Marathon Training Thread - Week Ending 7/18

Mon: am:10, pm:10

Tue: am:5, pm:10

Wed: am:6, pm:10

Thu: am:5, pm:13

Fri: am:5, pm:10

Sat: am:15

Sun: am 1

Arbitrarily 100 miles this week.

I like the aggressive mindset, pablo! The way you've been going, my money's definitely on you vs. those four and a half seconds a mile.

Planned a down week, but not nearly this far down...

Mo: -- // intentional rest

Tu: 8

We: 4 // strained soleus

Th: --

Fr: --

Sa: --

Su: --

My first running injury in over 3 years, and oddly without either doing anything obviously risky (like all-out hill sprints in spring '07) or any warning - it was a sudden twinge, and then half a mile of limping down the Manhattan Bridge to catch a cab. Guess maybe the rapid ramp-up to four weeks sustained mileage + heat wave caught up to me and the down week was a bit too late. Or just bum luck.

Improving day by day, and for once got myself in for physical therapy, hoping to minimize down time. Think I'll be runworthy in another couple days.

Pablo - That's the ticket mate! Totally agree that you've just gotta commit and then do whatever you can, come hell or high water, to make it happen. Regardless, the first step is believing the dream and the first step to believeing the dream is stating the dream. So I behind you 100%. Fantastic week. Looking really solid that man.

nsmb - Sorry to hear that. A tough break, hope you bounce back asap.

Goal Race - Berlin

Goal Time - sub-2:30

M - 5 easy / 6 easy

T - 5 easy / 13 steady (incl. 2 x 7k @ marathon effort - 6:02m/m upwind, 5:49 m/m downwind)

W - 5 easy / 15 hilly, steady

T - 5 easy / 6 easy

F - 8 steady (incl. 25 min @ ~1/2M effort)

S - 8 easy (incl. 10 strides)

S - 21 steady (hilly progression run with group)

Total: 97

Decent week. Feel like there's some consolidation of the base phase happening. Tues session was run purely on feel, so was pleasantly suprised by the pace. Obviously there's more work to do, but hopefully things are heading in the right direction. Got s mid-week 5 mile race on Weds, so will re-jig things to fit around this. Hope everyone is going well. 10 weeks until Berlin!

Race: Chicago

Goal: sub-2:22

M - 13 miles w/ 6 miles tempo (5:37, 5:33, 5:30, 5:22, 5:15, 5:02 - total 32:23)

T - AM: 6 miles easy, PM: 10 miles @ 6:30 pace

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

R - AM: 6 miles easy, PM: 9 miles @ 6:20 pace

F - 10 miles easy

Sa - 12 miles w/ 5k race (15:42)

Su - 16 miles moderate

Total: 100 miles

Feel good about this week. After my little "incident" on the trail last week, I was a little worried that I would be too banged up to get in a good week, but my body responded well. I was able to jump right back into things after just one day off. I had a solid tempo on Monday with a nice negative split. Then I ran a very hot, humid, and hilly race on Saturday, and it went pretty well too. I didn't really have any competition as I won by around 2:00. I didn't really have any expectations for that race or anything. I just wanted to run hard and win, so I accomplished that. I think things are right on track at this point.

Pablo - Nice mileage this week. You've just been cranking out these 100+ mile weeks like it's nothing. Impressive. And I like your goal change. Just start grinding that goal into your mind, and you'll get it.

Goal Race: Maine Marathon (10/3)

Goal Time: 2:25

M: 10 easy (7:30 pace)

T: 7.5 easy (7:15 pace)

W: 9.5 w/ 6.6 at 6:10 pace

Th: 8 easy (7:30 pace)

F: 9 easy (7 pace)

Sa: 8 easy (7:20 pace)

Su: 16 at 7 pace

Total: 68

I just tried to get a decent amount of mileage in while basically taking this as down week. But next week I'm going to really try to ramp up the mileage. I'm changing jobs right now, so I'll have the next 3 weeks completely off from work! I also had some deep tissue work done on my legs after Sunday's long run, so they should feel fresher than they have in weeks. You're all making me want to knock out a 100 mile week, but I am sure that would be a terrible idea for me.

