Sub 3 marathon @ 38 with terminal cancer

Re: what is "Optune jog"
It is a recovery jog while wearing a medical device called "Optune". It consists of a ~5 pound backpack that chaffs my nipples and often beeps/errors out. It provides a steady dose of radiation to my brain, dubbed "tumor treating fields" in the medical research.

re chemo: I was taking 300mg of temozolomide. (as pills, at night before bed). I shouldn't have to take it until my tumor starts growing again,

training: Dec. 12 - 18

• 12/12/2022 27min, 3mi; optune jog and strides
• 12/13/2022 1h13m, 10mi. 3 x alternations (400m @~5k-ish, 2800m @ ~goal mp) then 400m kick. Some strides. Splits: 92 (400), ~6:36 (@1600m), ~6:46 (2nd 1600m); 92, ~6:38, ~6:46; 93, ~6:46, ~6:50; 86.
• 12/14/2022 27min, 2.9mi; optune jog and strides 12/15/2022 32min, 3.9mi; optune jog and strides 12/16/2022 1h28m, 11.9mi. 4 x mlk hill reps w/jog down (65, 65, 65, 64); ~6 mi cemetery progression (6:58, 6:53, ~6:56, ~6:58, 6:46, 6:46), then hill rep (67). Some strides
• 12/17/2022 35min, 4.1mi; optune jog
• 12/18/2022 1h50m, 15.3mi on a easy trail; 1hr of "steady" from 30m-1h30m, some strides. Probably ran too fast / closer to mp effort. Some of the Strava splits: 7:05, 7:01, 6:59, 6:53, 6:45, 6:42, 6:34, 6:41, 6:51, 7:15

I was pleasantly surprised by my works, since I didn't feel good before or during them. It was nice to be back on a runnable trail for the 15 miler. But I think I need to switch to a hiller trail for my future long runs so I don't get a false sense of fitness.

My Optune usage was 94% for last month! Tied my highest ever 🥳.

A belated Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays.

You're inspirational and I hope you are ok long term

Training Dec. 19 - 25

• 12/19/2022 23min, 2.5mi. Optune jog
• 12/20/2022 31min, 3.4mi.Optune and strides
• 12/21/2022 1h34m, 13mi. 5 x 2k on Mitchell Ave (~74' up/down), then 1k "kick" up. 1min jog recovery: ~4:04/8:04, 4:07/7:58, 4:03/7:56, 4:07/8:00, 4:03/7:58, 3:53. some strides
• 12/22/2022 34min, 3.7mi. Optune and strides
• 12/23/2022 25min, 2.8mi. Optune and strides
• 12/24/2022 2h, 15.4mi. "steady" effort on a hill loop from ~20-45min, then relaxed jogging, then "steady" from ~1h10m-1h40m along the marathon course. 2 hill sluggish hill reps near home. Sweat froze on my shirt !

I was very pleased with the 2k rep workout. I planned on doing ~4min/k effort (which would have been ~4:17 up and ~3:47 down per an JK formula shared on these boards (lose 2.4s / 10' of climbing, gain 1.8s /10' of descent) ... nice to know I could break 40 for the 10k. Still have some work to do with my long runs though.

May God bless you.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭13‬ ‭

Some great workouts the last couple of weeks. Looks really strong and definitely suggests sub 3 fitness. I like the 3 x 3200 and the 5 x 2k, plus your 15+ miler with 1 hour steady looks strong. Like you said, maybe just some longer long runs but even that might not be necessary. Keep up the great work!

• 12/25/2022 50min, 6.2mi; Optune jog
• 12/26/2022 41min, 4.6mi; Optune jog and strides
• 12/27/2022 91min, 13mies; flat terrain along the Indian River."steady" effort, tried to negative split. Had some ankle issues that last few miles that made me slow to a trot. Strava splits: 8:05, 7:28, 7:09, 7:01, 6:57, 6:56, 6:50, 6:39, 6:47, 6:34, 6:33, 6:50, 6:51
• 12/28/2022 27min, 3.2mi; optune jog
• 12/29/2022 38min, 4.3 miles. Optune jog and strides
• 12/30/2022 1h27min, 11.2mi. ~10.5k "steady" on the Hillcrest loop (~1k, w ~100' up in the first 400m), "surged" every other uphill and strided-out the last bit of every other downhill. ~2:07(500m)/4:57 (1k), 1:58/4:38, 4:47 … the "surge" laps were ~2:00 2:03up/~4:35-38@1k, steady ~2:04-07/4:45-48, last few were 4:31, 4:44, 4:31. some strides
• 12/31/2022 18min, 2.1mi. Optune jog with a school backpack. Ugh. First time having DOMS since the Pine Mountain run
  
