Feelin' Groovy

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy. ~Simon & Garfunkel

Coming up on the end of Week 4 - and feeling great. 

Had an excellent tempo run this AM in the rain/wind. The effort has been getting easier, which is meaningful in that I can tangibly feel progress. Also, I changed up my tempo run structure after doing some research recently.

Previously, my 35 minute tempo run operated more like a progression run and was constructed like this: 

10 min warm up

20 min tempo of 4 min @ 7:50, 4 min @ 7:30, 4 min @ 7:10, 4 min @ 6:50, 4 min @ 6:30

15 min cool down (extended from 5 min to add mileage)

Through reading various stickied letsrun.com forum posts, I came across interesting (standard?) tempo run analysis that broke tempo runs into 3 categories:

Short: 20 - 30min (4 mmol)

Medium: 40 - 60 min (3 mmol)

Long (endurance): 70 - 80 min (2.5 mmol) 

Here is the best explanation to the mmol threshold concept. 

My mmol calculations, assuming a 6:06 5k pace (~18:58) were:

5k pace divided by .93 = Lactate Threshold (4 mmol) = 6:33/mile

5k pace divided by .90 = 3 mmol (half marathon pace, app.) = 6:47/mile

5k pace divided by .87 = 2.5 mmol (marathon race pace) = 7:01/mile

5k pace divided by .75 = 1 mmol (aerobic maintenance pace) = 8:08/mile

Meaning, my Monday / Wednesday recovery runs should be 1 mmol, Marathon race pace ~2.5 mmol, medium tempo runs 3 mmol, and shorter tempo runs 4 mmol.

The way I read Higdon's tempo run analysis, he doesn't advocate for short/medium tempos at a flat out 4 / 3 mmol effort. Rather, he pushes for a gradual buildup. Taking this advice into account, today my short tempo run was organized:

10 min warm up

20 min tempo of 6:40 min @ 2.5 mmol, 6:40 min @ 3 mmol, 6:40 min @ 4 mmol

15 min cool down (extended from 5 min to add mileage)

As the tempo run duration increases, I plan to increase the intervals accordingly.

There is so much technical information available around training for a time goal marathon. It is a bit overwhelming. I've realized that tweaks here and there to the training plan are just a part of the journey. I don't want to pretend like I know everything about marathon training. Far from it. I'm embracing the education component just as much as the actual training. 

If you have any tempo run thoughts, I welcome any feedback.

-J

Weekend training plan (shifting around timing due to travel schedule):

Friday: 6 miles MP (2.5 mmol)

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: 10 miles (1 mmol)