Marathon Training Thread - Week Ending 9/5

Goal Race: Chicago- 5wks out

Goal Time: 2:30

Pablo, smart week after a real breakthrough run in Columbus. I am excited for your run in Twin cities, you're ready to make a big jump!

This week was tough weatherwise with >90F until Th when we finally got some rain and cooler temps. I feel like a completely different runner in 65-70F compared to 85-95F and I was getting a little worried about how sluggish I felt. Tuesday's workout was a struggle as I was getting really dehydrated (dizzy) but I felt like the pace wasn't too much aerobically speaking just felt woozy.

M: 6+6

T: 15: 5mi wu, 3x2mi + 1mi w/ 3min jog rest, 2wd

10:50 (5:24, :26)

10:47 (5:20, :27)

10:55 (5:26, :29)

5:22

W: 5 + 15

T: 10

F: 15: 9mi progression to MP+ (7m/m to 5:38m/m), 7x200m (37s), 2.5 wd

S: 8

S: 21.8 uptempo (6:16 pace)

I hope everyone is getting a little R&R this weekend.

Goal Race(s): Wineglass 10/3, NYC 11/7

Goal Time: 2:48-2:52:29

pablo,pitt: I still don't feel like I belong in this thread. Nice weeks. My mileage feels small since I've cutback, especially this week since I moved the long run to tomorrow (I will have an 18, 15 and 20 from M-Sun this week)

Me, my week was lower mileage since I pushed my 18 until tomorrow. I would say it was an OK week. At least I still feel I have a shot at sub-2:50.

M: Off

T: 9.67 @ 8:04 AHR 137 (5 x 600m, 2:08, 2:07, 2:08, 2:06, 2:05) (124.4)

W: 15.09 @ 7:46 AHR 138 (132.4)

R: 7.00 @ 8:15 AHR 132 (142.3) 6 x 100m stride

F: 10.00 @ 7:58 AHR 138 (140.8)

S: 6.13 @ 8:19 AHR 129 (128.6)

S @ Track:

wup: 2800m @ 8:19 AHR 133 (104.0)

TT:5k in 18:26 (5:56/mile) AHR 168 (106.7)

5 minutes rest

3200m @ MP (6:30/mile) AHR 160 (108.9)

cdn: 3600m @ 8:09 AHR 134 (111.8)

Wk tot:57.0

The 5k TT (time trial) was supposed to be an 8k, but I just didn't feel like running hard by myself on the track. So I cut it to a 5k. It is a PR for me (old one was 18:47). I started out thinking I was running an 8k,so I probably should have run the beginning faster. HR average is a little low for a 5k. Maybe in a race I'd be closer to 18:00. I still wanted to get at least 8k in of hard running so I walked a 200m after the 5k and ran 3200m @ GMPish. Felt pretty easy. HR's were in line with MP. Which was good 5 minutes after my 5k PR (which is still absurdly slow)

Next week will have two long runs....

Looks like it will warm up again next week. My biggest fear is the warmer weather sticks around another 4 weeks.

Goal Race: Berlin

Goal Time: 2:37:18 (6:00/mile pace)

Mon: 11.4 easy

Tue: AM: 6 easy, PM: 1.8 mile warmup, 2 x 4 mile at goal MP with 4 minute jog recovery. 1.8 mile cooldown

Wed: AM: 6 easy, PM: 8.7 easy

Thu: 9.5 easy

Fri: AM: 11 easy, PM: 10 easy

Sat: AM: 10.3 easy

Sun: AM: 2.6 mile warmup. Half marathon with 11 miles at goal MP and 2 miles a little slower. PM: 6 miles easy

Total: 106.5 miles

One more week, then taper. Good luck to those racing on Labor day.

Race: Maine 10/3

Goal: Will update after race tomorrow

M: 8

T: 3a/12p (w/ 5.5 @ 5:30 pace)

W: 8

T: 11

F: 15

S: 8

S: 5

Total 70

Legs not recovering like they should... last 2 speed sessions have been terrible. I haven't even been feeling that good on recovery runs. Not "I need to quit running after 2 miles" bad that would indicate overtraining, but just generally tired. I hope that the 20k goes ok, but I'm kinda worried that MP will feel fast. I really don't think I'm overtrained, but if things don't go that well tomorrow I'll probably go in to have some bloodwork done to make sure there's nothing wrong.

