Working Back Into Shape

Week of Dec. 27 ~ Jan 2

Plan: 118km
Ran: 112.3km / 70 mi. 10:05

Happy New Year - Hope you all have an injury-free year of running!

This is the first week of my new training program, which will basically be:
Mon - off
Tues - 24k. Comfortable pace, picking up last 4k
Wed - 9k. Hard intervals (6,000m)
Thur - 20k. Comfortable pace
Fri - 22k. 8.5 easy, 5k of 500m hills (4 hard up, 2 hard down), 8.5 good pace
Sat - 20k. Comfortable pace
Sun - 30k. 15k comfortable, 15k hard. (Can vary somewhat)
After a few weeks, will have to include some marathon pace runs.
Total: 125km / 78 mi.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:00 - machines and core at gym.
1:00 - 24k in 2:10:35 @5:26
27:51/27:32/26:48/21:24
Felt ok. Wanted to pick up last 4k a bit more, but quads tired and sore.
Shoes: 240g K-Swiss (turns out they are Blade Light), no insoles
Weather: 8C/46F, sunny

Wednesday
7:30pm - 5,000m time trial in Yoyogi Park (the track is closed for 3 months). We have a nice 1,000m loop.
21:21. Was able to run this pace with no problem, but actually did not feel like I could go any faster. Definitely not in shape! Had company (Rie, a good woman runner), which helped a lot. Would have been slower on my own. Legs felt ok.
Shoes: 225g Saucony, no insoles
Weather: about 4C/39F, no wind, didn't really feel too cold.

Thursday
3:00 - 20k in 1:51:15 @5:34
28:12/27:58/27:03/28:00
Felt ok except for various minor aches and pains the last 10k. Happy to run at an easy pace.
Shoes: 240g K-Swiss no insoles
Weight: 61.9kg
Weather: 6C/43F, cloudy

Friday
10:00am - 23.5k in 2:07:35 @5:28
28:17/28:38/25:40 (hills)/26:42/18:16
500m hills (Up/down x 5 = 5k). Up hard, down easy x 3. Up hard, down hard, up easy, down hard. Got that? It's a quad strengthener!
Quads sore and legs tired coming back but picked up pace to 5:20/k, then "kicked" last 2k @5:08.
I think this is a really good workout and should build strength for the marathon.
Shoes: 225 Saucony no insoles
Weather: 4C/39F, up to 8C/46F, sunny

This was the 31st. In Japan, as a general rule, you go to your relatives (in my case, my wife's relatives), arrive about 4:00, then drink and eat until 12:30, finishing with "year crossing" soba noodles (long noodles for a long life). Then the morning of the 1st you eat New year's foods and drink sake. In other words, you gain a lot of weight!

Saturday
Back home at 5:00 and ran 10k. Surprisingly, considering yesterday's hard run and all the food, I felt quite good. Planned to run very slowly, but ran 27:11/24:54 and was just cruising easily the last 5k.
Weight: 62.5kg

Sunday
3:00 - 25k (as planned) in 2:07:39 @5:06
26:40/26:33/26:00/24:26/23:58. @ 5:20/19/12/4:54/4:48. Last 2k: 4:44,39
Felt ok. Planned to pick up last 10k to under 5:00/k, which I did. Had some slight niggles in the calf last night, so was a bit wary of it, but it was fine. i am 99% sure it is 100% healed.
Weight: 62.4kg
Shoes: 240g Nike Cage+ with insoles
Weather: 10C/50F, 35%, sunny