Week 16 – Training Report

The beautiful weather continues…. for the entire week. Temperatures went up to 70s. A bit too hot to run in the middle of the day…

<--- Nice route around the Rec Center in Brecksville... Start from the RC (marked) then up Brecksville Road (21), turn left on Parkway, then down through the trail, more trail, goes around, ends in 82 and from there run back to RC.

S: 6 mi slow w/Liz, Columbia and back
M: 4 mi around EH
T: 3 mi around EH, then fitness
W: With Dan tempo run at the Bike & Hike trail. We started with an easy 2 mi. for warm up. Then fast 4 miles and then easy 2 miles, total 8. My mile splits: 8:59, 8:48 (warm up). 7:18, 7:30, 7:06, 6:56 (fast part), 7:38, 9:04 (cool down). It was fun.
T: Total 8 miles as follows: 1 at lunch, 5 around RC (see route here), 2 inside RC, followed by fitness.
F: 3 mi at lunch. It was hot and I was feeling really bad in the afternoon, a combination of muscle pain from yesterday’s fitness and the hot run.

S: Aided long run with Vertical Runner group. Started at 6:30am. From Peninsula to Boston and then up on Boston Mills road. I was feeling quite weak until our first aided stop in the entry of the Bike & Hike trail. My mile splits for the first 5 miles: 8:44, 8:16, 8:32, 8:40, 8:37 (that includes several large hills). At the 1st aid station I ate a power bar and felt much-much better, as shown by my mile splits at the B&H trail: 7:46, 8:03, 7:54, 7:46, 7:59.


<--- Vertical Runner aided run. Start from Peninsula (Lock 29) then you can see how we turned right to go to the Bike & Hike trail, then from there connect to Carriage Trail (windy), then to Station Road and back via the Towpath.

Around mile 10 we entered the Carriage Trail. My pace slowed at the trail and fell behind the leading group: 8:17, 8:43, 8:28. After we exited from the trail, we turned right on the Towpath, to the Station Road where we had another aided stop and I had an energy gel. From there, we were only 3 left, ran back in the Towpath, through the Red Lock, Boston and back to Peninsula. My mile splits in the last miles: 8:42, 8:30, 8:34, 8:49, 9:00, 9:08, 8:45, 8:39. These are the times that really matter, when I am tired.

Overall, we covered 20.75 miles in 2:55, average pace 8:28. My goal was to keep the average pace under 8:30 and I achieved it. Considering that this route had hills and trails, I hope in the upcoming marathon to be able to average 8 minute miles for 26 miles. Not easy but I will try it!

Totals for the week: 53 miles, 169 lbs