Running intervals can pay off really quickly. I thought I’d never break 50min for a 10k, but after I added intervals to my training once a week for 1-2 months, I managed.

I ran an evening marathon on Saturday. During the day I had to run various errands, then I hopped on a bus, a train, another train and another bus to get to the start. I was pretty drenched already by the time I got there. Still, I felt pumped for the run and started out overoptimistically. I ran the first three quarters at my half marathon pace, only to finish slooowly with heavily positive splits, though I still beat my previous best time by six minutes. I reached the finish about 20 minutes before sunset, then cheered on other finishers for a half hour until it was time to catch the train for the trek back home. A day well spent!

You likely signed up when it was sdf.lonestar.org but I think SDF has had the sdf.org domain for 15+ years at this point, and the freeshell.org domain has been around for over twenty.

https://github.com/alex-hhh/ActivityLog2

A few features I really like in ActivityLog2 are the ability to chart aerobic efficiency over time, to do my own critical power/velocity analysis, and also just plot weekly volume (by time or distance). That way I have a multifaceted view of what’s going on rather than just whatever Garmin finds worthy of highlighting.

I’m training for a marathon the weekend after next. I’m excited for it. It’s an evening event, and since the sun doesn’t set till almost 11pm it should be really nice. I signed up for it on a whim last week after my long runs went super well and I felt good about my running, also after going for a few “barefoot” runs (wearing sandals), which is new for me. I ran a half marathon in my racing flats not long ago, but I think for this marathon I will stick to my regular distance running shoes.

It feels a bit weird not to be on a proper training schedule but I think my instincts are guiding me well at this point (and my endurance is still pretty high from an ultra two months ago).