  A little disappointed on the 13 mile run... mostly b/c I wanted to start it earlier/run further before the day's Christmas festivities. I'm not too worried about my ankle. It's an issue that pops up periodically. I think I have some lingering joint damage, likely from skateboarding when I was younger. I did, however, just get a Mobo Board to hopefully improve things.
  
  I was happy with the continuous ~10.5k hill loop workout. I still need to work on my mileage/long runs so I don't completely crater at the end of the marathon. I got 20 miles in yesterday. I have an MRI and immunotherapy tomorrow. I'll probably do an Aussie 400 session on Friday and an easy long run this Sunday. I have a 30k race on Jan 14 which will be my last big workout day.
  
  Happy New Years y'all

Amen to that, my friend. We wish you the best of luck and health and steady training.

Keep at it, man!

• 1/1/2023 29min, 3.4mi. Optune jog and strides
• 1/2/2023 2h30min, 20.4mi: attempted 5 x Overstreet trail loop (~2.8mi, ~215' gain/loss), 4min steady jog recovery. I friendly woman preyed for me in the parking lot as I was warming up while still wearing Optune. Didn't help my workout at all, but I appreciated the kind gesture. 20:39, 20:09, 19:40, 20:05, 21:15 for the loops. I felt my legs start to crap out on the fourth loop (there's a gradual climb of ~40' near the end). Glad I suffered through the 5th loop, since I'll need some of that grit in the marathon. Did some sad excuses for strides. Warm (~70) and muggy (dew point ~66). Should have had some hydration with me
• 1/3/2023 25min, 2.7mi. Muggy optune jog and some strides
• 1/4/2023 gym: ~15min elliptical and weights. Medical day/trip Gainesville. The MRI was ambiguous, so they shortened my follow up to have another scan in February and might change up the treatment then.
• 1/5/2023 28min, 3.3mi; Optune jog and strides
• 1/6/2023 62min, 8.2mi; 8 Aussie ~400s: ~95-6s 400m, ~57-60s float. 20:28 for ~5072m. Wanted to do the "float" recoveries near goal marathon pace (~234m @ 4:16/km ==~ 60s)
• 1/7/2023 1h, 7.5mi; Optune trail Jog.
• 1/8/2023 2h7min, ~17 miles. The first ~6 miles were an Optune jog. Then I did 4 hill reps (~60s) with jog down recoveries (~90s). Straight into the Munson loop (~8 miles) @ hard/mp-ish. Strava "splits": mile 10 6:47, 6:39, 6:33, 6:33, 6:29, 6:36, 6:33, 6:57. Some strides

I have a 30k this Saturday, which will be my last "big" training day (3 weeks out from the marathon). Looks to be nice a cool. I'm hoping to run something that keeps a sub 3 feeling like a possibility. ~2:05 seems to be the race equivalent time, and ~2:08 is @ goal marathon pace.

I'm not too worried from bombing, the long workout on 1/2, but it does show I'll need near ideal weather to have much of a shot. (It isn't that uncommon to have 60-70 degree weather with high humidity in February... which happened for my first marathon when I went ~1:18/~2:53).

Keep it up!

Good luck with the 30k!

I used to run a 30k a few weeks before the marathon and i could never make marathon pace. It just messed with my head but it was because i didn't taper for it.

So good that you are going into it not worried about bombing. If you crash and burn you could recover faster.

