AZ Run Dad

18 mile long run with John. John writes my schedule and coaches many people here in Phoenix. We had some wonderful geeky running talk for a couple of hours. I'm glad he was there or this would have been extremely boring. We met at Kiwanis Park in Tempe and ran along the canal most of the way. Averaged 7:08 pace so not too exciting today.

8 miles easy around the neighborhood. Big training breakthrough today as my Monday easy run went up to 8 miles from 7.

10 miles with VO2 Max Repetitions: I did my usual warmup with drills and strides then did 4 x 1 mile with three minute jogs. My goal was 5:20. Splits were 5:26, 5:22, 5:21, 5:17. A little slower than goal but I'll take it. On December 3 I did this workout over 20 seconds per mile slower so there's some proof of improvement in the last 6 weeks. It hurt but this workout is supposed to. I wasn't sure if I'd ever run a sub 5:20 mile again so I was happy to see the number on the last one. Cooled down a couple miles to finish.

AM: 8 miles with A couple of loops in the neighborhood and some running in the adjacent neighborhood. 

PM: 5 miles with 6 x soccer field strides

12 hilly miles in Fountain Hills. I met a group at 4:45 and we splintered from there. The route had 1200 + feet of climbing. Good tough run especially since I normally gain 30 ft a day in my neighborhood. I should be able to meet for this route every other week which will be nice.

10.6 Miles with a speed workout: Warmed up about 4.5 miles with some drills and strides then did 8 x 1/4 mile repeats with 1/4 mile jogs in about 2 min. Splits were 77, 74, 75,76, 74,72,76,73. These felt good. It was nice to get some real turnover and feel fast. The long recoveries were nice so I could be good and ready for the next rep and keep good form. Cooled down a couple miles after.