to set a personal (unofficial, treadmill) best, but it was tiring and I didn't want to injure myself or put myself into a hole for my planned Saturday 10-miler, which I wanted to do at a challenging pace.

I wound up covering about 3.5 miles total, with 2.2 above my lactate threshold.  I did 1.5 in 9:54 which is pretty standard for me.  That's going to have to come down though if I want to approach 20:00 in the 5K.  My HR peaked out at 171.  I didn't check the average.

I got in a few 100m strides during the cool down period and spent some time stretching for a change.  I've let that habit lapse into a non-habit.

This morning, did 2 laps around Lake Miramar.  Poor Garmin-less me has to rely on a stop watch and distance knowledge to work out pace details, but I did buy myself an early Father's Day present on Friday, finding a clearance-marked 50-lap Timex Ironman watch with an additional 25% off of that at Sports Authority.  So, with that and the quarter mile markers around the lake, I was able to save and analyze my splits:
Clockwise
* mile 1: 7:37 (extrapolated since that first 1/2 mile clockwise from the 0 post is actually short by .08 mile)
* mile 2: 7:46
* mile 3: 7:43
* mile 4: 7:47
* mile 5: 7:50
turnaround point; water from water fountain and short recovery (1:39)
Counter-clockwise
* mile 6: 7:24
* mile 7: 7:40
* mile 8: 7:50
* mile 9: 7:26
* mile 10: 7:32 (extrapolated; see mile 1)

My plan had been to do the first, clockwise lap at an 8-minute mile pace and then try to press the counter-clockwise lap to around 7:30/mile.  Art says I need to be able to sustain an 8-minute mile pace comfortably for 10 miles when we start marathon training in September.  I think I'm already there.  My perception of my pace changes as I fatigue.  I was actually pretty okay for the first 5 miles, even though I was a bit speedier than I had planned.  I could feel the 5th mile slowing.

But with the brief break for water, my legs freshened up and I was able to bump up the pressure a little, thinking ahead to the 10K in two weeks. I started out okay, but began to tire on mile 7 and 8.  Quin was my water caddy, and he handed me a 10 oz Amphipod bottle which I downed during that last quarter of mile 8.  The slowdown in pace and the water must have refreshed me because I ran my strongest mile through mile 9.

I don't know if that pace would count as "comfortable."  I suppose I'd think of it more as a tempo pace, or even HM race pace.  I do think I could have sustained that for another 3 miles, which would put me in around 1 hr and 41 or 42 minutes in a flat half marathon.  Even though I don't plan on racing the AFC HM, I think the course profile should allow me to improve on my La Jolla time.

Anyway, it was a good run and quite different from the LSD runs I'd been doing during marathon training.  I still have room to improve on my leg strength.  Those upper quads/hip flexors are still the weak link.

(HR was around 90% for the first 5, and 93% for the second 5...assuming 175 is HRmax, which I'm beginning to question.)