after having to take it easy in june and july due to a knee issue, (tendonitis/meniscus?) i am back to running full time. i have just completed week 6 of training, missing only one day due to a belly ache. weekly miles have been in the mid 30's with last week being 40 with a long run of 9.55 miles. most days are 4 to 5 miles with one tempo day and one speed/interval day. i have been bumping up my long run by 1 mile per week. the goal of my plan is to run a series of races culminating with a half marathon thanksgiving weekend.

planned races:

9/15-5k close to home
9/23-5k in the neighborhood
10/6-7k odd distance and hilly as hell
10/28-10k very large race
11/24- half marathon???

i chose these races mostly because they are close to home, i've run in a couple of them before, and they haven't gone crazy with their prices, like so many races have done in recent years. i will be looking to pr the two races i've done before, and have a goal of 40 minutes for the 10k and 1:30 for the half. the trick will be to balance the races with training but there should be plenty of time between the last two races.

last 6 days:
9/8-9.55m @73:30
9/9-4m easy
9/10-5.5m easy tight back, hard to get going
9/11-5.5m tight back again, 1.5 tempo in the middle @9:55
9/12-4m easy
today-5m w/1m @6:05 and 4x 400 @ 78sec,80s,80s,85s

i have never run this kind of schedule before so this will be new territory for me. any thoughts and ideas are appreciated.

Looks good. If your tempo pace is around 6:35 right now 40 mins shouldn't be too hard for a 10k in 6 weeks. Only thing I could suggest is progressing your interval days by increasing the distance run and not trying to do them faster when you get more fit, just lengthen the reps. Seem like you have some solid knowledge already. Good Luck.

This looks good. I am going to second Everytime's suggestion of bumping up the length of your tempos, especially if your goal is to run longer races. If you are trying to run a 1:30 half, you should be focusing on getting your tempo up above 1.5. I would suggest working your way up to 5 miles (a little more each week, obv.) at the very least. A 1.5 mi tempo is a good starting point, but the longer you can go at your tempo pace, the easier the longer races will be. There is a school of thought that says to prepare for running fast at longer distances, you need to run faster for longer. Seems obvious, but a lot of half/ full marathon plans revolve around LSD (long slow distance). LSD doesn't teach you to run fast for long distances, it teaches you to run slow for long distances.

I've seen some training plans that advocate doing your long run a bit less frequently (once every two weeks, even) but do them at 95 % of your marathon effort.

I'm more of a mid-distance guy myself, but I would like to run a marathon someday so I've been reading more about training for them.

Oh! and good luck with your training. You seem to have a really good base going. Keep up the good work.

yea, i know i need to be more consistent with the tempos. the one this week was cut short on purpose because of the race saturday. i have had several at 2 miles with the times rangeing from 13:13 to 12:38. i looked back at my log and i had a 4 miler at 26:10 on 4/15. speed is okay now but staying power is very inconsistent.

thanks for the feedback...keep it coming

You seem like more of a speed oriented runner. Running long continuous tempo runs isn't the only way. Splitting up a tempo with a short jog rest is one way to do that. Something like 3x1 mile @ tempo pace with 2 mins. jogging recovery instead of a 3 mile tempo. Or if you want to try something a bit different while still getting a threshold effort, something like 200meters @ 5k pace down to mile pace with 400m "steady." Steady pace will be just enough slower than your tempo pace, but not a full recovery. The steady part takes some focus and concentration and the fast 200m shouldn't be too hard. You might find that your times match up fairly close with a continuous tempo run.

Your mileage and recovery days should work themselves out. Just focus on being ready for and progressing your workouts gradually as you move forward. Also 5k in 2 days, good luck.

well, i got the first race and first goal out of the way this a.m. previous pr for this race was 19:43 and i got that down to 19:26, but my splits were all over the map.

1 mile @6:10
2 mile @12:14
5k @ 19:26:6

when i saw that second mile time i kind of thought i was going to be in trouble, but there were three of us together, and i didn't want to lose touch with the other two. it wasn't to much further though, before those two got a little bit away from me. apparently we were all running on fumes as i managed to pass the one young kid at about the 3 mile mark and finished about 10 yards behind the other guy. i knew i was sucking wind but didn't realize i/we had slowed down that much.

overall i am pleased with the effort, and i feel good, but definately need to work on evening out those splits.

try for a long run tomorrow...maybe 8 or 9 miles if i'm up to it.

