Monday, October 24, 2011

Best Workout EVER!!!

WOOOHOOO!!!  What a beautiful morning in Lees Summit ... 50 degrees, 60% humidity, and no wind!  And what a great workout this morning!!!  I passed 2010's mileage total of 2,464, and ran my fastest consecutive 10 mile interval ever ... 6:51/mile pace!!!  Score one for the big-eared, freckled face guys!!!

The 10 miles were the last part of a 12 mile run.  The first two miles were warm-ups that I don't count in my official daily log.  My personal rule for workouts is that the run has to be 10 miles or more, and I can take the fastest consecutive 10 miles during the run. And today's run was the fastest 10 miles I've ever recorded ... I was STOKED!!!

I have experienced absolutely no soreness from my two marathons 8 days ago, and spent most of last week recovering and running REALLY SLOW.  So when I woke up this morning, I felt like it was time to get back at it.

I ran the first two miles as slow warm-ups, partially because I wanted to warm-up, but also because my back was a little stiff from some strange soreness I had on Sunday.  But  my legs felt really strong and fresh.

On miles 3 & 4 I began to ramp up my speed a little with the main objective being increasing my heart rate.  I was trying to get it over 180 bpm, which is where I seem to start having stomach trouble.  180 is like a switch.  The second I hit it, my stomach begins to churn and I start thinking I might need to find the nearest bushes.  But I could never seem to get it there this morning with the paces I was running ... which is overall is good I guess.

Miles 5-12 started the "below 7:00/mile pace".  I wanted to run these last 8 miles of the workout in the "6's", which I ended up doing.  I was really pleased with how smooth it felt.  Don't get me wrong, I was working at it.  But I think overall my form never really broke down and I was able to run the last 10 miles at a 6:51/mile average.

My average heart rate for the workout this morning was 164 bpm, which is good and bad.  I was happy that I could run this fast without forcing the average over 170, but I really need to get a lot more work in over 180.  I should be able to make that happen with speed work.

It was just so good to run fast again.  I really decreased my speeds while training for the back-to-back marathons, with a primary goal of adding distance and endurance.  I was a little worried that it would take a while to build back up to where I want to be with speed.  But based on today's workout, I should be able to start building just fine for two fast races at the end of the year.  Attention Tulsa ... I'm working hard and you're on my mind!!!
... be great today!

19 comments:

  1. You are a machine...........

    Nice.

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  2. Nice work! That has got to be a great confidence booster 7 days after your back to backs. Wow!

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  3. This is energizing...as all of your posts are! Makes me want to start kicking some butt in my training! Wahoo! Nice job! And so soon after your marathons?

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  4. You're kind of a big deal. And I think your legs may be made of titanium! Rock. On. :)

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  5. That's a pretty kick ass workout, made even more impressive by the fact that you ran two #$&*(@) marathons just eight days ago.

    I'd probably be more encouraged than discouraged about the lower heart rate. You're kicking ass at such a fast clip for so long and your heart wasn't working as hard as it can, though I do get what you're saying about having to work it out at a higher pace. I used to be really dedicated to heart rates and training with my heart rate in mind. I need to re-dedicate myself to that.

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  6. That speeds not going anywhere anytime soon, mister! I'm glad you got to let the legs have some fun out there.

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  7. hey that sounds great! lol I love your enthusiasm! it really is obvious you work hard and thus have the pace to prove it. I think b/c you built up so much endurance the speed just stayed there. I love it. You are super fast. YOU WERE GREAT TODAY :D YAY

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  8. Agree with Cara..."you are kind of a big deal". Seriously, that's amazing. I don't know how you do it.

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  9. Sa-weet!

    And do you live in Lee's Summit? I know someone else who lives there (and it's not Michael). How random is that?

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  10. You must have incredible powers of recovery. I'd still be hobbling around, babying myself after what you did. I'm so impressed!

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  11. Jim, I don't know how you do it. Great job! No soreness after running over 50 miles? Wow!

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  12. You nailed it today, great run! Looks like all of that hard work is paying off!

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  13. And you take a rest...when????!!!!

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  14. Nice and speedy, MR. Back-to-back!

    Interesting correlation between HR and the GI issues. If I ever see 180 I am sure I will be near death on the side of the road. :)

    Also interesting that you don't count warm up into your workouts...Is that just for accuracy with pace averages? Do you count it in your total miles for the year? I always include everything because I am too lazy to separate it out, but I know that means I have to go back and look at all my log details later.

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  15. I'm drooling over the sub 7:00 splits. Between the awesome weather and the speed, I'm sure it was a kick ass run.

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Thanks for stopping by ... your comment's always welcome!