Training weeks in review: 10 and 11 of 18

Posted on February 17, 2008 by threlkeld

This week’s training theme:

High mileage is only as intimidating as you make it.

This week’s report is a twofer: weeks 10 and 11. It’s two…two…two reports in one. Running 12 times a week takes up a lot of time, plus other life and work commitments have beckoned.

Week 10

week 10 was notable for the fact that over 50% of the mileage was recovery running. And not a moment too soon. I came into the week still feeling somewhat beaten up by the Manhattan Half Marathon, and I needed to be conservative in order to have enough energy to do the Bronx Half as a productive training run.

The right leg pain and various and sundry other complaints went away this week, which was helpful. It was basically another week where I felt like I was constantly running. Because I was. I ran 11 sessions during week 10, including two shorter recovery runs on the same day as the two mid-week long runs. After doing a long run, it’s difficult to do another one — even a very short, very easy one — a few hours later. But I figure those recovery runs are in there for a good reason, so run them I did.

The week was capped by the Bronx Half, which I’ve already reviewed in another post.

A look back at the week:

  • Monday: 5 miles recovery pace (AM), 5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Tuesday: 4 miles recovery pace (AM), 15 mile long run (steady) pace (PM)
  • Wednesday: 6 miles recovery pace (AM)
  • Thursday: 13.2 mile long run (steady) pace (AM), 3 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Friday: 6 miles recovery pace (AM), 5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Saturday: 6.5 miles recovery pace
  • Sunday: 16 miles with 13.1 at marathon pace

Total mileage: 84.8 miles

Paces this week:

  • Long: 7:55 – 9:45
  • Recovery: 10:15 – 11:00
  • Marathon: 7:57

This week’s quote:

“I ran and ran every day, and I acquired a sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.“

–Wilma Rudolph


Week 11

Well, this week was, as my father once remarked upon seeing a very excited bull, an “intimidating” week. The whole enchilada. The big kahuna. Well over 90 miles. 90 miles comprised of two mid-week long runs, lots of recovery running, and my longest training run ever, in Central Park, no less.

In actual fact, this week didn’t feel that hard (but I’ll see how I feel tomorrow before I get too confident about coming through it completely unscathed). It was a lot of easy running and I didn’t go nuts on the long runs since I knew today’s run in the park was going to be a real bastard.

For weather and work scheduling reasons, I did the majority of my runs (including the 13 miler…ugh) inside on the treadmill. But I got out for two recovery runs with Jonathan yesterday and, of course, hit the Central Park loop this morning, bright, early and chipper at 8:15 AM.

The park run, despite its placement at the end of the week, was the centerpiece of this week’s training. As it was my last chance to do a training run in the park, I made the most of it. I ran clockwise (which I’m sure drove a lot of the people running counter-clockwise a little mad; they can blame New York Road Runners for their race course design), covering the full, outer loop four times. I ran with my dorky hydration pack, although I didn’t end up taking much water in the end.

Going four times around the park was less tedious than it sounds. The miles went by quickly, probably because I was actively trying to memorize the course, establishing easily recognizable landmarks to help me during the race (and to come up with a realistic pacing strategy beforehand).

It was a very good run. I only started to feel low a bit past mile 19 and a gel perked me right up. I even ended up running too far: 24.75 miles (target was 24). Average pace for the first 18 miles was 8:40. Last six and a bit were at 8:13. I tried sprinting the last couple of hundred yards to Tavern on the Green (where the marathon ends), although I skipped the raised Ryan Hall monkey arms.

It was a tiring run, but not totally draining, and running faster during the final miles wasn’t that much of a struggle. As far as endurance goes, and the consistency in running later miles faster, I’m feeling very confident in my fitness. I’ll see after a few weeks of speedwork if I can improve on things in the final few weeks of this endeavor.

Some things I learned this morning:

  • The bathrooms at the Boathouse are very fancy schmancy. And they don’t mind if you’re a grubby runner. The Boathouse has what looks like an excellent bar too.
  • Pedestrians are often quite surprised when you won’t stop for them when they step directly into your path.
  • A flock of blackbirds lifting and arcing over your head is a beautiful thing to behold.
  • An Irish wolfhound is big. I mean BIG.

