7 Mile FIRST Training Run

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Tonight’s run was another experimental workout from the FIRST Training Program. I still have 3 or 4 weeks until I start a 16 Week Marathon Plan building up to the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC, so I’m using the coming weeks to try out some of the workouts from the Run Less, Run Faster book.

I picked Key Run Workout #2 from Week 2 of the plan - a 7 mile run made up of the following:

1 mile easy
5 miles @ PMP (Planned Marathon Pace)
1 mile easy

On paper it looked fairly easy, but in reality it was a tough one. Planned Marathon Pace (PMP) is calculated based on my current 5k race pace as follows”

PMP (Planned Marathon Pace) = 5k pace + 60 sec.                      = 18:00/3.1 + 60 sec.                      = 5:48 + 60 sec.                      = 6:48 min/mile

One of the great advantages of using my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS for training is the ability to program precise workouts (I’ll write about this some time in the near future). It’s actually quite easy to enter the workout into the 305’s memory, click “Do Workout” and all you have to do is follow the Garmin’s instructions. If you go too fast, it beeps to let you know. If your heart rate is too high or too low, it “tells” you to adjust. When it’s time to change from the easy first mile to the faster second, it performs a little countdown beep to let you know. All you have to do is run

The workout went well. I planned on running any speed for a mile, then between 6:45 and 6:50 minute/mile pace for 5 miles, before jogging home for the last mile at any speed again. The first 3 of the faster 5 miles felt fairly easy, but I really had to work the last 2 miles to maintain the speed. This is where the Garmin 305 really helps - I hate being beaten for a gadget! Anyway I was able to finish on pace and jogged home feeling quite good about things.

Looks like the FIRST Training Plan is going to be challenging, but just what I need to bring out the best of myself at Marine Corps. Time now for a celebration beer….