Training 1/15-1/21

 1/15- Planned rest day.  Excursion to Saona Island.

1/16- 1 mile jog on the treadmill at the resort.  That's about all I can stand to do on that machine.  It counts as a workout but does not affect the streak.  Speed was set to 6.2 but I jacked it up to 8.0 on the last tenth of a mile.  Not a serious effort but enough to prevent loss of fitness.  

Distance=1.0

1/17- Planned rest day.  Trip home

1/18- Unplanned rest day.  The predicted rain held off but I just wasn't feeling up to it, which is understandable after the trip.

1/19- 2.5 miles on South Lakeshore in 22:56 (9:10 pace) with splits of 11:32-11:24.  Very pleased with this one.  The streak remains intact.  I only needed to beat the pace of my last 5K, and I was actually slightly faster than my last 2 miler.  Obviously, the days off and the drinking at the resort didn't do me any good as it relates to my fitness, but I still showed improvement.  

Two important markers:  Even if I slipped to a 10 minute pace for the next 0.6 miles, I'm still below 29 for 5K.  Last week, I only managed a 30:48.  Next weekend, I think I have a realistic chance of a sub-60 10K.   I just missed the sub-2 half marathon pace.  As recently as 1/8, I could barely hold this pace for 1 mile.  If this was 2.6 miles, I am almost 20 % of the way to a sub-2 half.  Long way to go but great strides have been made.

Distance=2.5   

1/20- Trak Shak 5 mile loop in 50:25 (10:05 pace).  I hoped for a sub-50, but all is still well.  On the first attempt at a new distance, the only official goal is to finish.  I went aggressive by skipping the 4 mile so that a 10K will seem do-able.

  Splits were 24:35-25:50. Significant fade but I wouldn't call it brutal.  Pace fell off sharply in Mile 3, but it never got much worse.  Figure, I'd be around 63-flat for 10K but I'm going for it next weekend.  5 miles is 62% longer than a 5K.  By comparison, 12 miles is only 20% longer than 10 miles.  Perhaps, it will be easier to extend the distances when the mileage increases.  Temps were sub-freezing but with sunny skies and relatively light winds, it wasn't too bad out there.  Better than a treadmill run.  

Distance=5.0

1/21- 1.5 miles at Montreat (4.5 laps) in 12:54 (8:36 pace). That's good enough to keep the streak alive but it won't last much longer.  The rate of improvement has definitely slowed.  Fast start then faded early.  Passed 1 mile in 8:30 for a 4 second improvement over my last time trial.  YES!  Coasted the next lap but did finish pretty strong.  

Distance=1.5

-10 miles on the week.  YTD= 32.  That just won't do going forward.  I need a minimum of 20, probably 25 to have a chance to get below 2:00 in the half.