Fall Marathon Training- Week ending 8/9

Goal Race: Twin Cities

Goal time: 2:30

8 weeks out.

M- 6 (6:34 avg)

T- 7 warm up, 3x2k (6:54/6:50/6:45) w/ 2min recovery jog, 5x300, 4 cool (15 total)

W-10 (6:09 avg), a bit faster than I was planning for a recovery day, but met up with some old friends and the pace felt comfortable

R-8 (6:23 avg)

F-2.5 warm up, 3 miles at 5:32 pace, 7 min recovery, 8x800 (2:35 avg) with 2 min recovery, 7 min recovery, 3 miles at 5:17 pace, 2.5 cool down (17 total), best workout of the season, felt relaxed and not overly strained on any of it

S-7 (6:26 avg)

S-23 (7:06 avg) Grabbed this workout off of another thread, trying to teach my body how to mobilize fuel for 2hr40min+, felt good muscularly, but hips were sore from stabilizing on the rocky trails after 2:10. Good learning experience.

Total 86

Overall a solid week for me. Still wondering if 2:30 is a reasonable goal though.

Goal Race: Chicago

Goal Time: 2:30

Monday - AM - 4 miles recovery (~7:15 pace), PM - 11 miles easy (6:55 pace)

Tuesday - AM - 4 miles recovery, PM - 11 miles moderate (~6:30 pace)

Wednesday - AM - 4 miles recovery, PM - 2 mile warmup, 4 mile tempo (22:31), 4:00 recovery, 2 mile tempo (10:48), 2:00 recovery, 1 mile hard (4:58), 3 mile cool down. All done on an accurate mile loop road course. Felt surprisingly good in this god awful heat and humidity.

Thursday - AM - 4 miles recovery, PM - 9 miles moderate. Supposed to be 12 this afternoon, but horrendous thunderstorms complete with 50+ mph gusts cut this one short.

Friday - AM - 4 miles recovery, PM - 10 miles easy (~7:00 pace)

Saturday - 8 miles easy (~7:10 pace)

Sunday - 20 mile Long Run, first 12 miles around 6:55 pace, next 3.5 miles at marathon pace (5:40ish), 1.5 miles easy, next 3 miles at marathon pace (5:43). Intended on running 12 miles easy, and 8 miles at marathon pace, but a pit stop in the middle of the marathon pace stuff cut that short. Moral of story, don't dairy overload the night before a long run.

Weekly total - 101 miles

After 3 weeks of hard mileage and building, this week is a scheduled down week and I intend to hit around 70-75 miles with a full day off somewhere in there. I have a 5k race this coming Saturday (8/15) and hope to break 16 despite doing high mileage and no speed.

Good luck to all training for that fall marathon!!

Damn, nice training guys.

Ryan- Sounds like you will be close to 2:30 for sure. I'm having the same dilemma, I haven't been racing much, just focusing on training, so I'm not sure if my goals are too lofty. I'm going to run the New Haven 20k as a workout so hopefully that will give me some data. If I can run 5 or 10 seconds quicker than MP without a taper and without killing myself then I should be good to go I think.

Nothing at all!

I am taking a rest to recharge, then will follow a 14-week progression to get ready for Philly.

ryan409 wrote:

Goal Race: Twin Cities

Goal time: 2:30

8 weeks out.

(6:34 avg)

T- 7 warm up, 3x2k (6:54/6:50/6:45) w/ 2min recovery jog, 5x300, 4 cool (15 total)

(6:09 avg)

(6:23 avg)

F-2.5 warm up, 3 miles at 5:32 pace, 7 min recovery, 8x800 (2:35 avg) with 2 min recovery, 7 min recovery, 3 miles at 5:17 pace, 2.5 cool down (17 total), best workout of the season, felt relaxed and not overly strained on any of it

(6:26 avg)

S-23 (7:06 avg) Grabbed this workout off of another thread, trying to teach my body how to mobilize fuel for 2hr40min+, felt good muscularly, but hips were sore from stabilizing on the rocky trails after 2:10. Good learning experience.

Overall a solid week for me. Still wondering if 2:30 is a reasonable goal though.

I hope this doesn't sound bad, but I would wonder too, if you don't get some recovery in your week. I've run in that range for the marathon for a few years now and it doesn't appear you give yourself much rest. Especially in this heat, that could bite you.

Even the 23 at 7:06 on trails is fast. I like the quote that is states 'treat your recovery just as seriously as your hard workouts'...

Chicago 2:30-2:33

Week two of first three week cycle

M - 8 miles with 1 easy then 7 at marathon pace.

T - 6 in 45

W - 12 in 80

R - 20 in 138

F - 4 in 32

S - 8 in 60

S - 10 in 62

I'm probably jinxing myself by posting on this thread (didn't make it to the start line of marathons the past three falls in a row), but what the hell...

