Training update July 4-10, 2011

The first week of specific training for Berlin is done!  I only did 45 miles, but I really needed to decrease the mileage because my right knee is still bothering me a bit.  My joints are simply reacting to 5 very intensive 12-week training blocs in a row, and I need to be extremely careful if I want to stay healthy in the following weeks.  I have 11 more weeks of training that will be followed by several weeks/months of very easy running.  I also decided that I will only run one marathon all-out in 2012.

In the meantime, training for Berlin is going as expected.  I feel strong physically and mentally despite the horrendous conditions that prevail in New Orleans.  My training last week included three quality workouts and three easy runs.  I ran on a treadmill for three days trying to avoid the heat.  The treadmill is boring, but it gave me the opportunity to try a new workout: hill repeats.  I did 8x400 mts hill repeats (9-12% incline) with 400 mts recovery on Monday; 7 easy miles on Tuesday and 16 miles on Wednesday (fast last 3 miles).  Overall, I felt very good about these workouts.  I noticed that my body had more energy during and after the runs because it was not exposed the the heat and humidity.

I drove to Tallahassee, Fl. on Wednesday afternoon and ran 4 easy miles on Thursday morning and 2 miles on the track.  My legs were tired after the 16 miler the day before, but I was able to run the first mile in 5:35. This is the fastest mile I have ever run as far as I remember.  I took Friday off and did a 5 mile race on Saturday morning with my very good friends Juan Carlos and Camilo Ordonez. I mentioned before that I really wanted to run a race in order to evaluate my fitness level and I didn't resist to the idea of running this race. Since I didn't run a mid-week tempo run, I decided to use the 5 miler as a long tempo.  The weather was not good (hot and humid) and the surface was slow (sandy), so i didn't know what to expect.  I ran the 5 miles in 33 mins. 42 seconds that is roughly equivalent to 6:45 min/mile pace. Overall, I am satisfied with this result.  It shows that I am in very good shape, but there is still room for improvement.  I need more speed and more endurance.  There is nothing to worry about, I have plenty of time to get better before I head over to Europe on September 18th.