Morning "Long run"

oday I ran after waking up in the morning (fasted), I met my brother at 9:30 a.m. to start our "long run" at 9:40 a.m. or so. He wanted to do it in the evening, but something can get in the way in the afternoon, so its best to get it out of the way early.

The plan was to do 80 mins at an easy pace, so around 12.5-12.8k total at a very easy pace for us. We ran in the Turia park and the pace was especially easy since my brother raced last night and the first few kms were 6:30-6:40s per km pace, I did a tempo workout yesterday, so I needed this day easy. However in the last 20 mins of the run I increased pace a bit to 6:00 per km pace, which is pretty easy, but a bit more fluent than the 6:20s that We had been running in the previous kms.

The heat was strong but manageable, finished feeling pretty strong and I felt that I did not breath in the whole run, maybe the effort was too low, but still aerobic. This was more of a recovery run though.

The half marathon that I was going to race in October, The Valencia half marathon, Registration is closed, so I could not register, 4 months before the race, thats cool! so right now I dont have a goal race, My brother told me that there is another half marathon on October, but its much less famous than the Valencia half marathon that a lot of people throghtout the world are running. The half marathon that He was refering to was a low key half marathon in a town called Alzira. I will see if I run that, if not then I will have to continue running 5-10ks.

Good week of training! Around 57 kms this week and 6 days of running as usual!

Morning 5k Tempo run: 22:56 + 2 x 200m@41,41

This morning I headed out to do my tempo run at 8:20 a.m. or so, I woke up at 7:15 a.m. though, but took my time. Anyway, started running from home and warmed up 15 mins including 5 x 50m strides to the Turia park. As I said yesterday, my brother is racing a 8k tonight, so I had to do that tempo run alone.

Yesterday I felt tired, so this morning I expected a tempo on tired legs and in terms of time I expected around 23:20-23:30 range as normal. I decided to go out a bit harder than normal in order to avoid the same mistake as last week, that the first km was very slow and then had to make up a lot of time in the second half.

Today I headed out at the expected pace, 4:35 for the 1st km feeling fine, but I was not sure that I could keep that pace for the whole run at the desired effort level, that is. I tried to keep the same effort level, but the second km came in 4:40 (9:15), I was running better than expected though and feeling fine but working, but I know that I always feel better in the second half.

halfway came in 11:32 (2:17 for those 500m, then lost time as usual in the turn around, but try to turn around as quicky as possible), then 13:49 (2:17 for that 500, so 4:34 for 3rd km) for 3k, feeling good. Then tried to relax as much as possible while maintaining form and under control, breathing was fine. 4th km came in 4:35 (18:24 for 4k), was feeling tired then, but keeping the pace I would run sub 23 mins, anyway, I just wanted to keep the effort and if that meant to run 23:00-23:05 I would take it, its not a time trial is a tempo run. However, with 100m to go my brother was there waiting in the finishing point and did a come on gesture, so I looked at the watch and it read 22:48 so I accelerated (not a sprint) and ran 22:56 (4:32 for last km) for the 5k, my fastest tempo in 8 years. I think that I ran faster than I should, but felt good today and this time probably indicates more my last 10k race, I will take it and I am happy about it. Second half was 11:23, so negative Split by 9 seconds.

After that jogged 400m easy, and then did 2 x 200m in 41.1 and 41.5 feeling controlled and smooth. Recovered 200m between repeats, then walked 100m and then started my cool down, did 12 mins at an easy pace so around 1.8k+. Around 10.2-10.5k for the day, feeling pretty good.

Easy evening run

Yesterday was my day off.

Today I ran after work at 7:10 p.m. with my brother. I was a bit tired from work, but also from my Wednesday`s workout. Anyway, I did 8 laps easy in the Blasco park. First lap was 5:57, halfway in 22:52 and finished in 45:24. Felt better as the run progressed, but kept the effort real easy. The heat was very strong, around 33 degrees Celsius. Today has been the hottest day of the year in Valencia. Anyway, felt really good at the end. No body running, maybe they are afraid of the heat!

My brother just did 5 kms today because He is racing a 8k tomorrow. I will skip the race and will do a tempo run in the morning.

Yesterday`s intervals: 1 x 1600m, 3 x 1000m, 1 x 400m

YesterdayI had planned my intervals, but as lately I was expecting to feel flat, so its something that I am getting familiar with, since almost all my runs after work are runs that I run flat (too sluggish).

The plan for today was 1 x 1600m, 3 x 1000m and 1 x 400m to complete 5k worth of fast running , all with half distance recovery, so 800m after the mile, 500m easy after the 1000s.

My brother would do an abbreviated version of that workout since He is racing a 8k this Saturday, I decided to skip it.