Some really impressive training this week.

Pablo -- I completely agree with your new goal time. Based on your training, you are more than capable of running 2:30.

Greg -- I'm also sorry to hear you are retiring, but it sounds like a reasonable decision. If I didn't enjoy the long runs as much as I do, I would have retired from marathons long ago.

nsmb -- sorry to hear about the injury. Hopefully you'll be back out there in no time.

mrb -- sick tempo on Monday. Clearly it didn't take much out of you either given the rest of your week. Very impressive.

OK, so everyone's who posted a goal time so far is sub-2:30. You guys are way out my league, nice job everyone.

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

Goal Time: Survive the summer

OK, I admire anyone who trains for marathons in the South during the summer. Could you just take your weather back South?

In short summation, when its warm and humid I suck...

M am: 6.13 @ 8:12 (144.9)

pm: 2.00 @ 8:20 (150.9)

2.53 @ 6:10 (150.5)

T: 10.00 @ 7:52 (150.7)

W: 14.00 @ 8:02 (153.0)

R: 6.13 @ 8:24 (138.0)

F: 12.09 @ 7:51 (143.9)

S: 8.00 @ 8:00 (150.9)

S: 17.24 @ 7:58 (151.7 or 158.0)

Tot: 78.10

Today's long run was an epic fail. Supposed to have 8 @ MP. When I tried to pick it up I only managed 7:2x. I was cooked. I will not attempt anymore workouts when its hot. Just put in the miles, hoping come late August/early September the speed will come.

Hey guys,

Awesome training! I had a good week this week, though not quite what I wanted mileage wise.

Race: Chicago 10/10/10

Goal: 2:37

Mon- 8

Tue- Off (planned day off)

Wed- 15/ AM: 10, PM: 5

Thur- 13/ Much of it uptempo (probably about 5 miles worth at 6:30 pace and the last 3 at around 6:15 pace).

Fri- 9

Sat- 13'ish/ 5 mile wu, 13x200 in 37 sec w/200 rest in 60 sec, 5 mile cd. 8:00 pace for 200 meters is way faster then I ever take for "offs" and it made these very aerobic. Nice light workout. Was VERY dehydrated, though.

Sun- 18'ish

76-77'ish in 6

Wanted a double on Fri, but time ran out on me, and wanted 2 more miles on both Mon and Sun, but didn't get everything in. It was so hot in NY this week, so I'm pleased with the efforts. Hopefully will get up to mid 90s-100 the next 2 weeks before another down week and my first race (5M) since Boston. If I can run 27:59, I'll be happy.

Have a great week everyone.

Race: Milwaukee 10/3

Goal: 2:29

M: 9

Tu: 13.3/4- 2mile, 2mi, 1mi segmented progressive LT on hilly golf course with 1min rec. 5:53, 5:47, 5:51, 5:31, 5:33

W: 10

Th: 12/5- 2x400@5k 5x1200 cruise reps from 5:40 down to 5:20 pace 2x400@5k with 200 jogs

F: 8

Sa: 11 with 6 relaxed 200s 36-34. Canoe trip in the AM with my brother

Su: 15.5- with 3.5 miles up-tempo 6:15-5:50 on sandy trails

Total: 88 miles

Highest week in about a year and a half and only going up from here! Good training in this summer heat, everyone else!

Race:Rocket City Marathon

Goal: 2:37

Monday: Easy 4 miles; 7.5 miles with 4.3 tempo (5:50, 5:43, 5:40, 5:30); I was really happy with this run. The effort was very controlled, I was splashing through deep puddles most of the run and it was 10 seconds a mile faster than two weeks ago and 18 seconds a mile faster than a month ago

Tuesday: Easy 4.5 and 10.5 mile runs

Wednesday: Easy 4 and 6.5 mile runs

Thursday: Easy 4 and 10 mile runs

Friday: Easy 3.5 miles and 6 miles with 4x10s hill sprints

Saturday: Easy 12 and 5 mile runs; I was going to do a straight 17, but the guys I ran with were running about 8:30 pace most of the run, so my legs just felt too heavy from the pace

Sunday: Easy 4.5 and 5.5 mile runs

87.5 miles, which is my biggest week since December 2006. My intensity wasn't what I wanted and I'm really starting to get tired of the heat. It's regularly been over a 100 degree heat index on a large portion of my runs. I might kick back the volume some this week because I'm doing a 10k leg on a triathlon relay this weekend.

