Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Running Hunger

I finished 15 today.  I feasted on mileage.

I am definitely catching the fever of running and dreaming the big goals of sub-5 miles and sub-3 marathons.  I really want to hammer down a good regimen and stick with it throughout the next 6-8 weeks.

50-70 miles
After my recovery week from ES20 (42+) I am determined to get 50 miles again and build upon it until Sugarloaf week.  If I plan it right I should be able to get around 70 miles on my 20-mile long run week.  It's going to take some extraordinary discipline so I need to fight procrastination more than ever.

Speed Workouts
I was amazed at my Hyannis and ES20 times knowing I haven't done a single speed workout since last fall.  I can't get away with that though.  My big goals are not going to happen by just building mileage so I somehow need to fit in a midweek speed workout.  I am thinking of using the Back Cove for this and on a Wednesday lunch hour but it's actually applying it that will be the trick.  If needed I may try the workout in the mornings, but I'm not confident of having good workout speed at 6AM.

Races to Sugarloaf
Unity Spring 5K - April 21 - Unity College, Unity, Maine - I love running this and it's very easy to PR if I run the initial downhill right.  My two finishes - 20:52 in 2008 and 18:52 in 2010 - were personal 5K bests at that point.  I'd love to smash the 18:30 barrier on this course.

Orrington 10K - May 5 - Center Drive School, Orrington, Maine - This one is a nice test to see how my fast twitch muscles are coming along.  I have generally posted sub-41 races here but I want to smash the 40-minute mark (I love smashing things) which would give me a nice PR to try and beat at B2B in August.

Ragnar Cape Cod Relay - May 11-12 - Not as much of a road race as it is a fun run relay.  Of course the real fun is that I am running almost 25 miles over 3 legs.  Why?  Because I can.  At least there will be plenty of time to rest (~8 hours) in between legs.  Two 9s and a 10K should get me primed for the next week.

Early Sugarloaf Goals
2:15/:45 - This would be ideal if I can pull these times off.  2:15 through the first 20 would get me a PR for that distance and 45 minutes in the final 10K would also be the fastest time for my final 10K of a Marathon.  If I stick to my workouts/mileage and stay healthy there's no reason why I can't meet these goals.