We ran after work at 7:20 p.m. or so We started the warm up in the Turia park. I warmed up 15 mins easy incorporating 5 x 50m strides, luckily I did not feel flat and felt pretty good, so I knew that the workout would be decent. The heat has been strong lately, so I took that factor into consideration if the times were pretty slow, no excuses though I would run at an honest effort, as always.

The 1600m felt pretty fast, but I felt pretty good cardiovasculary, but I felt like running fast in the turnover, My brother and I ran 7:06 for the 1600m which I was a bit dissapointed, but as I said, felt good in the breathing, that is the exact same pace that averaged in my last race (5.2k).

Then the 3 x 1k, were progressively faster, but it got harder and harder. 1st 1000m was 4:15, 2nd 1000m in 4:13 and in the halfway of this repeat my legs started to feel really heavy and I got really tired, but I had 1 x 1000m and 1 x 400m left to do. My brother called it a day after the second 1k repeat, He said He was very tired and wanted to save something for the race.

3rd 1k repeat, I decided to red line a bit, but my legs were dead, the effort was there, but my legs would not cooperate, nonetheless, I finished that last 1k repeat in 3:59, which is my fastest 1000m repeats in more than 8 years, I finally could break 4 mins in a 1k repeat, so it seems that I am improving, now I hope to do it more often. Then recovered 500m with the legs friend wondering How I could finish the 400m repeat.

It was not so bad, once I started running fast again I felt good, and did not dig deep in that repeat, just kept good form and move my legs fast and finished that 400m in 1:28, which I am very satisfied with. Then walked 100m and started my cool down with my brother.

Cooled down 12 mins, around 1.7k+. Was very sweated at the end, but felt pretty good and happy with the results. I would like that the opening mile was faster, but I always start pretty slow. Around 11.3k total for the day , finished the workout at almost 9 p.m. and the sun was shining hard.

Easy evening run + 6 x 100m strides

Today I ran after work at 7 p.m. Did 1 lap alone in the Blasco park, then my brother joined me for 8 more laps. My plan initially was 9 laps easy and to incorporate 6 x 100m (or so) strides from laps 6-8 and then the last lap easy.

Did the first lap in 5:47, then when my brother joined me slowed down because We were talking, crossed the 4 laps in 23:38, 6 laps in 34:55, then started the 6 strides and did the 2 laps in 9:56, then 1 lap easy in 5:30 to finish 9 laps in 50:21. Felt pretty sluggish in the first lap, but then felt better and better and felt great after the strides.

The weather was hot, but there was a nice breeze.

Mid morning easy run

Today is a public holiday here in Valencia. I ran alone today at 10:30 a.m., did not want to run in the evening in case some activity come up. The plan was to just do 8 laps easy in the Blasco park, and that was the plan till after the 5th lap where I decided to run 9 laps because I was feeling pretty good.

First lap was 5:50 and I felt somewhat tired, but as the run progressed I felt better and better and finished feeling great despite de sun and heat. Did not look at the watch till the 8th lap which was 45:05 (pressed the split button at halfway without looking at the watch in 22:47), then did the last lap in 5:28 to finish up in 50:33 the 9 laps (8.1k).

Felt real good and the weather was hot. Maybe I should start running in the morning since I have been feeling flat on my runs after work. We will see!

80 mins morning "Long" run

Last night I drank 3 beers and went to bed after 3 a.m. because I was in a Latin Bar enjoying Latin music. Went to bed way later than planned, since I wanted to do my 80 min run at 8-9 a.m., but I had to move that to 10:45 a.m. when the sun is shining hard.

I did it with my brother and the plan was as I said 80 mins of easy running to start ramping up for the Valencia half marathon that I might run on October 27th, where my goal is to beat my PR ( the only one that I have run) of 1:51:46. I think is very doable with very good training and much better weather. I raced that half marathon in around 32 Celsius, this half marathon on October will be around 10-15 Celsius, perfect running weather, so no excuses. However, its a long event (at least for me) and anything can happen.

Anyway, We started easy and then as the run progressed our pace leveled out in 6:15-6:17 per km at a very conversational pace. The only problem was the heat, We got very thirsty by the end. We did 12.1k in 76:05 (38:18, 37:47), so negative split the run by a bit. Then completed the 80 mins, so my guess would be that our total distance for the day was around 12.7k.

I felt really fresh today, I thought that I was going to feel tired from yesterday`s tempo, but I felt very good, and its a good sign as I gauge my fitness as per I recover from workouts, not the workouts themselves.

Did not eat anything prior to this run and its 1:10 p.m. now and I have not eaten anything just yet, I usually do these long runs in the evening, but as I started working, I might spend my Sunday evening doing something else. It always feel good to get the run out of the way "early".