I've been working primarily on base fitness since a half in April. End-May I paced a lady in an attempt to qualify for Worlds, but she bailed after 23k. I picked the pace back up, carried on and managed to run a decent time for me (2:42:30 - PB is 2:42:02).

Summer training has been fairly random, as I've started a new job this year and didn't know what kind of hours/travel I would have. I've been running a couple of fast but controlled runs each week, ranging from 3 to 8 miles. Last week I jumped into a 5000 to test the wheels and managed 16:09, only 1s slower my outdoor PB (mind you I've gone 15:54 indoors - don't ever seem to find ideal weather outdoors for the longer stuff).

Anyway, that has me thinking about doing a September half on the way to a late fall marathon (likely Philly). I'd like to aim to go faster thn 2:40.

This week was 85 miles with 5 x 2000 (400j) Tuesday, 7 miles fast but controlled Friday, and a 15 mile hilly trail run Sunday. I may jump into a race or two this week, then get my nose back to the grindstone.

Have a great week everyone!

dotato wrote:

Chicago 2:30-2:33

Week two of first three week cycle

M - 8 miles with 1 easy then 7 at marathon pace.

T - 6 in 45

W - 12 in 80

R - 20 in 138

F - 4 in 32

S - 8 in 60

S - 10 in 62

Really dotato, on Thursday you ran 20 mi. in 1:38...4:54 pace?! I'd say 2:30-2:33 pace will feel like a race walk for you.

BTW, do you still steal gummy bears from local buffets?

Really dotato, on Thursday you ran 20 mi. in 1:38...4:54 pace?! I'd say 2:30-2:33 pace will feel like a race walk for you.

I think he means 138 minutes (2hrs 18mins), which is totally believable for a potential 2:30 marathoner.

Goal Race: Chicago Marathon

Goal Time: sub-2:40

This was a week to finally get my mileage up to where it should be so I only had one day of hard pace. I'll do that for another week and then start adding in a second day of speed.

MON: PM - 11 Easy over hills

TUE: PM - 5 mile warmup. 4 x mile at a couple of notches slower than lactate threshold pace. 1 minute rests. 5:43, 5:41, 5:36, 5:35

WED: PM - 14 easy

THU: AM 6.5 easy, PM: 8.25 easy

FRI: AM: 10 easy, PM: 6 easy

SAT: PM - 10 easy

SUN: AM - 10 easy. PM - 6 easy

Total - 91 miles

Stevo Burgundy wrote:

BTW, do you still steal gummy bears from local buffets?

Those are paid for with the dinner. But to answer your question directly, yes.

Goal Race: NYC Marathon

Goal Time: No Idea... 2:45 for now. Will have a better idea after the half this weekend.

Mon- 17

Tue- 9

Wed- 5

Thur- 11 (2.5 warmup, then fartlek of 5:00, 4:00, 3:00, 2:00, 1:00 hard followed by normal pace running for equal time. Ran probably 5:15 down to 4:40 pace). Felt really good. Doubt that my "offs" were slower then 7:00 pace.

Fri- 9

Sat- 10

Sun- 14 while pushing a baby stroller for 11 miles of it. Was probably averaging 6:30-45 pace too.

Weekly Total: 75

Other then the 14 and fartlek, my runs averaged between 7:00 ad 7:30 pace, probably. That 5 miler may have been like 8:00 pace. I was crawling. This week I start marathon specific work. 2x3M at 6:18 pace tomorrow or Wed and the half on Sunday (hopefully 1:18:59). About 65 if things go well, with a day off, and then up to about 80-85 on singles for 4 weeks straight before a down week and a 5k.

Goal Race: Wineglass

Goal Time: 3:20?

M 6 w/ 3xmi at 620 w/ 3minute jog recovery (630 632 635 actual). 90F and hilly trail for mile repeats, and a hard workout on sunday.

T 6EZ

W 6EZ

R 10 w/ 6x30sec striders

F 6recovery

S 5 incl. 5k race to assess anemia recovery.

S 20 EZ

Total 59. Goal 60. OK week. The first in a while. Ran a 5k to see where I was at. Struggled to hold a little slower than my tempo pace in the spring. That's very annoying, I must say. However, a minute faster 5k than a month ago, and I only felt terrible rather than like I was dying-making progress.

Next week: 60 miles including a marathon pace workout (16 with last 8 at mp). I have no idea what this will work out to be. Hopefully sub 320 goal pace.

Not sure

sub 2:40?

M: 8mi easy 7min pace

T: AM: 2mi PM: 1.5wu 8mi @ 6:10, 3mi wd

W: 8mi easy 7min pace

T: 1.5mi wu, 9mi @ 6:00, 2mi wd

F: 1.5hrs dancing with kids at Reggae concert. Run schmun.

S: 9mi easy 6:50 pace

S: 18.5 @ 6:53 pace (raining!)

70 for week

Foot not bothering me all that much although was feeling it in last 4 miles of long run (might need new sneaks). Pulbagia pretty minor but still feel cautious.