FIRST FARTLEK IN FIVE YEARS (PLUS OTHER SPEEDWORK)

Time for some updates on what has been happening since my relatively successful race on the Fourth of July. Marathon training is ticking along pretty well! I did end up skipping my long run last weekend. I had planned for a down week (11 miles) because of going to the Umpqua River to camp for a mini-vacation. While there, I just could not bring myself to run. Eff that. So, I ran six miles Sunday night when I got home and called it good. I'll hit 18 this weekend as planned and we'll be back on track.

6 x 800m Intervals on 7/11
I did this workout exactly one week after the Independence Day Half Marathon as my speed workout for the week. Unlike my 400s, I wasn't quite as fast as back in the day, but I was pretty close, only a couple seconds off each interval.

They went as follows: 3:23.1, 3:24.7, 3:24.1, 3:27.2, 3:25.9, 3:25.1. That's an average between 6:46/mi and 6:54/mi. I used to do these between 6:30 and 6:45. So not quite as quick, but in the ballpark. I definitely gave these my all given I had to do 6 of them and pace myself appropriately, so all told it was a pretty good workout.

6mi Tempo Run on 7/18
The next week I decided to do a tempo run. I think I'll be alternating between tempo runs and an interval type workout each week. This tempo run went off pretty well. I did my "home loop," which makes for a difficult tempo course because of over 400 feet of elevation gain over the course of six miles. Now, you get some downhills too, but those are typically after you've hoofed it uphill and thus can't take full advantage.

Anyways, I averaged 7:45/mile, which was pretty good! It was a really difficult workout and I definitely wasn't slacking on the pace. I think on a flat course that is equivalent to about 7:30 or so, which is a pretty decent speed and about where I would expect to be given my recent half time. As long as I keep running tempos on the course they will be apples to apples comparisons. Hopefully by the end of the cycle maybe I can do one at 7:30 despite the hills?

5.5mi Fartlek Run 7/24
Turns out this was my first fartlek since February of 2014. 2014! Crazy. I really didn't plan on doing this until a few hours before the run. I knew I needed to do some sort of speedwork but I couldn't decide what. For whatever reason a fartlek sounded "fun" so that's what I did. Gotta mix the speedwork up! So off I went for a slightly abridged version of my home loop.

So, it turns out fartleks, when done properly, are really hard! Holy hell! This thing was as hard as my famous pyramid interval. The "intervals" were anywhere from 150m to 1400m. It ended up being a really good variety of shorter and long intervals. At one point I did 320m at 5:30ish pace. I tried to time it so most of my "rests" were the uphill portions. That seemed to work pretty well but it also meant my rests weren't as restful as they could have been. Definitely wore out a little toward the end.

Overall I think this was the most difficult speed workout I've had in years. I was breathing hard for over five minutes after the run was over. I could not have gone any longer, I really gave it my all. Once I came back to reality though I felt pretty good. That is the kind of workout that results in measurable gains. Overall I averaged 7:57/mi, and that includes the rest periods!

My paces during the farlek run a few night ago.