Below par start to second month training

The  fifth week (or 2nd month) of training did not start well. At both the strengthening sessions in Manipal hospital  I struggled in more than one machine. The 3 x 1600m interval training at Kanteerva was a big challenge. The target was 6:57 per mile. Did the 1st one in 6:48(a bit too fast) and the second one in 6:57 after a 1 minute rest interval. However I was quite tired at the end of this and had to take rest interval of 2 minutes before the next one. Even then I struggled to complete in 6:58 and was completely beat at the end of it!!

The 3 mile tempo run(target pace of 7:30/mile)  this morning also did not go too well. There were too many variables - old shoes,cotton shorts, traffic on IRR and shoelaces coming off. The first mile was covered in 7:24, the second in 7:45(due to the lace coming off) and had a tough third mile in 7:29. Again at the end of the run I felt very tired.

I need to heed the advice of coaches Dharam and Bill Pierce and not to do any of my workouts at faster than target pace. I need to be specially careful at the long run this weekend - maybe I need to take it easy after 4 hard weeks of training. Else it  could lead to fatigue or  injury - both of which are certainly very avoidable!!

Monthly update on 16 weeks marathon training

Completed training week four of 16 using the 'Run Less, Run Faster' FIRST program with excellent back to back tempo and long runs on 13th and 14th July. This is not usual for me - I rarely do back to back runs - there was a possibility of going out of town Saturday night so I had little choice. So far the training has been pretty much on target with 3-4 runs and 2 cross-training cycling workouts every week for the last four weeks. All the three run workouts , namely, interval run, tempo run and long run have been as per the prescribed pace In fact  the   long runs  have all been at faster than target pace - I need to avoid this in future long runs - else there is risk of fatigue or injury. eg The 1st of 5 20 miler that I did this weekend was at target pace of 8:47/mile rather than 9:19/mile - this was also my longest run in my new pair of shoes. I also had a good run in Sankarnagar (Tirunelveli district) despite strong headwinds, stray dogs, gradients on the Tirunelveli-Rajapalayam highway, wrong turn on the return, stomach cramps and warm weather. This was the only long run in which the 2nd half was much slower than the 1st half - I managed negative or close to   even splits in the other 3 long runs so far. 

I started my 16 weeks training  on 18th June  for the Mohawk Hudson River marathon (7th October) from  after building base mileage for 8 weeks. During this period my weight has dropped from 61.5Kgs to 59.5Kgs   mainly due to the consistency of exercise and some control on diet - though  I have been travelling and eating out quite a bit as well. The pain in the left glutes and left calf has reduced considerably. Not sure whether this is due to the change of shoes or due to my rigorously and regularly doing specific stretching and/or foam roller exercises after every workout. These exercises were suggested to me by Dr. Gladston of Attitudeprime. 

Summary of the workouts : 

Week of June 18th (#1) 

• 3 x 1600 m  - target : 6:57; actual : 6:55/7:02/6:58
• 2 miles short tempo run in 15 minutes(7:30/mile)
• 13 mile long run in 1:51 versus goal of 1:54
• Additional 6 mile easy run
• Cycling1: 10min Easy/20min Tempo/10min Easy
• Cycling 2: 10minEasy/3 x(2min Hard,2min easy)/10min Easy

Week of June 25th(#2)

• 4 x 800 m  - target : 6:40/mile ; actual : between 6:29 to 6:38 per mile
• 6.5 miles tempo run at 7:57/mile versus goal of 8:19/mile
• 15 miles long run at 8:50/mile versus goal of 9:04/mile
• Additional 6 mile easy run 
• Cycling1: 10min Easy/10min Tempo/5min Hard/5min Easy
• Cycling 2: 10min Easy/5 x(1min Hard,1min easy)/10min Easy

Week of July 2nd(#3) 

• 1200m/1000m/800m/600m/400/200m; target pace : 6:48/6:43/6:40/6:38/6:32/6:16; actual pace: 6:41/6:35/6:37/6:25/6:21/5:33

• 7.5 miles tempo run at 7:54/mile versus goal of 8/mile
• 17 miles long run at 8:33/mile versus goal of 9:04/mile 
• Cycling1: 10min Easy/20min Tempo/10min Easy 
• Cycling 2: 10min Easy/3 x(2min Hard,2min easy)/10min Easy

Week of July 9th(#4)

• 5 x 1000 m  - target : 6:43/mile ; actual : 6:14/6:43/6:34/6:35/6:38 per mile
• 6.5 miles tempo run at 7:57/mile versus goal of 8:19/mile
• 15 miles long run at 8:50/mile versus goal of 9:04/mile 
•  Cycling1: 10min Easy/8min Hard,2min easy,8min Hard/10min Easy 
• Cycling 2: 40min Easy