Week 13 Training Update

28 Nov

So far, the changes I've made to my training have been successful. Last week I ran 44 miles and didn't feel absolutely exhausted, as I had the previous week. I've backed off the pace of my easy days and long run to 6:40-7:00. I only took one day off out of seven last week. I also finished three hard workouts: 2 x (4x1000 + 4x300) on Tuesday, 2x15 minute tempo on Thursday, and 3x1600 (4 minutes rest) on Sunday. The Friday workout kind of sucked. I only managed to do 5:11, 5:06, 5:11. I didn't get discouraged, though. I had just finished a ten miler the day before, and I was trying to do quality mile repeats at the very end of my highest mileage week in four years. You can't expect too much.
This week I'm projecting 42 miles. On Tuesday I did a workout my coach calls the "monster." It's 4 x (4x400) with a short jog for rest. Some of his elite guys, including former NCAA 10000 meter champion Keith Hanson, have done 5 sets. The goal is to do each 400 faster than the previous one. If you fail to do this twice, you're done. Anyway, we were doing it on the non-regulation track, which is shorter than 400 meters (by how much, I'm still not sure). I started with 75 and worked my way down to 55 on the last one. The last four were a little challenging, but the workout wasn't hard, which is good because I felt fatigued going into it. I was too tired to give a max effort, plus I wanted to taper a little for a harder workout later in the week. I went easy on Wednesday and took Thanksgiving off, then came back this afternoon and did one of my best distance workouts ever. I was disappointed with my previous 1600 repeat workout, so I decided to make another go at it. This time I vowed to do 5x1600 with 4 minutes of rest. The goal was to start at 5:15 and work down from there. At a minimum, I wanted to average 5:15. I ended up doing 5:09, 5:10, 5:11, 5:15, 5:13, for an average of 5:12. This was a very tough workout, the hardest I've done since getting back into training. I was on the ground heaving after the last one. The controlled inhale/exhale breathing eventually gave way to labored breathing on the last two repeats. On the last 1600, I slowed to 80 seconds for the middle two laps, then finished with a 76. 5:20 pace has become kind of a default pace when I'm heavily fatigued. The 4:00 of rest was enough to get my heart rate back down to 120-130. Nevertheless, the lactic acid buildup in my legs became more and more severe as the workout continued. My VO2 max wasn't taxed heavily on the last 1600 until I started kicking with 400 to go. I think this is because, as Jack Daniels writes in his Distance Running Formula, the lactic acid buildup prevented me from working hard enough to tax VO2 max. Daniels doesn't recommend going beyond 5:00 for intervals, because the lactic acid buildup simply becomes too great to push into the VO2 max. So in short, I probably didn't maximize the benefits of this workout. I finished the last 1600 in 5:13, but that's only because I kicked hard in the last 400. A more even-paced workout would have been more productive. Nevertheless, I'm proud of this workout. I averaged 5:12 for 5 miles, with less than equal rest (I've always taken equal rest when doing mile repeats). It's definitely the best mile repeat workout I've ever done. Of course, the significance of this accomplishment is tempered by the fact that Kim Smith did 6x1 mile with only 2:00 of rest, starting at 4:52 and working down to 4:40 on the last one. I'm certainly no elite. However, I'm progressing, and that's all that matters. A year from now I'll be able to average 4:55 or faster for this workout.
I've got about two weeks until my next race, the Fiesta Bowl 5K. I'll do three more hard workouts before then: Tuesday intervals, Thursday tempo, and a 3200 time trial on Sunday (with a goal of sub 10:00). With all of this work under my belt, and with a week of tapering before the race, I'll be able to average 5:15 and run under 16:20. I'm looking forward to finishing that race and calling myself a sub 16:20 guy. When I'm done, I will have trained for almost four months. This is by far the longest competitive season I've put myself through. I'll be taking a two week break, meaning no running at all. I'm going to need this before I start my buildup to the outdoor track season, which could last as long as July provided I qualify for club nationals.