Friday night with Jen and Trevor was great. We all had a good time and it was only late at night that I realized that I had no plans for my Saturday run. Usually I am out in the snow with Eric and Simon, but the snow is not very good right now (10 degrees and sunny for a week will do that - NOT that I am complaining) and the next snowshoe race is not for two more weeks. With that in mind, and with Paul calling me out on email, I decided to join in on the VFAC Saturday morning workout at Stanley Park.
I dropped Trevor off at SFU for a conference and was at Stanley Park an hour before the 10am start, so I warmed up around Beaver Lake and then the seawall. It was a beautiful morning, enough so that there was a naked man in the ocean. Hey, it was 10 degrees!
The workout was 1k, 2k, 2k, 1k around the 1k loop of Beaver Lake. Paul and Jay were there which made things about a million times better, because I did not want to be doing that workout on my own. Coach John looked us over and said that we should go just under 3 minutes for our first 1k, then hold 6:10s for our two 2ks, and "you will probably go 2:55 for your last one." We all scoffed at this notion and then proceeded to prove him right. Damn. And it wasn't easy. Jay was flying and I was working my butt off to keep in contact with Paul. In the end I went 3:01, 6:10, 6:09, 2:56. Similar to the 58s in the 400s workout on Thursday, I have not gone under 3:00 for a kilometer in many years. I am definitely running fast, but I need to really work on being able to hold a faster pace for much longer.
Sunday emerged as beautiful as Saturday. We were going to meet Jen, Trevor, Tim, and Sarah down at Granville Island for late morning, so I met up with Simon for a long run at 7:30am. We had 32k on the schedule, so we ran from East Van/Burnaby to Stanley Park and back. We had great conversations (rookie nights, pregnancies, weddings, movies, running, books, etc) and kept each other from going too fast. I had orignally planned on crossing Lions Gate Bridge and coming home along the North Shore; however, since Simon was going to turn around and head back the way we came, I decided to do the same. I had thought that the 16k mark was at Third Beach, but when I got home I realized that I was mistaken. After dropping Simon off, I had about 6k left to get home and the fatigue really started to set in. I looked at my watch and wondered why I was at 2:30 and I still wasn't home. Were we really running that slowly? I mean, I had run 1:49 for 30k in a race - it shouldn't take me 50 minutes longer for a long run!
Turns out that my long run on Sunday was more like 36k than it was 32k. Third Beach was the 17.8k into the run, not 16k. It may not seem like much, but I definitely felt it in the last 4k. I was pleased to have finished the run and took the opportunity to lay down on a log and bask in the sun for about 5 minutes before heading home and into an ice bath. Is it bad when you look forward to the ice bath?
Tonight I felt the workouts. My 10k recovery run was, in a word, hurtin'. My legs felt heavy and I felt a little emotionally fatigued. A combination of seeing good friends (and consequently realizing how much I missed them) and two very good (but draining) runs left me feeling a little underwhelmed today. But, the legs eased up a little as the run progressed, but there is not much pop in them right now.
Tomorrow calls for a 18k tempo. With six training weeks left until Boston (two week taper, I am assuming from Coach John), this is the meat of the training. I have not run "hard" for the past two years as I have been following Maffetone and low heart rate training. I am running faster than I have ever before right now, but I have to keep in mind that there is a price to be paid for this and it is doled in out fatigue. But recovery (and an Easter Creme egg) makes you feel better very quickly!
In other news, the ENDURrun has 28 registered participants! They are capping it at 30 this year. This is amazing news for this great race! In 2006, only 5 hardy souls took on the challenge of the complete ENDURrun, and yet it produced the closest finish. This time, with close to 30 people, it will be an incredible event with many surprises and changes in position. I am incredibly excited to compete in the ENDURrun this year!
Saturday - 1:00 base, 1,2,2,1 (3:01, 6:10, 6:09, 2:56)
Sunday - 2:38:44 (which would be a good marathon time!)
Monday - 36:18 (ok, not quite 10k)
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