Marathon Training Thread -- Week Ending 1/16

Nole - superb week. You're training and racing has been inspirational lately.

M - 5 easy

T - 7 @ 7:36

W - 10 @ 7:05, bit of progression

T - 6 easy

F - 8 @ 7:11

S - 5 easy

S - 14 @ 7:33, hilly (1000ft climb), off-road, with a bit of progression towards the end

Total: 55M

Week 6 of post-injury training. So far it's gone 10-15-20-35-44-55. Still feel unfit and fat, but less so each week.

Monday: cycled to work and back, no run. Saw physio about calf/foot (0)

Tuesday: 4x1 mile (5:15/16/16/14) off 1:45 recovery, ran to track and back (11)

Wednesday: 13.4 miles. Raining. (13)

Thursday: Sharpener session for XC 10x300 off 100 (9)

Friday: 10 miles, went a bit too hard on the way back (10)

Saturday: Birmingham League XC 9k, Coventry. 59th place 31:02. Best position yet in the league. Good team performance. Warm up/down (9)

Saturday: 22 miles. Ran 2nd half really hard. (22)

Week total: 74 miles

2011 total: 180 miles

GOAL: 2:35 at London.

Preparations are going really well at the moment. Pleased with this week's training.

Glad to see others are having a good week. Keep it up. Unfortunately I can post this week without even looking back at my training log. After last weeks 20 in the snow I was feeling pretty beat up and sore so I ended up taking four days off. I did significant stretching, some mild striders etc. Finally tried running really easy on Fri (6 mi.) and felt a new pain - lower outside of my leg, just above the ankle. I didn't like what I found as possibilities through google, so I think I am just going to bite the bullet and take 7-10 days (at least) completely off from running. I did get about 2 1/2 hours in on my stationary bike. On a positive note, I'm going to try to use this break to get some cross training habits going - that is something I've been lacking anyway.

I'll be following, but I may not have anything to post for a week or two. Have fun out there everyone - thinking about all of you will help keep me motivated to get back.

Goals for 2011: 5k (15:15), Half (1:12), Full (2:30)

Bests of 2010 : 5k (15:28), Half (1:14 - split), Full(2:35)

S: 14 (at 6:40 pace)

M: 5 / 9

T: 4 / 11 (4 x mile at 5:16 pace)

W: 8

R: 10

F: 4 / 13 (tempo/fartlek, lots of half marathon pace running)

S: 5

= 83 miles

Decent week: no real long run, but a solid repeat mile workout (almost 10" faster a mile than three weeks ago), and a hard tempo/fartlek run.

Season opening half marathon is next weekend. It is actually my first road half, so as long as I beat my fall marathon split of 1:14:30, I get a pr. That sounds doable, but anything much faster is probably unrealistic right now.

NoleRunner26 - Nice week. breaking 110, wow. Is the UF vs FSU vs UNF 5k a single race, or one at each school?

Goal race: Arizona (1/16)

Goal Time: 2:35

M: 8 am easy

T: 4 am easy 6 pm easy

W: 4 am easy 6 pm moderate

T: 4 am easy 6 pm easy

F: 8 am easy

S: 4 shakeout w strides

S: 2:36:30 for the marathon, 13th place? Great first half where i was working up the whole way feeling great, 1:16 split. Had just caught a group at halfway and made the STUPID decision to throw down a 531 mile and drop them. I was feeling amazing at this point and was hoping to just roll to the finish. Did high 540s, low 550s to 20 and then i started to feel a little rough, went 555 and then a 603 until the wheels came off at 22. Rough finish but overall im very pleased with the race. To come from September when I was running an all out 5k in 20:10 and 25 pounds overweight to this makes me feel really good. Just gotta keep working hard and im sure i can run really fast at Boston. Also need to run just a bit smarter.

Hope everyones training is going well, this thread has been a great motivator!

Marmite - good week. You are headed in the right direction.  Expecting good stuff in berlin from you!  

Rh- nice race.  A 3 minute positive split aint too bad. You held it together well. 

Goal: 2:56 at london

M: 4@8:15  /  6.5@8:27 with 6 strides.

T: 4@8:35 / 7 inc 6x1000 3:45,3:45,3:43,3:43,3:40,3:40 with 2:00 ez

W: 3.5@9:05 /       10@8:15 tm from 9:00-> 7:15

R: 8@8:11 with 8 strides.     

F: 6.5@8:40           

S: off

S: 16.5 = 3 wu then 10.5@6:40 +   3 cd   /  4@8:45 

Week total:      70 miles in 6 days

Had a decent week. I planned on doing 12 at 6:45 but went out too fast (4.5@6:32) and steadily faded so i decided to call it a day after 10.5 and went into cool down.  Not sure what i'll do this week.  I've had two consecutive weeks of fast paced long runs so i should do something long and slow which is what i really hate.   

rhrunner - Good job holding it together. I think it's tough preventing a slightly tough race or workout from becoming horrible, but you did it for sure.

