FIRST Run of 2011

The first long run of this 18-week half-marathon training program loomed like a boulder in my path.  It's not the distance - I have run ten 20 milers a year for 5 years while training for marathons.  But in order to hit a 90 minute half-marathon, you are supposed to run Half-marathon pace plus 20 seconds -  a 7:11 pace for 8 miles.   Maybe that will come, but with first week of the program falling between Christmas and New Years, my diet, alcohol intake and sleep schedule have not been optimal.  Laura and I did not go our for New Years, but we were out a  party on Thursday night, and I woke up at 4:30 am on Friday.  We spent the day watching Laura's niece in a high school diving meet held at Purdue University. In order to get to the start of the meet by 9 am (eastern time), we had to leave at 6 am.  At least our niece made it exciting by coming back from a 20 point deficit to take first place by 10 points in her last 2 dives.  But the diet that day of donuts, pizza and Mexican food was not good pre-run fuel.

I let myself sleep in on New Years Day.  It was clear I was going to be running on my own.  The temperature was just below freezing, the streets were dry, but there was a 20+ mph wind.   The 8 mile route by my house is nice and convenient, but it has a few hills.  My other option was to drive to the straight, flat, Old Plank Trail  and run 4 miles west into the wind, and turn  around and run back.  I stuck to the home route.

I did not have delusions of hitting that 7:11 pace, but I had to turn in a faster pace than I usually do on long runs.  I set my Garmin pace alert for a 7:30 pace.  Since I was running by myself, I decided to try the Garmin "Virtual Partner".  It takes your goal pace for a given distance, and  shows 2 figures on your watch - one represents you, and the other your "partner".  It shows the partner either ahead or behind of you, and the difference.  Usuially when I do a long run, I just start my watch as soon as I start.  But I figured if I had to run at this pace,  I wanted to hit that pace from the get-go, so I took a warmup lap around my block, then I started my watch.

My route meanders southwest, and then turns in a general northeast direction.  My face was pretty cold at the start, mainly from the wind.  My first 2 miles were in a 7:20-7:30 range, but the third mile was a climb up a hill into the wind, so it slowed to about 7:40.  This is where my "partner" started to get ahead of me.  It showed the distance as 100, 200, 400 feet, which did not seem insurmountabe, and I gave myself milestones to try to catch up to, or visualized my running buddies or catching up to people in a race. 

I passed the halfway 4 mile mark, and I had a little bit of a downhill, and the wind at my back, so I took advantage of it.  I was coming up to a long gradual uphill, and I was 38 feet ahead  of my partner.  I decided if I I could not let him get ahead of me by the end top of the hill, then the rest of the run, I could keep his pace.  I put my gloves in my pocket, and opened my jacket a little, because the wind would  not be a factor.  As I came to the 5 mile mark at the top of the hill, I was still 28 feet ahead,  Now I knew I could hold the pace for the rest of the run, with hardly any hills, and the wind at my back. Plus, that 5th mile was actually under 7:20, so I was keeping a faster pace.  Same thing for the 6th mile.  I was back near my house, running a big sweeping loop east.  I looked at my watch, and the distance was 0.11.  That had to be wrong, I was still keeping that 7-minute-ish pace,- then the mileage counter kicked in and showed my 7th mile at 6:57.  I looked at the "partner" display - I was still ahead - now I realized that where I had been 300-400 feet, I had increased the gap, and now it was showing my lead in miles.  So I had 1 mile to go, and I was 0.12 miles ahead.  Like my friend Dale likes to say, I could "smell the hay in the barn", so I stepeed it up more.  The final turn before the finish would take me west straight into the wind for a quarter mile.  I was not looking forward to it.  I tried to build my lead, 0.14 - 0.16.  That might be dried up with that wind.  I was running down the street on the next block from my house, but it felt like I was miles away.  The wind made this part of my run feel like I was swimming in an endless pool, just using all my strenth not to have the current push me back.  The wind was chilling my hands, but there was no way I was slowing to put them back on.  I could see my house, but since my route was about 7.85 miles, I knew I had to go paast it to the corner to get 8 miles. I had left a full 1-quart  water bottle on the back of my son's truck on the street.  The wind had blown it off.  I keep charging past it, and lookd at my watch - my lead was still 0.15 miles. The watch beeped when I got to the corner, and wi was ready to turn around and cooldown with teh wind at my back.  I looked at my watch and it said "Success" Average Pace: 7:22.
That was success, running by myself, with a strong wind on a hilly course, I ran my fastest 10-K, and ran another (almost) 2 fast miles after that.  A pretty good start to the New Year.
 

Palos Half PR 2010

Half-Marathon Training:  3 days/week


The FIRST program also has a half-marathon training program based on the principles of cross-training alternating with running with intensity and purpose.  You can read about the programs here:

Description of the First Programs

I created a spreadsheet that takes your 5-K time as an input and creates an 18 week training program based on your Half-marathon time, and intermediate speed distances in between.

Last year, I created half-marathon training programs for a few people, based on the FIRST program.  One of them got his half-marathon time within a few seconds of 90 minutes.  This year a few of us are going to train with him to try to beat 1:30.  (An 90 minute half-marathon will get you guaranteed entry into the NY marathon)  Another good goal time for people in the half-marathon is 1:45.  This will get you into the Preferred Start corral in the Chicago Marathon, which I think sets you up better for a BQ, since youa re not stuck in the back walking up to the start line.  So, I created 2 training plans based on those 2 goal times.

Sample Programs for FIRST: 1 hour 45 and 90 minute Half Marathon Finish

We will try to meet on the weekend (Saturdays) and do the long runs, maybe with pace groups ranging in those times.  For anyone with a goal time in between 1:30 and 1:45, I can create another training plan. We may not all hot those goal times, but I guarantee if we train together, and stay healthy - we will all PR, and have a lot of fun.

Who's In?