Running in NOLA

This is my second week in New Orleans and I am taking full advantage of the nice weather... People keep telling me that it is going to get very hot and humid in a couple of months so I need to have a solid base to survive those conditions.  I know that it will be difficult to do marathon training in the summer. That means that I have to run a good marathon in the spring and I am already training for it.  I don't know where I am going to run but, wherever my next marathon is, I will run it all out.

I ran two fantastic times in 2010 but I know I can run faster than that.  I trained with a lot of intensity yet I raced with a lot of caution. I respected the weather conditions too much!  I can't control the weather but I can control how I approach training and races.  In 2011, I am approaching training and racing in a different way than in the previous year.  If I want to run a sub-3 hr. marathon I need to run faster every day so that my body and mind get ready for the big day in April or May.  I don't know if I am going to run a marathon under 3 hrs.this year but I am going to try!

To accomplish my goals, I am making four fundamental adjustments to my training in the first and second training blocks. First, I am dropping my easy pace down to 7:50-8 min/mile. That is 30-45 seconds per mile faster than in my previous training cycles. I have had no problems with this adjustment yet.  Indeed, I am feeling very good running at this pace.  Dropping my easy pace will hopefully reflect in better and faster long runs every weekend. Second,  I am going to add one progressive run per week (starting next week) to my schedule.  That means that I will have three and not two quality sessions per week and three easy days every week. The intervals and long run sessions will have very small adjustments.  Third, I am going to run at least one 10k race and a half marathon in the first 8 weeks of this cycle.  I know my chances of running stunning times are very slim but I need to get back in to the flow of racing again.  Fourth, I will do strength training at least 4 days per week. I will ideally do 5 strength sessions per week.

I have done 3 workouts this week... 2 easy runs on M and T (7 and 6.5 miles respectively) and a very encouraging tempo run today (6x5 mins with 1 min rest @ 6:40-7:05 pace)... I felt very strong today. I have not done a tempo run this solid in a very long time...

Cheers from NOLA!