A look back at the week:

  • Monday: 5 miles recovery pace (AM), 6 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Tuesday: 15 mile long run (steady) pace
  • Wednesday: 6 miles recovery pace (AM), 4 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Thursday: 13 mile long run (steady) pace (PM), 3 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Friday: 5.5 miles recovery pace (AM), 4.5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Saturday: 6.2 miles recovery pace (AM), 4.1 miles recovery page (PM)
  • Sunday: 24.8 mile long run (progressive pace)

Total mileage: 94.1 miles

Paces this week:

  • Long: 7:48 – 9:30
  • Recovery: 9:35 – 10:15

This week’s quote:

“The long run is what puts the tiger in the cat.“

–Bill Squires

Coming up in training week twelve: Next week offers some respite (and, I hope, recovery) from this past week’s high mileage. Of note is my very first ever speed intervals session on Tuesday. With the exception of some compulsory (and humiliating) time spent on my high school track during physical education class way back when Donna Summer was puttin’ on the hits, I’ve never done any running on a track. So we shall see. The rest is same old, same old: recovery running, a couple of long runs and one easy 10 miler. At this point there’s no discernible difference in my pace between easy and long runs, so I may push the pace a bit on that one.

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Race Report: NYRR Half Marathon – Bronx

Posted on February 10, 2008 by threlkeld

This morning was the second of five half marathons in NYRR’s 2008 “Grand Prix” series — and the last of the series we’ll run this year, probably.

And what a logistical disaster it was! We woefully misjudged the parking prospects in the Bronx and spent 45 minutes driving farther and farther from the race start, searching for a legal parking spot. At last, 10 minutes before race start, we found one — two miles from the start! We’re both usually semi-hysterical before race starts anyway. But this tactical error only magnified the anxiety and testiness. We managed to cover a lot of ground — dogshit-covered and garbage-strewn sidewalks, in most cases — and made it to the start…eight minutes late. Let me tell you, it’s a disheartening feeling to hear the race air horn blow and you’re still three quarters of a mile away from where that air horn is.

A quick trip to the portapotty made our starts even later. But that’s what timing chips are for, right? Fortunately for me, I’d defined the race as not a race, but a marathon pace training run, so I wasn’t overly concerned by the late start. Jonathan, however, was racing this one. Although he was, as usual, a ways ahead of me, we both had the odd experience of running several minutes per mile faster than everyone around us, passing a few thousand people over 13 miles. I felt like Wonder Woman. Now I’m thinking this is an interesting strategy for racing — start 10 minutes late and feel like an olympian.

Anyways…

Pre-race jitters were enhanced by weather reports of 25+ MPH winds. Although winds were an easy 4 MPH at 5AM when we got up this morning, the high winds were on the way, oh, yes they were. The only question was when they’d go full blast. As it turns out, someone turned on the fan at around 9:00AM. The worst winds were along a two mile stretch of Grand Concourse heading west — full on, in-your-face winds with frequent gusts of 40+ MPH. At one point, a major gust gave me what I thought of as my “Nightmare at 20,000 feet” moment — the inability to breath, despite the firehose blast of air. Much like standing on the wing of a jet airplane.

On the plus side, that wind turned into a tailwind on the way back, heading east — and I can see how helpful it was because my splits show that, not only was I running faster but my heart rate dropped by a few percentage points too. If only it had rained; I might have found a way to hydroplane my way through the miles. So, two bad miles, followed by two good ones, then another incredible headwind for mile 13.

The verdict? Despite the high winds I met my goal of holding an average pace of 7:50 – 8:00. Average pace was 7:56 (or slightly under a 3:28 marathon pace). Hoorah! Jonathan did even better, besting his Manhattan Half Marathon time by 50 seconds (and garnering fourth place in his age group). Hoorah!

Other highlights: I did lots of water stop practice and managed to avoid dousing myself, for the most part. Also got the timing right on ingesting a gel right before the stop. I dealt with weaving through hundreds of people well, a skill I’ll need in April as I lap thousands of half marathoners. And I was able to deal with the extremely high winds pretty well, not letting them get to me too much mentally.

