Boston: Week 4 & Week 5

In the zone...

The last two weeks have been good, solid weeks of training.  Schedules and other things kept me from doing my Wednesday easy runs, but I'm not too concerned about those.  The Tuesday speedwork and Sunday long runs are the most important pieces to the Boston puzzle, as well as a good tempo run on Thursday.  Because I am actually doing speedwork this time (as opposed to none for NYC) and have started it on time (as opposed to 4 weeks in for San Diego) I can already feel the cardio/VO part of the equation coming into line.  My resting heart rate has dropped to just about 60 - sometimes lower - and my heart rate during easy pace runs is generally in the low to mid-140's.  Perfect.

Sunday the 23rd was my first double-digit long run of the grid, and then I followed it up this week with a "step-back" week.  Every thing gets dialed back twice during each grid - Weeks 5 and 11.  I plan on throwing in a 4-mile race at the end of February, and then doing one of my favorites - the Runnin' of the Green 7k - on Sunday, March 13.  That meant the grid got a slight adjustment from what you can see online.  There won't be a 22-mile run for Week 13.  Week 12 will be 18 miles and Week 13 will be my 20-miler.  One thing I did learn from San Diego was that having a race or two during the training was good for confidence and getting the race juices flowing.

Yesterday, I threw a 300-foot vertical climb over 2 miles into my long run.  Hills are going to be just as important and speedwork and tempo runs, and I'll keep incorporating hills into my long runs. 

I don't plan to survive Heartbreak Hill in Boston.  I want to have it for lunch...