Some Things One more WordPress weblog

Tommie showed up for CrossFit at the Academy this morning, so he and I pushed each other through rounds of the following:

• Small-Block Loop
• 20 Dumbell Snatches (Right)
• 20 Dumbell Snatches (Left)
• 40 Sit-Ups
• 40 Jumping Pull-Ups

Tommie, Jack, and I completed four rounds apiece in the time Ryan allotted us. Time to get ready for Tuesday’s 800m repeats.

After yesterday’s Off day, we wrapped up the first week of marathon training with a 6-mile run on an out-and-back course that Eric planned for us. Trish, Eric, and I stuck together on the outbound leg, keeping close to our assigned 7:25-per-mile pace, and then on the uphill return Trish and I put a little bit of distance between ourselves and Eric. The two of us stuck together to the very end, and then Eric pulled in soon after.

I felt well enough on the run, but it certainly was a workout to get it done on time. I am glad that today’s “Long Tempo” pace is 12 seconds per mile faster than the pace I am supposed to run in the marathon because I know I could not have maintained today’s pace for much more than our six miles. I look forward to the improvement that should come with the training program.

Regarding the 800m repeats that we have coming up on Tuesday: I keep reminding myself that we get two whole minutes of recovery time between the runs! That is about all that settles my nerves as we lead up to it.

I think we all missed Tommie at this week’s training and look forward to his joining us now that Derringer is settled in. Congratulations to him!

Training for today was the Friday night CrossFit workout at the Academy, which took me 33:41 to complete (nowhere close to Eric’s 29:49). Lots of people got to struggle through this one today, and Vanessa recorded everyone’s performances.

Saturday is a Rest Day.

I joined the runners at the middle school this evening to put in proper work on my speed set. The correct target time for 400m was 1:30. My splits:

1. 1:25
2. 1:21
3. 1:25
4. 1:24
5. 1:25
6. 1:24
7. 1:24
8. 1:23

That was much more of a workout!

I think I am going to have to do all of the speed work at the track. Two problems with doing sprints at the academy:

• Corners – The “track” there is primarily a run around the block, and the corners cannot be taken at full speed.
• Elevation changes – Not being a perfect 400m, the start and end points are always at different elevations from each other. The track is, of course, devoid of all elevation changes, so I cannot blame variations in performance on that.

After taking Wednesday as an Off-Day, I met Amy this morning at the Academy for speed work.

8 X 400m with 90 seconds of recovery between each (Target time was 1:44 each. But see Note #2 below.)

1. 1:40
2. 1:38
3. 1:40
4. 1:39
5. 1:37
6. 1:40
7. 1:37
8. 1:37

Consistent, yes, and ahead of the targeted time. The mid-tempo and long-temp runs are the ones on which I will likely feel growing pains.

Note 1: Amy was just as consistent in hitting her marks this morning.

Note 2: I was still using the chart-reading instructions handed out last Saturday, not the revised instructions posted to the TaskForceRouge Yahoo!Groups site. By the new instructions, I should have run my 400m repeats at 1:30 apiece. Had I done that, it would have been a much more taxing workout. The big question for myself: Should I take a do-over? I just might; otherwise I am falling behind.

Today in marathon training is supposed to be a rest day and tomorrow a CrossFit/Bootcamp day, but I switched the two and joined the 6:00am “Derringer” workout. We had a BIG crowd today!

Good news: I did not get sent home after I kicked Donna in the head. That’s a crime just to kick her, but I am even more guilty after all of Eric’s warnings to make space. Man, do I owe her a dinner!
Better news: I finished ahead of Tommie’s time from last night! It is not that I am competitive; I just have to counter his competitive urges.
Bad news (for me): Tommie used 35-lb dumbbells where I used only 30-pounders, so he gets the prize. Good job, T!

I know how to set a good pace for myself for any race up to 10km, but today’s training called for one mile at an easy pace (9:29 per mile), three miles at medium pace (8:09 per mile), and one final mile at the easy pace. If I want to live through the marathon — not to mention the marathon training — I am going to have to learn to pace myself better. I ran my “easy” miles at about an 8:15 pace and the medium ones at about 7:45 apiece. I hope to get better at this without buying a really neat watch.

My route:

Get this straight… I do not want to run the 2008 Pasadena Marathon.

But I have a problem: peer pressure from Ryan and Hope … and a detailed, sensible, well-thought-out five-month training schedule put together by Eric and Jeff have me almost convinced that I will run it. Week #1 of the training schedule starts today, so I will be off on a five-mile run in about an hour.

Twenty-seven people showed up at the initial meeting Saturday morning, and many others who will run could not be there. We each received a packet from Eric and Jeff with targeted training times. With the packet, I have to select a marathon time for which to aim. So… here it is (with full willingness to change this target as I see fit)…

Targeted marathon finish: 3:20:00.

I believe that to be realistically achievable, but we will see.