For many reasons, I’m glad I decided to use this as a training run rather than racing it all out. I feel fairly confident both about my marathon pacing and about my ability to run in windy conditions. And I’ve saved my energies for next week’s training, which peaks at 93 miles. Zoinks!

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Training week in review: 9 of 18

Posted on February 3, 2008 by threlkeld

This week’s training theme:

Train to race. Not the other way around.

Before I begin, a moment of silence to commemorate…the halfway point. I’m halfway through this program and I’ve not died, quit, nor been rendered blind, crippled or insane.

Well, I ran a great half marathon a week ago. And I paid for it all week. The result? I needed to recast this week as a recovery week and take my first day off from running in since November 4.

I probably ran the hardest race I’ve done so far last weekend and I was unprepared for how much time I’d need to recover from it. I managed to stick to the original training schedule from Monday through Thursday, although things were rapidly cratering by Thursday evening. I even ended up taking most of Monday off from work since I felt so exhausted.

I also had a new pain in my right leg, in the back of the knee, which I suspect was some sort of mild tendon or hamstring strain. I felt it twinge a few times during the race, right after the uphill portions, and had wondered at the time if it would linger as a problem. Plus my left lower leg and foot were complaining for four days post-race. I hobbled through two long runs on Tuesday and Thursday, but had to cut short an evening run on Thursday due to acute pain in several spots on both legs.

I hated to do it, but I decided not to run at all on Friday — then see how I felt on Saturday. Instead, I rode the stationary bike (which had been gathering some dust). It doesn’t get used much, but when one of us is slightly injured, I’m really glad it’s there. I did 40 miles on the bike on Friday, then another 32 Saturday morning. By Saturday evening I felt good enough to attempt a recovery run on the treadmill. By this morning I was all better and able to go out and do a decent long run.

So, hurrah! for rest and recovery. And a real lesson learned about racing during training. Longer races are probably not such a great idea. I will reverse what I said last week about not being able to hold back from really racing in a race. Instead, I’ll use a few local races for training. In particular, I’m going to use next weekend’s NYRR Bronx Half Marathon as my 12 mile marathon pace run. Then I’ll use a 25K “Boston Buildup” run in CT three weeks later for my 15 mile marathon pace run. It should be nice to be able to focus on pace in these races, practice fueling (and drinking on the run), and not worry about finishing time. I’ll also take this experience as an indication of how long I need to recover from a hard half — at least four days, preferably five.

This was another week spent inside on the treadmill, with the exception of today, my first run outdoors in a week. Not much else in the way of running news. We’re getting our 80-year-old slate roof replaced. It’s been removed and hauled away in a giant dumpster. Now the roof is naked (save for the waterproofing layer) as we await the arrival of its replacement material, supposedly happening Monday. All I know is next week is going to be LOUD.

A look back at the week:

  • Monday: 5 miles recovery pace (AM), 3 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Tuesday: 6 miles recovery pace (AM), 5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Wednesday: 4 miles recovery pace (AM), 15 mile long run (steady) pace (PM) — I really soldiered through this miserable run
  • Thursday: 5 miles recovery pace (AM), 3 miles recovery pace (PM) — a 5 miler I cut short
  • Friday: No running; 40 miles on the bike at 16MPH
  • Saturday: 32 miles on the bike at 16MPH (AM), 5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Sunday: 17.7 miles long run (progressive) pace

Total mileage: 68.7 miles

Paces this week:

  • Long: 8:30 – 9:45
  • Recovery: 10:15 – 11:10
  • Bike: Blech. Screw the bike.

This week’s quote:

“No marathon gets easier later. The half way point only marks the end of the beginning.“

— Joe Henderson

Coming up in training week ten: I bagged the planned marathon pace run that was originally scheduled for today in Central Park, since next weekend’s Bronx half marathon offers an opportunity to do it complete with volunteer support and post-race food! As for the rest of the week, it’s all recovery pace doubles or mid-length long runs. Back up to 85 miles, but nothing crazy in terms of the actual workouts. With this weird leg issue, I want to be cautious. This is especially true since week 11 features a 93 mile schedule. One thing I will try next Sunday is a slightly more aggressive definition of “marathon pace” — probably 7:50 or 7:55. Just to see.

