Four Long Runs (Alternating Outside and Treadmill)

THREE weeks ago, I had this long run on the treadmill where I did my "go to" long run workout: 2.5 mile warm-up, then 6 miles a bit harder starting at 8.9 mph and speeding up 0.1 mph every 1/2 mile so that my last 1/2 mile is up to 10.0 mph, then cooling down until around 11 miles or so. That had me getting in 11.2 miles with my total run averaging 6:53/mile pace, and my middle 6 "harder" miles averaging 6:20/mile pace. Nothing fancy, but a good start to treadmill season.

TWO weeks ago, I was outside and didn't feel amazing. I went a bit longer (11.72 miles), but my harder miles weren't all that great. In that run, my total run averaged 6:58/mile pace, and my middle 6 "harder" miles averaged 6:26/mile pace. That's definitely on the slower side for my fast miles. No biggie though.

ONE week ago, I was back on the treadmill: we had some packed snow and my knees don't appreciate the slipping. I felt like I was ready to try something a bit harder, so I did my "normal" treadmill long run, only I started 0.1 mph faster. And then with a mile left, I skipped past 10.0 mph and went straight from 9.9 mph to 10.1 mph. That took my "fast" miles from 38:04 two weeks prior down to 37:41 last week (basically swapping out my first 1/2 mile which would have been 3:22 at 8.9 mph with an extra faster 1/2 mile at the end that was under 3:00, which makes that difference of 0:23). On THIS treadmill run, my 11.2 miles averaged 6:52/mile pace, and my middle 6 "harder" miles averaged 6:17/mile pace.

TODAY I got back outside! We had some mid-30 temps this weekend that helped clear up the trails from some recent snowfalls. And I felt good right away on this run! I didn't have a ton of time, so I thought about just going 10 miles, but I was able to eke out 11.14 miles. My total run averaged 6:45/mile pace, and my middle 6 "harder" miles averaged 6:14/mile pace. I didn't have a better long run all summer! I had 2 runs that got CLOSE to today's run, but weren't quite as fast. I had to look back to 2 of my best long runs ever back in late March and early April of this year to find any splits faster.

Fast on the MPLS side of the river, as usual.


My "at pace" mile spilts - nicely descending!

I could have just gotten lucky with my run today (which totally happens), but if it WASN'T luck and was based on TRAINING, I don't want anyone thinking it's JUST because of the treadmill work. When I spend the winter on the treadmill as I did these last 2 winters, I tend to come out of the basement with nice endurance but no speed in the spring. But what I think could be happening is that my body is reacting to the DIFFERENT runs: mixing it up with the outdoor long runs and treadmill long runs. It's the alternating aspect that I think is helping me. There's a chance my body responds well to that, so I'll try to keep mixing it up all winter when the weather allows (meaning when the running surface allows).