Running Towards the Rest of the Season

Four triathlons down, two to go plus a half-marathon in November.

For the rest of the season, and the off-season, my training emphasis is going to be the run. Because of that upcoming half-marathon, of course (my first), but also because it is the weak link in my triathlon (and I cannot emphasize that enough). Time to bump up the training from twice-a-week to four times-a-week. This should get me faster for my triathlon runs and get me to the finish line of the half-mary.

Saturday - The Long Run

Moving my long run from Sunday to Saturday to move it up in priority. Last Saturday I started with a long run of seven miles and I'll be bumping that up 1/2 mile each week until I hit two hours-ish, which will get me around Hansen Dam at the very least.

Monday - VFF Training

Thanks to my REI dividend and a well-timed 20% discount (if you want to know how to do triathlons on a budget, just ask me), I am now the proud owner of a pair of Vibram Five Finger Sprints. Way back during my one season on my high school's cross country team, we did most of our training barefoot. It seemed a bit odd at the time but the other guys were doing it so what the heck. No problems were encountered then. After doing a bit of reading on the subject of barefoot running I thought I'd get back into it. Having recently done a bit of forefoot running in my shoes, though, I know I need to take it slow. Very slow. My first shot at it this past Monday made my calves, predictably, very sore from just one mile of running. I even cancelled my planned Wednesday run because of it. It will get better over time. It is interesting to note, though, that my feet came through just fine.

The run on this day is just to build up this aspect of my running. We'll see where that eventually takes me.

Wednesday - Intervals

After giving my calves two days of rest, it's time for intervals. I usually overdo these by turning them practically into sprints but I want to be smarter this time. I'm still doing reading on intervals and haven't picked an exact workout yet but I suspect it will be something along the lines of 4+ miles (out and back) with a couple of intervals each way plus hard charging up the route's biggish hill.

Thursday - Easy Form

A nice and easy run of 5k to 4mi where I focus on improving my form and increasing my cadence as I work my way up to 180 steps/minute.