Catching Up Part 1

Another long timeframe between posts, but this one was at least warranted. The last 2 ½ months of training have run the gamut from being excited to being bored and being fresh, and most importantly being tired. Combine all that with the normal trappings of work, summer with the kids home, and the rest of a normal life it has been a grind, but an enjoyable one. However that grind has also kept me from staying on top of things here. Now that I am entering the peak phase over the next few weeks and tapering I will try to give a daily update again.

The workout plan I am using has the classic periodization format, and up until the end of June the work was all still in the base phase with lots of mid distance slower work. I was still a bit complacent during that month as well with the consistency of the work but felt good and established by the end of June for the tougher work ahead. My weeks were mostly in 2:30 to 5 hour total training times with the longest workouts being around an hour on the runs, 2 hours on the bike and 1700 meters in the pool. As the month closed out I was working to the annual Peachtree Road Race on July 4^th to get a gauge on where my run base was.

July started with an easy week leading up to the Peachtree Road Race on Friday July 4^th. This also coincided with the end of week 8 of the plan (the last week of the base period), so I was still taking it easy and not hitting every workout. My normal Peachtree time has always been between an hour to 1:10, partly because I always ran a 10min mile pace, and also because I normally ran with a group of people and our goal was to have a good morning, not necessarily a good time. My goal was a sub 56 minute time and I ended up running a 55 flat time which was an 8:52 pace. For me that was a good time and I was pleasantly surprised with a sub 9 min pace. Here is a view of the race from my watch, with elevation, HR and pace on the grid.