Marathon Monkey's Training Blog

A quality 9 miler at Ala Moana Beach Park today.  Didn't push it too much, but I was happy to be feeling good considering the long run on Saturday.  I ran between 6:05 and 6:15 for most of it.  I felt very relaxed throughout, except for a slight tightness in both achilles.  They are still a bit tired from Saturday.  Effort level was a 6.5.  Tomorrow I'll do 1/2 mile repeats on the road.  Bought some new light weight trainers today so I'm excited to get on the road with them.  Until tomorrow... 

AM: 1.5 mile warm-up, 6 X 800 meters on the road, 1.5 mile cool down.  3 slight up-hill,  headwind; 3 slight down-hill, tailwind.

I need to go measure the distance again.  I measured it with my car, but I got the marks mixed up.  I think I ran them long because I was hitting times like 2:47 (up-hill, tailwind), and I felt like I was running pretty hard.  I'm pretty sure the marker was actually at a speed sign, not a no parking sign which is approximately 12 second farther.  The actual times were: 2:46, 2:33, 2:47, 2:29, 2:47, 2:46?.  I don't know what happened on the last one.  I was getting close to oxygen debt on the 5th one, so I must've just been spent.  Anyways, good workout.  It was fun to try out one of the racers I bought.  Tonight, I have another 6-8 miles to do.

After measuring the 800's with my watch again this afternoon, I found that they were in fact long, way long, about 15 sec/mile too long.  So, the times were actually more like 2:31, 2:18, 2:32, 2:14, 2:32, 2:31.  I'd say this was an impressive workout, considering the up-hill and harsh wind conditions.  The rest was equal to the splits.  Now that I know exactly where they finish, they should be even faster next time.  To be sure my watch measured correctly, I went to the track to be sure, and it measured right on the money. 

PM: 7 miles at 7:00 minute pace.  Easy.     

I slept in today to make sure I got good rest after yesterday's workout.  So, I didin't get a morning run in.  I was going to run in the afternoon, but I found out I had class.  I guess I misread the FIS schedule.  So, I ended up having to run when I got home at around 8:30.  It was later than I'm used to.  I was already tired from school, walking, etc.  But, I felt surprisingly good.  I ran most of it at 6:00 pace.  The last mile or so was at 5:45 pace.  It felt great!  This was the first decent quality 6 miler since I've been back.  I feel my aerobic capacity getting much more fit every week.  March and April should be very strong training months.  Hopefully hitting between 80-85 quality miles a week.  Tomorrow's my 200m/100m day to facilitate better leg speed and economy.  Good Stuff!

AM: 3 mile warm-up on the track, 14 X 200m @ 34-36 with 30-33 seconds rest between each one, 2.5 mile cool down.  The point of this workout was to facilitate leg turnover and economy while similtaneously building my aerobic base.  I love doing this workout weekly, when my body is up to it.  It really makes running fast, much easier over time.  I nailed the splits that I wanted to hit, so I'm happy.  These are not all out 200m's by any means.  I did this workout often in High School when I was running sub 15:10 for the 5k.  My 200's were between 31 and 32 back then, so I have some work to do in this area.  It will come back soon though.  The effort level for this workout felt like an 8.

PM: 9 mile threshold run between 5:30 and 5:40 pace at Ala Moana Beach Park.  It actually felt quite comfortable, until I cramped up.  From the beginning of the run, my body felt like it wanted to go, so I didn't hold much back on this one.  I didn't hydrate too well this morning, and the sleep was most defintely a factor with my cramp as well.  This run gave me much more confidence for Newport.  A 2:22 may actaully be within reach.  We'll see how the next 2 and half months of training unfold.  This workout was about an 8.5 effort level.  I definitely felt there was more in the tank, which is encouraging. 

Today's workouts equate to my best day's effort since resuming my training.  I am really motivated and pumped for the marathon.  I felt great considering the amount of sleep I got.  I just could not get to sleep last night.  One of those nights.  It's been almost a month since I've slept this badly.  Gotta get some good sleep tonight to get ready for Saturday's long run effort.      

Easy 10.5 at Kapolei park.  Grassy, hilly fun little 1.25 mile loop.  Just cruised at 6:30-6:45 pace.  After the run, I could tell that tomorrows 16 miler will be tough due to fatigue from other workouts!

Today's workout was excellent, especially considering the week I've put in.  10 miles at 6:30 pace on a hilly course, rolling into 4 consequtive miles between 5:22 and 5:29, just a tad faster than goal marathon pace.  I really wanted to do 5 miles, but at the 3.5 mark, I felt absolutely exhausted, so I kept it at 4 miles.  2 mile cool down at 7:15 pace.  The 9 miler on Thursday really wiped me out.  I'll do another of those next week because I'm only running a long easy in the hills, no hard paced tempo stuff.  In two weeks when I do this workout again, I won't run one of those to make sure my race simulation workout is better quality.

AM: 7.5 easy miles in Manoa Valley residential and back.  Did a couple of laps on Punahou's track just for kicks.  Effort level was a 5.

I'm gonna try to make some time this evening for another 7 or 8 miles.  We'll see if I can, if I do, it'll be at around 8 or 9 o'clock.  I've my alternating 1200/1600 workout tomorrow as well.