Michael's Blog

Week 4 in Review….

michaelconlon — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:16:43 +0000

The increase in miles continues…..

Mon- 11 miles EASY

Tues- 12 miles Total- 3 mile warm up, 6 miles at Tempo pace (38:35 for 6 mile loop in CP- 6:22 pace/mile), 3 mile cool down

Wed- 12 miles EASY

Thurs- 12 miles total- 4 mile warm up, 5 miles at Marathon pace (33:55 for 5 mile upper loop in CP- 6:46 pace/mile)

Fri- OFF (travel to DC)

Sat- 22 miles EASY in DC (National Half Marathon plus…..)

Sun- 6 miles EASY

75 miles TOTAL for the week……..

Until next week,

Michael

Week 6 in Review…

michaelconlon — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:49:06 +0000

Miles, miles and more miles, it’s the best and only way to describe this week’s training. This was a “recovery” week, well, sort of. We took ALL the intensity out of the schedule and focused solely on duration. This was a week of counting miles. Basically, we took last weeks TOTAL mileage and added 10% to determine how much we were running this week. Simple as that….. All runs were scheduled as EASY, and I personally, took full advantage. I hope everyone else did as well. � The reason, to give our body a break and to prepare for what lies ahead over the next 2-3 weeks (which are not going to be easy)……

Here’s what I did…..

Mon- 10 miles

Tues- 14 miles

Wed- 10 miles

Thurs- 12 miles

Fri- 7 miles

Sat- 2 hours (15 miles)

Total miles: 68 miles (the MOST thus far)…

I’m ready for what lies ahead… bring it!!!

Michael

Week 7 in Review…….

michaelconlon — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:36:57 +0000

Coming off tough week and heading right into another one. Here we go….

Mon- 8 miles EASY

Tues- LAST interval workout: 10 miles- 2 mile warm up, 10 x 1/2 mile with 2′ recovery. Course: E 72nd to E 81st. Avg: uphill: 2:55, downhill: 2:43. 2 mile col down…..

Wed- 10 miles EASY

Thurs- Tempo run: 10 miles- 3 miles warm, 3 x northern loop (1.42 miles) at tempo pace. Loop 1: 9:14- 6:30 pace, Loop 2: 9:09- 6:26 pace, Loop 3: 9:04- 6:23 pace). 2 mile cool down.

Fri- 6 miles EASY

Sat- 18 miles- 26.2 K at MP….. (16.4 miles). Course: 4 x 4 mile loop (start- E 82nd heading south, finish at E 90th heading north). Loop 1: 28′, Loop 2: 27:20, Loop 3: 27:15, Loop 4: 26:50)…

Sun- Off

Total Miles: 62 miles…..

Week 8 in review…..

michaelconlon — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:20:24 +0000

Back from skiing, time to get back to training…. With 8 weeks to go there is no slacking off now. Jumping right back in with two feet, no excuses…..

Mon- 10 miles EASY (making up for lost time)

Tues- Intervals: 11 miles- 2 mile warm up, 5 x 1200 intervals with 4′ recovery. Course was from W 72nd to W 84th St. Avg: uphill: 4:30, downhill: 4:15. 2 mile cool down.

Wed- 8 miles EASY

Thurs- Tempo run: 10 miles- 2 mile warm up. 3 x lower loop (Loop 1: 6:51 pace. Loop 2: 6:25 pace. Loop 3: 6:19 pace). 3 mile cool down.