6 runs this week and around 55k total, not bad.

Morning 5k tempo in 23:25 +2 x 200m in 40 seconds each one

Today I did the tempo run with my brother at 9:00 a.m I started from home to start the warm up and finish the warm up in the Turia park. I warmed up 16 mins including 5 x 50m or so acceleration strides. After I warmed up I had to wait for around 15 mins for my brother because He wanted to go to the bathroom. Anyway, after that We were ready for the tempo.

The plan for me today was to try to run near the times that I have been running in tempos, but feeling much better, since past weeks no way I could sustain that pace for 10k. But those tempos that I had done were on tired legs. Today I was somewhat fresh because I did not give 100% in the 400m intervals from Wednesday.

I started at a good effort, but the pace felt faster than it was really was, I was ahead of my brother from the 200m, so I thought that I was running 4:30s for the 1st km, as soon as I looked at the watch and it read 4:50, I was very surprised because of the slow pace. I inmediately increased my pace, I felt really easy, so increasing pace was not a problem, however, I did not increase it the way I wanted to, because the 2nd km was in 4:40 (9:30), I was expecting better, but I felt good and I knew that I could sustain that pace till end no problem, but the turnover felt fast, although the effort felt pretty good the whole way. Halfway came in 11:51 (2:21 for that 500m), I lost 2-3 seconds in the turn around point, my brother came in 12:00 in the halfway. Then I tried to maintain that same pace or a bit faster till the end, 3 km came in 14:14 (4:44 for that km), I felt dissapointed for that split, but I was feeling good, so that was the most important thing. Tried to kept 4:40 for the last 2k, however, in the last 1.8k or so I looked back and my brother came very close and I knew He was going to pass me, He passed with about 1.3k to go, 4 km came in 18:52, so 4:38 for that km, felt fast, but effort wise felt good and controlled, with 1k to go We were running head to head, but as per the breathing I was breathing much more controlled than him, He was huffing and puffing and I was fairly relaxed, anyway, when We hit the last 450m He put a surge and finished the 5k in 23:19, I finished in 23:25, finishing the last km in 4:33 which I am very satisfied with. two halves were in 11:51 and 11:33 and felt much better than in the last 2 tempos. After the 5k tempo, I recovered 400m jogging easy and then did 2 x 200m in 40.3 secs and 40.6 secs and those felt slow, but I was pleasantly surprised with the fast splits of the 200m, I have gotten faster, but I have to increase a lot my LT to improve my times at longer events, those 200m felt slow today.

For cool down We did 12 mins, but my pace was faster than my brother`s so I did around 1.8k for cool down.

I felt really good in this workout, I wish it turned out faster, but I am very happy with the way I felt today, maybe I will do another tempo of 5k before ramping up to 6k. Too hot today, but it did not seem to affect our performance.

Easy run

Yesterday was my day off.

Today after work I had to eat a slide of bread and peanut butter since I was hungry and felt flat as everyday after work. I ate that 40 mins before running and it kind of worked, but I felt somewhat flat nonetheless.

I ran with my brother at 7:10 p.m. and it was too hot today, I did the first lap in 5:53, then did not look at my watch till the end, but pressed the split button at halfway point to see it post run. I kept the effort fairly easy today and felt good in the last lap, the only lap that I can say I felt real good. I gapped my brother within the first 500m of the run, but He then caught me just after the 5 laps. Halfway was 22:50 and I did 45:44 for 8 laps (7.2k), its rare that I do a positive split in an easy run, but the effort was very easy.

Tomorrow morning We will do our tempo run.

Yesterday`s 10 x 400m interval workout

Yesterday I had a workout planned. My brother suggested 10 x 400m with 200m jog rest in between,I don't normally do 400m repeats as the main workout, but this time around as We raced on Sunday, it sounded like a good idea.

However, I was feeling very flat after work as usual, the workout from last week was an exception as I said. We started the workout at 7:10 p.m. with the sun shining hard and right there I knew that it was going to be a subpar workout. The legs just did not respond. but I just told myself to just give a good effort and try to keep good form. If I felt better in the last 2-3 repeats then do them faster.

I started the workout very slow, and kept it that way till the 5-6th repeat, the legs just would not respond. My breathing was pretty good though and I finished faster than I started which was the goal.

Splits for the 10 x 400m were :98 seconds, 99, 99, 96, 97, 94, 96, 95, 91 and 85. Those were the splits if my memory is correct, maybe not in that order from 6-8, but the same times. That 85 seconds at the end felt easier than it was. However, the only time that my legs felt better was in the cool down, which was 1.7k or so to complete a 9.6-9.8k day. Today it was a short day, I honestly wanted faster splits, but I was flat and better to run the appropriate efforts than strain especially when you are feeling bad. Weather was decent.