Race: Hartford

Mon: 9+ easy pace

Tues: All-comers meet, 3+ warm-up, Mile race (4:25), 3+ cool-down, very warm and humid.

Wed: 6.5 easy, pacing another runner on track, extremely warm

Thurs: 6+ at moderate pace

Fri: ~7 mile easy and some barefoot running

Sat: 2+ warm-up, 5x1600m with 35-40 sec. rest, ran (5:07,5:10,5:11,5:05,5:07) 1mi cool-down

Sun: 20 miles, stopped for water at 6 and 14, crashed around 16 and finished really slow. Worn out from heat.

Would liked to have run much more this week, but struggled to keep weight up & hydrated.

Goal race: Chicago

Goal time: sub-2:37

M- 10 (strides -- first time running on soft surfaces in almost a month. Felt amazing)

T- 13 (steady, 6:40s)

W- 10

Th- 11

F- 10 (strides)

Sa- off

Su- 10 (impromptu fartlek...2mi=11:54, 1min jog, .75mi=5:55/mi, bathroom break, 1mi=5:58)

Tot- 64mi/6d

Decent week. I had friends in town from Thursday until today so that made it a bit difficult to get out the door.

Maine Marathon 10/3

goal 2:25 (Although I'm actually not really sure what this means anymore...I am running 100 mile weeks and starting to do speedwork, but it's not like I could do the speedwork any faster if I was trying for a faster pace or would want to do it slower if I had a slower goal pace)

12

6AM /12PM with 8 @5:39 avg Pace

3AM/11PM

6AM/11PM with 5x very hilly .9mi loop (5:26, 5:15, 5:06, 5:04, 5:04), ~400m recovery

6

11

22

Total 100

With all the fast times posted here I feel like I'm behind, but the workout on thursday felt good and overall everything is pretty comfortable, so I will keep on as planned and trust that I'll get faster with the training.

I appreciate all the kind words about changing my goal time. But I'm sort of on the FARM philosophy. That is, whatever my goal time is...it's just something concrete to shoot for, what I'm really doing is training to run as fast as I possibly can. I don't go into workouts thinking "I need to hit x pace to stay in line with my 2:30 goal". I'm training to run as fast as possible, and if that leads me to 2:29, 2:27 or 2:34...so be it.

nsmb - Sorry to hear about the soleus, but I suppose it's a "good" time to get injured. You've still got plenty of time to put in a solid cycle before NY.

Maine Marathon 10/3

Goal 2:47ish

12

6AM/12PM with 8 @6:47 avg pace

3AM/11PM

6AM/11PM with 5x very hilly .9mi loop (6:16, 6:09, 6:02, 6:00, 5:58), ~400m recovery

6

11

22

Total 100

Tuesday felt like a good effort but not particularly fast- I was tired. Thursday was a solid workout. Gave a good effort & felt strong overall. Looking forward to feeling faster.

Good training, everyone. Remember to stay hydrated & fueled!!

Richmond Nov 13

Goal 3:40

Monday lift 60mins

Tues off

Weds ellipt 60min

thur ellipt 60min

Fri off

Sat 6mi.

Sun 10mi.

Another up-and-down week. Can't shake some sinus issues that have been lingering for over three weeks so visited the doc and got some antibiotics. Got out Sat. to test the achilles and it's holding up OK. Base of foot (calcaeneous) was tender after Sunday run but lots of icing yesterday seems to have helped a lot.

Plan to get in four runs this week and see what happens. (This injury-maintenance running routine sucks!!!)

Still doing post-run icing and ibuprofen. Cautiously hopeful it will clear up completely.

Good luck to everyone.

