5/5/2011 Feliz cinco de mayo!

Training schedule says I will do: 30 minute run

I actually did:   38:40 minutes/ 3.51 miles* (including yesterday's speed interval work)

* 3.575 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting 1/16 mile for darkness.  Technically, darkness calls for 1/8 extra mile, but it was light enough at the end of my run that I felt silly wearing a reflective vest and headlamp (especially when I got home and realized I hadn't turned my headlamp on). 

Days to go until the marathon: 143

Miles to go until 1000: 857.56

Red Hot Chili Peppers song played during the run: (But 2 Britney Spears songs played, and what morning doesn't need a little Britney?)

So today was my first day of speed interval training.  I figured, it's only 10 minutes, I'll just do it at the start  of my workout, and then do the rest of my run.  I now see why it is supposed to be it's own workout, it is tiring!  For the rest of the run, I was slow(er than normal).  Yikes.

I think the idea of the interval training is that you run at a certain pace for a certain amount of time, then do a slower pace for a certain amount of time.  I don't know the exact prescription.  So in my making up the workout, I decided I would do my "fast pace" around 10 minute miles.  Any runner reading that probably is laughing at that as a fast pace, and I realize it's really not very fast.  But my half marathon PR is at about 10:45 minute miles (and my 10k PR is at 10 minute miles), so I figure my marathon pace will average somewhere between 11 and 12 minute miles.  So respectively, 10 minute miles are fast.  But when I was running my intervals this morning, I wasn't very good at following a pace on my watch, and instead just ran fast for the fast intervals, and slowed down for the slow ones.  I was averaging between 8-9 minute miles on the fast intervals.  This is VERY fast for me so it is no wonder I was so tired for the rest of my run.  I will have to look into how interval training is supposed to be done and do it right, otherwise I don't know what the utility of it is, as I don't think there will any stretch of my marathon that I feel the need to go all out.

I did my interval work on a track, and it was also the first time I ran on a track.  It was interesting.  Not as awful as I thought it'd be, in fact I considered doing the rest of my run on the track, but ultimately opted to do a regular run.