Easy run + 6 x 100m strides

Today I was feeling pretty good before running. I ran after work at 7 p.m. with my brother in the Blasco park. The plan today was to do 9 laps in the park, and include 6 x 100m strides from laps 6-8 as usual.
The first lap was very slow in 6:10, I felt without energy since lunch was very light today, but We increased the pace a bit and felt better, looked at the watch in the 4th lap, We had 23:33, then did not look at the watch till the end of the run, but pressed the split button in the 8th lap in 44:48. We negatived split the run by 2:18, from laps 5-8, thanks to the strides, I did the strides longer than usual today, especially the first one. I felt good in the strides, but felt a bit sore in the quads. After the strides I felt better, but not great. Finished the 9 laps (8.1k) in 50:20, my brother finished some seconds back.
These days where you feel like crap is what move the needle so those need to be done.

Evening recovery run with my brother

Today I ran after work at 7 p.m. I ran with my brother and prior to the run I felt very sleepy and tired, but I knew that as soon as I start running that feeling would go away, or at least when I finish the run I would feel new!! that was exactly what happened! I felt great and new after the run.

The run today was very easy, We did 8 laps very easy to recover (from yesterday`s race) in the Blasco park. I felt great, did not feel very sore at all, nor very tired, lets see how the DOMS behave tomorrow! My brother is very dissapointed with his performance in the race, but those days happen! Weather today was decent.

I did 8 laps (7.2k) in 45:41 and my brother did 45:22 or so, We negative split the run by 1 min, my brother 70-80 secs, We felt pretty good in the second half. Anyway, just a recovery run to start the week!

II Carrera Marta Fernandez de Castro Race Report

 Last night I went to bed pretty late and drank a beer and ate patatas bravas after dinner, I am eating a lot lately  so I Will have to slow down in that regard. I thought that the beer and the screwed sleep would affect my race, I had stomach problems before leaving home and in the starting line, but in the race itself I did not have problems at all, I felt great.

Today this morning at 9:00 am, my brother and I raced the race called " II carrera Marta Fernandez de Castro ", which was 5.2k distance. I did not have a clear time goal for this one, since I started the hard workouts 3 weeks ago and the first couple of weeks the workouts did not go as well, I was unsure about how fast I could run, but after this week`s intervals my optimism grew up and I thought that I could run around 4:25 per km pace or faster, or flirting with 22:00 in the 5k, but I did not pay attention to goal time to be honest, I just wanted to race. I was looking to race with my brother, He is in great shape and in some tempos He have beaten, I have to note that He was a 19 mins 5k runners some years ago, so He was much faster than me, but He was much leaner then, I told him that if He want to run those times again, He have to drop the weight off.

Anyway, I warmed up from my home to the race, met my brother when I had 1k, since his house was on my way to the race, so I warmed up more than him and cooled down more than him. When We were arriving to the race I threw in some striders at race pace/effort. Pretty much at the same effort I wanted to go out. Those striders were around 50m or less in length, just to loosen up the legs. My brother did the same. Then We lined up early in the starting line, We are in the second starting gun, We are not enough faster so that they can give us bibs for corral a,b,c,d that start in the first gun. I did some high knees drills in place to loosen up a bit and We were ready to go. I did not know the course before, but I was surprised to see some hills there, given that there were some bridges there. Anyway, the gun went off and my brother was ahead for the first 50m, then I passed him and started doing my own race, I dont wear a watch in races, so I was running purely by effort, I went out harder than normal, but felt fine so went with it, I tried to control my self in the first hill of the first bridge, within 200m of starting the race, then when it was time to downhill, I just let myself go and passed a lot of people there, people were controlled in the downhill, I dont know why since it was not a marathon and the fast downhill running for such a short race wont kill you. I am feeling confortable at that point and tried to maintain a good turnover, I cant see the 1k mark, but by then my brother caught me and put next to me, I moved a bit to the right, kind of what Dessi Linden did in the Boston marathon to regroup herself, but my brother would follow me everywhere I go, then I pull ahead and ran ahead for a bit, then it was time to go uphill again for another bridge, when We were at the top of the bridge He passed me and pulled ahead and kept the lead for around 400-500m, so by the 2.5k He was ahead, after that I was feeling " confortable", and passed him and starting increasing my effort and turnover, 2k left and this time I made a decisive move and never looked back, passed a lot of people in the second half of the race, a lot of people that went out in the first gun, a guy passed me, but He was struggling, then I passed him back and gave words of encouragement, yeah I could talk normally, I was feeling confortable, but I could not go anyfaster, in a 5k you are supposed to huff and puff for the whole race, this was not the case for me today, my breathing was very controlled, but my turnover was its maximum, kept passing a lot of people, but woman with lot of tatoos that had passed me earlier was in sight and I wanted to catch her, I finally do so in the final 800m of the race, I passed a lot of people in the last km, that 0.2k after 5k made a difference, since when I saw the 4k mark, I said 1.2k left which I found it long, if the race would have been 5k, I would have said 1k to go and mentally would have been easier to push that final km. I finished very strong and sprinted as soon as I saw the finish line clock. When I crossed the line it read 27:00 something, We started out 4 mins after the first gun and the finish line clock read the first gun starting. I calculated around 23:05, so crossed the 5k around 22:10, right where I wanted to be, but I really want to break that barried of 22 mins. Anyway, 5.2k and 5k is not the same. Given where I am in my training cycle, I think that I raced pretty good, and I will keep improving, basically have not lost any fitness since my last race of last training cycle, eventhough I took a break from workouts of 3 weeks and felt like crap in the first 2 interval workouts that I did. I am satisfied with this race, I kept the virtually the same pace as the 5.075m race that I ran 2 months ago, this time could keep the pace for 5.2k, with hills and hotter. I could have run faster, as I type this I feel pretty good and on the cool down I felt very good, I have to learn to get in the pain cave and I will do much better. Weather was hot since I was sweating a lot after the race, but its not a heat that will screw your goal times. My official time was 23:07, 4:26 per km, crossed the 5k around 22:14. I am looking forward to that sub 22 mins, but that has to be in an oficial 5k race, not a meter more, nor a meter less. On the other hand, my brother bonked and ran 23:55, so in the second half of the race, I built a gap of 48 seconds which is a lot, He ran around 23:00 for the 5k and He ran a 5k tempo run last week in 23:19, where He defeated me. I told him that He had to slow down a bit his tempos. Anyway, I think that We are training well and eventually He will have a breakthrough. I enjoyed this race and the bridges that We had to climb, its nice to have streets of Valencia to yourself!

