I finished my 3rd (and last) Phase I week. Thank god, cause I've hated the 10 x 1/4 mile @ R pace workout.

I'll have 2 weeks of Phase II, but I also want to run a 5K on June 3. So I'm planning next week like this:

M: 60 min E (1 or 2 runs TM)
T: 75 min E
W: 3 miles E + 3 x 1 mile T w/ 2 min rest + 3 miles easy
T: 30 min E + 30 min E
F: Rest
S: 5K race w/2 miles warmup and 3 miles cooldown
S: 120 min long run

I'll try to run easy runs at 7:45-8:15. T pace is 6:26. Theoretically, I should be able to run the 5K in 18:40 (6:00/mile), but we'll see it on race day.

I did my LT workout yesterday on the treadmill. Originally, because it was heavy rain outside, but also, because the controlled environment appealed to me at this time: I wanted to get some solid indicators if I'm able to run steady 20 minutes at sub-6:30 pace, and how it feels. No distraction from weather, hills, traffic.

It went better than expected. After 20 minutes of warmup at 8:00/mile, I switched the TM to 6:27/mile, and I ran 20 minutes that pace. It wasn't too hard. At no time I felt I was over my LT. I certainly could have done it a lot longer.

I guess this is another indication of a 54 VDOT. I'll do my training accordingly. I will probably need at least 55 to run sub-3 hour in Bowling Green, but I have a lot of time.

Second week of Gold Plan finished. The last workout of the week is always this 10 x 400 m (or more exactly 10 x 1/4 mile), which I do on the street, because the open high school track close to our house is being resurfaced. This is physically not that hard, but mentally brutal for me. Every repetition is uncomfortably fast. They are just too long, and there are 10 of them! Like when you think you had enough after 3, but there are 7 left! It always feels good when I finally finish it.

The week ended with 57 miles, even lower than last time, but the quality makes up for it. I just wish I could finally nail the LT workout next week.

My mileage will be down a bit by using Daniels' Gold plan, at least in Phase I. It will be between 55 and 60, but that's fine. It quite a bit harder than doing 60 all easy.

Today I had my third T run in the last two weeks. As expected, it's not getting any faster. Today it was especially hard, because I ran in 87 degrees, mostly uphill, and mostly headwind. Splits were 6:24, 6:43, 6:51, which works out to be 6:40-ish average. Even the pacing is mostly fine, because last mile was the most uphill/headwind, and the first mile was mostly fine pace, except for a jackrabbit start.

Two threshold workouts later I can pretty well determine that my VDOT is slightly under 54. I decided that I'll try to Daniels' Gold Plan until the 18 week training starts. It will be probably quite hard, if not impossible - but hey it won't hurt to try, and maybe I can have some fun after so many weeks of just easy running. Tomorrow I'll have finished the first week of it.

Including this week, I'll have 8 weeks of training before systematic marathon training starts. That means 3 weeks in Phase I, 2 weeks in Phase II, and 3 weeks in Phase IV. Due to the fixed rest days on Tuesdays, This is how the Phase I weeks should look like:

M: 60 min E (1 or 2 runs) + 6 ST
T: Rest
W: 20 min E + 6 ST + 20 min T + 6 ST + 10 min E
T: 60 min E
F: 120 min L
S: 75 min E (1 or 2 runs)
S: 20 min E + 10 x 400 R w/400 jg + 10 min E

T pace is 6:30/mile, R pace is 83 s for 400 m. Strides are light, quick 20 second runs with 60 seconds of rest.

More than a half a year after my last post, nothing that I planned came through. With work and travel, I was training on and off; never stopped, but also never able to do as much as I wanted. I got sick a few times in the winter, too. According to my training log, here are the logged mileages since that last September post.

50, 11, 51, 51, 35, 56, 57, 52, 60, 27, 60, 9, 0, 26, 44, 32, 0, 0, 19, 4, 20, 45, 34, 0, 45, 43, 50, 46, 55, 35, 60, 38, 45, 60, 60.

So I gave up on running the KY Derby, and now I'm looking into a fall marathon. Bowling Green looks nice.

Marathon on 11/5. Training starts on 7/2. Until then, trying to get to 60 MPW, 15 mile long runs, and some quality to have a VDOT at 55.