A Nice Run at the Beach

Week of July 18 ~ 24

Plan: 0/20/10/15/20/20/20 - 105km
Ran: 0/20/10/0/20/20/20 - 90km / 56 mi.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
12:00 - Machines and core at the gym.
3:00 - 20k in 1:47:43 @5:23
29:30/27:20/25:58/24:54
Could do no better than 5:00 pace last 5k. Legs felt heavy and it was very humid, with rain the second half - edge of typhoon.
Weather: 26C/79F, 80%, rain
Weight: 60.7kg

Wednesday 7:30pm - club workout on the track
6 x 1000 4:00/3:45/45/45/39/38 (200m jog, total time 6:30)
Very humid from typhoon. Felt ok the last two.
Weather: 24C/75F, light rain

Thursday
Rest. All-day business trip and did not feel like running in the rain early in the morning.

Friday
11:30 Machines and core at the gym.
3:30 - 20k in 1:46:21 @5:18
27:40/27:05/25:29/26:06
Felt ok after 3k. Took it easy last 5k - saving myself for tomorrow.
Weather: 25C/77F, 40%, sunny
Weight: 60.1kg

Saturday
3:00 - in Kamakura (beach town 1hr south of Tokyo). Run with 26 club members.
From beach - 7k loop. About half up into a very hilly community, very easy pace.
Back to beach, then 13k on a sidewalk along the waterfront with Paddy O'Connor. Out at about 4:50/k, back at under 4:30/k but into a strong wind. Hot, but not brutally hot. Total time 1:50:15
Then beers and Thai food and bikini watching on the beach!

Sunday
4:00 - 20k in 1:43:30 @5:10
27:51/26:21/25:00/24:18 @5:33/16/00/4:52
Felt ok after 5k and fairly good coming back. Last k in 4:25. Nice to feel that good after yesterday's hills and good pace. My legs must be pretty strong!
Weather: 29C/84F, 50%, sunny
Weight: 60.2kg

Hot, Hot, Hot

Week of July 11 ~ 17

Plan: 0/20/10/15/20/15/25 - 105km
Ran: 0/20/10/15/24/10/25 - 104km / 64.6mi. 8:56

Carefully worked out a schedule and then didn't look at it! Thought I was running 24k on Thursday, but it was supposed to be 20k. So ran less on Friday. It was *extremely* hot every day.
Came up with the "perfect' interval workout (Wed.)

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:30 - machines and core at the gym.
4:15 - 20k in 1:42:50
28:41/27:17/24:56 @5:44/27/4:59
5:01/4:09/16/22/05 4k average: 4:13
Legs very stiff first 5k. Program called for starting at 5:15-30, but can't do that - especially in the heat, when it is harder to get going. Felt pretty good the last 4k. Original program was for marathon pace (4:20) on Tues and sub-MP on Fri, but decided to reverse that (or slower - see Friday).
Weather: 31C/88F, 40%, sunny
Weight: 60.3kg

Wednesday
7:30pm - At the track - 400/1000/1200/1200/1000/800/400
I have decided that this is the perfect interval workout. The first 400 is not run all out, but as a warmup. Then you get up to speed on the 1000, then work hard on the 1200s. (I know some people like 1600s, but I think they are just a bit too long, especially for the slower runners, many of whom are women, in our club.) Then you get progressively faster with 1000, 800, 400. Total distance 6,000m, which is also "perfect."
95/3:37/4:30/4:32/3:41/2:59/79
90 sec. after the 400, then 200 jog/walk in about 3:45 after the others.
Legs felt a bit tired. The 20k tuesday is harder on the legs than I thought. Worked hard.
Weather; 27C/81F on the track

Thursday
4:30 - 15k in 1:22:30 28:31/27:07/26:50
Weather: 32C/90F, 40%, sunny
Weight: 60.2kg

Friday
10:30am - 24k in 2:06:50
28:28/27:40/26:05/25:16 4:50/47/51/45
WAY too hot to run marathon pace for the last 4k. Happy at 4:50. But for a hot morning run, I felt pretty good.
Weather: 30C/86F —> 34C/93F, 40%, sunny
Weight: 60.4kg