Thought I'd check in. Starting the earliest stages of pre-training ramp-up for Boston. Been running 20-30 mpw since the twins came in April, but with a number of off weeks thrown in there due to infant care and medical treatment (no more kids for me!).

Goal race/time: Ultimately Boston in 4/11. I'd like to go sub-2:55 in good conditions. I'm also planning a HM when we head down to LA for the wife's conference in January (probably the So Cal HM). I'd like to go 1:21-1:22 for that.

Last week:

M: 6 easy

Tu: 6 @ 7:00 pace

W: 6 easy

Th: 6.5 @ 6:53 pace

F: OFF

Sa: 7 @ 6:59 pace

Su: Off

Total: 31.5 miles, 19.5 harder than "easy" pace. Keep in mind that the altitude probably adds 10-15 seconds off the pace at those distances.

This was the first week in a long time that I did some miles at harder than "easy as you want" effort. The goal for now is to build up to about 50-60 mpw by the end of September, then run some fall 5k-10k races until about mid November. I'd like to set some altitude PRs if possible. Then I'll take a 6-8 weeks to build up to the January HM, hopefully with a good bit of speed in the legs. At that point, it's a week or two off, then intensive marathon training in late January to late March for Boston.

The main problem now is that it is virtually impossible for me to run in the mornings -- the daughter goes to bed around 9:00 pm, then I'm up from 2:00-3:00 with the boys and then again with them from probably at 5:30 or so. Really hard with that schedule to get in a pre-work run, so I'm running at lunch, which is (1) hot and (2) short, due to time constraints. But if they are anything like their sister, they'll start (mostly) sleeping through the night by five months. She also starts kindergarten in a month or so, and her school is right on my running route to work. I'm trying to teach her to ride a bike so that we can commute together.

Denver Runner wrote:

Thought I'd check in. Starting the earliest stages of pre-training ramp-up for Boston. Been running 20-30 mpw since the twins came in April, but with a number of off weeks thrown in there due to infant care and medical treatment (no more kids for me!).

Goal race/time: Ultimately Boston in 4/11. I'd like to go sub-2:55 in good conditions.

For scheduling purposesd, Boston is on 4/18. Hopefully we'll all have good conditions to run fast next April. This past year was nearly perfect.

Thanks! I meant 4/2011, but was unsure of the precise date. The boys will be almost exactly one year old, so hopefully they can make the trip.

Goal Race: Berlin 9/26

Goal time: 2:56:xx

M - 6 recovery

T - am 4.5 recovery / pm 11 incl 7 @ 7:15

W - am 4 recovery / pm 13 incl 6 @ 7:23

R - am 4 recovery / pm 7.5 easy

F - 10.5 @ 7:29

S - 4 recovery

Su- 22 @ 7:46 (8:20 down to 7:07)

Total = 86.5

Put in another solid week but mostly easy and recovery paces. I am wondering if those recovery runs (slower than 8:40 pace) even count. At this point, i am not getting stressed out about the heat, i am simply deviating from my plan and just playing everything by ear. There was no way i could do a tempo run this week so i simply put in some doubles and more mileage than was called for and ran paces that came to me. So i am getting very comfortable at MP+30 secs pace ---- but i really need to start to get cracking at MP pace!

Sunday's long run was surprising. I took the first 6 miles very very easy at 8:20 with a HR at 115 (65% of max) because i was totally not psyched about doing 22 in the heat after a long week. Then i jumped up to 8:00 for a mile or 2 and then straight down to 7:30-7:35 and the last few miles i increased the pace until i was near MP (but it was uphill). What started off as a nightmare, ended up fairly nice. Go figure. I did stop for water 3 times, perhaps that helped!

I will try to stay in the 80s this week but my weekly progression has been [65 64 75 51 65 62 84 86] so i probably should take the following week as a serious down week. Any suggestions as to how to take it down? Perhaps just kill the recovery runs but keep at the progression runs? Try to target something like 60? Or lower?

greg : sorry to see one of the few posters in my pace range leave. I do have one comment though. While greg hates running more than 90 minutes, i usually hate the first 30-40 minutes of EVERY run.