NoleRunner26 - I like seeing those miles! In my experience, the more you run the more you can run; of course free time is often an issue depending on one's school/family/job situation.

I'm relatively happy with my week. Mileage went up a little, but the workouts felt a little off.

M - 20 easy

T - 20 easy, followed 2.5 hrs later by 9 with 8x400 in 1:11, 200 recovery

W - 20 easy, alternately fighting the weather, then giving up and heading to the indoor track

Th - 20 total, 4x800 in 2:30 with 400 recovery, 12x400 in 1:12 with 200 recovery included in the 20

F - 20 easy; footing was quite bad today

S - 20 a little faster due to improved road conditions

Su - 20 a lot faster because of much better conditions

Tot - 149

Looking back, the workouts weren't that bad, increasing mileage considered. I just like to feel like I could go faster if I really wanted to, but that was definitely not the case for Tuesday and Thursday.

My first race of the year is on Saturday, a 3k at a local college meet. My goal is to compete well (not sure about the sub 9 anymore).

Goal Race: Country Music Marathon, April 30

Goal Time: Controlled 2:35

I decided to try a marathon this spring and join the thread. My main goal is to build up my mileage some and get in good 10k/half shape and will just run the marathon without any specific training. The top runner in the county gets pretty decent money, and last year it took 2:51, so my goal is to run the distance at a pretty steady effort without killing myself.

M: Easy 4 and 5.5 mile runs

T: 10 miles with 9 mile medium progression picking up the pace every three miles (20:06, 18:30, 17:38); easy 5 miles

W: Easy 4 and 8 mile runs

T: Easy 6 and 4 mile runs

F: 9 miles with 4 mile tempo in 21:43 (5:25,5:25,5:26,5:27; tailwind on the way out, strong headwind on the way back); 5.5 miles easy

S: Easy 8 miles

S: 16 miles at 6:30 average with 11 miles easy, 4 miles of 1:00 at tempo effort, 1:00 easy, and then 1 mile easy

Week Total= 85 miles

It was a pretty good week because I didn't have work at all due to snow days. I was able to run twice a day, sleep-in and get smoked by 10 year old kids on the Xbox all week.

SilkySlim: I think you might reach that 1:12 this weekend. Don't kill yourself this week, race hard and I think you're going to surprise yourself.

NoleRunner: You're making me jealous with all of the mileage this week. Impressive stuff.

Goal Races: Davis Stampede Half (2/6)

Goal Times: 69:29

M: 5.5 easy (7:09)

T: 7.0 easy (6:42)

W: a.m. 9 easy (6:46) / p.m. 3 shakeout (8:00)

T: 9 easy (6:48)

F: 10 easy (6:37)

S: 7 bad (6:44)

S: 14 stale (6:47)

No workouts this week other than light striding. Did race effort for near race distance last Sunday (10 at 5:25 pace in 14 mile run) and the following days were filled with various injury concerns. Those seem to be past me but the runs aren't going great. Really going to ramp it up for the next 10 days before taking it down. I don't know if the goal time is realistic anymore, but we'll see.

Wow completely forgot the weekly total.

64.5

Race: Boston

Goal: 2:45

M: 10

Tue: 8

Wed: 10

Th: 11

F: 6

Sa: 14 w/ 4 x mile 5:40,5:34,5:32,5:18 2 minutes rest

Su: 20 at 7:10 pace

Total: 79

Goal: Austin 3M Half 1:19:XX, Boston Marathon 2:48:XX

Monday: off

Tuesday: 1.5 warm up, 4 X 1/2 mile with 1/4 jog recovery. 2:39, 2:38, 2:37, 2:35. 1.5 mile warm down. 6.5 total

Wednesday: 7 miles easy 52:37

Thursday: 6 miles easy 41:26

Friday: 1.5 warm up, 4 mile tempo @ 1/2 marathon goal pace. intended 6:05s, actual 6:00,6:03,6:03,5:53. 1.5 mile warm down. 7 total

Saturday: 6 very easy 50:38

Sunday: 16 miles. first 7 ave. 7:18 pace, last 5 ave.6:46 pace. 1:54:20 total

48.5 miles in 6 days. Good for me.

Hoping to get up to 60+ next week.

Shamrock Marathon

Sub 2:19

Monday- 12 E

Tuesday- 12 E

Wednesday- 12(2 x 4mile @ 20:45,20:52)

Thursday- 12 E

Friday- 14 E

Saturday- 12 E

Sunday- 20 E (6:49)

Good Week, nice workout and a solid long run.

hope everyone's week went well.

Goal Race: Boston

Goal Time: 2:47-2:49

Good week mileage wise. Too much treadmill running because of weather and cold. Finally got outside for today's long, long, long run. This weather is getting frustrating and I think the deck on my TM is cracking...

