A lot is happening over the next couple months. Next weekend is the 5/3 Riverbank Run 25k in Grand Rapids. Followed up a month later with the Reed's Lake 10k. Then I roll into fall marathon training mode. I am not the type to just shotgun a race or do things willy nilly. So I need to plan for everything to have the confidence to race to my abilities at the time. So below are the current plans:
5/3 Riverbank Run (25k) - Coming off of the Knoxville Marathon a month ago, I jumped right back into running within a week. Over the next 3 weeks I built my mileage back up to the low 40s. This was not the best move, since recovery from the marathon has taken way longer than it should of. This past week I have finally felt like I have gotten some of my speed back and the legs are feeling fresh. Cutting it close really. My original goal a few months back was to finally break 2 hours at this distance. Which requires a 7:44/m average pace over 15.5 miles. I am not really sure if I can pull that off. I ran a test run at that pace on Wednesday and hit that pace for 4 miles without too much difficulty, but for another 11 miles is questionable. So my plan is to start off at a 8:00/m for the first couple of miles and see how it feels. If I feel up to it, I will speed up to race pace and hope I have something left in the tank for the last couple of miles to drop the hammer and make up for the first couple of miles above race pace. Or if it is not going to be that day, hold 8:00/m for a sub-2:05 finish and a big PR still. PR at this distance: 2:22:08
Reed's Lake 10k - Held on June 7th in East Grand Rapids. A hilly and difficult 10k course by West Michigan standards. I ran it last year in 48:35 (PR). This is my fall marathon training pace setter race. Last year I used the advance Hanson plan from their new marathon book. The 10k predicted I could run a 3:45 marathon. I ran a 3:44:20. What I would like to run in the fall is a 3:25 marathon. That would require a sub-45:00 10k at the least and a lot of hard training. So my goal for this 10k will be that. But I will for sure need to train for this race. Which is bit of a problem, I have never trained for a 10k before and considering a reverse taper from the 25k, I will have 3 weeks to train. Should be an interesting race, a 7:15/m pace is fast for me.
Grand Rapids Marathon training - Like I mention above, I used the Hanson method with great success last year and plan to use it again this summer for this race. My goal at this point is 3:25, but that will hinge on how I do at the 10k. I have been running the training paces already for most the type of runs and it seems doable. But this will require a lot effort, focus, and sacrifice on my part. Big one will be dropping 20 lbs, so that might involve so strict dieting. But it all depends on how bad I want this goal. Which I do, because it is part of a bigger plan to BQ and run Boston.
Oh and along the way I will be reviewing a couple of products: Energybits and Nerve Optic sunglasses. Stay tuned!