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Training week in review: 8 of 18

Posted on January 29, 2008 by threlkeld

This week’s training theme:

Timing is everything

I’m a little late getting in my review post since I was too busy posting about my half marathon race on Sunday. So here it is Tuesday already and I’m finally feeling back to normal.

Last week was tough, let me tell you. Since deciding to replace a tempo run with a race, I needed to do a bit of rearranging last week. But with so many miles, and long runs, it was basically impossible to come up with the ideal schedule. So I punted and front-loaded all the hard stuff early in the week so I could be as rested and recovered as possible on Sunday.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were all recovery days, with anywhere from 7 to 10 miles spread over double sessions. All on the treadmill. The hard work was on Tuesday (a 22+ miler) and Thursday (15 miles). Followed by sitting around hoping my legs would recover from that over Friday and Saturday sufficiently enough to race well.

Since this was coming off of a hard 20 miler the previous Sunday, by the time Thursday rolled around I was basically a zombie. One thing I’ve noticed is that I’m sleeping an average half to full hour more a night now, and I’m dreaming a lot. Or at least remembering more dreams than I ever have in the past. Epic dreams that seem to go on for hours, consisting of several distinct narratives. This is some serious, deep sleep. (I also slept the sleep of the dead for a full three hours after the race on Sunday.)

Despite all the mileage, I think running 40% of my miles at recovery pace allowed me to go to Central Park on Sunday feeling fresh and reasonably rested. So I guess it is possible to incorporate some quality racing into training if you schedule things right. This is good to know since I’m going to be doing the Bronx edition of the Grand Prix series on February 10th.

A look back at the week:

  • Monday: 6 miles recovery pace (AM), 4 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Tuesday: 22.4 miles, long run (steady) pace*
  • Wednesday: 6 miles recovery pace (AM), 4 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Thursday: 15 miles, long run (steady) pace
  • Friday: 4 miles recovery pace (AM), 5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Saturday: 4 miles recovery pace (AM), 3 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Sunday: 13.1 mile race

Total mileage: 86.5 miles

Paces this week:

  • Long: 8:50 – 9:10
  • Recovery: 9:30 – 10:20
  • Race: 7:35

This week’s quote:

“You’re all crazy”

— Sign held by a spectator at 2006 Chicago Marathon

Coming up in training week nine: About the same number of miles, plus an extra session. I’m running doubles five days this week. Recovery miles make up close to 50% of the total, which is good because I’m doing a 16 mile marathon pace run (probably in Central Park) on Sunday. I’ve got two shorter long runs (15 miles and 13 miles, respectively). All the rest are short recovery runs. Which reminds me — I’m late for this evening’s 5 miler…

* Longest run I’ve done in about a year — and much easier this year than last.

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On track for a 3:30:00 marathon

Posted on January 28, 2008 by threlkeld

In my race report for the Manhattan Half Marathon, I reported a finishing time of 1:39:32. There is a significance to this that I felt warranted a separate post. Here’s why this finishing time is notable: using Greg McMillan’s equivalent performance calculator, 1:39:32 translates to an equivalent marathon time of 3:29:55.

I know it’s a squeaker. But, dang, it’s under 3:30!

My goal for April is sub-3:30. I’ve just comfortably run an “equivalent” half marathon time along the same course and I’ve still got seven weeks of training to go until I start my taper! So I’m feeling really confident about coming in under three and a half hours on April 6.

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Race Report: NYRR Half Marathon – Manhattan

Posted on January 28, 2008 by threlkeld

Yesterday we ran the first of five half marathons in NYRR’s 2008 “Grand Prix” series. This was another opportunity for me to race in Central Park as part of my preparation for the More race in April.

This race replaced a scheduled five mile tempo run. I originally thought I’d run eight miles of it at easy pace, then do five at tempo pace. But as race day approached, I realized I couldn’t accept the idea of entering a race and not racing it. Since I seem to be handling the mileage and intensity of training with no issues, and a lot of my miles this week are recovery miles, I decided to race this one all out.

