This week I delved feet foot into my 16-week training for the Calgary Marathon on June 1. I am trying to follow the Run Less, Run Faster plan as closely as possible, particularly for the speed work. I know this is one KEY to nailing my marathon goal. I wasn’t a complete rockstar but I held my own in first two tempo & track workouts.
Tuesday Tempo
Thursday Speedwork
Brent and I went to Penhold again to run around the arena track. I had 3×1600 to run while Brent had 12×400 to rock. The track is only 200 metres so that meant I had to run around it 8 times. We warmed up for about 15 minutes before we ran our separate ways.
We knew it would be tough & there were no surprises. The good news is I was painfully slow on my first interval and I ranfaster on the last two (7:28, 7:16, 7:04). Bad news was that my pacing was all over the map. It didn’t help that there was a bootcamp at one end of the arena that I had to zigzag around and I couldn’t get a signal on the Garmin.
I won’t lie. It was bloody tough. I was a little disappointed too. Last year on the outdoor track I was very close to running below a 7-minute mile. Next week I hope the snow melts enough so I can run on the outdoor track or at least find a good stretch of cleared pavement to run my intervals.
I know some people may give up because they did not meet the targeted paces. Not me. As I said to Brent, it will be tough to start but if we stay focused and upbeat our pacing will improve. Afterall we have another 15 weeks to go before our race.
What can I do better? Stay focused. Run until I puke (just a thought).
Great job on your runs Crystal! You're a speedy chick! Imagine how much faster and stronger you will be once this winter gets everything out of its system! I'm so done with snow and ice and cold….it's ridiculous.
That's what I am hoping. Winter is so depressing this year!
I've never done track work to train for a race, so I can't give any advice! But I'm sure you'll get faster with each week you move forward!
Thanks Janelle! I sure as heck hope so 🙂