Yesterday was a recovery day for me, so that meant two very easy 5 mile runs – the second run included 6 strides. Sometimes just getting in these strides is the hardest “workouts” for me to accomplish. Daniels has two of these scheduled during the week. Normally they’re the first thing that I end up not following through on, but so far I’ve been doing a pretty good job with them.
This morning I ran an easy 11 mile trail run in Hyland Park. The dew point is starting to creep up now. And the bugs are still out, but not quite as bad as my last trail run. I’ve noticed that a dark colored shirt works better than a white one for keep the black flies off my back.
Not to get ahead of myself, but I was thinking a little bit about next year and thinking that I should add in some type of explosive drills into my routine – even if it means cutting mileage. I’m not getting any younger and it feels like I’m losing what little explosiveness that I had. I don’t know what drills I’d do or even how I’d incorporate them, but it’s something to think about.
Finally, thanks to Eric for sending along a little post-Olympic Trials humor.
Quote of the day;
“I choose not to mention any weaknesses.” - Dan Conway, when asked what his weaknesses were
Your fitness is really improving, Chad. I've been taking an unscheduled day off from running here and there too, when I feel I need it. I find being better rested allows me to keep my training paces up which is hard to do during the summer months.
ReplyDeleteI've been doing my 6 mile easy/recovery runs at 8 min. mile pace and my other runs between 7 & 7:30 pace. My weekly mileage isn't as high as yours yet, and I really don't get into hills & speed work until I'm closer time wise to my fall marathon. I'm feeling optimistic about my chances for a big break through this fall and you should be too!
Keep up the good running. Keep your paces brisk and keep it interesting. I'm looking forward to some good races from you this fall!
Take care,
Mark from New England
To get some good explosive work right in your training area, hit the Hyland ski hills! A couple workouts that I've liked are repeats up the dirt road right next to the ski jump, back down East Bush Lake road easy, and repeats on the southernmost ski hill, taking the trail in the back around easy. The ski jump should take you a little over a minute starting from the landing area, and the ski hill should be a little under a minute if you start from the concrete disc golf pad. Of course there are many other options, but these have worked for me.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty geeked to see Kristen Nicolini-Lehmkuhle doing the Life Time triathlon. If she decides to stick with it a little, she could rapidly be up with the elite in the sport.
Another thought about the Life Time triathlon. I think the pro men's run leg will end up being the among the fastest road 10ks in the state this year. The top 3 men ran under 31 minutes, and 9 of the top 10 were under 32 minutes. Compare to the Get in Gear with 2 men under 31 and 6 under 32 (it was a tough day though). On the women's side, Emma Snowsill ran 33:57, and 4 others were under 37. Run for Oromia and Heart of Summer will surely be faster. I wonder if USATF Minnesota recognizes a 10k in a triathlon?
ReplyDeleteAdam,
ReplyDeleteI agree, but I'm leery of adding in hill training on top of Daniels' program. I think running Hyland and Leb Hills will be enough to get me to the top of Summitt Ave in October.
Is the LTF 10K certified? I highly doubt USATF-MN would recognize those performances, no matter how impressive.