Fri- OFF

Sat- 22 miles in Prospect Park
Loops 1 and 2: EASY
Loops 3: MP (6:51)
Loops 4 and 5: EASY
Loops 6: MP (6:52)
2 miles EASY

Sun- OFF

Total miles: 61 miles

Until next week,

Michael

Week 9 in review…

michaelconlon — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:08:57 +0000

Well, I was away in Taos, NM skiing with Wendy and my two nieces. Due to travel and 6 consecutive days of skiing there was NO running this week. Will this hurt me? Have you ever skied a full day before? If yes, then you know that skiing is hard work and a great form of cardiovascular exercise. I actually think the “break” from running will do me good in the long run, both physically and mentally. Regardless, I wouldn’t trade this week with anything. We did do one day of P90X Plyometrics and one day of Core 9I thought my nieces were going to make up crippled the day after Plyometrics because they complained throughout the entire workout, haha…

Will get back to running next week,

Michael

Week 10 in Review….

michaelconlon — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:46:55 +0000

This is going to be brief because I am on vacation in Taos, NM skiing and I really can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning let alone what I did or how I felt last week,

Here is what I did:

Mon- Ran 5 miles Easy with Miles

Tues- 2 mile warm up, 4 x 1 mile at interval pace with 5′ active recovery. Workout was done on lower loop.

1st mile: 5:40
2nd mile: 5:40 �
3rd mile: 5:46 �
4th mile: 5:49 �
2 mile cool down

Wed- 8 miles EASY

Thurs- 1 mile easy, 4 miles at TEMPO pace (6:22 avg) and 5 miles EASY- total 10 miles.

Fri- OFF (Infected blister. Could not walk let alone run,

Sat- Travel to Taos, NM….

Sun- Ski

Looks like I will not be running next week. Really no opportunity to run here in taos, but I am not really concerned since we will be skiing every day. Good recovery week, sort of.

Until next week.

Michael

Week 11 in Review…

michaelconlon — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:25:34 +0000

Good week of training capped off my our longest run mostly done at MP. This was supposed to be our first week of running 6x/week but my left calf was sore so I decided to skip Monday to be safe and ready to do intervals on Tuesday.

Here’s what we did:

Mon- P90X Legs and Back

Tues- 2 mile warm up, 5 x 1K at interval pace (98% of max HR) with 3′ active recovery. Avg pace: 3:44. 2 mile cool down. Course started at W 102, across transverse in CP to E 96th St (1K mark). Weather was a factor. Snow, lot’s of it!!! Pace was slower but effort was there. P90X Chest, shoulders and triceps.

Wed- 8 miles EASY, 8 strides

Thurs- OFF (day trip to NP)

Fri- 10 miles EASY

Sat- 4 miles EASY at TNT practice

Sun- Bronx Half Marathon. Goal? 1:30… Run 10 miles at MP (6:52- 6:42-7:02), last three miles of race AT or slightly faster than MP (sub 6:52).

Bronx Half Marathon- 1:30:02 (6:52 pace)….. 2 mile warm up and cool down (17 miles TOTAL) .. 1: 6:57
2: 6:56
3: 6:45
4: 7:02
5: 7:00
6: 6:56
7: 6:50
8: 6:46
9: 6:55
10: 6:45
11: 6:36
12: 6:41
13.1: 7:35

That’s it. Weekly Total- 49 miles

Until next week,

Michael

Week 12 in Review…..

michaelconlon — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:43:11 +0000

Recovery week, how sweet it was…… Hopefully you all took full advantage of this week because, to be honest, you won’t get another easy week like this for quite some time. If you decided you didn’t need it, my only advice to you, good luck with February and March, haha….

Not much to report for last week, with exception of Saturday’s 20 miler. Here is what I did:

Mon- P90X Yoga

Tues- 6.5 miles EASY

Wed- OFF (weather, rain, cold, tired, work, etc…). Lot’s of excuses I know but it’s a recovery week and I took full advantage,

Thursday- 8 wiles EASY with 8 STRIDES….

Fri- OFF. Fell asleep before 8pm on Fri night, LAME I know…. �

Sat- 20 miles as follows (could have been my most favorite 20 miler ever!!!!)
3 mile warm up (lower loop)
4 x 4 mile loop as follows:
Starting at East 72nd

Loop 1 (CCW): Tempo mile was 6:19 (E 72nd to E 90th), remaining 3 miles were done at 7:30 pace.
Loop 2 (CW) Tempo mile was 6:36 pace (W 102 to E 90th), remaining 3 miles were done at 7:34 pace. �
Loop 3 (CCW): Tempo mile was 6:20 pace, remaining 3 miles were done at 7:22 pace. Loop 4 (CW): Tempo miles was 6:20 pace and remaining 3 miles were done at 7:33 pace.

