An Ambitious Plan

This week, my coach (and father-in-law for those just tuning in) has planned the toughest week of running that I've done to date.

The 10K on Monday wasn't a real struggle, but it wasn't a cake walk either. I didn't feel too bad yesterday from the strain, and today, I don't really feel any soreness or stiffness. Yay on me.

Today, I'll be doing 5 miles:

2 miles at a comfortable pace (10 min/mile or so)

2 miles - 8 X 1/4 mile intervals alternating between race pace (8:30 - 9:00 min/mile) and recovery pace (10 min/mile.)

1 mile at a comfortable pace (10 min/mile or so)

I've set up the workout in my Garmin 305; today will be the first time that I've attempted to use the workout trainer, so I hope I don't screw it up.

On Friday, I'll be doing the same thing for a warmup and cooldown, and I'll replace the quarter mile intervals with 30 second Fartleks, which are run faster than race pace. For me that means trying to run no slower than a 8:30 min/mile pace. I've set a 2 minute recovery period at an 11:00 - 12:00 min/mile pace; hopefully that will be slow enough to get my breath back before the next cycle.

Finally, on Saturday, I'll be cranking out my longest run ever: 7 miles! I plan on keeping between a 10:00 and 11:00 min/mile pace, but I'll feel free to adjust if I'm struggling from the previous workouts.

Oh, yeah, and add to that whole mess, Friday, we are supposed to be doing legs & abs for our strength training...uh, that might get changed to back, bi's, & abs.