Marathon Training Thread - Week Ending 8/29

Error on my part, Weds run should read "4 x 2M".

Goal race: Berlin in 4 weeks!!!

Goal time: 2:56:xx

M: 8.5 easy +10 strides

T: 14 incl  6@6:51  + 4@6:47 with 3 mins rest 

W: 14 progression 7:50 with 7@810 and 7@730. Last 2 at 715 704.  

R:  7.5 @ 8:30         

F:  10.5 incl 10x800 with 1:45 rest walk. Average 2:56.    

S:  6.5 @8:25         

S:  20 incl 16@7:10. started at 7:50 and worked down to 6:50-7:00 with last 2 miles at 6:44 and 6:37

Week total: 81 on singles

Too hot to run in the morning so I made do with singles in the evening. Turned out to be a good week for me. Tuesdays MP session was meant to be 2x5M but I didn't feel like stopping so it became 6M+4M. Was comfortable and i wasn't dead. Fridays 10x800 was not hard. Not sure if it was vo2max or aerobic power but who really cares. I'm starting to realize that all the terminology is a huge distraction. Sundays long run was superb. I kept going faster, each mile was monotonically faster. I was shocked that I had enough in the tank to spit out those last 2 miles. Still not confident that I can post 26 successive 6:45-6:50 miles though.

Last 8 weeks mileage has been 83,86,90,51,78,87,72,81

marmite - really solid workouts! you are definitely ready to roll man.

CTA - Is your goal time a joke? You are gunna crush that.

Race: Chicago 10/10/10

Goal: 2:36

Mo - 9.5 pm in 70mins

Tu - (17) 12am w/o (12 by 1min on @ 5k pace/1min off) / 5 easy pm

We - 8 pm in 59mins

Th - (16) 10am w/o (5mile tempo in 28:00) 5:36 pace / 6 easy pm

Fr - 10 am in 75mins w/ 6 strides

Sat - 7 am in 50mins

Sun - (17.5) 12 am DUSA progression run / 5.5 easy pm

Total Mileage - 85 miles

Decent week. 3 workouts and good weather, finally! The hurricanes/tropical storms off the coast of FL are causing everyday to be overcast/lite rain. It has been a nice break from the heat. Im not too stoked about my workouts and I'm not really bummed either. The planned progression run today(sunday) was 80mins, but I bonked at 70mins (first 60mins was 7min pace down to 5:45s, then last 20mins was suppose to be 10k - HM pace). Ran 5:25s or so for 10mins after the hour mark and totally bonked. Ok with it, but should have just ran 5:35-40s and finished the planned time. Oh well.

Hope everyone's week went alright!

Great weeks guys. My turn in fitness just keeps getting better. Knock on wood that continues.

Mon- 8

Tue- 13/ 9&4

Wed- 15/ 3M in 17:30 3min rec, 3M in 17:15, 5 min rec, 1000 in 3:15, 3 min rec, 1M in 5:45 on cinder. Uptempo 24 minute cooldown

Thur- 10

Fri- 17/ 10&7

Sat- 10

Sun- 3 up, 15 in 1:26:32 (5:49 pace), 3 cd. This workout rocked. I PRd for the final 13.1 (1:15:50). Started off at 6:03 pace and then ran the last 10 at 5:44 pace. Hip/hammy hurt through about 8, but once it loosened up, I felt awesome. This was way too fast, but I have found that I all of a sudden suck at judging pace. I wanted 6:00-6:05 pace, so I was way off. The last 10 was the pace was looking to run New Haven at, so now I'm kind of unsure what to shoot for. I'm now thinking I can probably run 5:40s or so.

The 3M workout was also too fast by about 2-5 sec on average on the 1st and by 5-10 sec on the second.

Either I'm in better shape then I thought, or I left some racing in workouts. Guess time will tell.

Next few days will be VERY easy. Need to make sure I recover properly. One workout this week and then New Haven on Monday.

Weekly Total: 94

Maine Marathon 10/3

goal 2:25

M - 8

T - 6a/13p (w/7x .9mi very hilly loop in 4:53avg 400m jog rest)

W - 8

T - 6a/13p (w/ 3x 3mi @ 16:26 4 min jog rest)

F - 6

S - 28

S - 6

Total: 94

It was a pretty good week overall, the only major bad thing was thursdays workout where I completely and utterly bonked - did the first in 16:06, then it went WAY downhill from there and I had NOTHING. The only reason I finished the third one was I thought there was a chance that I was still running MP but I wasn't at all, not even that close. Once again, trying to sneak the 3rd hard workout into a week isn't smart.