We drove in and managed to find parking up on 104th Street, which turned out to be perfect, since the start was at 84th. So jogging the mile to the start was a good warm-up. It was freezing, though. Wind chill was about 20F, but fortunately the wind was fairly calm.

NYRR imposed an 8:00AM deadline for baggage check, one half hour before race start. Since we figured we’d just have to stand around freezing for half an hour anyway, we elected not to check a bag with some warmer clothes. Big mistake! Post-race we were freezing, and by the time we got back to the car we both had difficulty unlocking it due to our frozen, claw-like hands. (It didn’t help that my gloves were wet since I’m still spastic when it comes to dealing with cups at the water stations.)

Pre-race ceremonies and announcements were mercifully short, highlighted with a quick hello and good luck from Meb Keflezighi. And then the horn sounded and we were off.

Each time I race in Central Park, I gain more appreciation for it as a race course. I’m now becoming familiar enough with it that I can mentally break it up into about five distinct “sections” and plan a pacing strategy for handling each. What’s tricky about this is that every race so far has run counter clockwise. The More, however, runs clockwise. This is why I have two tough training runs scheduled in the park, so I can run them clockwise and figure out how to reverse everything I’ve internalized about these race sections come race day.

Anyway, the overall race course consisted of two full loops around the park, followed by a partial third loop with the finish on the east side of the 102nd Street Transverse. My pacing plan consisted of doing miles 1-10 at 7:30, then evaluating the state of things at the conclusion of mile 10 to see if I could pick up the pace to 7:20. The uphill stretches along the northern and eastern sides of the park threw off the paces a bit. But I was able to maintain an average of 7:35 and I really picked it up in the last few miles, which was a goal. I want to work on being able to run very fast in the last miles of long races.

As for the actual race experience, it was positive. I focused on trying to stay on pace on a mile-by-mile basis, never thinking about the number of miles left — just getting to the next one in good form and still feeling in control of things. At mile 10 — the “turning point” mile — I felt good and going faster wasn’t too much of a struggle. The section from mile 11-12 is one of the tougher ones, with a long, gradual uphill. But I rallied at mile 12 and started blowing past people, running at a pace of 7:04 for mile 13 and 6:39 for the last few hundred yards.

As usual, I had three goals going in: dream, realistic, and bare minimum:

Dream: 1:38:00
Realistic: 1:40:00
Minimum: 1:44:00

Finish time: 1:39:32

This time, by the way, is nearly 11 minutes faster than my previous best half marathon time. To put things into further perspective, two years ago I was training for my first half marathon with a goal of finishing under 2:00:00. If I can just chop another 10 minutes off, that puts me in age/gender group award territory.

Here are the mile splits. My watch was way off in terms of race distance (it recorded 13.45 miles), so things are a bit wacky:

Mile 1          7:22
Mile 2          7:42
Mile 3          7:27
Mile 4          7:21
Mile 5          7:26
Mile 6          7:36
Mile 7          7:23
Mile 8          7:37
Mile 9          7:36
Mile 10         7:20
Mile 11         7:21
Mile 12         7:23
Mile 13         7:04
Mile 13.45      3:00

Finish time  1:39:32

Average pace    7:35

And the stats:

  • 795th overall, out of 4989 runners: top 16% of all finishers
  • 112th woman out of 1874 total: top 6% of all female finishers
  • Among 40 to 44 year olds, I was 21st: top 10% in my age/gender group
  • Age-graded time: 1:33:50

Jonathan had a good day too, with a finishing time (and new PR) of 1:23:57. He was 101st overall, the 98th man in (yes, there was a handful of very fast women out there yesterday) and fifth in his age/gender group. He also finally bested a local age-group rival he’s been trying to beat for the past two years.

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Training week in review: 7 of 18

Posted on January 20, 2008 by threlkeld

This week’s training theme:

If you want to get better at something, do it a lot.

Oh, my god. This training business is hard.

I ran nine times this week, covering just under 86 miles. The schedule wasn’t that different than two weeks ago, but I feel as if I’ve been run over by a truck today.

