Catching up

Sunday13/09 - 83 mins progressive. Started at 8:50 a.m. to the turia park and was running 6:20s for the first few kms, then my progrression started, and the plan was to do only 5k, but I ended up doing 5.8k at maratón effort. Splits were 3:12 for the first 600, then did 5:15, 5:10, 5:08,5:04, 2:02 (400m), 2:03 (400m), 2:05 (400m). Then ran easy to home and completed 83:01. Ran the first 4+ kms with my brother before taking off with my progression. Felt really Good and the mile TT the day before did not leave me tired at all. Had to run with an old shoes, because the ones that I was wearing when  I was putting them on my feet they broke. So I ran with my old asics that were already a bit broken, but you could run on them. Felt nice as they were my size. The one that I was wearing post quarantine were not my size ( more Little).

Monday 14/09 - Ran watchless after work at an easy pace. The first 6 laps were easy, the last 2 not su much, because I was Racing with another guy, of course at a controlled effort. I am sure he was Racing my as well, because normally he does not run that fast. Its a guy that passed me often and on Monday I said that enough was enough and when he tried to pass him I did not let him. The thing was that I did the lap longer than he did, and every 400m I had to push harder to catch him and he built a gap. Anyway, only it was 1.8k. I started the run on my home. Probably ran 7.5k total for the day.

Tuesday 15/09 - Ran watchless again and did the same route as yesterday after work. From laps 6 to 8 did 6 strides. Felt Good on the strides. 7.5k total again.

Wednesday 16/09 - Today was workout day and I had planned to do in the Turia park 1600m, 1000m, 800m, 2 x 400m and 1 x 200m for a total of 4400m worth of intervals. I did 15:30 warm up incorporating 5 x 50-60m strides at a Good pace. Then I was ready for the workout and I was actually happy with how I feel and with the times. That Mile TT really opened my stride. I started the workout, but we only ran 800m together as he was doing another workout. My splits were 7:00@ 1600m ,800m recovery, then 1 x 1000@4:12, 400m recovery, then did 800@3:22, recovered 400m, then did 2 x 400m in 1:35 and 1:34, then to finish did 1 x 200m in 42. Felt very strong in this sesión and Good. Then did 15 mins to home to cool down. It was hot today as I was soaking wet, not as bad as 1 month ago though. Nice sesión.

Thursday - After work did 8 laps in the Blasco park watchless at an easy pace, just to recover from Wednesday`s sesión. Felt Good.

Friday - Planned day off.

Saturday (Today) -  I was up at 6:20 a.m. after going to bed at almost 1 a.m. my brother had class at 09:00 a.m. so thats why I headed out at 7:10 a.m. when it was still dark, I headed to the turia park with a cool breeze after 10 mins did 5 x 50-60m strides to loosen up, then finished the warm up at 15 mins. My brother was already there waiting, but his warm up last longer as he is doing all the drills, I am skipping drills, just doing strides. The plan today was to do  a 5k tempo run. His plan was to run 23:40, mine was to do 23:50, I dont run these for time, so pretty much run at the effort that I always run that puts me in 23:50s. 2 weeks ago I built a gap before the mile and never looked back, but today we were running head to head, he sometimes went ahead, but I matched his surges, but just before the mile to go mark, He put a surge ( He was running by splits every 400m, so he was looking at the watch every 400m so there were often surges). I only look at the watch in the first km, and as the pace was slow I decided to never look at it until the run is over, that way I am not Racing the watch during the run or frustrated during hte run, just put the right effort and see the time at the end. I was dissapointed in the first km as it was only 4:48, so one has to run faster than that to hit 23:xx. My brother was a couple of seconds ahead in the first km, then in the 1200m mark I put side to side and we were running head to head, then after the mile he surged again, and built a gap that I matched again in the 2.2k. He turned around a step ahead in the first half. Then I run ahead and I thought that I would drop him by that point, of course I am not Racing, but I am working hard, if I sped up more than that I would turn this workout into something else but a tempo run. I think when we had 2 miles I think he looks at the watch again and speed up at that time, I was already tired and I was maitaining an even pace (later found out) and at a Good effort. He built a gap of 10 seconds in the 4k mark and he kept that until the end. He did 23:43 and I did 23:54. So again He kicked my butt, but his breathing does not suggest me that he was all that confortable, anyway! I hope that when he put a number on his chest he could keep that same level of fitness. I felt Good and strong, but as soon as I started I felt somewhat tired, maybe those intervals of wednesday, maybe because the last 2 days I have not slept too much, anyway. Did not do a disaster, so I am satisfied and the splits were almost perfect. Splits were 4:48, then did not look at the watch, 4:47,2:23 500m (halfway in 11:59), 2:23 other 500m, 4:48, 4:42. Then after 400m jog recovery,  did 2 x 200m in 43, 43. Tired legs on these. Then did 15 mins cool down to home. Decent workout and the weather was cool. This cool weather does not help in short workouts or short tempos. I m starting to understand why I am run so bad in the mile TT. I could swear that I felt better in the first km on wednesday at 4:19 a bit hot, than I felt today with the cool breeze at 4:48. Anyway, it is what it is. Around 10 -10.5k total.