Yesterday's 28 went really well, felt under control the whole way and stayed in control of hydration well.

An easy week coming up and then the New Haven 20k - which it seems like quite a few of us will run - a week from monday.

Sounds like yall are on the right track, hope everyone else had a good week!

Goal Race: Twin Cities (10/3)

Goal Time: sub-2:30

M: am - 8 easy (7:18) / pm - 6 easy (7:35)

Tu: am - 10 total w/ 12x400 w/ 400 jog (76 avg.) / pm - 6 easy (7:25)

W: am - 7 easy (7:27) / pm - 4 easy (7:25)

Th: am - 10 easy w/ random fartlek (6:55) / pm - 4 easy (7:37)

F: am - 6 easy (7:19) / pm - 3 easy (8:00+) w/ strides

Sa: am - 3 easy (8:00+) / pm - 3 easy (8:00+) w/ strides

Su: 3 w/u, 13.1 race (1:10:43), 3 c/d

Weekly Total - 89 miles

YTD - 2,990 miles

The half marathon went absolutely perfect, I'll spare you the details of the race and just give you the splits:

5:26

5:17

5:24

5:19

5:22

5:27

5:25

5:29

5:28

5:20

5:28

5:24

5:15

final 0.1 in 0:33

Finish - 1:10:43 (9th Overall)

This definitely tells me my training is heading in the right direction. I couldn't be happier with how the race went...plus it's a 3+ minute PR...I'll take it!

marmite - Keep it up, you're responding excellent to the Canova training! Only a few hard weeks left for you!

CTA - Excellent week...that's some impressive running all on singles. Awesome long run, that has to feel good!

NoleRunner - I know what you mean about the weather...it seems like we haven't had hardly any rain until this week...it was very much welcomed here in Orlando! Good Luck next weekend at Va Beach!

3TM - Congrats on an excellent race/workout! Definitely take it easy and get ready to roll at New Haven!

Farm - That's a solid 3x3mile session, those are probably some of the most difficult workouts I've done.

Maine Marathon 10/3

M - 8

T - 6a/13p (w/7x .9mi very hilly loop in 5:40 avg for the loop, 400m jog rest)

W - 8

T - 6a/13p (w/ 3x 3mi @ 19:38 avg, 4 min jog rest)

F - 6

S - 28

S - 6

Total: 94

Good week overall. Was pleased with Tues's workout, and Sat's long run was the best one in a very long time. The key to our success on the long run was carrying water during the entire run- it helped immensely! Thurs's workout was challenging & pretty disappointing, but it's important not to get too discouraged by an off day.

Looking forward to racing at New Haven in a week, & hoping that I can maintain my running schedule once I begin teaching this week.

So far it looks like people are doing great & seeing the benefits of lots of hard work. Keep it up!

Race: Chicago 10/10

Goal: 2:40

Su - 8

M - 10

T - 10/4

W - 9/4

Am workout of 3 x 1.7 miles on paved trail loop with 2:30 recovery. Averaged 5:31 mile pace and finished 22 seconds lower on the whole workout than last year. Felt good about the effort.

Th - 9/4

F - 9

Sa - 20

Total - 87 miles

All morning runs about 7 min pace and all afternoon 4 milers are 8 minute pace on tread.

Last three weeks at 87, 85, & 87. This will be my biggest month ever. I will do a two day taper before a half marathon on Sat over Labor Day.

Marmite, my heart rate just skyrocketed after the 4 weeks left comment. (I have 8 left, but it took a second to sort that out in my head).

Pablo, nice race. Right on track for your sub 230.

I ran 40 miles in a rest/family event week. Went camping in allegany state park and spent the weekend hiking the mountains. A great place. I'm trying to figure out how to get back for a long trail run or two (a lot of elevation change, but it would be a lot of fun). I did mile repeats for a workout earlier in the week which felt very easy (shocked myself) and I had to restrain myself from running faster or throwing a couple of more at the end. Predictably, I ran very slow for several days afterwords, but it was worth it to get a really good run in.

Cheers!

Good luck with the 20k 3tm.

