Tempo, Fartlek, Long Run, week 1 is done

The first week of half marathon training is over. It wasn't too intense, but we definitely worked hard.

Monday


Monday was the tempo run. I did pretty well, running at about 8:06/mile. I recognize that 8:06/mile is a long way off where I would eventually like to be, but I'm happy with it this week. That's the exact pace I ran in the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot in 2014, and that was one of the fastest races I've run (since high school at least).

Wednesday


I did 6 miles of speed work on Wednesday. Honestly, it was pretty easy as far as speedwork goes. I did 5 fartleks of about 1/4 mile each, with about 3/4 mile of easy jogging in between. It was a kind of easy way to get back into speed work. My pace during the fartleks was around 6:15/mile or a bit slower. Not super slow for me. Not bad for the first speed work of this round of training.

In the evening we did strength training. I don't really know what I'm doing here, so I just followed a workout that is intended for cyclists. I figure the running and cycling are pretty close, so it shouldn't be hurting anything. Hopefully it's helping.

Friday


Friday was the long run day. The first long run isn't really very long. Just 8 miles. In high school where the longest race was 3.1 miles, I never ran even close to 8 miles. Our long run was the "slurpee run" where we would run a loop that took us past a 7-11. My friend and I brought some cash and actually bought slurpees on one occasion. Running in the afternoon in September in Las Vegas is one of the most miserable ways to run. The slurpee helped.

Anyway, 8 miles. Doesn't seem as far now, but it seemed really far then. I kept it nice and slow on this run, partially because my legs were tired from the strength training. When you're not used to it, strength training sure kicks you when you're down.

In the evening, we did some yoga for runners to further stretch out our aching legs.

I'm feeling pretty confident with our training. Granted, we've just started, but I am optimistic we can each get a personal best.

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