We join our hero as he laces up his running shoes in preparation to start on the fourth marathon training cycle. The goal, which he can’t even see right now, is sub-3:30 in the Flying Pig Marathon.
Monday: 5 miles. Woke up to a wind warning, and apparently it was windy all night. Drove over to the park and started running around it and the subdivision next to it, which didn’t seem too bad until I made a right turn in the back area of the subdivision and the wind was so bad I paused my podcast because I couldn’t hear over the wind noise. After unpausing and making my way back into the park, I ended up pausing it again in the back of the park due to the same problem. 5.18 miles in 44:30 (8:35 min/mile pace).
Tuesday: 3 x Hill. Went up to East Fork for this, since the hill coming up from the lake is pretty substantial. It was windy and flurrying. Started with form drills and then ran just under 1.5 miles as a warm up and to place me at the bottom of the hill. Pushed the lap button and up the hill three times, somehow making average paces of 7:22, 7:41, and 7:54. Ran my cool down and a little more to 4.11 miles in 37:24 (9:06 min/mile pace). Finished with stretches, squats, and single-leg deadlifts in the park and seven pull-ups at home.
Wednesday: 3 miles. Woke up way late because of a Netflix Binge to ring in the new year. We went to bed after 1:00 AM, it was interesting to see the run-up to Central Time’s New Year “ball drop” from New Orleans. So I didn’t go running until around the midday. Ran in the subdivision. 3.32 miles in 26:55 (8:25 min/mile pace).
Thursday: 5 Miles @ M Pace. Ran in the park and the subdivision next to it. It was a chilly morning and I didn’t feel overly fast. The wind kicked up, but it waited until I had 0.2 miles left in the M pace portion of the workout, so it was a non-issue. However, I was able to keep the 5 miles to a 7:52 min/mile pace, which is within my goal range (7:33 – 7:53). Overall, 7 miles in 57:30 (8:13 min/mile pace).
Friday: 10 miles. Ran in the park and the subdivision next to it. Rainy morning, but not cold – it was about 50F, which is normally short-sleeve shirt weather. I wore a long-sleeve shirt because of the rain. I tried to keep the pace decent, but it seems I was slipping through a large part of the run until the last three miles where I tried to get 10 miles in under 90 minutes… I missed by 3 seconds. Overall, 10.13 in 1:31:04 (8:59 min/mile pace).
Saturday: 3 miles. Woke up and ran 3 miles in the mist… which I couldn’t even see until it collected on my glasses. Four laps around the subdivision. 3.32 in 30:13 (9:06 min/mile pace).
That’s it for a successful week 1. 33 miles this week.