Good luck to everyone running at new haven! Looking like the place to be.

disney 01/07

goal- sub 2:40

Sun. -am. 15miles @ 7:20, pm 6 mile easy. weights

Mon. -am 5 mile shakeout, pm 8 mile hill course 3/4 effort

Tues.-am 5 mile shakeout, pm 10miles @ 6:25. weights

Wed. -am 5 mile shakeout, pm 8 mile hill course 3/4 effort

Thurs.-am 5 mile shakeout, pm 9 miles @ 6:25

Fri.- am 5 mile shakeout, pm 7 mile easy fartlek

sat.- am 40 minute tempo, pm 6 miles easy

about 100 miles

i just kind of pieced this together from stuff i've read, hope it'll help

Race: Chicago

Goal: 2:22

M - 1.5 miles easy

T - 9 miles easy

W - 10.5 miles easy

R - 7.5 miles easy

F - 11 miles easy

Sa - 8 miles easy

Su - 12.5 miles easy

Total: 60 miles

The goal of this week was just to try to get back in the groove after last week's downtime and make sure that the calf strain was healing ok. I didn't want to do too much mileage or do any hard workouts for fear of overloading the calf again and making it worse. Fortunately, everything seems to be coming along ok. The calf is definitely healing fine as I am now able to run without any pain or soreness whatsoever. This little mishap rattled my confidence a little bit as it knocked me out of my rhythm, but now that things seem to be healed, I think I can hop back into some good mileage and workouts. I figure a couples weeks of good mileage and a few solid workouts and I'll have that confidence back. I know I didn't lose anything fitness-wise. It just messed with my rhythm a little bit. Anyway, I'm thankful that I seem to have averted disaster on this one.

Pablo - Awesome HM. Very nice time and great splits. Your confidence should be very high going into this last month of good training.

Keep it up out there guys. We're getting close now.

Race: Chicago 10/10

Goal: 2:30

Wow, great workouts and races! Just skimming through... Marmite, 3TM, and pablo, way to roll. Tough week workwise for me so the mileage suffered and feeling pretty tired but I managed to squeeze in the most important workouts. Will try to get back on the wagon next week.

M: 10

T: 8+7

W: OFF worked late and crashed

T: 5 wu, 3x3mi w/ 4min jog (16:15, 16:09, 16:11), 1.5wd

F: 8.5

S: 6 (@11PM)

S: 20 @ 6:36 pace

76

The 3x3mi felt pretty controlled but this wasn't too surprising given the lower mileage this week. Have a great week, everyone!

Race: Milwaukee 10/3

Goal Time: 2:29-2:32

M: 9/4

Tu: 15/4 including 4x10min at LT with 1min rec. avg 5:35 pace

W: 10.5 with 14x15sec strides

Th: 12 including 2x10min avg 5:20 pace and 4x75s at 4:50-5min pace, 2min rec on all

F: 9.5/4

Sa: 19.3 with 6miles at 5:45-6min pace starting at 75min. Very hot and hilly

Su: 10 with 6x35sec strides

Total: 97.3

Highest week of this buildup and feeling pretty good. Exciting to come on and see so many impressive workouts and races. Looks like a lot of people are rounding into great shape!

CTA, NoleRunner24, the FARM, the FARMette, T.L. the stallion, PJ & TMNT - great training, looking really good.

3TM - reckon you can go at least 10sec/mile quicker at New Haven than you did for the 10M block during your Sunday run. You're rolling into excellent form.

Pablo - holy cow! You're on fire mate. That's an absurd amount to take off your 1/2M PB in one go. Brilliant racing. That's gotta be a huge confidence boost.

tycobb - best of luck with the 1/2M, which one are you doing?

mrb - good to hear the calf is clearing up, think the approach you have taken will pay dividends.

Hope everyone who is doing New Haven has a great run - looking forward to the race reports.

Does anyone have any info on what Canova would suggest for the taper? I've had a thorough look through his book, but there's really nothing in it regarding tapering. Has he posted on this forum previously about tapering? If so, does anyone have a link? Thanks!

NoleRunner24: While i totally appreciate (i.e. crave) words of encouragement, there is no way i feel i can crush my goal. Truth is i will be very happy with any PR. So a 2:58 will make me happy. 2:56 is just a dream at this point.

pablo has arrived! A 70 minute HM is serious stuff. 2:29 is yours for the taking. Good job!

farmette: Any insight into the ear-blocking problem you mentioned last week? I got it again last night in my long run. Towards the end when i was massively dehydrated (i only stopped once for water) and also i took in no gels (although i was sucking candies which i sometimes do on long runs to pass the time). I still think it is sweat accumlating in my ear but i am all ears for any other insight.

marmite: What is our plan for this week and for the taper? I am plan-less (Pfitz is a distant memory) so i need advice to avoid overdoing it this week. I think i will try for one last mileage push this week and try to hit 1 or 2 hard workouts. Not sure if i should do short intervals or longer tempoish type stuff. 6x1000? 4x2M? 12x400?