Saturday
5:00pm - 10k in 58:08. Legs felt very heavy.
Weather: 30C/86F, 40%, sunny
Weight: 59.9kg

Sunday
4:30 - 25k in 2:12:05
This workout is supposed to be: 6.5k easy, 6 x [1k@3:50/k, 1k@5:30/k], 6.5k@whatever
"whatever" meaning faster if I feel good, slower if I feel bad.
However, it's way too hot to run 3:50 pace. So the times were:
28:50/8:32 then 1Ks in 4:10/5:30/4:41 (uphill)/5:50/4:22/5:44/4:22/5:30/4:01 (rolling hills, felt great)/5:25/4:20/5:40
Last 6.5k in 8:18/26:56.
Felt ok once I started going fast and was surprised by the first 4:10. Stopped for water at 5.4k and before the 10th 1k. Legs VERY tired last 6.5k.
It's too hot for a workout this hard (actually, this is an extremely tough workout - not recommended unless you are in really good shape). Have to run the fast Ks slower, or less distance, or both. I'll probably slow the Ks down to 4:40s.
Weather: 32C/90F, 50%, sunny
Weight: 60.3kg
Shoes: 185g Asics SkySensorNeo

New Program Starts

Week of July 4 ~ 10

So here is my training program for the next approx 11 weeks. It's a 21-day cycle.

Mon 0
Tue 20 5k@5:15~5:30, 10k@5:00, 5k@4:20 (marathon pace)
Wed 11 w/ 6k of fast intervals
Thu 15 Easy
Fri 24 w/ last 4k @ 4:00 ~ 4:10
Sat 15 Easy
Sun 35 Starting easy, getting faster, average about 5:00
Total 120
Mon 0
Tue 20 5k@5:15~5:30, 10k@5:00, 5k@4:20
Wed 10 w/ 6k of fast intervals
Thu 15 Easy
Fri 20 w/ last 4k @ 3:50 ~ 4:00
Sat 15 Easy
Sun 25 1st cycle: 6.5k easy, 6 x [1k@3:50/k, 1k@5:30/k], 6.5k@whatever
2nd cycle: 6.5k easy, 6 x [1.5k@4:00/k, .5k@6:00/k], 6.5k@whatever
3rd cycle: 5k easy, 5 x [2k@4:10/k, 1k@5:00/k], 5k@whatever
Total 105
Mon 0
Tue 20 5k@5:15~5:30, 10k@5:00, 5k@4:20
Wed 11 w/ 6k of fast intervals
Thu 15 Easy
Fri 24 24@ 5:00 ~ 5:15
Sat 15 Easy
Sun 32 w/ last 16k @ 4:20
Total 117
Do once: 35k. 10k easy, 10k mod, 10k MP, 2k v easy, 3k all out
(Actually this is for 3-4 wks before a marathon, but since I won't do a fall marathon-did not get into Tsukuba so will do a Half in Sept and another in Nov.- this is not really necessary)

Accordingly, the past week looked like:

Plan: 0/20/11/15/24/15/35 - 120km
Ran: 0/20/11/0 /24/15/30 - 100 km / 62 mi.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:30 - machines and core at gym
4:00 - 20k in 1:44:44
29:04/27:28/25:19 @5:49/30/04
Last 5K - 5:19/4:24/27/26/14 aver of 4k: 4:23 (MP is 4:21)
Hot, so would've been happy with 4:30. Legs felt tired first 10k, but finally "warmed up."
Weather: 30C/86F, 50%, cloudy
Weight: 60.2kg
Shoes: 180g AdiZero Japan

Wednesday
7:30pm - 6 x 1000m at the track
3:53/42/43/49/45/41 (200m jog, total time 6:30-7:00)
Felt tired. A bit better after the first, but legs not fresh at all. A bit of a struggle.
Weather: 27C/81F at the track
Weight: 60.3kg
Shoes: 160g

Thursday
Rest. Am: work, PM: out. Could have run 6k, but felt tired so decided a rest would be more beneficial. Be flexible!