Cooled down around 2.8k very easy to home feeling pretty good and strong!

Catching up

Yesterday I ran at 7:00 p.m. with my brother in the Blasco park. As We are racing on Sunday, We took it easy. I felt like crap despite having rested on Thursday, The DOMS from the 200m sprint from Wednesday workout, was affecting me today, I hope that it does not interfere with my race, it was a mistake to push that fast/hard on that last repeat, but what you can do.

I did 8 laps in the Blasco park, my brother did 5.5 laps, as soon as He stopped, I increased the pace a bit while keeping the effort easy to see if I could feel better, that worked, I felt pretty good in the last 2.5 laps. First lap was 6:04, never looked at the watch again till the end, finished the 8 laps (7.2k) in 46:08.  Weather was a bit hot, but ok! A bit tired from work!

Today I ran at 9:25 a.m. by myself in the Blasco park. The plan was to do 6 laps very easy, so 5.4k or so to shake out the legs for tomorrow`s race. Started out feeling a bit tired, but felt better and better and at the end felt pretty good.

First lap was 5:51, then never looked at the watch again till the end of 6 laps, however, after 6 laps, I decided to keep running to home for a couple of more mins, so total time for today`s run was 36:32 for 5.7k or so.

6 laps (5.4k) were completed in 34:35, so I pretty much kept at the same pace throughout the whole run, but I felt better and better as the run went by. Weather was hot, but pretty good!
I hope to be ready for tomorrow`s race, my brother is racing so that should be a good battle between us, I suspect that He is in much better shape than in his previous races, We will see!

Have a great Saturday!

Intervals : 2 x 1600m, 2 x 800m, 1 x 200m

Yesterday after work, I ran with my brother in the Turia Park. I had zero motivation to do this workout after a long day at work, but you have to do what you have to do, no matter what. I thought that I was going to be very flat today as the previous couple of days, but was the total opposite.

I met with my brother at 7:00 p.m. and started the warm up at 7:20 p.m. or so , so the normal 15 mins easy incorporating 5 x 50m acceleration strides. The plan for today`s intervals was 2 x 1600m, 2 x 800m and 1 x 200m (with half distance recovery between repeats, so 800m between 1600m , 400m between 800s) or 1600,800,1600,800, We opted for the former to get rid of the 1600m repeats up front.

The idea was to do the workout whatever the results was, the important thing was the stimulus. I was hoping to feel terrible anyway, so that was the best plan that I could come up with.

In the warm up I felt pretty good, and I knew that it was going to be a good day. The first 1600m repeat was very slow, but also the effort was not that hard, so that was big news. I felt better and better as the workout progressed, I felt great at the end, was surprised with how well I felt. Compared to the last couple of weeks this was a success. I had doubts of running Sunday`s 5200m race, but after this workout I registered for the race as soon as I got home. My brother did an awesome job as well, He ran slower than me, but He was also holding back a lot, so this was a success for both of us. In the second 1600 repeat I felt pretty good and I mustered my fastest 1600 repeat in years.