The highlights this week included a slightly longer tempo run, with a block of three miles at 7:24 – 7:30 and, a mile later in the run, another block of two miles at (surprise!) 7:18. Dang. This training business may be hard, but it seems to actually work. The next day I did a 15 miler at 8:39 avg pace (!), a 12 miler on Friday at about the same pace and…drum roll, please…this morning I did just under 20 miles, last nine “around” marathon pace (more on that in a moment).

So, yeah, I’m dog tired. But I am also very happy with the way things are going. And excited about the Manhattan Half Marathon next Sunday in Central Park, which I’m using as a replacement to the training schedule’s tempo run. My dream time for this race is 1:40. It would be a real kick to take 10 minutes off my last half marathon time. But I’m not exactly going to be rested, so I’ll be happy with anything under 1:44.

About this morning’s run — I feel good about it because it went well despite being very windy for pretty much the whole way. Steady wind of 12-15 MPH with gusts of 25 MPH or so, although it was constantly shifting direction. During a few of the more sheltered stretches, it wasn’t too bad. But along the exposed parts of the route (pretty much all along the Bronx River Parkway) it was unrelenting. Going out this morning, I decided to have a positive attitude and just do my best.

So that’s what I did. I was aiming for a pace of between 7:40 – 8:00. I made it on some miles, not on others. What’s funny is you can tell the bits in which I was battling the wind, because the pace slows way down and the heart rate shoots way up. Some of the faster miles were probably due to a tailwind (although I’d love to believe that they were due to my supremely competent legs). But the time averages out to around 8:00 per mile, so I’m happy with what I was able to do.

Here are my splits after mile 11 of the run: 8:06, 7:49, 7:49, 8:09, 8:03, 7:52, 8:12, 7:42, 7:50

Today’s run was also notable in that I tried out an alternate fueling source: Gatorade Endurance (which seems to be de rigueur on most marathon courses these days). I planted two small bottles of the “lemon” (cough cough) flavor along the course and kept a third in the car at the midway point. I have to say, the stuff tastes like window cleaner (or at least how I imagine window cleaner might taste). I am cursed with a delicate stomach but, aside from a twinge after downing 8 oz. at once, I didn’t have any problems with it. (Plus my teeth are so shiny now!) Nonetheless, I think I’m leaning toward the Hammer Gels for fueling. They’re a pain in the ass to carry, but they definitely provided a more noticeable “lift” on a couple of recent runs. And they don’t taste like industrial-strength cleaning products.

Once again, the couch is mine today. The pattern lately is that I come home after these Sunday runs, take a bath, eat something very large, have a beer and promptly pass out for at least 45 minutes. After that, I’m still in a semi-zombie state, but at least I can muster the energy to make dinner and engage in light conversation.

A look back at the week:

  • Monday: 6 miles recovery pace (AM), 4 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Tuesday: 11 mile tempo run with five miles at very speedy pace
  • Wednesday, 15.1 miles, long run (steady) pace
  • Thursday, 6.2 miles recovery pace (AM), 3.8 miles recover pace (PM)
  • Friday, 12.4 miles, long run (steady) pace
  • Saturday, 7.6 miles recovery pace*
  • Sunday, 19.8 miles, long run with 9 miles at or below marathon pace

Total mileage: 85.9 miles

Paces this week:

  • Tempo: 7:19 – 7:24
  • Long: 7:38 – 9:35
  • Recovery: 9:15 – 10:00

This week’s quote:

“The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.“

— Robert Frost

Coming up in training week eight: My doubles double, bringing me to four two-a-days of recovery runs. One 15 miler and one 22 miler (longest one yet) during the week. Then the half marathon on Sunday. Also, for some culture, we head up to White Plains (I’m tempted to run there, since we run more often than drive to White Plains lately) for a one-night-only showing of Spirit of the Marathon on Thursday evening. Review to come.

* This was supposed to have been an “easy” run with strideouts. But I ran way too fast on Friday and paid the price the next day.