1 mile cool down

I was more than pleased with the overall pacing of this workout. In my opinion, the tempo mile from W 102- E 90th was the hardest to to the gradual uphill. Key to this workout was being consistent, and we nailed it both on tempo pace and easy…

Sun- 5 miles EASY with Miles…

That’s it. Until next week.

Michael

February schedule…

michaelconlon — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:17:22 +0000

February is here, which means a new schedule, new workouts and the start of phase three of our training (Intervals). It also means we are one month closer to marathon day. We have 11 weeks to go until the Boston marathon, just in case anyone was counting,

http://www.finishlinept.com/2009_Boston_Marathon_3.xls

At this time EVERYONE should add a 5th day of running to their schedule (this day being Wed). If you want, you can use the month of February to alternate weeks (one week you can run 4x with Wed strength training workout, the following week 5x with or without strength training workout if your “life” schedule allows for a double day…..If not, you should make running your priority at least every other week.

For those, and ONLY those trying to break the coveted 3 hour mark, I have added an optional 6th day (Monday) for your running pleasure. The run is short so I still advice completing the Monday strength session as well. If 6 days does not agree with you and your body than please stick with the 5 day plan. OK? This is an individual decision…. If you want you can try alternating weeks like I suggested above for those debating 4 or 5x/week.

INTERVALS? Didn’t I say we were done with those? Yes, and no… I said we were done with our Repetition phase, intervals are different.

Definition of Intervals (as per Jack Daniel’s):

Intervals: approximately 98% of our MAX HR, or, for most of us, 5K pace……. These are slighter less intense than the workouts we recently completed (repetitions). What is the main difference? The RECOVERY is now shorter. The recovery is ACTUALLY LESS THAN the time spent running……

For example, this week we are doing 1000 meter intervals…..As per my VDOT, my interval time will be 3:44, so my recovery time will be 3′. For those that complete these intervals in approximately 4:30 minutes or longer, your recovery time will be 4′, get the picture….

NOTE: over the next few weeks we will be doing 1 mile intervals (or 5′ max for those who finish significantly over 5′) and 1200’s…. The GENERAL rule of intervals, 5′ is an appropriate time spent running at this intensity to reap benefits in improving your VO2max…. So please follow these guidelines. Pushing the duration only equals over stressing your bodies which potentially leads to injury….

Check your VDOT for your Interval completion times for the following distances:

1000 m

1200 m

1 mile

(if no time appears than you will be using 5′ as your maximum time for that given distance).

That’s it…

Michael

http://www.finishlinept.com/2009_Boston_Marathon_3.xls

VDOT….

michaelconlon — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:30:51 +0000

Has your VDOT changed? After 6 weeks of repetition training and “race” effort number two it is time to see if you have progressed according to Jack Daniels VDOT formula. It is very simple. Click on the following link and enter your time for the Manhattan Half Marathon. I will give you my race data as an example:

Manhattan Half Marathon: 1:26:35
VDOT- #53 (my previous VDOT was #52 so I have made some improvements since the 4 miler we did back on 12/13). New VDOT equals NEW training paces…..

My NEW training paces (the following are the one’s you will need over the next 6 weeks):
Easy- 8:09
MP- 6:56
Tempo (threshold) pace: 6:32
INTERVAL (I will explain intervals when the new schedule comes out in February):
800 meters: 3:00 (just double the 400 time)
1000 (1km): 3:44 (hint: you need this for next week)
1200 m: 4:29

And for “entertainment” purposes, estimated marathon goal: 3:01 (I say for entertainment purposes because we still have 12 weeks of training to go…..).

Enjoying the “recovery” week, look forward to what Feb has to bring…

Michael