M: 5.20 @ 8:20

T: 10.00 @ 7:58

W: 12.00 @ 7:01 (TM) 4 x 2 miles with 3 min rest (2 @ 9.7mph, 6:11/mile, 2 @ 9.8mph, 6:07/mile)

R: 5.41 @ 8:19 (TM)

F: 13.10 @ 7:36 (TM) Bostom sim. 7.5 miles @ -3% then Newton Hills sim on TM

S: 7.30 @ 7:54 (TM)

S: 24.00 @ 7:46

Tot: 77

Today's run was 24 @ 80-85% MP (6:32). It was a long, long run. 3:06 to finish. Longest run for me since I ran 3:14:58 in Chicago 08. 85% of 6:32 is only 7:41 so I basically ran that fast for most of the run. This is the longest training run for me ever. The key will see how I recover/feel after this run.

I don't mind the winter running, its the snow and crappy roads. Got slamming with another 14+" of snow this past Tues-Wed. Winters were never this bad...

4 viagra. Got my heart rate up.

Goal Race: Eugene Marathon 5/1/11

Goal Time: 3:35-3:40

Other Goals: (first marathon) make it to the starting line, make it to the finish line.

Monday: off

Tuesday: 6 (2 mile warm-up, 4 X 1/2 mile @3:33 with 1/4 jog between, 1 mile cool-down)

Wednesday: 3 easy (8:39 pace) + weights (3x15 of bench press 40 lbs, lat pull-down 70 lbs, hamstring curl 70 lbs, quad extension 70 lbs, leg press and calf raises 90 lbs, sit-ups)

Thursday: 6.5 marathon pace (8:12 pace)

Friday: off

Saturday: 6 (8:24 pace)

Sunday: 8 easy "long" run (8:50 pace)

Total: 30 miles (I've got a ways to go...)

Monday was supposed to be 3 easy and weights, but nikeman talked me into beer and football instead. His fault ;) But there's nothing like posting my training on letsrun to make me feel like a slacker, so I don't intend to skip too many more runs.

Goals: NYC Half (1:15), NYC Marathon: TBD

Other goals: sub 4:00 (1500), 15:30, 33:00

Mo: 1:38:15 (13.5 long run)

Tu: 61:15 (9 - 6 x 2:30 on/1:30 off fartlek)

We: 60:15 (7.5 easyyy after the snowstorm)

Th: 69:00 (9.3 easy w/ 6x100m strides)

Fr: 48:00 (6.2 easy)

Sa: 60:00 (8.2 - 3 x (3 x 45" mile pace/45" 5k pace) 38' w.u./w.d.)

Su: 1:59 (16 long run up a mean hill in the middle)

Total: 69.7 miles

Wanted to do the Saturday workout on Friday, but would of had to do it in the dark and cold (aka didn't have the motivation after work). It was 3 sets of 4:30 of fartlek with about 4-5 minutes of rest between each set. I averaged about 5:00 pace overall for the sets. It'd be nice to get on the track for some reps, but looks like that won't happen for a while. I got the long run back onto the Sunday schedule, which made my mileage high for this week. Off day tomorrow, and 1500m race on Thursday. Great training everyone!

Goal Race: Boston

Goal Time: 2:40

Monday - AM: 6 easy, PM: 8.5 easy, 12x100m strides

Tuesday - AM: 6 easy

Wednesday - AM: 8 easy, PM: 2.25 w/u, 8x100m strides, 8k track tempo 28:57 (5:56, 5:55, 5:50, 5:45, 5:31 1600m splits), 2 c/d

Thursday - AM: 6 easy, PM: 8 easy, 8x100m strides

Friday - AM: 9 moderate 59:30, PM: 7 easy

Saturday - AM: 12 easy

Sunday - AM: 6 slow

Total: 87.5 miles

I only ran once Tuesday and once today because I've been dealing with a blister on the bottom of my left foot. It's not fully healing and will re-open if I'm not careful, so I'm hoping tomorrow it'll be dried up and remain that way. I had a good tempo on Wednesday on the track, though I did run it a bit too hard. I got bored running 20 laps so I picked it up.

Goal Race: Pittsburgh Marathon (5/15/2011)

Goal Time: 2:42

Monday:

AM- 4.5 easy

PM- 8 miles on the slushy roads, ended up with some wet shoes by the end

Tuesday: 10 miles

Wednesday: 9 mile progressive on the treadmill finishing at MP

Thursday: 6 miles easy on the treadmill, barely got around to it

Friday: 17 mile long run at a solid clip. Smooth and comfortable the whole way.

Saturday: 10.5 miles

Sunday: Run 1: 8.5 miles easy, run 2: 5 miles on the treadmill

Total for the week: 78.5 miles in 9 runs

2011 mileage total: 178 miles in 19 runs

Overall, not a bad week at all. Still working on building a solid base. The southeast got an unusual amount of snow this week which got me out of work for two days but forced me onto the treadmill for two days straight. I guess you have to take the good with the bad in the winter. Took advantage of a day out of the office on Friday to get a solid long run in and still finished up just below 80 miles for the week despite a pretty pathetic 6 miles on Thursday.