Friday
11:30 - machines and core
1:00 - 24k in 2:05:57
27:44/26:54/25:59/26:22
last 4k: 4:42/50/47/40 aver: 4:44
Very hot and humid. Legs tired after 18k. No way I could run 4:00~4:10 pace, or even 4:20~4:30. Happy to run 4:44. Also had a side stitch last 8k due I think to drinking too much water 1km previously.
Weather: 32C/90F, 50%, cloudy
Weight: 60.4kg
Shoes: 185g

Saturday
1:00 - 15k in 1:24:39 @5:39
Hot. Ran along Tamagawa Josui (water course), which is shady.
Legs felt tired.
Weather: 34C/93F, 40%, sunny
Weight: 59.7kg

Sunday
3:15 - 30k in 2:38:15 @5:16
28:37/27:32/27:21/26:02/24:56/23:47
@5:43/30/28/12/4:59/4:45
Very hot, so decided on 30k instead of 35, which was a good call.
Felt ok after 5k. Achieved the progressive run (each 5k faster), which was good. Picked up last 2k in 4:43,4:34 and felt ok, although pretty hot and tired. Stopped for water five times and ate some carbo jelly cube things also.
Weather: 34C/93F —> 30C/86F, 40%, sunny (course is probably 2/3 in the shade.)
Weight: 60.2kg
Shoes: 180g

Obviously, it's hard to run when it's over 30C, which it will be most days in July and August, so the times and maybe even distances in the program may have to be scaled back a bit, which is ok. It's the effort that counts!

Finished with Hills!

Week of June 27 ~ July 3

Plan: 0/20/10/15/20/15/20 - 100km
Ran 0/20/10/15/20/15/20 - 100km / 62 mi. 8:39

This week was the last of my hill workouts - 5 weeks of them. I have to confess, I'm got quite tired of them, and the heat makes them very difficult. Next week starts a new program...which I'll tell you about next week.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
11:30 - Machines and core at the gym.
4:00 - 20k with 10k hills.
27:02 4:30/59/27/59/34/5:12/4:40/24/5:47/4:34
24:58 - happy to stay under 5:00/k on the last 5k, had to kick last 100!
Hot! Legs stiff, stomach heavy. Stopped for water (rest!) at top of 5th.
Weather: 31C/88F, 40%, sunny
Weight: 61.2kg
Shoes: 185g

Wednesday
7:30 - 5,000m time trial at the track.
19:12 3:46/48/53/56/48
Felt fairly good, time good for the heat. Led a group most of the way. Felt like it was a nice pace - not killing myself, but didn't especially want to go faster.
Weather: 29C/84F at the track
Weight: 60.5kg
Shoes: 145g racing

Thursday
3:30 - 15k in 1:21;26
28:37/26:37/26:12
Easy run, felt ok.
Weather: 26C/79F, rain then sun

Friday
11:30 - Machines and core at the gym.
2:30 - 20k with 10k hills.
27:35 4:41/5:09/4:41/5:07/4:40/5:03/4:38/16/5:38/4:18
23:21 @4:40
Hot and legs felt tired on the hills - because it was hot?
Surprised that I was able to run 4:40 pace coming back, but it was not easy.
Weather: 30C/86F, 50%, cloudy, some rain
Weight: 60.5kg
Shoes: 180g new AdiZero Japan - felt good.

Saturday
3:30 - 15k very easy

Sunday
2:30 - 20k with 10k hills. (Had to run at 2:30 as I had to go out at 5:30.)
29:09 4:36/56/38/46/36/58/39/32/5:37/4:35
24:24 @4:53
Hot! Felt exhausted last 4k of hills and 5k back.
In cooler weather I was running the uphills under 4:20 and today the downhills were 4:32 and 4:35!
Managed to stay under 5:00 pace for the last 5k. Then staggered to the drinking fountain.
The last hill workout and I did work hard at it.
Weather: 32C/90F, sunny
Weight: 60.9kg
Shoes: 160 AdiZeroPro