1/9 through 1/15

• 1/9/2023 30mn, 3.7mi; Optune jog and strides
• 1/10/2023 31min, 3.6mi; Optune jog and strides
• 1/11/2023 1h20m, 10.8mi. 3 x ( mlk hill rep [~260m with ~60' of gain], jog down, ~2mi @~goal mp [2 cemetery loops == ~3260m, ~180' gain/loss ]). Some strides. 67, 6:48/13:31, 68, 6:50/13:37, 67, 6:49/13:37
• 1/12/2023 22min, ~2.5mi; optune jog.
• 1/13/2023 29min, ~3.3mi; optune jog and strides
• 1/14/2023 2h23m, ~21mi; Bradley's 30k in 2:06:38; 1 mile split was ~6:58, 2mile ~13:58, 3 mile ~20:38 (made me question the mile markers), ~41:09 @ 6miles (stopped for wardrobe adjustments), 1:04:11 at the turnaround, even at mile 18 on I was still doing the math/shooting to just break 2:08, so I was very pleased to see 2:06 on the clock. Some strava 'splits' (not in sync with the race b/c of the warmup jog): mile 11, 6:50; mi 12, 6:32, 6:42, 6:44, 6:26, 6:26, 6:18, 6:32, 6:14. cool down jog and some strides.
• 1/15/2023 35min, ~4mi; Optune jog, first 1-2mi with the stroller

I was very happy with my 30k race. This is by far the best race/race effort I've had in years. I ran ~2:02:xx and 2:03:xx here a few years ago, but in both cases I bombed out near the end with some walk/trot the last few miles. I was hoping to run between 2:05 and 2:08, but mainly not blow up and need to walk. I felt sluggish, but somehow my splits kept getting stronger. I started very easy, but 7 miles in when the bigger hills start, I had some fatigue in my quads and thought I might have still overcooked it. Somehow, my last mile ended up being one of my fastest for the race. I kinda wish that had been the marathon race day. Now I'm just crossing my fingers while watching the weather forecast. I don't think I'll have too much trouble breaking 3 hours unless it is warm and/or muggy. It was ~ideal for the 30k, ~40*F.

Cheers,

You are rocking! You're motivating all us here!

• 1/16/2023 42min, ~4.9mi; Optune jog, some fitness trail, some strides
• 1/17/2023 49min, ~6mi; 4 Aussie ~400s (strava splits: 95s, 91, 95, 93)
• 1/18/2023 26min, ~2.8mi; optune jog and strides
• 1/19/2023 ~25min, optune stroller jog
• 1/20/2023 30min, optune and strides
• 1/21/2023 1h28min, 11.2mi; 10k "steady" on the 1k Hillcrest loop (~100' up in the from 100m-400m). Every other lap had a "surge" up + stride out the last bit of downhill. Steady laps were ~2:00-2:05 up / 4:39-4:44 @1k, surge laps were 1:55-1:59 up/4:22-4:35 @ 1k (lap 6 and 10 were 4:22)
• 1/22/2023 gym (rainy day): ~15min elliptical and weights
• 1/23/2022 26min, 3mi; optune jog and strides
• 1/24/2022 29min, 3.2mi; optune jog + strides
• 1/25/2022 60min, 8.2mi; 2 x ( mlk hill rep [~260m with ~60' of gain], jog down, ~2mi @~goal mp [2 cemetery loops == ~3260m, ~180' gain/loss ]), mlk hill rep. Some strides. 68, 6:49/13:38, 70, 7:00 (torrential rain)/13:48, 70.
• 1/26/2022 21min, Optune jog. 1/27/2022 35min, Optune and strides
• 1/28/2022 1h56, 15mi. Optune jog trail run
• 1/29/2022 off. My son didn't want to stroller jog in the AM, so it just turned into a family day
• 1/30/2022 27min, 3mi; optune jog, some strides 1/31/2022 22min, 2.5mi optun jog
• 2/1/2022 57 min, 7.5mi; 2 x (70s hill rep, jog down, ~10 min @~mp)
• 2/2/2022 25min, 2.8mi

The run on the 21st was the last work out / good run before. I ran a similar workout on Dec 30th, and I was substantially faster her. Yesterday was warm and probably a harder effort than it should have been. Just a few more easy Optune jogs (& hopefully getting over a mild cold) and then the race!

The forecast for the marathon this Sunday is looking good: mid 40s at the start and mid 50s when I should be finishing.

thanks for the support/following along.

🏃

Good luck! You got this!

Good luck, man!

We are all rooting for you!

Your training's been strong and the forecast sounds great; good luck on Sunday!