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Training week in review: 6 of 18

Posted on January 13, 2008 by threlkeld

This week’s training theme:

Everything is relative

You really can get used to anything. This past week I ran just over 67 miles. Coming off of an 80 mile week, 67 felt like a “light” week, as it was meant to be. It was all recovery and long runs, save for one “easy” day of less than eight miles. Eight miles — feh! That is easy! Even a 14 mile run now feels like a pleasantly relaxing start to the day rather than the day-destroying slog it used to be.

I split my runs between inside and outside, electing to do all the recovery runs on the treadmill to make my legs happy. I probably ran too hard this morning (four sub-marathon pace miles toward the end of my 16 miler), which I didn’t intend to do. But I felt good, which I suppose is the recovery effect.

I’m sure I’ll be exhausted again soon enough, as next week I throw myself into an 86 mile week, including a tempo run and another 20 miler next Sunday.

I am noticing that my heart rate is definitely getting lower during the marathon pace miles week by week. I will experiment with slightly faster pacing next weekend to see if I can reset my training paces based on what my heart rate does.

For now, it’s an afternoon of hot chocolate, English football and Web surfing. My needs are simple. I hope that doesn’t mean I am.

A look back at the week:

  • Monday: 5.7 miles, recovery pace
  • Tuesday: 7.8 miles, easy pace with 7 x 100 meter “strideouts”
  • Wednesday, 11.8 miles, long run (steady) pace
  • Thursday, 6 miles, recovery pace
  • Friday, 10 miles, long run (steady) pace
  • Saturday, 6 miles recovery pace (AM), 4 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Sunday, 16 miles, long run with miles 8-11 at or below marathon pace

Total mileage: 67.3 miles

Paces this week:

  • Easy: 8:20
  • Long: 7:45 – 9:20
  • Recovery: 9:45 – 10:20

This week’s quote:

“If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it.”

— Priscilla Welch

Coming up in training week seven: More miles and more sessions, including two days of doubles. Plus one more mile of suffering on the tempo run (five instead of four). And a 20 mile run with the last nine at or below marathon pace, with the possibility of resetting the pace tables downward if my heart tells me so.

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Training week in review: 5 of 18

Posted on January 6, 2008 by threlkeld

This week’s training theme:

Stress. Recover. Adapt. Repeat.

And that is the essence of training.

When I looked at this 18 week training plan originally, I remember thinking that the recovery weeks were too few and far between. Maybe I’ll still feel that way in a few weeks, but for now I think going five weeks full tilt has been just right. The sixth week starts tomorrow, and it’s a full recovery week, meaning both the mileage and the intensity of the workouts are cut back to allow some rest — presumably to facilitate further adaptation.

I am a true believer so far. I was quite tired this week — more than in previous weeks, which suggests a cumulative fatigue — so it seems right that a recovery week follows this one. What makes me believe? The results: I’m very comfortable running at race pace (8:00 minutes per mile) — which I was not a month ago — and that’s evidenced by the fact that I’m doing it at a lower and lower heart rate, even over longer and longer distances.

I also did my second tempo run (inside), and that went very well. Not exactly easy, but not as difficult as the one two weeks ago; plus, I ran it quite a bit faster this time around. And, finally, today I did a 20 miler with the last 7 at race or sub-race pace in 2:51. I felt very good and could have kept running, which is always a good sign.

According to MarathonGuide’s 2007 annual report on US marathoning, 4,845 women finished in under 3:30:00 last year. I want to be in that crowd this year, and I’m feeling more and more confident that this training plan will get me there.

A look back at the week:

I did a few of my runs inside on the treadmill this week, either because of bitter cold (and icy paths) or to save my legs on recovery days.

  • Monday: 6 miles (AM) and 4 miles (PM), both inside, recovery pace
  • Tuesday: 10 mile tempo run (inside) with four miles at 15K pace
  • Wednesday, 15 miles, long run (steady) pace
  • Thursday, 6 miles (inside), recovery pace
  • Friday, 13.1 miles, long run (progressive), last two at 10 seconds below race pace
  • Saturday, 5.9 miles (inside), recovery pace
  • Sunday, 20.3 miles, long run (progressive) pace, last seven at or below race pace

Total mileage: 80.3 miles

Paces this week:

  • Tempo: 7:25
  • Long: 7:50 – 9:45
  • Recovery: 9:30-10:35

This week’s quote:

Any idiot can train himself into the ground; the trick is working in training to get gradually stronger.
— Keith Brantly, U.S. Olympic Marathoner

Coming up in training week six: A much needed week of recovery. One eight mile easy run, lots of recovery runs and shorter long runs.

Unfortunately, that means fewer calories available for eating, but most things in life involve some sort of tradeoff, don’t they?

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Training week in review: 4 of 18

Posted on December 30, 2007 by threlkeld

This week’s training theme:

Holiday training brings a different sort of “sacrifice” (such as running with indigestion)

Oh, I celebrated this past week. Don’t get me wrong. But I paid for it in the form of much Alka Seltzer consumption and running with discomfort. I have no regrets, though. I did not slack off in my training, and that took a lot of discipline.

The Christmas excesses are definitely winding down, however. We’ve got three bottles of wine left to get us through New Year’s and then it is over. Back to a few drinks a week, daily calorie counting and no more refined sugar, simple carbohydrates and saturated fat.

I’ve now been training for a month with no obvious ill effects. Well, just one. The muscle below my left eye has been twitching for the past few days. I’ve done some “Google diagnoses” and think it’s a combination of fatigue (ya think?), dehydration and possible electrolyte deficiency. The recommended treatment is adequate sleep, lots of water, bananas and Gatorade. I should be getting all those things anyway.

(One side rant. My local Pathmark was carrying Gatorade Endurance. I picked up two bottles to train with a few weeks back and now, mysteriously, they’ve stopped stocking it. The Gatorade site claims they carry it, but that is a lie. Now I have to find another supplier. Grr. On a happier note, I discovered that Yuengling makes a delicious dark beer (Original Black & Tan), which for some strange reason Pathmark does carry. So, in a way, the universe maintains its equilibrium, at least as far as Pathmark’s beverages inventory is concerned.)

I’ve noticed two distinct patterns in terms of my physical state during the week.

First, Thursday seems to be my roughest day in terms of fatigue. So I’ve decided to not care about pace at all on Thursdays, but instead just go by heart rate (and a very low one at that). The result is usually a slow run at 10:30+ pace. It’s weird to think that that used to be the fastest I could run.

Second, I have delayed onset muscle soreness that I could set my clock by. For the past few weeks I’ve woken up at around 1AM on Tuesday and Friday nights with a terrible ache in my legs. This week I took ibuprofen both evenings before going to bed, which seems to have nipped that problem in the bud.

A look back at the week:

Nothing earthshattering happened this week, save for the start of recovery “doubles” days. But I did manage to run over 77 miles. And I’m pretty darned proud of that. Also, all of my runs were outside. Some patches of ground are still quite treacherous, but it was a welcome break from staring at the wall.

I also had planned to do five miles of hills at the tail end of Friday’s 12 miler. But I didn’t feel up to it, so I decided to compromise and do a fast finish run instead, over flat ground. I’m figuring that with one half marathon and at least four harder, longer runs scheduled to be done in Central Park, I’ll get some good hill work in that way.

  • Monday: 6.1 miles (AM) and 4.2 miles (PM), recovery pace
  • Tuesday: 10 miles, easy pace, too icy for strideouts
  • Wednesday, 14.3 miles, long run (steady) pace
  • Thursday, 5.8 miles, recovery pace (slow — again, quite tired!)
  • Friday, 12 miles, long run (progressive), last two at 10 seconds faster than marathon pace
  • Saturday, 6.1 miles, recovery pace
  • Sunday, 18.8 miles, long run (progressive) pace

Total mileage: 77.3 miles

Paces this week:

  • Easy: 8:30
  • Long: 7:50 – 9:30
  • Recovery: 10:15-10:45

This week’s quote (which I post tongue-in-cheek, as this week my body told me I wanted to eat everything):

If you feel like eating, eat. Let your body tell you what it wants.

— Joan Benoit Samuelson

Coming up in training week five: The return of the dreaded Tuesday tempo run, and some “fueling” practice on Sunday’s fast finish long run! Plus three more miles piled onto the apple cart.

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