6/14/09 - 3 hour run

I did a 3 hour run today. It was 21 miles, which tells you that my pace wasn't exactly fast, but it wasn't supposed to be. I felt really strong during the last few miles, and I could probably run another 5.2 if I felt like it. It is comforting to know that finishing a marathon at this point is not really an issue. There is a big difference between running a marathon and racing a marathon. Last year, I was training to run a marathon. Right now, I am training to race a marathon, and today's run was a good reinforcement of how good of shape I am in.

Tuesday's medium long run wasn't bad. It was a little slower than last week, which was surprising because I thought I was going faster. I wanted to run it under 1:30, but I finished in 1:32.55. I ran it in 1:31.30 last week. My average heart rate was 146. Thursday was the tempo run. It wasn't quite as fast as last thursday, but it was still a good run.

I took Friday off this week. I usually run an easy 5 miles or so on Fridays, but I just needed a break. Just walking around was painful, and my legs felt really weak. I knew that Saturday and Sunday were going to be big days for my training, so I decided to take the well needed day off. It paid off because I had a really good last two days of training this week.

On Saturday, I did my track workout for the week and it was 8x800's. It was my best track workout so far, and my times were awesome. I was really happy with how it went, and the track workouts seem to be getting faster every week. My times were 1)2:51, 2) 2:49, 3)2:48, 4)2:45, 5)2:46, 6)2:47, 7)2:47, 8)2:38. Next saturday I am running a 10k race in San Francisco. It is called the Stadium to Stadium 10k. I have never ran a 10k race before so it will be interesting to see what I can go. It will basically function as my speed workout for the week.

Overall, this was another good week. It finished much better than it started out. I will probably run tomorrow even though I usually take Mondays off. I will take Friday off instead to rest up for the race on Saturday. The week finished at a total of 56 miles.

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 13 miles (1:32.55, Max HR: 170, Avg HR: 144) + weights
Wednesday - Easy 5 mile run
Thursday - 8 mile tempo run
Friday - rest
Saturday - 9 mile track workout, 8x800s (1)2:51, 2) 2:49, 3)2:48, 4)2:45, 5)2:46, 6)2:47, 7)2:47, 8)2:38)+ core
Sunday - 21 mile long run