Good Trail Workout

Week of June 12 ~ 18

8:02 running time  75.6k

Monday - 60'  My runny nose from 7 days ago has turned into a real cold.
Tuesday - 60' and gym workout. 18C and felt very chilly.
Wednesday - 1200, 1000 x 2, 800 x 3, 400
5:03, 3:53, 3:54, 3:06, 3:10, 3:16, 87
Chest cold affected me - coughing on the 1200, which is not a good sign.
Was breathing ok on the 1000s, however. Then on the 800s I was feeling weak and also my quads were hurting, I suppose from 4 hours running in the last 3 days.

Thursday - 90' - felt ok, but slight cough
Friday - rest, gym
Saturday - 73' - 6k WU, 4k tempo, 2k
Ran the 4k at 4:37/k, not pushing hard because I still have congestion and also will be doing a hard trail run tomorrow.
28C, but a cool breeze in the park. Weight is down to 59.3kg

Sunday - 18.6k, of which about 14 is an unending series of steep up/down/up/down, etc. With lots of roots and stones. Running with 4 other guys and 3 girls - but ran most of it with one of the guys.
Very easy out and back until 3k to go, at which point I went hard to the finish (as I always do on this course). That 3k is rolling up and down but more down than up.
For most of the way, I had to walk up a lot of the steep uphills, more so than in the past. 20 years ago I would run the whole way, but no more. Still a very hard workout, though, great for building leg strength.
It was cool in the woods (it's all woods), but very humid, so not ideal conditions.
All in all, a very pleasant run followed by an even more pleasant soak in a hot spring and then beer and soba noodles.

Training Program

But first, the week that was.

June 5 ~ 11
Total 7:35   75.9km

Monday - 60'
Tuesday - 60'
Wednesday - 50' Track workout of 1000 x 6
3:57, 56, 54, 56, 59, 46
Didn't feel too good on the first two, but then felt better. Planned to go hard on the last one. Back to the A group! (We have so many people on wednesday nights that we have to run two groups, each of which has about 40 people. The A group is people running under 4:00 per k pace.)
All together, there are 300-400 runners on the track (but not always at the same time). That's running in Tokyo!

Thursday - 90'
Friday - Gym workout
Saturday - 75' with 6k warmup, then 2k x 3.
8:38 (20/18), 8:42 (18/24), 8:47 (21/26).
Cut recovery time from last week's 3:30 to 2:30 walk.
Felt pretty good and worked pretty hard.
It was hot - 29C/84F - but cloudy so didn't feel so hot.
60.1kg

Sunday - 120'

So here's my latest basic training program.
The one I'm doing now is aimed at preparing for a race, and is as above, with maybe some variations on Saturday. (10K race on Aug. 5.)
At other times, the basic plan will be:
F - rest, gym
S - 120'
S - 120'
M - 120'
T - 60' + gym
W - 60' intervals
T - 120'
Which is 10 hours of running, 9 at an easy/comfortable pace, total about 96k.
Decided to rest on Fridays, due to DOMS from wednesday and to recover for the days ahead.

A 5.8km "5K", TT and More

Week of May 15 ~ 21

All runs at fairly easy pace unless indicated.

7:25 running time, 70.7km
Monday - 90'
Tuesday - 60'
Wednesday - club track workout
1200 x 2, 1000 x 2, 800 x 2
4:48, 4:36, 3:49, 3:51, 3:07, 3:10 (intervals abt 3:30 jog/walk)
Felt pretty good, especially second 1200. Nice to be down at 3:50 for the 1000s. Calves were sore on the 800s, so eased up.

Thursday - Rest
Friday - 38' with 3k at tempo pace + gym
Saturday - 120'
Sunday - 43'  Watched the Grand Prix track meet in Kawasaki with some big stars and several good races.

Week of May 22 ~ 28
2:39  28.2km

Monday & Tuesday - Far East HS track meet
Wednesday - 1600, 1000 x 3, 800, 400
6:21, 3:57, 3:59, 4:11, 3:22, 1:40
Tried to run fast on the 1600, but it was still pretty slow!
Calves and right inner thigh got sore from second 1000, so slowed down.

Thursday & Friday - Rest
Saturday - TELL Charity Runathon 5K
Turned out to be 5.8km! So I'm no longer the race director, and they screwed up! Didn't matter though, it was not a serious race anyway. Plus it was hot and we were running into the wind coming back. So...25:20, which works out to 21:48. I didn't like the dirt path, either...
28C/82F
Sunday - 40'

Oh, and the 24th was my birthday, one of those milestone ones, but not for me, as I do my best to ignore birthdays, and if anyone asks I tell them 45 (actually I tell them you're as old as you look, think and feel), but some club guys gave me a dinner party with "a few close friends" which turned out to be 26 people. It was a fun evening.

Week of May 29 ~ June 4
6:51  70.4km

Monday - 50'
Tuesday - 40'+ gym
Wednesday - 5,000m time trial
21:17 (4:10/16/18/21/12)
Wanted to run 21:00, so not too bad, but of course, I want to/think I should be running 20:00.
Had a good woman runner to follow after 1200, which was good because I would have slowed if running by myself.
25C/77F

Thursday - Rest
Friday - 40' and 60' with a gym workout in the middle.
Saturday - 6k warmup, 2k x 2, 1.5k warmdown
2Ks: 8:45 (20/25), 8:41 (21/20), 8:46 (25/21) 3:30 walk in between.
27C/81F, 60.8kg (need to get down under 59)
Followed running guru Harrisson's advice to do 2k intervals and felt pretty good on each one.
This is part of gearing up for the Beach to Beacon 10K race on August 5 in Portland, Maine (one of the best 10Ks in America). Goal pace at this point is 4:10 per km, so wanted to run 4:20~30, which I did.
Sunday - 90' - legs felt ok at an easy pace.