Splits were : 2 x 1600m@7:16, 6:48/ 2 x 800m@ 3:21, 3:09/ 1 x 200m@37.00.

The second 800m repeat was pretty solid as well and felt pretty strong, legs never went anaerobic and breathing was pretty good. In the 200s I did it with my brother and We were running head to head in the first 100m, but in the second 100m I raced him and ran as hard as I could, thought that I was going to be very sore on Thursday (I type this on Thursday), but that was not the case, I feel very good! This was a overnight change since the last couple of days I have been feeling very tired and even on workouts I have been feeling more tired than last cycle, it seems that I am getting used to the intensity again.

For cool down did 1.7k or so easy talking with my brother. Around 11.4k total.

Easy evening run

Today I came from work at 6:30 p.m., I ran at 7 p.m. by myself since my brother had some things to do. I did 8 laps at an easy pace in the Blasco park for a total of 7.2k.

First lap was slow in 5:54, then did not look at the watch till the end, but pressed the split button at the halfway. Felt better after the first couple of laps, but feeling tired this week, maybe for the work stress, lol.

Weather was cloudy, but very pleasant. 8 laps (7.2k) in 45:44. I will do my intervals tomorrow.

Finally got a job! Zapping the zero

Today I started a job( the contract is until September 30,2019), so I was working from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., as soon as I got home at 6:35 p.m., got dressed and started my run at 7 p.m. with my brother in the Blasco park.

I had not eaten very well, so I was very hungry. The run today was for stress relieve. I did 9 laps, including 6 x 20 seconds strides from lap 6 to 8 laps.

We started the run very slow, in the first 4 laps We were running 23:52, so just barely sub 6 mins per lap, my legs were had no pep in them and I was very hungry, I almost stopped when I finished the 6th, however, when I started doing the acceleration strides, I felt fine and came back to life literally, felt pretty good after the strides, 8 laps came in 45:29 and finished the 9 laps in 51:00, so the second half was around 2:15 faster than the first half.

As I type this I am cooking dinner, so it has been a busy day for me, but I like it that way, I love the feeling of productivity. First days at jobs always are hard, I hope to adapt fast.

Maintainance pace "long" run

Today I ran alone in the Turia park. I went at 5:20 p.m. and the plan was to run 12k at an easy pace, but I was not sure if I was going to do the progression in the last kms. I did not want to run very slow either, since yesterday was pretty easy and tomorrow will be easy too.

When I was about to start I decided to try to average 5:50 per km for the whole run so that meant I needed to go out a bit faster than normally, so accomplished that and I felt pretty good the whole run. That pace was easy enough that did not tax my body and fast enough that the kms passed by quickly, as opposed when I am running very easy that feels that I am running forever, that is part of the patience needed in this sport, however, I just wanted to get over it soon today.

Splits were pretty even and felt pretty good, albeit still tired from Friday`s tempo.

Splits were: 6:23 (about 6:05, given the extra 50m of this km), 5:51 (12:14), 5:46 (18:00), 5:42 (23:42), 5:43 (29:25), 5:44 (35:09), 5:42 (40:51), 5:40 (46:31), 5:35 (52:06), 5:38 (57:44), 5:40 (63:24), 5:51 (this is the same case as the first km, more like 5:35, finished the 12.1k in 69:15, then kept running at the same pace/effort to complete the 70 mins.

Felt good the whole run and felt strong, was thirsty at the end though and my left knee was bothering me by the end, lack of long runs for the past 5 weeks, I guess.

Around 12.21k total or so. Good week of training, 6 runs and around 58k total for the week! Averging 5:43/km for today`s run.

Easy evening run

Today I was very tired due to the workout yesterday. At 6:40 p.m. I headed out to the Blasco park and did 8 laps pretty easy. The pace was faster than I felt.

First lap was 5:41 and then did not look at the watch till the end, but pressed the split button at halfway. Halfway was 22:29 and finished in 44:44 for 8 laps (7.2k). Was tired, but at the same time felt pretty good.

Weather was a bit hot, but ok. Last night at 10:30 p.m. I watched the 15k Nocturna Valencia where a lot of kenyans come to run crazy fast times. First place did 41:55 for 15k, first woman 46:52, those were awesome.

My friend Adelino ran it and did a great job finishing in 57:11. Very fun race to watch and great atmosphere.

Evening watchless 5k tempo in 23:28 + 2 x 200s

On Thursday I took my day off as usual.

