Eugene Training - Week 2

I'm not sure I'll continue with this title throughout the next 15 weeks or so, but it'll work today.

I got serious (sort of) with the program this week and did all six days of training and the mileage called for each day. The major issue I've got, and only I can fix it, is the lack of speed. I started off the week on Tuesday with a 5 miler at 8:32 pace, followed by another one on Wednesday at 8:18. Those were numbers that I could live with. Thursday I headed over to the equestrian trail for 4 miles and was shocked to see my 8:54 pace. I felt faster than that. To get Friday's run in I had to get up and go before work (something I rarely do). My legs were pretty heavy and I clocked a whopping 9:05 pace. See a trend here.

Saturday is usually long run day, but we had some other obligations to take care of and there was a chance of meeting up with Planet3rry in San Diego for a little jog. It appears that he had flight delays, so we weren't able to meet up. I went over to Mission Bay and ran for 27 minutes and called it 3 miles. I could figure it out with gmaps pedometer, but don't really see the need.

After the run, I picked up my oldest son and we had a great dinner together in Little Italy on the northwest side of downtown San Diego. He has taken up walking lately and has been doing it in his skater shoes. His shins have been giving him a bad time of it. He went to a running store and was a little overwhelmed and didn't really have the funds to buy the shoes anyway. I got him a pair of Brooks Beasts on ebay this evening, as recommended at the store. He said they felt the best of the shoes he tried on. From what little knowledge I have on shoes, they seem to be a good choice for him. He broke his ankle when he was 10 or so and that foot is smaller and shaped differently. Oddly the other leg is giving him the most trouble. Perhaps it is over compensating.

Sunday meant long run day. I opted to run in the afternoon. We are in the middle of the coldest snap so far this winter. Like most places we have had a very mild one so far. It was 80° on Monday, while today the highs were in the mid 50's with overnight lows in the 30's. Nothing like going from summer to winter in the span of a week. Our poor furnace ran off and on overnight just to keep the house at 62°. Normally it doesn't run at all after midnight until it cranks up to 68 about an hour before I get out of bed. So rather than run in 30-40 degree weather, I opted for the midday 50's. The sky was clear and there was a light breeze. I ran Brian's Loop, a 15 mile loop through Philips Ranch, Walnut, Diamond Bar and Chino Hills. There are 6 nice hills along this route. I felt good in the sun, and was a little chilled in the shade. I kept a nice relaxed pace and felt really good the entire way. I don't run this route often, so I don't have very good mileage milestones. I went through 21 ounces of 50/50 Gatorade Endurance/water mixture and 1 GU (compliments of my younger son from Christmas).

The 15 miles took me 2:21:35 or an unbelievable 9:26 pace. No wonder I felt good the whole way. 9:26 pace puts me back at 4:00 plus marathon time. That freaks me out. I guess it is still early in the training cycle, but I have a huge doubt and fear in my head. And while I know that it is not all bad to take the long runs slow, I also know that long slow runs lead to long slow marathons, at least for me. At the moment I'm at a loss to figure out exactly how I'm supposed to get my legs moving at sub 8:00 pace. I obviously have a lot of work to do. Errrr.

Total mileage for the week was 36. Next week calls for another 6 day week and 38 miles (hopefully some of them faster!!).

M: Rest
T: 5 miles, 42:40
W: 5 miles, 41:29
H: 4 miles, 35:36
F: 4 miles, 36:20
S: 3 miles, 26:54 (ran by time, not distance)
S: 15 miles, 2:21:35