Today I bought another pair of running shoes, another asics colt2, that was the more cheap that I could find. I hope that they last. I bougth them 11 1/2 US. This past week I had been running with my old ASICS that were a bit broken. So I am going to use the new ones for the first time tomorrow in my long progressive run.

Catching up

Sunday September 6th  - In the morning at 8 a.m. I did 83:12 for my long run and did 5k at maratón effort, this time I felt pretty Good and the pace felt kind of easy. Ended up doing 25:44 in the fast portion. Splits were: 5:17, 5:07,5:04,5:00, 3:11 the first 600m and 2:02 the last 400s. Felt really strong during the whole run and the weather is behaving better.

6 runs for the week and 3 solid workouts.

Monday - After work did 8 laps without a watch in the Blasco park at an easy pace, felt Good. 7.2k total.

Tuesday - After work did 8 laps watchless again, but from laps 6-8 did 6 strides. Felt Good.

Wednesday - After work headed out to the Turia park to do a solo workout, decided to do 5k of fartlek, 1 min fast and 1 min slow for 5k. So around 13 mins fast in total and 12 mins slow. Did more than 5k because I crossed the 5k in 24:21 feeling Good. First km was in 4:45 and halfway in 12:19, so did negative Split, despite in the second half I was more tired. Felt really strong at the end. 15 mins warm up including 5 x 60m strides and 15 mins cool down. Felt awesome overall. My brother and I had planned since several weeks ago to do a mile time trial on Saturday, my goal was to run sub 6:20, 6:20 would be the slowest range of the goal.

Thursday - After work I did 8 laps again easy to recover from the previous day workout and to get ready for my time trial on Saturday. Felt Good at the end. 

Friday - Planned day off

Saturday -  Today my brother and I as I said were doing a mile time trial, I need more warm up so I warmed up 22:30 including 5 x 60m strides fast. We did this around 7:50 am, but I was up at 6:00. I even wore my short shorts that I only use on races. I went out after it, but the wheels came off and it ended up being a failure. I ended up doing 6:27. My brother did 6:32, but from the get go I went ahead and remained ahead until the end of the time trial. I am very dissapointed with this result given that I am doing 200s in 40-42 seconds, not easy, but I thought that I would run sub 6:10 and if the stars aligned I could run  sub 6 mins. After all I have run 5:29 and I am training very hard these days as well, but I am much slower and today was proof of that. I never looked at the watch, but pressed the Split button on my watch on each 400s. I went out on target pace, but soon after that, the wheels came off and I knew that I had slowed down to around Interval pace, the legs would not give more. All in all, I tried. My brother is ok with his time, but to be honest I am not with mine. Last time I did 6:34, but did not gave my all, this time I ran with much more intention. Anyway, it is what it is, and it seems that I no longer have the speed that I had 10-13 years ago. I have become much stronger runner though, and probably could run much faster in the 5k than in the mile right now. Splits were 1:30, 1:40, 1:39, 1:36 because I ran hard the last 200s whatever my legs could give. Then rested for around 5 mins and then did a cool down of 26:30 to home. As I type this at mid day I dont feel any tiredness or soreness, so I am ok with doing my normal progression that I do on Sundays, but this time I Will run 6k insead of 5k.

Catching up

Monday 24/08 - Watchess run after work . 8 laps easy in the Blasco park.7.2k total

Tuesday 25/08 - Watchelss run after work again. 8 laps easy, incorporating 6 strides from lap 6-8. Felt like crap that day even after doing strides, low evergy, etc. But got it done.

Wednesday 26-08 - After work at 7:30 p.m. I did 5 x 800s and 2 x 200s in the Turia park with my brother. He did 6 x 800s. I warmed up 15 mins incorporating 5 x 50m strides. I think that is the warm up that suits me well, drills dont really do much for me honestly. Recovery was 400m between repeats. Splits were 3:28, 3:31, 3:24, 3:22, 3:23,  the 200s in 43 and 42 seconds. Solid workout. Felt like crap before starting, but in the actual workout felt decent. Maybe the slide of bread and peanut butter that I ate gave me energy. 15- 16 mins for cool down. Around 10-10.5k for the day.

Thursday 27-08 -  Watchless run very easy to recover in the Blasco park. Felt Good, but kept it easy.7.2k very easy After work.

