SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2007

I am seriously considering the Indianapolis Marathon next Saturday. For me the Chicago Marathon was a hard 18 mile training run followed by walking and running easy for the next 8 miles. Since the race I have had a fine recovery, I think, and am feeling really good.

Here are the details:

Tuesday night I ran the 4.8 mile trail run we always do, in 41 minutes, 8:44 per mile average, a good time for that recovery workout. I was sore but the running was fine. HR average 133, max 153.

Thursday night I ran track. I dialed it back from the usual intensity and ran with Linda Landreth. The total distance was 5.5 miles and the main set for me (reduced in volume for me by Jim as was appropriate) had 2 x 800, 1 x 1000 and 1 x 800. I ran the first two 800s in 4:06 and 4:07, the 1000 in 5:06 and the final 800 in 4:04. This was an easy workout. My HR for the sequence was (av/max) 144/155, 140/157, 150/156, 145/160.

Saturday I ran a great trail run with Lynn, who finally is overcoming her injury and wanted to run longer than she has in several months - since she got injured while running an open mile while attending the Prefontaine meet in Oregon. (Hey, if you are going to get injured running, doesn't this sound like the a great place to do it?) We wound up running 7.6 miles in 77:20, 8:51 per mile average, with 2 x 400 m pickups on uphills toward the end. It felt great and we ran better as the run developed. My heart race was very consistent: 138 average, 152 max on the pick-ups.

Today I got out this afternoon alone and ran streets, 5 miles in 40:36. I decided to run it tempo to see how I was doing. Felt great! Mile 1 (a little downhill and I started with no warm-up) - 8:35, 2 - 8:18, 3 - 8:00, 4 - 7:42, 5 (a little uphill) - 8:11. My HR average was 150 and my max (in mile 4) was 162.

So what do you think of the idea of running Indy for my Boston time? It's close by - no air fare required - and we have relatives there to hang with. I figure if it does not go well I can drop out or dial it back and run again in November, December or January