Coming off the Vermont City Marathon, I was a little unsure of how my body would bounce back and how training would go leading into the USA Half Marathon. I knew I would need a few days completely off from running just to recover before thinking at all about preparing to race again. It took about a week to really feel good running again as the toll of running 26.2 miles all out was gradually paid out. Everything gradually worked itself, and I took this as a sign that I had properly trained for the marathon since the race hadn't completely destroyed my body. With the fitness I had built up over months and months of aerobic buildup, I knew it was just a matter of staying sharp for two weeks and then chasing a big half marathon PR in Minnesota.
From my own personal experience, I have found that there are very little fitness gains that can be made in two weeks. Since I had only two weeks to really train before winding down for Minnesota, I did not try to do too much in training. No big long runs or long tempo workouts which would only serve to tire me out. I just worked on getting comfortable running at half marathon pace. I will be shooting to run between 5:00 and 5:05 per mile which is a little faster than the 5:15 I trained for in marathon training. I also worked on fine tuning my speed by doing some quick 400 meter repeats.
I strongly believe that speedwork must be done regardless of the distance you are training for, especially at the end of a training cycle. This is something we really did not do a lot of in college, but I wanted to get back to running all out at the end of my workouts as I put the final sharpening touches on my training.
The past two weeks, I have incorporated fast 400 meters repeats onto the end of my workouts after a few miles running at half marathon pace, running 59-64 seconds per rep with short rest. This serves two purposes. First, it helps my body feel smoother and more efficient running at half marathon pace. Secondly, it forces my body to become used to recruiting fast twitch muscle fibers when I am already tired. While I will never call on my body to sustain 59 second quarters in a half marathon, my fast twitch muscle fibers will be called upon to support my slow twitch muscles in the late stages of the race as I begin to fatigue. If they are sharp and ready to go, I will have a much better chance to finish strongly in the end of the race as I tire.
I really did not know what to expect for the 400 meter repeats the last two weeks. After all, in college, the workout that always gave me the most trouble was 2 sets of 10 400's run at roughly 66-68 seconds. I decided I would try to run these 400's based on effort alone. I would try to run my intervals hard, but not all out.
What I discovered blew me away. Now, 64 second intervals felt extremely easy. I would get out through 200 in 30-31 seconds feeling totally relaxed and then cruise to the finish. When I really wanted to turn it on, 61 and 62 seconds did not feel extremely difficult either. I was even able to run under 60 seconds for the first time in a long time - all after running a few miles at 5:00 pace. What I realize now is that strength truly does equal speed. This was one of my college coach's core principles. With the months and months of the highest mileage I have ever done, I am faster than I have ever been. I believe this will translate into a very fast half marathon as I have never had this balance of strength and speed in my running career. I am very excited about the chance to toe the line with some of the country's best runners! Less than a week now.
Week of 6/10 Training Summary
Monday: 8.5 miles easy - got in my first run in a long time with my good friend Joe Beveridge. Hopefully there will be many more to come this summer!
Tuesday: 8 miles interval workout - 2 mile warmup, 4x400 (64.4, 66.4, 64.5, 64.9), 1x2 mile (9:58), 4x400 (61.2, 62.4, 61.9, 59.3), 2 mile cooldown.
This was a very good workout. Started with controlled 400's to put some lactic in my legs before 2 miles at half marathon pace. The 400's felt very smooth and I was pleased that 64's felt this easy. The 2 miles also felt easy but I did not hammer it and kept it at half marathon pace. Then I spiked up to really get after it on the final set of 400's. The last set felt very similar to the first set but man there really is a lot of effort involved to get from 61 to 59. Two seconds might not seem like a lot, but try telling that to my legs.
Wednesday: 10 miles easy
Thursday: 8 miles easy
Friday: 9 miles interval workout - 2 mile warmup, 2x2 mile at half marathon effort (10:02, 10:04), 1xmile (4:42)
Didn't try to kill the 2 mile repeats. Just tried to stay smooth and relaxed at half marathon goal pace. I didn't even check my watch on the second one. I was locked into the pace and it felt good. Then did a hard mile to blast the system. The last mile felt pretty good as I closed it around 68 after keeping it under control the first 3 laps.
Saturday: 7 miles easy. Ran along Lake Erie in Cleveland as my dad and I are in town to watch the Nationals play the Indians. The stadium here is awesome!
Sunday: 10 miles progressive - out easy (32:30) back hard (28:00). Ran in a different part of Cleveland today and it was much nicer. Made it to the nice, non-industrial part of the lake and it was beautiful. Really got after it the last 10-15 minutes. I was working, but felt very good. Seeing Strasburg pitch today finally!
Total: 60.5 miles
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