Btw, when is all the f*cking hay in the barn? Is it all there yet or does that occur next week?

CTA - I'm planning to do 2 more weeks of Canova's "Specific Phase" and then do a 2 week taper. Consequently, I'll be sticking to one "Aerobic Power" workout on Weds and one "Aerobic Endurance" workout at the weekend.

I've purposely started with the longer reps for the "Aerobic Power" stuff (3 x 3M week before last, 4 x 2M last week) with the intention to do the shorter faster stuff as a means to try and sharpen up as we head into taper. With that in mind, I'm thinking to do the 6 x 1M @ 108% MP on Weds this week and the 10 x 800m @ 110% MP the following week. For the "Aerobic Endurance" sessions, I was thinking to go for 21M this weekend incorporating 30k @ 90-95% MP, then for the final workout aim to do 13.1M @ MP the following weekend.

For the taper itself, I'm still a little undecided and am hoping that someone can shed some light on what Canova would recommend.

Personally, I wouldn't push for anymore mileage this week. Think I would level off on the miles (or possibly back off just a fraction) and aim to nail 2 solid workouts.

FWIW, I don't usually find all the hay is in the barn until the last couple of days before the marathon. This makes things a little nail-biting and no doubt contributes to "taper-madness", but if Berlin last year was anything to go by then I know I didn't feel ready to roll until 48 hours before the gun.

Stay calm! You've logged some brilliant training and I'm sure you'll have a fantastic race in Berlin.

Richmond Nov 13

goal - start and finish uninjured!

Mon off

Tues AM bike 80min/PM cortisone shot

Weds bike 90min

Thur ellipt 60min

Fri lift 45min

Sat bike 2hrs + 2 mile run

Sun bike 2 hrs

Week did not go as well as hoped. Shot in heel helped some but still felt a little soreness morning after 2 mile test run Saturday. No pain while running or even walking but pressure to one spot on heel gets a response. Still had hoped that it would be all gone. Started to think about selling Army Ten Miler entry. Race is Oct 24 and this is last week to transfe. Unfortunately can't transfer or defer Richmond entry. Plan to do an easy five or six at the track Tuesday night and see how it feels. I am hoping for the best. Still have over ten weeks to get running legs; aerobically I should be OK. Even thinking about just using Richmond as a 26 miles training run. You can tell I am getting desperate (ha-ha)..

Stay healthy, everyone!!!

Race: Wineglass 10/3, NYC 11/7

Time: 2:48-2:51

Pablo, nice job on the half.

Well I felt like a runner again a couple of days this week. When temps were in the 50's. Unfortunately it seems that ended yesterday. I would say I had a good week, but Sundays's long run didn't end so hot as I think I didn't have enough water with me (lost 7 lbs), plus tired from weekend of yardwork.

M: Off

T: 9.65 @ 7:57 AHR 136 (8 x 100m strides) (123.2)

W: 15.05 @ 7:49 AHR 139 (129.8)

R: 7.01 @ 8:26 AHR 131 (135.6)

F: 12.52 @ 7:05 AHR 150 (7 LT, 6:15,6:15,6:26,6:12,6:19,6:25,6:12) (111.6)

S: 6.14 @ 8:24 AHR 124 (111.0)

S: 21.69 @ 7:47 AHR 142 (138.0)

Tot: 72.1

Friday's LT went very well. Tried out new LR2's and I like them. The LT felt rather comfortable (i.e. not deathly like the Pfitz 12/7 usually does). The slower miles were gradual all uphill miles, the faster were slight downhill or flat. I ran this workout with the LT @ 6:27 vs 6:17 here last Sept before Chicago. So it bodes well.

Sunday's long run just kept it easy. Wanted to come in around 2:48/2:50. (2:48:52,actual). Got rough at the end with warmer temps (mid 70s, sun). I don't seem to do well when I lose over 5+ lbs. Unfortunately, it suppopsed to be hot this week. I hope it cools down for my 8k time trial on Saturday.

I've come to realize that when temps go to > 60-65F + sun I'm useless.