What? I'm Running Too Fast?

After a brief vacation from my blog, I'm back on the scene recording my running adventures. I took some time off to reflect on some needed changes in my running program. For the past few weeks, I've been running way too fast which made me very tired and unwilling to run a few mornings. Now, that might sound like a problem that's easy to solve: just run slower. However, I have sincerely tried to go slow on my runs with little success.

Once I start running, it seems to be very difficult for me to slow down to 8:30 minutes/mile or higher. That's especially true now that I have new 5K, 8 mile, and 10 mile personal records that are in the 7:30 to 8:00 minutes/mile range! All things considered, I know I can run a half-marathon 15 minutes or so better than my 2:00:44 personal record. After consulting with a triathlete and I've decided to start a new half-marathon training plan with a goal pace of 8:05 minutes/mile.

I've created a 10 week training program using the SmartCoach tool at RunnersWorld.com which technically started the week of 7/20/09 although this will be my first full week (it's a 10 week schedule which ends on 9/27/09.) Today's run was an easy 5 mile run at a pace about 1.5 minutes above my half-marathon goal. I had not run below 8:30 minutes/mile in a long time and believe me when I say that it was a struggle to stay at 9:30 minutes/mile. However, it was well worth the hassle because I felt a lot better during my recovery period and Isis was more willing to run at this pace.

And, yes, I plan to run another half-marathon on 9/26/09. By that time, I should be ready to run a 8:00 minutes/mile or faster!

Summary
Last week @WillRunzForFun ran nearly 26 miles in 3:33:06 while averaging 6.4 miles and a 8:23 minute/mile pace per run. That allowed me to burn almost 3300 Kcal again!

Total Time	Avg Time	Max BPM	Avg BPM	Avg BMI	Dist. (miles)	Avg Dist. (miles)
3:33:06	0:53:17	167.3	150.0	24.9	25.7	6.4
Total Kcal Burned	Avg Kcal Burned	Max Pace	Avg Pace	Max Speed (mph)	Avg Speed (mph)	Total Workouts
3266.4	816.6	7:16	8:23	8.3	7.2	4.0

Week 31 Runs

This is the first full week of training for the Calumet City Half Marathon. I feel great already after just running one day of the program:

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
REST	Easy	REST	Speed	Easy	REST	Long
-	5.0	-	5.0	5.0	-	8.0

Tuesday and Friday will be running rest days. And, I'll give Isis a break on Wednesday since she will likely not be interested in running sprints and/or doing speedwork. She will accompany me on the Long Run at the end of the week!


Monthly Goals
I'm at 81 miles this month with just a few days left, so 100 miles probably won't happen. I'll target a hundred for next month!
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