Marathon Training Thread - Week Ending 1/24

Nice training Marmite.

Here is my week. I'm fully into it now!

Race: Boston

Goal: 2:37:00-2:39:59

Mon- Off to let stuff heal after limping for 8 miles on Sun

Tue- Off to let stuff heal after limping for 8 miles on Sun

Wed- 9 easy

Thur- 10 pretty hard. Also went to a specialist for piriformis syndrome. He did some crazy stuff where he basically shocked me to determine if my sciatic nerve was compromised. Turns out it is and piriformis syndrome is the official diagnosis! He gave me an EMG guided shot of cortisone and lidocaine, and it had an instant effect! Now I need to do PT 3-5 times a week, and if after 2 weeks I'm not much better, on to Botox. I need Aetna to cover it, though, because its $1600 otherwise. I'm at the point, though, where I'll dish it out. Sucks, but it will be worth every penny it if it works.

Fri- 15.4 Total. AM: 10.4, PM: 5. BEST RUNS IN 4 YEARS AS FAR AS PAIN!!!!

Sat- 20+. Felt awesome for 10 miles, clicking off 6:20-6:50 pace depending on if uphill or downhill. Hadn't felt that comfortable in a long time. Then I hammered a half mile or so uphill and my troubles resurfaced (hip/hammy troubles). I made it through the next 10 miles by stopping and stretching every 10 minutes. Man was that frustrating after thinking I was cured. I should know better. Anyway, on the plus side, I never, not once, had any breathing issues nor, more importantly, energy issues. Leading up to NYC, I would be dead after 2 hrs of running. Yesterday, 2:15:00 and no problem.

Sun- 8 easy and 7 easy (later today if everything goes as planned)

Weekly Total: 70 in 5 days. I should be at 95 in 7 come Tuesday and plan on being between 90 and 100 here on out, with PT and strength training. I'll be in monster shape come Boston... if the piriformis issues can be resolved. I'm optimistic for the first time in years! Oh, and Marmite, looking to improve 6 minutes from NYC to Boston. Its my 1st marathon to 2nd marathon and I didn't train for several years before 2009, so I didn't have a huge base for NY.

Goal: Boston 2010, 2:49:59

I had a nice cutback week. Week 6 of 18 for Boston. The week went OK.Nice and slow for most runs. Came down with a little bit of a cold Friday afternoon, but I seem to feel a little better today. Cut back today's LR from 16 to 15 because of cold and time...

M: 5 @ 8:51 AHR 111 (TM)

T: 9.66 @ 8:14 AHR 130

W: 13.13 @ 8:00 AHR 133

R: 5.21 @ 8:26 (HRM didn't work)

F: 12.49 @ 7:37 AHR 143

S: 8.00 @ 8:06 AHR 134 (Felt a little crappy from cold).

S: 15.00 @ 7:55 AHR 133 (Getting over cold, kept slow)

Tot: 68.5

Who would have thought a cutback would be almost 70 miles. I've got 20 days of hell coming up, hopefully I'll get through it... Weeks of 100, 102, and 6 days to 85.

Paces are getting back to where I was before Chicago. I can't wait til its light out in the morning and temps are about 25-30 degrees higher....

Thanks for starting it off this week marmite. I never thought about you UK guys, by the time I usually start this thread, it's probably Monday for you :)

BTW, Awesome week marmite! That kind of success with that quality would have me smiling as well!

2TM - Glad to hear that you're pain free. After an experience like you had at the half, it probably would've taken a mental toll on me.

Another - Looks like we're on the same schedule for down weeks. Hit the Vitamin C and get some sleep, the cold will gone before you know it.

After the 107 miles last week, I had a scheduled down week, including my first day off in almost two months.

Goal Race: Boston

Goal Time: 2:32

M: am - 4 miles easy (6:55) / pm - 10 miles easy (6:55)

Tu: OFF

W: am - 4 miles easy (7:10) / pm - 12 miles easy (6:50)

Th: am - 4 miles easy (7:20) / pm - 10 miles easy (7:00)

F: am - 4 miles easy (7:25) / pm - 8 miles moderate (6:20)

Sa: 8 miles easy (7:05)

Su: 17 miles easy (6:45)

Weekly Total - 81 miles

I didn't really need this down week, but the day off was quite nice. Very anxious to get back to the big mileage.

Nice weeks, all. Inspiring stuff.

2TM--a friend of mine says "the nice thing about getting sick is how awesome normal feels afterward." Great that you're recovered.

Monday: AM: 13, PM: 5.

Tues: AM: 6, PM: 7.

Wed: AM: 5, PM: 6.

Thurs: AM: 9, moderate.

Friday: PM: 10, easy.

Saturday: AM: 18, 2:05. Got faster the whole way, a couple under 6:00 toward the end. Felt good.

Sunday: AM: 4ish, easy.

Total, 84. Just about my biggest week ever. Feeling great.

2TM: You really hammered if after the PT. Do you think it would be better to ease into it?

Marmite: nice week, keep it up.

Another: I was thinking the same thing today. Can't wait until it's light out and warm. Looked at some old training logs this weekend and was somewhat envious of the 80F, sunny, and humid on a Tuesday night comments. Now it's always dark, windy and 25F. Mostly I'm just tired of slipping on ice.

Track Meat: Congrats on the big week. Nice long run too!

Anyway, My week:

Goal: Boston 2010

Time: Sub 2:40

M: AM-5mi easy PM-6 mi easy

T: 13mi total, 6x1600m w/1min rest (5:31, 5:24, 5:26, 5:26, 5:25, 5:22)

W: 11.5mi easy

T: 12mi w/ 10mi moderate/hard (no watch, but probably 6:00avg, aka MP)

F: 10.5mi easy

S: 6mi easy (back spasms cut short an 8miler)

S: 16mi progression, 6:30avg (basically ran 2mi loop 8x dropping 10sec per mile each loop)

Total: 80mi/week

This week was a rest week in Pfitzinger 18/85+, but I was finally feeling good so I took advantage of it without going overboard. Plenty of energy and no problem with turnover. A few weeks ago when I freaked out about the failed tempo run and overall fatigue I was suffering from digestive issues for about 7-10days. I didn't think much of it and thought the sluggishness/lack of energy was from the training. However, considering how I feel this week I'm thinking I had some kind of stomach bug and was not absorbing enough nutrients. Energy level is 100x better since the problems stopped.

Goal Race: Boston 04/19/10

Goal: Top 50/sub-2:25

Pablo, those are the good down weeks, when you don't absolutely need them. Nothing wrong with feeling like you're healthy, recovering well, and absorbing the miles. A scheduled down week for me as well, but for my part I sure needed it. As I mentioned last week I was fighting a cold, which hit its peak last Sunday. I gradually got over the hump this week and now I'm healthy. But I feel kind of beat up in terms of running. Not sure if it's because my body is taking the opportunity (low volume week) to recover, or because I over-did it in terms of quality the last few days. Anyway here it is:

M - Recovery Run 8

T - Aerobic Run w/ 4 x 165y bf strides, 11 total

W - Recovery: a.m. 3.5, p.m. 7.5, 11 total

R - Aerobic w/ 11 x 50m bf strides, 10.5 total

F - Cruise Intervals: 3 x [5', 3', 2'] w/ 2' recovery between intervals. 12 total, hilly.

S - a.m. Aerobic 13.5

Sn - a.m. easy 4 (trails), p.m. easy 5, 9 total

Total: 75 miles

cleveland 3:15

Nice weeks all around. Reading people having great weeks makes me look forward to one day being in shape.

Not much to report. Ran a terrible 38 last week and 40 this week after 2 weeks off due to work. Finally had a good run tonight, so I might be out of my funk. I'll be back in the 50s next week unless I'm still funkfull. I've got a ten miler in a month so there is not time to have crappy training. Its probably just a bad stretch rather than my anemia problem since i haven't gotten dizzy walking around or going up stairs yet. I'm not really going slower, just feeling terrible the whole time with an elevated heart rate. I told my wife that I'm not feeling like a runner since I can easily go down stairs. This is usually a sign that training is going poorly.

Anyone have an idea of how long a bad stretch of training can last if there is nothing serious wrong? Can a virus or something do this?

Boston 2010

GOAL: TBA

Monday- 8m Easy pace.

Tuesday- 8m w/200/400/800/1200/800/400/200/200/200/200/200 with 400m rest between each (only 200m rest between 200's). Felt pretty good and perhaps "fast"

W- 12 miles- lots of hills.

R- 7m real easy and real slow, but perhaps I needed to go slow.

F- 3m Body felt beat up so, just went out for a bit

Sa- 21m with a 56min 15k thrown in there for fun

Su- 8m body felt beat up again

67 miles total. I know I am the mortal runner in this thread, but 67 is a pretty high number for me to hit. Actually the highest in 10 weeks for me. Pretty happy with the week overall- especially since I ran a marathon 5 weeks ago and was able to run a solid 15k with such a big amount of miles on my legs.

Keep up the good work guys.

You fellas are the real deal, but I like this thread so I'm going to continue posting my progress. A very good week for myself although a bit beat today on the long run. Here she is:

Goal Race: Boston April 2010

Goal: 2:52:59

M - 5 recovery

T - 9 (730s)

W - skiing

TH - 11.5 moderate, snow and ice

F - 9.5 (730s)

Sa - 5 easy - skiing

Su - 16.5 easy, snow and ice - skiing

Total: 56.5 miles, 3 days of skiing. Great week, need some rest.

Probably... but I'm so used to running in pain, I figure what's the worst thing... I continue running in pain? Its not going to get worse, so might as well run my plan until Boston.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. These next few weeks sound like they're going to be high for everyone. Get after it!

Great job so far. Seems like things are going well for just about everyone.

Man 2nd timer, I hope you kick that thing. Piriformis is such a nasty injury. I suggest going back to square 1, look at your running mechanics and revolutionize it if you have to. But I DEFINITELY don't want to push this thread into any kind of letsrun shouting match involving running mechanics ;)

arroyo, where are you based? Sounds like winter.

AverageJoe, where were you today? Looked for you at Harvard.

Goal Race: Boston

Goal: 2:3x

Great work this week, all. I am trying to get back into the swing as my foot is still flaring up a bit (tendinitis in R hallicis longus, ie pain on heel strike on top of foot). Better than last week, but I'll be happier when it is totally gone and I can bump up my mileage, again.

M: 10mi easy. Slight twinge in foot but no pain.

T: Off. Went out for my warm up in flats and my foot was painful from the getgo so I shut it down. Was on my feet all day in dress shoes so this probably didn't help.

W: 12mi easy/moderate (6:40ish). Little sign of any pain in my foot. Was rebounding from the day off so ran a little faster than my normal easy pace.

Th: 2mi wu, 13.3 SS (5:51 pace), 1mi wd. Strapped on my fat trainers for this one to get my foot a break from the pounding. Felt really relaxed throughout. No foot trouble.

F: 10mi easy. Felt a twinge my foot by about 5mi, so I stayed on my forefoot for remainder of run.

S: Hit the gym for 70min of biking, elliptical, and pool running. Don't have the attention span to do any one for that long! The boredom and mental anguish are easily worth the 10mi on the road, so I'm counting it, damnit. ;)

S: 19mi easy (40F and raining) Ran around a 2mi trail circuit for most of the way to monitor my foot. Started very slow and naturally accelerated throughout the run. Felt very easy but all I was thinking about was finishing the run pain-free. Mission accomplished. Muddy trails were the way to go. Looking forward to getting back my normal schedule.

78mi for the week

Some impressive training banged in this past week guys - well done all!

Me:

Goal: sub-2.45, Rotterdam.

Sun 18/01 - 22M steady. Ran this one with tired legs owing to the hard 12K XC the day before. Took about 5 miles to get into the groove and feel any kind of flow but managed a strong final 6 miles. This was the longest I have ever run and my legs felt totally depleted by the end. Is it worth using gels on runs this long or should I be training my body to use fat for fuel? Interested in peoples' opinions.

M - 8M slow and easy. Quads smashed. Tried out new Nike Zoom Streak III for the first time. Feels like a good marathon shoe.

T - 9M slow and easy. Still feeling the weekend's action.

W - AM: 4M slow jog / PM: 15 mins WU, 4 x 3000m on the track at tempo pace with 400m recovery (first one too slow in 10.59 then avg 10.50 for the rest), 15 mins CD. Decent session but I need to get a little more familiar with tempo pace as times weren't as uniform as I wanted. Legs on the way to recovery but not quite there and this impacted upon relative ease of the session.

T - 9M slow and easy.

F - 8M slow and easy.

S - 9M steady. Able to wake up and move around for a few hours before going for my run and it made a big difference. Was a great feeling to be able to flow again after a week of recovery running in between hard workouts.

Total miles for week: 81 - highest ever (by half a mile!)

Overall, I'm feeling good as I move into the marathon specific training (phase III of Daniels' plan) but there is a fair bit of niggling pain on the inside edge of my left knee and where the ham ties in around the back. Comes and goes but I am hoping to get it behind me soon. Applying ice and occasionally using ibuprofen when it gets worse. Hmm...

Geez, you guys are some serious runners. I have no business being a part of this thread. My 6:50 MP is slower than easy pace for many of you.

I'm recovering painfully from houston. Heartrate is still very elevated. Did 3 5-milers at 8:50 to 9:30 pace and also did a surprisingly enjoyable 40 minute session on the elliptical.

Have a bad cold and my adductors kill me. So I am not in a great mood. Not sure if I should build up for Rotterdam on april 11. Not really enough time, is there?

I've never done more than marathon per calendar year. Perhaps I should just target a fall marathon and build a stronger base in the meantime. Though I'm not really sure what that means in practice. I like following schedules. What should I be doing for the next 4 months before I begin a 4 month marathon buildup?

Race: Boston 2010

Goal: Sub 2:30

Monday - 14 miles relaxed, dropping down to 5:40's the last 3 miles (6:17 avg)

Tuesday - 9 recovery

Wednesday - 9 recovery

Thursday - 8 miles relaxed, windy day

Friday - 10 miles, 3 x hill repeats on Reservoir Road. This hill is .37 of a mile long, the last .20 of the repeat is a gain of 100 vertical feet, so these are tough. 3 was enough to make me sick.

Saturday - rest day (lazy)

Sunday - 11 miles 6 x 1/4 mile fartlek just to get the legs turning over. Wanted to do 17 miles but was just too tired.

Week - 61 miles from 6 runs. Not too bad, but I know I need to get those numbers up.

I've been doing yoga with my wife 2-3 times a week this month. I've had lower back/butt/piriformis issues for the last several years, and it's gotten to be really frustrating. The yoga has made a world of difference already. I would recommend it to anyone who deals with low back/butt pain while running. It's a DVD, "Power Yoga" with Rodney Yee, I think.

Plus, doing the running stretches from the book "Pain Free" that I borrowed from AKMarmoset. (I spilled some beer on the book last week, sorry) These stretches have been great for the tight hamstrings.

niarun - Welcome back!! Has this "lack of mileage" been going on for a while? An illness/virus can certainly put you down and out for a while. But it sounds like you just need to push through this rough patch to get back to your desired fitness...in other words, you're just out of shape.

Motorbreath - Congrats on the milege PR!

CTA - First things first, get healthy! Don't worry about how you feel now, Houston was only one week ago. If you feel like running now, go run, if not...don't stress over it. There's nothing worse than starting another training cycle already injured/sick/etc. I'd take this week real light, run every other day at the most. Then start to evaluate what you want to do next week.

jacabo - Welcome aboard the Boston train! Even though my goal is 2:32, on a great day I think I'm ready for sub 2:30. In other words, I'll keep an eye on your training!

BostonBound - Nice week. Two solid workouts and a quality long run. Hope the back spasms are nothing serious.

AKMarmoset - Yeah, I really try to take down weeks before I need them to prevent me from skipping runs when I really shouldn't be. I'm feeling awesome right now, and I know it's only gonna get harder on me the next 12 weeks.

Motorbreath: Quote: "Is it worth using gels on runs this long or should I be training my body to use fat for fuel? Interested in peoples' opinions."

I like Greg McMillan's philosophy on this. No gels for long easy runs where you're just getting in time on your feet. Only use gels for long runs with MP efforts involved and you need to practice. This way you teach or body to become more efficient. He suggests working up to a morning long run without breakfast or any gels. But. You have to work up to it over a long period of time. I still eat a bagel or something before I head out.

The feeling of being totally depleted will make you physically and mentally stronger. The only negative would be slow recovery. But if you can handle that, you're fine.

BTW, Motorbreath I'm with BostonBound on this one. I only use gels in training when I'm doing a long run coupled with a long MP run (10 miles or greater). If it's an easy long run, or even a steady, moderate paced long run...no gels for me. Although I only take 2 during the marathon anyway...some folks take 4 or more.

I'm assuming this is your first marathon (you said the 22 was your longest run ever), so you should see if you can handle the gels while in MP stride. But I don't think you should need gels every long run, a couple of practice runs prior to race day will suffice.

Paris - 4/10

Goal - 2:25-2:27

Hi guys caught the tail end of one of posts a few weeks back and want to keep up as another form of motivation.

Sun - 20 miles total on a brutal course significant rolling sections. Uptempo from miles 12-18 finishing up the most difficult climb, 5:55, 5:47,5:37, 5:37, 5:33, 5:45.

2:07:35 for the whole thing

Mon - am 10

pm 6

Tues - am 10

pm 6

Wed - 10 miles ez

Thur - 15 miles total with 3 x 2k with a gut busting climb for final 500 meters overall pace at 5:25-5:30 and then 2 sets of 400, 300, 200 up hill surges.

Fri am 6 ez running

pm 8 ez running

Sat - 12 (1:25:07)