Just finished one of the best runs I have had in a few months. I wanted to do a 10 Mile Long run with a fast finish, but I started the fast portion of it about 3 miles in and just continued with the pace. I was a little frustrated with my Nike + device. It was giving me pace times that I thought were off quite a bit. When I finished the distance it gave was only 9.68 miles, so I mapped it using gmaps and that told me the run was 10.6 miles...a huge difference. I don't really think that either are precise, but that is a large difference. Not only that but with my Nike + the pace works out to about 7:47, and with gmaps the pace is closer to 7:10. I felt great the whole run so I think I was at least around 7:20 per mile. Oh well.
Let's see why I had such a good run. To tell the truth I don't really know why. I flew home for my pop's birthday party yesterday and ate like garbage, had a few drinks, and 3 pieces of cake!! Then I flew back Sunday morning and didn't really follow my eating plan very closely all day, and didn't max my glycogen stores. I guess the reason is that I have taken the two previous days off and I just felt fresh. That and I think my tempo work is really starting to pay large dividends.
Speaking of tempo work I had a very good, but tough one this week. I did 4.5 miles at a quick pace, well below what I am scheduled to do. I paid for it Thursday, but like I said with a little extra rest it help with my long run.
My eating plan seems to be working. I have had some extra snacks later at night. Mostly to correct my blood sugar, but some just cause I am hungry. I think I will have to add some calories when we really get to training, but I will adjust then. Also, I was looking a little soft around the waist earlier this week. Could just be recovering from working out, but I will keep an eye on it.
So the LA marathon has officially changed to President's day, Feb. 16th 2009. I really hope this doesn't cause a ton of problems with the marathon team. With Winter break many of the beginning runners probably won't train properly and then the race is so soon after Spring semester starts that I am afraid many first timers might get injured or have difficulties. If there are too many problems it could be detrimental to the USC marathon team in the future.
Last weeks training:
Tuesday - 5.01 Mile Easy Run - 37:06 min, 7:24 pace
Wednesday - 7.04 Mile Tempo Run - 49:05 min, 6:58 pace - 1.5 mile warm up, 4.5 mile tempo run at 6:50 pace (approx.), 1 mile cool down
Thursday - 4.94 Mile Easy Run - 39:50 min, 8:04 pace
Sunday - 9.68 (10.59) Mile Long Run - 1:15:26 min, 7:47 pace (7:09 pace)