Looks like everyone's looking good, I hope that I will be join that feeling tomorrow.

Race: Milwaukee 10/3

Goal: 2:29-2:32

M: 9

Tu: 15--4x10min slower end LT with 1min rec. hitting 5:30-35 pace for the first 3/4 of the workout then the heat humidity really started getting to me and I ended up hitting the last one at 5:45 pace

W: 10 very slow with some strides

Th: 12.5--2x10min faster end LT and 4x75s quicker with 2min rec. on all. Avg. 5:20 and 4:55 pace respectively.

F: 9

Sa: 11 with 6x35sec strides

Su: 21.4--First 11 miles easy then 9 miles at MP plus c/d. Avg. 5:41 for the tempo section.

Total: 88 miles

Finally got some cooler weather by the weekend and took advantage with the LR this morning. A little quicker than I needed to be going but felt easy and it was hard to hold back. We'll see. Good luck those racing in New Haven tomorrow!

Yet again, some excellent training going on.

Another - nice 5k TT. Looking good.

Goal Race: Berlin

Goal Time: sub-2:30

M - 5 easy / 10 easy

T - 5 easy / 10 easy

W - 9 (incl. 3 x 1M @ 5:18, 5:20, 5:27, off 2 min)

T - 8 easy (incl. 10 hill sprints) / 5 easy

F - 8 easy (incl. 6 strides)

S - 21 (incl. 18M @ 95% MP, 6:01m/m avg; 6:19 avg for the 21M)

S - 10 easy

Total: 91

Weds run was supposed to be 6 x 1M @ 108% MP, but it just wasn't happening, so binned the session after the third rep. Sat run was right on target, splits as follows:

6:22, 6:10, 6:01, 6:00, 6:01, 6:04

6:01, 6:04, 6:07, 6:02, 5:57, 6:01

5:56, 5:57, 5:58, 5:50, 5:49, 5:52

Although, the Weds run was disappointing, I just put it down to being a little tired/underfueled etc. Find old logs are useful in this regard as a quick skim back revealed a similar experience on the run up to Berlin last year.

1 more hard week then taper time ;-)

Race: Chicago 10/10

Goal: 2:40

Su - 5

M - 10

T - 9/4

W - 9 Fartlek of 2 min/2 Min easy x 8

Just wanted to get the legs moving a little

Th - 7

F - 5

Sa - Half Marathon - 1:14:24 pr by 3 seconds

Total - 65 miles

All morning runs about 7 min pace and all afternoon 4 milers are 8 minute pace on tread.

Half Marathon went well. I went out a little too fast but felt strong the whole way. I had a lower mileage week but didn't fully taper as I had a 20 miler last Saturday.

Goal Race: Berlin

Goal time: 2:56-2:59

M: 8 recovery

T: am 4 / pm 7 easy

W: am 11 including 6x1mile with 2:00 rest (6:15, 6:17,6:21,6:21,6:15,6:17) / pm 3.5 recovery

R: 12 easy

F: 7.5 recovery

S: 6.5 recovery

S: 15 easy

Total = 74

Well, after my fantastic week last week, i was bound to run into serious trouble. Wednesday's workout went very well. The miles were comfortably hard and doable. No problems there. Trouble arrived on Friday in the form of fatigue and injury. My recovery runs on Fri and Sat were tiring and all i wanted to do on the weekend was to sleep. I even napped two times. I dreaded the long run on Sunday which was supposed to be a 21-22 miler. I pushed it off until Sunday night and then went out at 8:20 pace and increased to 7:50 pace whereupon my shins started to really HURT - so i bailed out at 15. Not a good feeling. I think it is called the tibialias anterior muscle -- boy was it sore. It still is today, even when i walk.

Now i am wondering how to manage the next week. I feel that this setback is on one hand too far from the race to just jump into taper mode and heal -- and on the other hand it's too close to the race that i can't afford any setbacks now.

Here has been my recent mileage and long runs:

Mpw: 83,86,90,51,78,87,72,81,74

LR: 20,22,18,15,21,19,21,20,15

Can i just shrug off missing this long run or should i make it up this week?

marmite - what is your mileage, long run, and workout plan this week?

Btw, nice weeks all of you out there!

