Training Day 9

Today's run was an 8 mile General Aerobic Run, followed immediately by some speed work designed to work on form. The speed work were intervals of 10x100meters with a recovery of 100 meters between each of the sprints.

I felt pretty fresh for the run in the morning, although I was woken by my alarm for the first time since I started my training. The alarm was set for 4:30AM to allow enough time to get in the run before it gets too hot! Once that Alabama sun is beating down, it's hard to log the miles.

I broke the 8 miles into 2 mile segments with a pace set between 10:00 -10:30 per mile. I had to slow myself a few times during the first 2 miles, and actually ended up a few seconds faster than the planned 10:00 fast end of the range. For the remaining segments, I was in enough of a groove that I didn't fall out of the range with the exception of the last leg, but that was due to a GPS anomaly. I think sometimes when starting a new leg, the pace is quite a bit off until I've run a few hundred yards or so. I did end up running the last leg closer to the slow end of the range, but that was while I was running up a slight incline as is the case most of the time on my morning runs. Getting to the last 2 miles is on a route that is essentially a gradual incline. It's not too severe, but it is amplified on the runs that are longer than 6 or 7 miles in length.

I didn't go crazy on the sprints, but I didn't slack either. I probably gave about 80% effort, but the point of the speed work in the workout was to concentrate on form. I chose to pay attention to relaxing while running fast. No clenched fists or teeth. Just running upright and relaxed. After the first couple of sprints as I was jogging the 100 meters until the next sprint, I was thinking "I still have 8 more of these?". They ended up going quickly though, and I actually ran the fastest sprint on the second to last leg. This might have had something to do with the fact that I knew it was about over though!

Yesterday on TD 8 I went to the gym and did a bit of stretching. I haven't gone into the gym with a good plan for stretching yet, and I really need to do it. It's sort of hard to half-ass it when doing anything, and going to the gym is no exception. I really told myself that I would do more than just run while training for the marathon, which is exactly what I did for my first half-marathon...so I guess I'm doing better than I was earlier this year. I will likely not go to the gym tonight, and just prepare something that I can do for tomorrow, since there is no run scheduled for Day 10.

I have a few muscles in my back that bother me once I'm done running...nothing while running though. I am always aware of my right knee which always seems weak, and today I noticed a toe on my left foot is tender, but again, nothing that bothers me during the run. Other than that, I'm holding up fine for now! Until next time...