On Friday I was not sure of doing my tempo run, the plan was to do it on Saturday since I had run my interval workout on Wednesday and I run easy for 2 days between workouts. However, today (Saturday) my brother was going to be out of town, so I had to do it alone, and He was doing him today, so I had the option of take a risk and doing it today on tired legs. My legs felt surprisingly good, not like last week. Were tired, but, no soreness, so I gave it a go. I made the decision at 5 p.m. and We were running at 6:40 p.m. and at 3 p.m. I drank a beer in a bar watching the last set of Nadal vs Federer march in Roland Garros, the French Open. That beer did not affect at all in the workout.

Anyway, I decided to leave the watch at home and just go by effort, I would be happy with anything under 24 mins. I am glad I left the watch at home, since We were running way slower than I thought We were going, I realized after the workout looking at my brother`s splits.

I warmed up 15 mins with 5 x 50m acceleration strides to loosen up the legs. Then We started our 5k tempo. I went out at a good effort/pace, my brother was ahead in the first km by 1 second, but then He started gapping me and never caught him. I felt that if I went with him, I would crash and burn, I waited till the pace came to me. That was not enough to reel him in.

On the second km He had a gap of around 8-12 seconds, kept it till the halfway. In the halfway turn around I lost a lot of time because in that precise moment a runner came, so I kind of waited till He passed, lost around 4-5 seconds. As soon as I turned around, I accelerated to make up lost time, at that point I was feeling good, but not great. My brother by the 3rd km had a gap of around 15+ seconds. In the last 2 kms, I decided to relax and try to accelerate a bit while staying relaxed and that worked, from km 3-4, I bridge some gap and He had around 10 seconds on me and He kept that gap till the end. He finished in 23:19 and I finished in 23:28. When I finished the tempo, I jogged 400m easy and then did 2 x 200m fast, I felt like a truck in these 200s, but its good to run fast on tired legs. After I finished the workout before the workout, my brother told me the times and the 200s were in 41,40 and I was pretty surprised because they felt way slower than that, tried to maintain good form and run fast.

I was not dissapointed about the tempo, but I was not happy either. 2 seconds faster than last week, eventhough We started way slower, glad I did not know splits at the time. After reviewing my brother`s splits at home, I realized that I ran around 4:45 for the first km, which felt way faster than that, halfway was around 12:00, since my brother ran 11:49, I thought that I was going faster than last week, where I crossed in 11:39. 3k were in 14:10 for my brother, I crossed in around 14:25-14:30, which felt way faster than that, I thought that I was running sub 14 mins, However, in the last 2 kms I really put the hammer down, my brother ran 9:09 for those 2 kms, if I had to take a guess I ran around 9:00-9:05, which really makes a difference compared to other splits. Well thats one of the reasons that I dont wear a watch during races, not seeing the splits that I want could mess with my head pretty badly.

Overall, a solid workout, felt much better than last week, could add 2 x 200s and it was 2 seconds faster and I only had 48 hours to recover, so this was a success.

Weather was pretty hot, as I had a pretty dry mouth when I finished. Did around 1.7k easy for cool down and We did around 10k total for the day.

Wednesday Interval session: 1 x 600s, 3 x 800s,4 x 400s, 2 x 200s

 On Wednesday I did the interval session with my brother. The real goal today for me was not pace, I wanted to feel good, strong and tomorrow feel like intervals on the past cycle, where I was tired, but not sore like I was the past week, pace was secondary.

The plan for today was 4 x 800m, with 400m recovery in between, then 4 x 400m with 200m jog recovery in between and 1 x 200m to complete 5k worth of interval running.

The plan went as planned, except for the first 800m turned into only 600m, due to a crowd of people starting " a race " in the Turia park, they had the path completely intercepted, my brother was going way ahead and He stopped the watch at 600m, so I followed through. After that I did the interval session as planned, but on the 3rd 800m repeat I had problems with the crowd as all the people were going in the tiny little running path of the Turia park.

I felt good and controlled in this session, did not struggle. However in the 400s and 200s I was tired, but could keep good form and finished the workout strong. What I did to make up the missed 200m of the first repeat was to add another 200m repeat at the end, so 2 x 200s after the 400s.

My brother aborted the planned workout after the 2nd repeat, within the first 400s of the 3rd repeat, He could not run with all that people, I made my way and could make a hole to pass, the rhythm was over the place though.

Splits were: 1 x 600m@2:30, 3 x 800m@ 3:24,3:22,3:14. 4 x 400m@ 93,90,92,90. 2 x 200m@ 42.10, 41.43.

I felt good, but I think that I have lost speed, I struggle to run those times in 200s, anyway, I think that is a good thing, so that I don't peak too early. It seems that my body was not adapted anymore last week with that month off of interval work. I write this on Friday and my legs feel pretty good, no soreness and pretty much how I felt after interval workouts, so my body is adapting quickly. I am happy with the splits, but I would like to run sub 4 mins per km already at the same effort. I will have to wait I think!

