Less than 2 weeks to the Gate River Run US 15km Champs: Last week's training

We are down to less than two weeks to the Gate River Run US 15km Championships in Jacksonville, so it's time to start bringing the volume down a bit. My coach, Dave Smith, and I decided to keep the volume a bit lower following the US XC Championships and focus a bit more on quality workouts. I have a huge base under me from the fall marathon training block, and the winter prep season, so now is a good time to back off the mileage just slightly. After a few weeks of mostly strength-based workouts following the XC Champs, I was looking forward to getting on the track for a 10 x 500 meter workout last Tuesday. While the workouts have been going well, I wasn't sure how I'd feel getting after it at 5km pace and below. I surprised myself. I ended up averaging 78.5 on 40 seconds rest (100 meter jog). The first half of the workout stayed in the 79 low range before gradually moving down and eventually closing the final rep in 75. It was a near perfect day in terms of weather for a workout, so I'm glad my legs were feeling up to taking advantage of it. With very little track work preceding this workout, I am very pleased to have felt as sharp as I did. Combined with all the tempo and long interval sessions, I am confident heading into Gate River and the IAAF World Cross Country Championships at the end of the month.

Unfortunately the Saturday workout did not go as well as I had hoped. After having a solid 10 x mile session the week before, I was looking forward to getting a little more aggressive over 8 x mile. I went to Seattle for the weekend to hang out at the Brooks headquarters and to watch some college track (what a weekend for indoor track by the way!). This meant doing the mile workout in unfamiliar territory at Magneson Park. While the gravel loop at the park was excellent for intervals, it was very windy and packed with people on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I was also feeling a little sluggish for some reason, so this all added up to a fairly sub-par workout. I haven't had a disappointing workout in months, so this is no big deal at all. I took the next couple of days easy, and now I'm feeling back to 100%, ready to nail a couple more workouts before resting for March 14th.

Feel free to check out last week's training below. Thanks again for reading and follow me here on Twitter for more updates.

Week 15	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Monday	11	5 + drills and strides	40 minutes	16
Tuesday	5	10 x 500 meters w/40 seconds rest (100 meter jog), avg. 78.5		16
Wednesday	14	Off	50 minutes	14
Thursday	10+drills and strides	5		15
Friday	10.5	5	40 minutes	15.5
Saturday	Off	8 x 1 mile w/90 seconds rest, avg. 4:52		15
Sunday	16	Off		16.5
TOTAL				108