Rebel Without A Cause

Marathon Plan - Regressive Countdown - Week Twelve
08/16/10 - 08/22/10 - Week Total: measly 16.4 miles

Yes, it's possible. It's possible that a Type A runner like me, who strictly follows the running plan to the fine print, decides to be a rebel.

Though my marathon plan calls for interval workouts, I wanted to do this week shorter than specified. Those that are not part of my marathon plan. So, last Sunday I went and did 8x400, 4x100 and fartlek.... No pressure, just go and run until I want, until I am exhausted. According to Lydiard, the fibers activated in very high effort events - sprinting uphills, short fast runs - are hard to recruit. Because of this interval high effort, I was a little bit sore during the first days of the week, and decided not to run on Tuesday. I went, instead, for a simple workout of 3 miles. Power walking, trekking, and jogging uphill. No rules. Whatever I wanted to do. Incline, + speed, - speed. Anything was valid.

Then, there was the question of the week. What race for the weekend? There weren't (again) long races in the area, so I decided to go for B2B 10K races and not to run for the rest of the week. My plan was to run the race on Sat as a tempo run and on Sun as a recovery run. 

Recovery run my butt. I ran faster on Sun with much less effort (both courses were 100% flat). Analysis was required. Self-explanatory table of this running geek is attached.

Rational: I went too hard on the first mile on Sat, and spent my energy at the beginning of the race. Also, the "partly sunny" got me hotter on Sat, though the temp on Sun was higher - the rain kept me cool. In both cases I love the transition from mile 5 to mile 6. Yes, that's me. I always leave gas in my tank for a strong finish.

In summary my week went just like this: I scratched the plan. I ran like a kid. I ran like a dog. I played with the tasks. I didn't run much. I raced as I pleased. I was a rebel. A Rebel Without A Cause.

B2B 8/21/10 & 8/22/10

Snoqualmie Railroad Days

With good friend Dhruv

In line for pancakes with strawberry!!!

Excellent weekend!!!!