Watchless easy run

Today I was supposed to do the intervals, but I am still tired from Sunday`s walking in Barcelona and maybe the Saturday`s workout as well. I decided to move the workout to tomorrow to be more rested, as I said, I don't want to dig a fatigue hole.

I ran by myself today at 5:40 p.m. today since my brother had run in the morning and I am going to the movies tonight to watch "Aladdin". I ran watchless today and did 9 laps to the Blasco park to complete 8.1k. The idea was to do 8 laps, but in the last lap decided to add one more lap since I was feeling pretty good. Although my hamstrings were a bit sore and tight.

Overall, felt real good and the effort was very easy, should be ready for my intervals tomorrow. Weather was hot, but fine.

Easy evening run + 6 x 20 seconds strides

Yesterday as I said was my day off running, but it was not rest day by any means. I was in Barcelona with my brother visiting my uncles, the bus departed at 2:30 a.m. and We got there to Barcelona at 7 a.m. and from that time till 10 p.m. that it was the time to get back to Valencia We walked the whole day, but it was a blast, I loved Barcelona, I had lived there, but I did not remember since I was a kid, I remembered the Ramblas though. It was good to see part of family!

I went to bed at 3 a.m. and I woke up today at 9 a.m., did not run till 7 p.m. with my brother, We were both tired from all the walking yesterday, but I felt really good once I started running.

We did 9 laps easy and incorporated 6 x 20 seconds strides from laps 6-8, I only looked at the first lap in 5:58, then did not look until the end ( I looked in the strides, but only at the seconds), finished 9 laps (8.1k) in 50:48.

Weather was good, felt tired from yesterday and Saturday, but felt better than expected.

5K Tempo run: 23:30

This morning   I ran fasted (and drank a couple of beers after dinner yesterday). I did my 5k tempo with my brother at 10 a.m. The idea was to do it earlier, but I woke up at 4:45 a.m. and I could not get back to sleep till 7 a.m., so We moved the workout to 10 a.m., I started running from home to the Turia park, then ran some more there till complete 16 mins for warm up. In that period incorporated 5 x 50m or so acceleration strides.

I felt tired in the warm up, was still sore, but was going to do the workout anyway. My brother told me He wanted to the 5k in less than 23 mins, so much faster than his current 10k race pace. My goal was not that ambitious, I wanted to run 23:15-23:30, around my 10k race pace.

From the get go He was ahead of me, but I was running my pace, crossed the 200m in 54 seconds, I was running a tad faster than expected, then eased into my goal pace, first km was in 4:38, right where I wanted to be. At that point my brother was more than 8 seconds ahead, I tried to keep the same effort/pace, but after the mile, I started to feel tired,2k came by in 9:20 (4:42 for that km), halfway came in 11:39 (that 500m in 2:19), then lost around 3 seconds in the turn around. My brother crossed in 11:28 or so, so He was running strong, but I was gaining on him little by little. I crossed the 3k in 14:00 (4:40 for 3rd km), I was keeping my pace and it felt sustainable, but at that point I was running close to the pace I ran in my 10k race 4 weeks ago, I wonder if I could sustain that pace for 10k today and the answer was clear, no!! I was huffing and puffing already and the pace was difficult to maintain after 3 km, after the mile I felt sore and its obvious that I was not recovered from the hard interval session I did on Wednesday evening,

I was gaining on my brother very fast, in the 4th km which I crossed in 18:49 (4:49 for that km, after that I knew that it was not my day), my brother had 3 seconds on me, but as soon as We crossed the last km, with around 900m to go I passed him, I tried to regroup in the last km, but did not push the pace, just tried to relax and tried to maintain my effort, no point in pushing a pace to dig yourself in a tempo run, stimulus in these workouts its whats important. I finished the 5k in 23:30, running 4:41 for the last km. My brother finished in 23:43.

I felt really tired and huffing and puffing. This is the first time that I do a positive split in a tempo run, positive split the thing by 12 seconds. My brother did for 45 seconds, so He hit the wall very hard.

Weather was very hot today and sun was in full force today. However, as I said I felt tired even before starting the workout. All in all, I think that I did a decent workout, right in the range that I was hoping for. We jogged 1.7k or so for cool down to complete 9.2k for the day.

Tomorrow We rest since We are traveling to Barcelona to see family. We will walk a lot tomorrow I expect. I almost run a second run today, but thought better of it, better to rest for Tuesday workout and be as rested as possible. Tomorrow will be a rest day off running, but definitely all that walking will be quiet a workout!