Not a bad race at all. Congrats on the PR.

Part of running even splits is just practicing, and there's no better practice for racing than actually racing. I am a firm believer that you need to race yourself into optimal racing shape, even if it is a bunch of dinky road races. I wouldn't worry about uneven splits in this race and turn your attention back on your training and preparing for the next one. Tempo runs are a pretty solid way to train yourself for pacing if you aren't racing that often.

thanks for the feedback.

plan on using the race on sunday to really focus on pacing. the race is in my neighborhood so i will know the course well, which will help. i guess i will stick with my current schedule and go for a tempo effort on weds. and some sort of interval on friday.

i was looking at the calendar and trying to see if i have enough time to get in a decent amount of long runs before the half marathon. it looks like with all of the races, i may only get 5 or 6 long runs. i really wanted to get the race distance at least 2 times before the actual event.

workouts:
9/16 - 7.66 mi @ 60:00 tight to start, really didn't feel like being out there
9/17 - 5.5 mi easy with 2x 150 yds striders after, quads were tight on the strides

SF Giants half marathon.

I watched this race on Sunday. Half the runners were listening to music while running this race. Of those who finished under 85 minutes, not one was listening to music. Serious runners don't listen to music while racing.
If your goal is 90 minutes for the half, you need tempo runs at about 6:45/mile(6.52/mile is 90 minutes). You need your body to be able to run this speed while sleeping. You don't need speed work at a faster pace. If you have trained at 6.45, you will be able to run that pace comfortably. If you have never trained at 6.45, your body wont know what 6.45 feels like.
Find a woman running at your desired pace. Use her as your pacer. Many men running at that pace early are just running too fast. Women at that pace are more likely to be a trained runner running at the correct pace.

cool and breezy around here the last two mornings. love the temp, hate the wind.

9/18 - 4.5 miles easy jog
9/19 - 6.5 miles total...1.5m warm-up, 2 miles tempo @6:38 and 6:12, 3 miles easy. not very even splits, but was dead into a pretty stiff wind the last half mile, and i was pushing hard.

legs and back felt alot better the last two days.

9/20 - 5.5 miles easy
9/21 - 6.5+ miles...3.5 miles, walk 3 minutes, 1 mile @ 5:54, jog 1/2 mile, 4x 400 @ 78 seconds, 79s, 79s, 78s, short jogs between each, and 1/2 mile or so cool down.

good workout considering i wasn't into it at all starting out. it was sort of cool and drizzly and raw. i didn't feel real smooth or fluid on the the faster parts, almost like i am jamming my feet to hard into the ground. seems like i may be wasting some energy there.

got on my bike to go over and register for the race this morning, and as i suspected it didn't seem very well attended or organized. i was wary as to whether or not they were even going to have a race, as the organizers had failed to update their website as promised. i rode my bike around the route, and it was about as poorly planned as possible. the website had also stated that the start/finish was to be at the football field/track, but the gates were locked and they had set up a makeshift track with cones around a very uneven lumpy grassy field. since it was frosty and wet this morning i decided that i didn't need to chance it. (originally hurt my meniscus stepping in a hole while ruuing on the grass) live to fight another day.

9/22 - 3.5 miles easy

9/23 - 10 miles 73: 05 felt real good

Disappointing, but probably a good call. No point in pushing yourself if the situation is dangerous.

9/24 - 4.5 miles easy...a little sore from the 10 miler, tender bottom of right foot

9/25 - 6.5+ with 3.5 miles easy/warm-up, tempo of 3 miles @ 6:52, 6:21, 6:53, short jog /walk cool down.

the warm-up part was really slow and the tempo part felt harder then it should have. probably still not fully recovered from the 10 miles on sunday. strange workout.

although the splits are a little more even, i have come to realize that the mile sections must differ more then i thought. the first being both up and down hill with the bias being up. the second being more down, and the third, the most flat but still tilting more uphill in the end. never seemed to be that much difference, but must be. this whole area is somewhat hilly with very few flat sections of any length.