(and on the treadmill at 11pm)
I decided that I’d do a progressive workout, starting @ 6.0 mph (10’00”) and going to 7.4 mph (8’06”?), by 0.1 mph increments per mile. I have the speed to run 6’30” intervals, but I’m still hesitant to push for a sub-9 pace long run.
I started off in fits and starts as my splits were pauses stepping off the treadmill:
- 1.5 miles in 14:55 (6.0 and 6.1 mph – average 9’57”)
- 2.59 miles in 40:03 (6.1-6.3 mph – average 9’43”)
- 11 miles in 1:34:14 (6.4-9.2 mph – average 8’34”) – Ok, so the last two miles the treadmill got to me and I ran a 7’30” mile for mile 14 and ran mile 15 at between 6’36” and 6’48” pace. What I felt in my legs was that I still had a comfortable sub-7 pace after 14 miles.
Why this weird progression?
First… I get bored on the treadmill, and need to break up the workout to hit “milestones”.
More importantly, I thought a progressive pace might help coax that speed out of my long runs again. I did quite a bit of this when I was training for Flying Pig last year and was stuck on the treadmill for my long runs due to working weekends. Between these sessions and the progressive race distances of 5k, 10k, and 10 miles of the Louisville Triple Crown of Running every other weekend 5-8 prior to the Flying Pig Marathon, I found an optimal speed and endurance training regimen.