Yes you can shrug off the long run, in my opinion. In fact you SHOULD shrug it off. I certainly would. One run where you miss a couple of miles will make zero difference to the outcome, especially given what you've already done.

Long runs are the least important component of good marathon training, in my opinion behind consistent weekly mileage and marathon-paced mileage. You've got more than enough.

Pittsburgh Joe - I'm looking forward to seeing what you do in Chicago. You just keep on posting these weeks with runs that have me amazed...you're in awesome shape to be able to run 21 @ 6:16 at the end of a week with 2 other solid workouts. Keep it up!

Another - I don't know what I'm more impressed with, the fact you PR'd in the 5k solo on the track....or the fact that you're a 2:50 guy with a PR of only 18:26. That means you're definitely doing something right with the marathon. If I could only have a 30 second differential between 5k and marathon pace, I'd come awful close to the OT standard.

Average Joe - Killer week! All you Berlin guys must be getting anxious now...really only one hard week left!

FARM - Hope the race went well today...FWIW, I don't think you should feel good on recovery runs, not that you can't...but I'd rather feel like sh*t on my recovery runs than long runs or workouts. Were you planning to run New Haven all out or at MP?

TMNT - Nice bounce back week!

marmite - Excellent long run! I went through something similar prior to Boston this year, I simply couldn't hold a fast pace (10k or faster), but seemed to be able to hold MP very easily. Definitely a good sign considering you're training to run MP...not 10k pace!

tycobb - Congrats on the PR in the half! If you can run 5:40 pace without a true taper for a half...6:05's should feel quite easy come marathon day.

CTA - You've had such a consistent training cycle thus far, and you certainly did yourself a favor by listening to your body. At this point in the game, you're not doing yourself any favors by adding 1 more mile, 1 more interval, etc...the work has pretty much been done, all you have to do is get to the start line healthy.

CTA, you're hardly lacking for long runs. Don't give it another thought. Concentrate on recovering. You can still get some aerobic work in if you hit some soft trails, pool running, or treadmill. If you are worried about it, remember that it's always better to be healthy and undertrained, than injured/overtrained. Getting those naps in are more important right now for your fitness than those few extra miles on the long run!

I am throwing in a mid-week "medium long run" a la Pfitz these days (see Wed) which you might consider as well, if you think the long runs are having a big impact on your fitness.

Farm: I have felt pretty crappy the past few weeks as well but felt a rebound when the weather cooled off. Did this have an impact? Make sure you rule out sleep, hydration, nutrition. Are you also taking iron/multivitamin just to be sure you body is getting enough?

Goal Race: Chicago

Goal Time: 2:40

M - 14AM including 8x60sec hills followed by 1m repeats at MP or faster/ 4.5 easy PM

T-8.5AM/4.75PM-Really tired today

W-14m Easy-1:45

Th-9.25AM Easy /4.35PM Easy

F-8.75 AM Easy/5PM Easy

F-21m total. 1st 14 in 1:41, next 6 in 35:54, 1m c/d 7:15.

Total-100 miles!

This was my best week of training thus far. It finally started to cool off in the mornings. I didn't do a tempo this week as I did two last week and really wanted to focus on my workout on Monday and long run on Saturday and then just time on my feet. I've been fearing Saturday for awhile as it was 6 miles at MP. I felt outstanding and probably could have gone a couple of more miles. I ran 6 at 5:59 pace and am really beginning to think that 2:40 is possible. I have two more weeks of big miles; with a little more tweaking, I might have a fighting chance.

First time poster here -

Marathon - TC

Goal - 2:30-2:40

S - 7 miles (49 min)

M - 6 miles (38 min)

T - 10 miles (63 min)

W - AM 5.5 miles (36 min), PM 8.5 miles (54 min)

T - 20 miles (1hr 56 min)

F - 6 miles (41 min)

S - 7 miles (45 min)

Total - 70 miles, 6:17 pace avg

That was my first 20 miler ever, just got in a groove and tried to keep it going. Kept a pretty even pace throughout. It wasn't too bad actually, only got water at 15 miles and 17 miles in. It's making me cautiously optimistic for the marathon. 2:29:59 or under would be awesome. But this will be my first marathon and I don't want to underestimate it.

