And They're Off!

Tough one today, but a good one. Unfortunately, I'm having to split the running before and after my workout. Now that I'm finished, the sun is shining and it's about 50 degrees outside. I can't take advantage of it though.

I warmed up on the treadmill with 1.25 miles at 9:40 pace. After the strength workout (lower body), I finished up with 3.5 more miles including 5x400 repeats. Each repeat was done at about 8:20 pace with a kick at the end. The final one was at 7:47 pace with a 7:00 kick at the end. 400 rest intervals between repeats. My heartrate rose to about 172 for the final repeat, but I never completely "rested" during the rest intervals, keeping instead to a slow jog.

Today's strength routine (as far as I remember):

Bar squats: 4 x 45, 55, 55
Deadlifts (bar): 4 x 55
Split squats (db): 4 x 10(each leg) SS recumbant bike level 10, 100rpm x 1:30
Single leg deadlifts (db): 4 x 5(each leg)
Core: alternating v-ups 4 x 20

I am thinking about signing up for the Kentucky Derby Marathon on April 26th. Reviews on Marathon Guide were not very kind to the KDM, but I'd like to do a small marathon and the emphasis on this one is definately on the half. The comments that concerned me were the ones where people went the wrong way and had to backtrack. I'm looking for another PR and going extra distance would not help at all. Probably this is the type of thing that advance knowledge will be beneficial. I really don't care too much about crowd support at this time, because my focus is so much improved. Besides, I ran Cleveland and there wasn't much crowd support there either. Also, Cleveland was a race where the half marathoners (the leaders, in fact) were directed the wrong way. So the two are probably pretty similar.

I'll be using the Pfitz 18/55 so I better get cracking on the rest of the book! It's not quite as readable as Hal Higdon's Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide.