Marathon Training Thread - Week Ending 7/11

Goal Race: Wineglass 10/3, NYC 11/7

Time: 2:48:xx

Looks like I'm low man on the roster this week. Seeing that I started official training today. Will not have a planned day off probably until end of September and will probably be 80+ mpw until then, I took it easy last week.

Also, officially signed up for Wineglass on 10/3. With Mohawk-Hudson closed, I though Wineglass won't be open for that much longer.

pablo, Man, the weather was awesome this past week. I can't remember a better running week weather wise in a long time!

I kept it relatively easy this week. Took yesterday off. As I don't know when I'll take another day off with marathon training starting today. Should be interesting trying to fit in Pfitz's 12/85+ in this wonderful summer weather!

Ran a track race on Wed evening. It was hot, but it was only a 800m. Running that short in heat isn't all that bad.

My HRM stopped working after Monday's run. Probably a dead battery, so I took it as a good sign to put the thing away for this training cycle

M: 5.57 @ 8:05 AHR 131 (MI: 143.0)

T: 9.68 @ 7:33 (MI: 138.8)

W am: 6.14 @ 8:13 (MI: 144.5)

pm: 0.88 @ 8:07 (MI: 159.5)

800m race in 2:24.14 (2:24.47 FAT) 72.39-71.75 (MI: 155.8)

R: 5.23 @ 8:11 (MI: 149.5)

F: 9.73 @ 7:47 (MI: 148.4)

S: 5.21 @ 8:14 (MI: 151.3)

S: Off

Tot: 42.9

Next week should be almost double this.

Hey 3TM,

The run on Wednesday was a bit of a surprise. I am not sure if it was the cool weather or a jump in fitness because typically my pace has been 6:35-6:40 @ HR 155-160 on 80deg. days.

Have you been using a HR monitor lately? I seem to remember you mentioning it on an earlier thread. So far I think training by heart rate (last 6 wks) has been effective and efficient. The real proof, or lack thereof, will come when I start workouts in a few weeks though.

Jul 05: 10

Jul 06: 10

Jul 07: 10

Jul 08: 10

Jul 09: 6

Jul 10: 5k in 16:13 ftw, 5k cool down

Jul 11: 0

52 for the week.

10/3 (Maine) marathon

goal 2:47ish

Thanks for all of the encouragement last week.

A planned down week for training and a busy one non-running wise...body is feeling refreshed and ready to bump it up again this week.

3/10

11

11

8

8

4

11

66 miles

Richmond Nov. 13

goal 3:40

I decided to step back for a week and see if no running would help with soreness in both achilles as well as a couple other foot issues that have been lingering since I injured them at the Pgh. marathon in early May. Things seem to have improved so I'll be getting a few miles this week. Last week is below...

monday lift 90mins

tues elliptical 60mins

wed off

thur ellipt. 50mins

fri AM/ellipt 60mins PM/lift 60mins

sat ellipt 90mins

sun ellipt. 120mins

At least training indoors in the AM helped beat the heat here in Pittsburgh....

Milwaukee 10/3

Goal: 2:29

M: 8.5

Tu: 12.8 3x9min tempo with 90 sec recovery working down from 5:45 pace to 5:30 on the last.

W: 10.5/4

Th: 11.5 very light track workout 2x400@5-6k 5x1200@LT 2x400. 76-77 on the 400s and 5:25-30pace on the longer reps. 200m recovery on all.

F: 8.3

Sa: 15 with 3miles uptempo around 5:30 pace on slight downhill

Su: 10 with 5x200m strides

Total: 80 miles

Very hot early in the week but great weekend running weather while camping. Nice weeks all around. Some super impressive/inspiration training on here.

Pittsburgh Joe - Pssh, monsoon season...I've run during hurricanes before (seriously). Nice 10 mile tempo...I don't think I could hit that pace right now. I thought you were BS'ing the name of that AZ town...so I decided to google it. Just looking at the google maps, it looks like you might at least have some decent running routes nearby.

3TM - Well, it doesn't sound like a fun way to get the miles in...but at least you're able to do it. Just gotta keep with the stretching, icing, drugs...you know the drill.

blaznbison - I had a similar experience during my long run. The first 10 felt great, the next 5 even better...then BAM, the effort went from easy to difficult with no middle ground.

Spaceman - Great long run! I've heard from numerous people that if you can do 23 miles in your goal marathon TIME (not pace) while in training, then you're right in line with your goal. 23 in 2:25 is no joke, especially in the dog days of summer.

Abu - You've already proved that 2:30:low is possible off relatively low mileage. I love those runs when its pouring...makes it go by sooo effortlessly.

BEM - Welcome back! Excellent last couple of weeks of mileage you've had.

Goal Race: Philadelphia

Goal Time: 2:35

This was a scheduled down-week for me. My legs felt awful all week and the workouts didn't go well. I didn't get out on Tuesday until 6pm when it was 100+ degrees plus humidity, so my times reflect how terrible I felt. Thursday, I planned a seven-mile tempo, but bagged it after three miles.

I'm not so great at the short distances, but thought it would be fun to race a mile. There were 25+ people on the track and it went extremely slow (77 seconds) through the first lap in a very large pack. After the first lap, one of the faster guys charged to the front and things started to string out a bit and I was finally able to move into lane 1. My only goal was to break 5 minutes, so I'm pretty happy to have done it.

Mo - Off (planned)

Tu - 1 mile w/u, 3 x 1 mile with 800m rest (5:26, 5:38, 5:59), 12 mile c/d

We - 13 miles easy

Th - AM: 1 mile w/u, 3 mile tempo (6:02, 6:00, 6:07), 1 mile c/d; PM: 11.5 miles easy

Fr - 2 mile w/u; 1 mile race in 4:58.2; 2 mile c/d

Sa - Off (unplanned)

Su - 20 miles easy

Total: 71.5 miles

Still building slowly. The old injury pain comes and goes sporadically, but as long as it's not getting consistently worse I'm going to keep inching it up.

Goal: 2:15

M: 12

Tues: 11

Wed: 12

Thurs: 12

Fri: 12

Sat: 12

Sun: 15

Total: 84

Some great training going on here - very inspiring guys, keep it up!

Race: Chicago

Goal: sub-2:22

M - 13 miles easy

T - 12 miles @ 6:20 pace

W - AM: 5 miles easy, PM: 13 miles @ 6:25 pace

R - AM: 9 miles easy, PM: 5 miles easy

F - AM: 8 miles easy, PM: 5 miles easy

Sa - 4.5 miles (fell, cut the run short, details below)

Su - 0 miles

Total: 74.5 miles

Well, this week didn't go as planned. It was a great week of running until Saturday. I went up to Wisconsin with a friend/training partner to hang out at his family's lake house for the weekend. We were excited to hit some of the local trails for our long run on Sunday. I was hoping to get 20-22 miles in. About 4 miles into the run, we hopped on a trail. At this point the trail was actually rough asphalt covered with dirt. About 30 meters into the trail, I caught my right toe on an uneven spot in the trail and went down. Hard. I broke the fall with my hands, so they got torn up the worst. Then I hit my right knee really hard on the asphalt. I also tore up my right shoulder. It did NOT feel good. I believe I let out a few choice words at a substantial volume and then got back up to try to run off the pain. I was a mess. I was covered in blood and mud. We jogged back to the house so that I could clean up and see the full extent of the carnage. The hands probably took the worst blow. The asphalt had some big rocks that really did a number on my palms. And the knee started to swell quite a bit. I considered going back out to finish the run, but I decided better of it and just iced the knee and drank a beer. I decided to take Sunday off as well in order to let the knee rest a bit more. It feels pretty good today, so I'll be fine to run. While I'm mad at myself for being careless and messing up my week, I'm also glad that I'm really only going to miss out on a day or two of running. It could have been much worse. Anyway, I still managed to have a fun weekend. I hope everyone else's weeks were a little better than mine...

Another - I'll make you feel better, I'm way lower than you for the week. I got all of 31.5 Nothing really wrong, just some overall tiredness running wise. Most of the year I had been in the 40-55 mpw range. After the kidney stone incident I jumped from 12.5 to 50 to 68,68 and I think it was catching up to me. Add to that planning/prep for a B-Day BBQ for my daughter and the 24 hour race I'm doing next weekend and I decided it was time to cut back.

Goal: 2:48-50

Race: Columbus

Mon - off (planned)

Tues - 11 (7:18 overall. After 15 min. I was thinking about quitting running, by 40 min I knew I'd get through ok, by 60 min I decided to add on another 20 min at faster than 7 pace.)

Wed - 7.5 (7:03 Faster than I thought)

Thurs - 4 (7:35 Easy. Planned a double, but it was at this point I decided to back off)

Fri/Sat - Off (party prep)

Sun - 9 (7ish - Unmeasured route. Included about 2 barefoot at the HS)

Indeed, Carefree is a real place, sort of. If you imagine end on end golf courses, semi-palatial resorts, lining sun-cracked highways and tended by an army of semi-legal and not-so-legal immigrants, that's pretty much it. I always found AZ to be an odd place. That said, "Raising Arizona" remains one of my favorite movies of all time and ruined every Nicolas Cage movie for me from then on. Of course, the movie does little to redeem the state. At least I get to visit some family in Tucson while I am there. (Apologies to anyone who lives in AZ.)

I'm late to the thread, and I missed last week's, too - no internet access on vacation. However, the two weeks were pretty similar - same high mileage, same poor workouts.

Race: Chicago

Goal: 2:48-2:50

M 8.5 AM / 5 PM

T 12

W 7.5 AM / 4.5 PM

T 4 AM / 14 PM*

F 5 AM / 7.5 PM

S 7 AM

S 15.5 AM** / 4.5 PM

___

95 miles

*Thursday workout: 7 x 5:00 hard, 4:00 jog, 1 x 3:00 hard. (Total 38 minutes hard.)

**Sunday workout: 3 x 1 mile tempo (6:01, 6:05, 6:07), on either side of 1 hour easy.

Overall, I was pleased to get 95 miles for the second consecutive week (huge mileage PR for me), and I didn't get injured, but otherwise I didn't feel positive about this week. The heat and humidity sap me of energy, especially in workouts, and there's no immediate end in sight.

Sunday AM was supposed to be an especially challenging workout of 5-6 x 1 mile tempo, followed by an hour easy, but I got through the first two mile repeats and had to stop - I just didn't feel I had the energy. Went and ran the hour, came back to the track, could only manage one more repeat. I managed to get the day's miles in, but my confidence took a hit.

Next up is a down week (about 70 miles), followed by an attempt to crack the 100-mile barrier. But I'm more concerned about the big workouts coming up in July and August, and how to handle them in the high heat and humidity that show no sign of letting up. I guess I'll just keep reading these threads to see how everyone else is managing.

Chicago 225ish

7/5 am 11 pm 4 easy

7/6 am 13 pm off

7/7am 11 with 2x2mi 2 min recovery(1055, 1100) 4x 200 35

11 total, pm 7 mi mod. 6-620 pace

7/8 10 easy

7/9 am 9 pm 4

7/10 am 22 (1st 10 75min on single track trail, 2nd 10

58 min asphalt trail)

7/11 am 16 easy 730 pm 4 easy

111 total miles good week in some hot and humid conditions!!!

bobby e - its tough in these conditions to hit the paces you are supposed too. Looking back at last summer for my Chicago training. There was a 2-3 week period of very humid weather in August. My LT runs were @ or slower than MP-pace. I had a failed attempt at a half-marathon. Generally all of my run were probably 10-20 seconds or more slower than normal. You just have to deal with it....

However, it still all came around once September and October came around for Chicago....

However, this summer appears to be far worse.

Ya, the heat and humidity is taking a toll on my paces as well. For me, it's the longer drawn out runs that are damaged, MP effort is around MP+15/20secs. Shorter intervals i seem to be managing perhaps because i anticipate the upcoming break. So i've been splitting my LT runs into chunks. I just wonder how it will "all come around" if i am not getting used to MP right now. Especially from a confidence perspective.

It's been rough getting in the longer 12+ mile midweek runs because you just want to stop running after an hour in the heat so i've been managing my weekly mileage by adding in doubles. But some of my morning 4 milers are really really really slow.

CTA wrote:

Ya, the heat and humidity is taking a toll on my paces as well. For me, it's the longer drawn out runs that are damaged, MP effort is around MP+15/20secs. Shorter intervals i seem to be managing perhaps because i anticipate the upcoming break. So i've been splitting my LT runs into chunks. I just wonder how it will "all come around" if i am not getting used to MP right now. Especially from a confidence perspective.

It's been rough getting in the longer 12+ mile midweek runs because you just want to stop running after an hour in the heat so i've been managing my weekly mileage by adding in doubles. But some of my morning 4 milers are really really really slow.

Yes it does make you wonder whether or not you'll be ready come race day. But for example, on 8.21.2009, 79F/76DP, I ran 7.3 miles with 4 miles @ "LT". Those LT miles? 6:32, 6:48, 6:50, 6:54. I had to take the next day off because I was spent. Still managed 2:55 in Chicago.

I've been contemplating dropping from 12/85+ to 12/70-85 basically due to the weather. My 14 miler this morning was rather horrid and I still feel wiped 5 hours later.

Hello all!

I hope everyone's training is going well. Last Sunday, I ran the Utica Boilermaker 15k and loved the race, despite not running anywhere near what I wanted to run. I would recommend this race to all you guys if you haven't already done this one in the past. The post race party is really THE LEGENDARY POST RACE PARTY!

The reason for this post is to announce to you my retirement from the marathon at 33 yrs old. There are various reasons for my decision:

1/ I have already run under 3 hours (2:54) at the 2002 NYC Marathon. In my opinion, for a runner of my level, breaking 3 hours is the ultimate time goal that we focus all of our training on.

2/ Out of 7 marathons I ran, only 2 had descent weather. The rest were run in horrible weather. That aspect of the marathon, where you train for months for one day and the weather turns out bad, is something that really frustrates me.

3/ This one is connected to reason number 2. I LOVE to race! This week, I was able to sit down and really reflect and look back on all my marathon build ups. wow, how many races did I give up to put in my long runs, high miles and marathon-specific work outs. That made me realize that I truly do not enjoy marathon training. I am happy when I'm racing frequently and feeling sharp.

4/ I do not enjoy running more than 90 minutes. Running for 2 hours to 2 hours and 45 minutes is boring and not enjoyable to me.

5/ I do not enjoy the feeling in your legs in those 5-6-10 weeks after a marathon. Honestly, I HATE the so-called "marathon legs" feeling, specially after running one in hot weather. Perfect example, this year, I ran one on May 2nd and until this day, I don't feel 100% yet. Additionally, I dislike the lost of fitness after a marathon after you've put is so much work.

6/ I enjoy racing the half marathon more than the marathon because in 1-2 weeks you're back to normal, you don't beat your body and your legs as much and you don't seem to lose any fitness like the marathon.

This is it. I wish you all good luck and hope that you meet your goals in your marathons this fall. Take care,

- Greg

Greg, you're not the only one. I feel much the same: so much buildup and sacrifice, so many big and little things can go wrong and derail your race, and you generally can't just line up again in a few weeks for another shot.

But unlike you, I've yet to run a good one, so I persist.

And as usual I'll run some shorter races along the way. At least having run a big 10k or half marathon PR provides some consolation when one comes down with stomach flu on marathon eve!

Glad you enjoyed the Boilermaker - it's one of my favorites. Under the hot July sun it's tough to run a good time there, but easy to have a good time.