Goal Race: Maine Marathon (10/3)

Goal Time: 2:25

M: 7.5 easy (8 pace)

T: 3 easy very slow

W: 4.5 tempo at ~5:40 pace (1.5 wu, 1.5 cd)

T: 5.5 easy at 7:40 pace

F: off

S: 7.5 at 6:20 pace

S: 5 at 6:45 pace

Total: 36

First post in a few weeks since I started a new job, but nothing too impressive to write about anyway. It's always more stressful than I think it will be. Took this week really easy to rest up for the 20k, but the race went well so no regrets. Finished around 1:08:10 or so. I hope the race went well for the rest of you who were out there.

Good to see progress for a lot of people. Good luck to everyone else running an early October marathon as we enter the "Don't eff it up now" phase of training. Forgot to post last week with teaching starting back up, etc, so...

Goal Race: Chicago

Goal Time: Sub-2:20

8/23-8/29

M (10) - PM 10 easy in 69 minutes (trails)

T (17.5) - early AM 3.5 warmup with drills and strides, 6 miles at marathon rhythm (ended up a bit slower than goal pace, but that’s fine given the early AM and overall fatigue) in 5:28, 5:24, 5:21, 5:21, 5:20, 5:20, 4 minute jog, 8 x 400 in 74 with 100 float. 1 mile cooldown. Ran by feel and tried to ignore time, felt sluggish, slow and tired.

PM 4 shakeout in 29

W (13) - early AM 4 shakeout in 30 (first run before the work day begins, before dawn, actually, body not really awake)

PM 9 easy in 61 (trails)

T (0) PM Weight Routine

F (16.5) - AM 9.5 in 65 (trails)

PM 7 in 48 (trails)

Sa (13.5) - AM 9 in 60 (trails)

PM 4.5 shakeout in 32:45 (trails)

Su (17) - AM 17 progressive run. 11 miles easy on the trails, 5 miles or so progressive on flat pavement (5:40 down to 5:20), 1 mile easy home. 1:46 total running time.

Week: 87.5 with a day off. Felt like taking the day off, and the rest and not stressing about the workouts being a little slow helped get me almost out of the “valley of fatigue” that I found myself in last week and part of this week.

8/30-9/5

M (14.5) - AM 7.5 easy in 50 (trails)

PM 7 easy in 48 (trails) with 8 x 100 uphill strides, general strength routine (body weight and medicine ball)

T (13) - AM 4 shakeout in 27:30

PM 9 easy in 60 (trails)

W (12.5) - PM 12.5 in 84 minutes with 4 x 10 second hill sprints (trails)

T (13.5) - AM 4 shakeout (untimed)

PM 9.5 easy in 63 (trails), weight routine

F (10.5)- AM 4 shakeout (untimed)

PM 6.5 easy (trails)

Sa (18) - AM 14 in 82 minutes total running time. 4 warmup continuous with strides in 27 minutes, then drills, 8 miles at around MP (first 3 miles upgrade into headwind, next 4 slight downgrade with light tailwind, last mile flat with some turns and a crosswind) in 5:22, 5:24, 5:19, 5:12, 5:20 (lost my rhythm as I took my shirt off, rolled it up, etc while still trying to run at pace), 5:12, 5:08, 5:11, then did 4 x 30 seconds (200m?) with 1 minute jog, cooldown 1 mile back to the car (bikepath). Some fatigue towards the end of the workout, but it felt more like general fatigue from the volume of it and prior training, the effort was still controlled.

PM 4 shakeout in 26:54, residual quickness from this morning made for a quicker than normal shakeout.

Su (13) - AM 8 easy in 56 (trails)

PM 5 shakeout in 33:40

Week: 95 miles. Just about feeling back to normal and bringing the volume down slightly so that I can get more specific with the workouts. Waited until Saturday to work out for the week because I wanted to really recover from the progressive long run last Sunday, and school was restarting. I also knew I could bump the long run to Monday with the long weekend, which makes this one of those odd training “weeks” with no long run actually in it.

Race: Maine 10/3

Goal: As far under 3 hours as possible

M: 8

T: 3a/12p (w/ 6 @ 6:42 pace)

W: 8

T: 11

F: 15

S: 8

S: 5

Total 70

This was a nice easy week millage-wise. Tuesday's workout was a bit of a bummer though. Was hoping that it would be a nice confidence booster, but we didn't get started till dark (I'm working some crazy long hours now) & the temp was still over 90 degrees. My legs felt good, the time just wasn't even close to what I was hoping for. I am a little worried about remaining sane while teaching. I have a lot of commitments that I am trying to successfully balance, & I really need to focus on time management, prioritizing, & SLEEP! Running is the one thing that I do daily for myself, so it will definitely remain a priority, I just have a lot going on now.