Friday -  Planned day off as usual

Saturday - Morning 5k tempo run at 08:00 a.m., I had to do it alone this time around. The weather was much better than last week. Warmed up 15 mins easy incorporating 5 x 50m strides with the last one being fast while smooth. Then did some legs swings and started right away. Did 23:50, but started out very fast I think. Splits were 4:39,4:49, 2:23, halfway in 11:51, 2:25,  4:52 and 4:41 to finis in 23:50. Then did 2 x 200s in 42 and 41 seconds. The legs were not that heavy after the tempo, but the breathing was very fast after each 200m.Then did 15 mins cool down. Felt very happy to have run 26 seconds faster than previous week, although that Saturday was much cooler than previous week. I would have finished with my brother, because that time or a bit faster He ran previous week, of course previous week I did note have it. I only looked at the watch in the first km during the tempo run.

Sunday August 30th -  The plan was to do a progression long run as usual, but I ate a lot last night and I was having stomach problems during the run, so within 30 mins into the run, I decided I would skip the " fast " part because we were very far away from home if you know what I mean, so we kept the effort easy at 6 mins per km, feeling pretty Good, finished the run in 83:12 feeling pretty Good, its incredible how easy its when you dont have to run a progression. Those progressions made me very strong. Around 13+k for the day.

6 runs for the week, which is great given the hards week at work.

Monday 31/08 - Watchless easy run in the Blasco park after work. Did 8 laps and incorporated 6 strides from lap 6 to 8. Felt decent and Good in the strides.

Tuesday 01/09 - Watchless easy run again in the Blasco park after work. Did 8 laps very easy and did not feel as Good as the day before. Anyway, got the run in.

Wednesday 02/09 - After work I went to the Turia park with my brother to do an Interval sesión, I did 4 x  1k and He planned to do 5 x 1k. No races in the horizon, so 4k worth of intervals its Good at this point and after the 4th km worth of fast running I incorporated 2 x 200m. Felt like crap in the warm up and before starting, too much stress at work with another co worker on vacation, but you got to do what you got to do.  Splits for me were 4:21,4:21, 4:18, 4:08. I felt decent during the workout. Kept the effort controlled and in the last km let myself go a Little. My brother was a bit slower today. In the 2 x 200s I did 43 and 42 seconds and felt much faster, but I was tired from the Interval sesión. I did 15 mins for cool down. Around 10k total for the day.

Thursday 03/09 - Watchless run very easy in the Blasco park to recover. Kept the effort real easy, easy boring miles, but it is what it is. 7.2k total.

Friday - 04/09 -  Planned day off.

Saturday 05/09 today -  I was up at 6 a.m.  drank a lot of wáter and did my thing, Ended up going out at 7:20 a.m. to the Turia park 16 mins of warm up including 5 x 50m strides and some legs swings. But then had to wait 20+ mins for my brother to appear, so I did around 1 more min of easy jogging. The plan was to do a 5k tempo run and I wanted to revange myself from 2 weeks ago where he ran 23:48 and I ran 24:16 leaving me in the dust. I was determined to run again 23:XX and to match every move he made. In the end I was the one doing the surges and never looking back. He went out faster, but I put myself to his side in the first 650m , then threw my first surges to go ahead. Then we were running side by side in the first 800s, I cross the first km one step ahead and when I saw the Split in 4:49 feeling like 4:20, I decided to throw another surge to get rid of him and at the same time to wake up my legs, I decided to not look at my watch for the rest of the tempo, since we probably were going to run 24 mins, I kept pushing at times and I felt Good overall, much stronger than in previous tempos, but not easy necessarily, however, if my brother caught me I was feeling Good enough to not let him to defeat me. After the 1100m I was ahead and never looked back. Crossed the first half 17 seconds faster than him, I ran negative Split, but I only defeated him by 8 seconds so his negative Split was much bigger than mine . However with 300m to go I made a sign of come on! Inviting him to catch me. These workouts give me confidence and make me realice that the training is working. Now as I type this at night I dont feel tired at all and not soreness, of course I Will realice when I am in my progression long run tomorrow. Finished today in 23:51, less than a second slower than last week, but honestly felt better and more controlled than last week. My brother finished in 23:59. My splits were very different than last week eventhough the total time was almost identical. Splits were 4:49,4:47,2:22 (halfway in 11:59), 2:22, 4:48, 4:41. Negative Split by 8 seconds. I only looked at the watch in the first km, so after that was purely by effort and throwing surges strategically to break my brother mentally. Then did 400m jog rest and then did 2 x 200s in 40 and 41 seconds. Were very surprised because those did not feel that fast.

We are doing a mile time trial next week I think, thats way I am doing 2 x 200s after my workouts so that the mile pace feels easier. 

Tomorrow a progression long run of 80-90 mins.