The NH 20K went pretty well today, ~1:20.05. I went out faster than I should have (I don't have very many splits because a lot of them were right at water stops, so I missed hitting them on my watch), but it was good to get out there & race, it had been since the beginning of January. The lesson that I learned from this race is that I need to focus on taking it out more conservatively for the marathon. I'm pretty confident that I can run a consistent pace if I don't start too fast. I'm hoping that the weather will be cooler too.

CTA, hang in there with your setback. You've been putting in a lot of hard work up to this point, & as other people have been saying, be sure to listen to your body & take the time to recover/heal. At this point in your training, it is important to maintain your fitness & get to the start line!! Hope that you have some better news next week.

Nice work to everyone out there- keep it up!

Goal: Chicago on 10-10-10

Goal Time: 2:30??

M - Off.

T - AM 80 min steady, PM 30 min easy.

W - 10 miles steady in 64 min then 4xmile w/ 1 min rest (5:34, 5:26, 5:23, 5:28). With warmup and cooldown 16 miles.

TR - 10 miles easy.

F - AM 63 min easy, PM 45 min easy. 15 miles

Sat - Long Workout - 4 miles in 21:58, 8 miles in 46:45, 4 miles in 21:47. With warmup and cooldown, 22 miles.

Sun - AM 4 miles VERY SLOW, PM 72 min easy. 14 miles.

92 miles.

Cooler weather on the weekend helped the Saturday workout. Less than 5 weeks to go!!

Goal Race: Philadelphia (11/21)

Goal Time: 2:37-2:40 probably

M: 40 minutes easy on trails

T: AM - 42 minutes easy on trails

PM - 60 minutes easy on trails and treadmill

W: AM - 13 miles (86 minutes) including 6 x mile (5:39, 5:36, 5:39, 5:39, 5:43, 5:34) with 1:45 rest, except for the last one which had somewhat longer rest

PM - 5 miles in 40 minutes on the treadmill

Th: AM - 8.5 miles (62 minutes) including 8 hill sprints

PM - 38 minutes easy on trails

F: AM - 45:30 easy on trails with strides

PM - 5 miles in 36 minutes easy on cinder path

Sa: 105 minutes on trails and dirt roads

Su: Almost 16 miles in 101 minutes with 41 minutes at ~5:40 pace on a slight downhill (slightly over 1% average grade). Cinder path for the most part, some asphalt.

Total: 655 minutes

Took the first couple of days easy to recover from the 50k last week. Surprisingly, nothing was really wrong except my left knee, which was exhibiting ITBS-like pain for a little bit which is now under control.

Probably got back to the workouts a little bit quick, but felt alright on Wednesday, if not quite 100%. Pacing was very even (except the last one which I kicked in a bit just for fun), but the heat started to get to me by the end of the workout (something like 85 degrees, 70 degree dewpoint, and sunshine).

Joined the preseason cross country camp with some of my (former) college teammates for Friday PM onward. Was planning on doing a longer run/workout on Saturday, but my stomach was feeling a bit uneasy so I pushed it off to Sunday, which ended up being a good decision since where we went that day was much more conducive to doing a workout.

Grad school starts in a week, so next week will be the last one in which I'm completely unfettered. I'll try to make it a good one.

Race: Chicago

Goal: sub 2:19

Monday AM 6 easy

PM 4 easy

Tuesday AM 10 easy

PM 4 easy

Wednesday AM 3 easy (3 x 5km @ 108% MP w/ 3' rest) 6 easy

PM 10 mile bike ride + weights

Thursday AM 8 easy

PM 4 easy

Friday AM 14 easy

PM 2 miles of swimming

Saturday AM 4 easy (16 x 400 @ 120% MP w/ 1' rest) 3 easy

PM off

Sunday AM 22 miles @ 85% MP

PM 10 mile bike ride + yoga

totals: 101 miles run/20 miles bike/2 miles swim

3 x 5km workout: 15:21, 15:08, 15:05

16 x 400 workout: 69-71 avg, closed with 66, 65, 63.