Marathon Training Thread - Week Ending 4/3

Catching up on last week.......

Pablo - great 10k last weekend. Perhaps not quite as quick as you would have liked, but that sounded damn fast to me on a less than optimal course. Great session yesterday. Best of luck at the Corporate 5k - give it hell.

Abu - quality 1/2M there. Running that time at MP effort on a tricky course shows that you are in excellent shape.

brumrunner - good lord man, some insane quality in that week.

Another - despite the wind, the 1/2M workout will have done you a lot of good and you'll derive an excellent training benefit from it. When it's windy, you've just gotta go on effort rather than pace/time.

Nole - crikey, that 5k sounds utterly brutal. Well done for holding it together and nailing down sub-16.

blaznbison24 - that's damn irritating that the lead bike took you off course and cost you a sub-16, but a fine run in any case.

Mon: 10M easy

Tue: 11M easy

Wed: 2M easy - utterly knackered, binned the run

Thu: 8M easy

Fri: rest (planned)

Sat: 6M easy

Sun: 16M (2M w/u, Belvoir 1/2M - 74:38, 4th, 1M c/d)

Total: 53M

Would have liked to have run sub-74 today, but happy enough with finish position. No one broke 73, so can't be too disappointed with the time. Another step on the road to Berlin..............

Hope everyone had a great week.

Goal Race: Boston

Goal Time: 2:30

M - 10 easy AM 4 easy PM

T - 6 easy AM 10 easy PM

W - 6 easy AM 13 w/ 10 in 56:10 PM

T - 6 easy AM 10 easy PM

F - 6 easy AM 11 easy PM

S - 10 very easy

S - 17 with last 5k in 16:49

Total - 109 miles

Last big week, ready to start feeling fresh and fast.

Goal: Boston 2:47-2:49

marmite - thanks. I went back and looked at my into wind and with wind splits. When I was running with the wind I ran 6:07/mile fairly comfortably. And that direction was a next +30ft up hill.

I gues my taper kind of started on Thursday. And since my Pfitz 10k race was today and my long run got pushed to tomorrow this was a really low mileage week for me. I also cut back Friday's run from 8 to 6.5 since I was up during the night trying to book frequent flyer tickets to Hawaii for next year....

I have a good 10k race for me this morning. Remember I'm slow when it comes to short races, but I finally was sub-6 fora 10k. I ran 37:10, which is 1:10 faster than I ran at the Scotland run last year and a PR by 1:07. It was of course windy out again, but no where as bad as last weeks windfest. There were three good medium hills on the course. I might have went out a tad too fast.

5:47, 5:53, 6:06, 6:05, 6:06, 5:57, last bit 1:12 (5:16/mi). 17th OA/4th AG. I didn't stick around and I didn't do a cooldown, but they were giving out these awesome cupcakes.I had a delicious Peanut Butter one. I finished a couple of seconds behind someone. I hope he wasn't in the 35-39 AG. It was a good race, but being 10 seconds from sub-37 makes me wish I went sub-37.

So looks like alll systems are go for 2:47:59...

My week:

M: Off. I broke some like a 50+ day running streak. I had sore heels from last weekends half and decided to just rest.

T: 10 @ 7:45 (5 x 1/2 mile with 1/4 rest). I was still feeling Sunday so I went from 10k pace down to 5k pace. 2:54, 2:58, 2:57, 2:51, 2:50. Rest was run @ ~8:5x/mile.

W: 13.11 @ 7:32. This was my fastest MLR ever.

R: 7 @ 8:16 TM

F: 6.5 @ 7:50 TM (About 5 strides of 0.06 mile length)

S: 6.1 @ 8:02

Su 1: 2.04 @ 7:57

Su 2: 10k @ 5:58

Tot: 51.0

Lowest mileage week in a long time, but next will be about 10 higher because of screwed up long run tomorrow. Happy where I am at. Now I just need to decide which shoes to wear. My LunaRacer 2's or the pace of LunaRacer 1's I ran in Boston last year.... Mmmmm.

Solid weeks!!! Wow!

Goal: London in 2:56-2:58

M: 6.5 easy with strides

T: 11 on TM from 8:00 down to 6:00

W: am 3.5

W: pm 14.5 = 7M @ 7:45, 2M @ 6:58, 2x1.5M @ (6:36, 6:32), 1M @ 6:20, 0.5M @ 5:52 (with 90secs jog), 1M c/d

R: 9.5

F: OFF

S: am 4 including 5K in 21:35 with son

S: pm 5 @ 7:50 easy

S: 17 = 2 up, 3x2M (7:02, 6:53, 6:32), 9 @ 8:08

Total = 71

YTD = 920

Decent week. Don't have heavy legs so it doesn't really feel like i have a marathon coming up in 14 days....

Wednesday's was fairly solid because i didn't really work hard. Kept at a MP feel (except for the final half mile). I like these sequences of shorter intervals.

Sunday's session was equal effort but for some reason the miles got faster and faster. Actually, i think the first 2M was harder but slower than the latter ones.

I guess the hay is in the barn now. Wait and see. Good luck to all.

Goal: 2:50

Race: Gansett

Started easing back this week and overall I feel like I ran smart. Paces probably should have been even easier, especially wed, but I was either sticking to my easy HR for easy days or just running at a "comfortable effort". Now the real taper will start. One more 3xmile workout and 13 next weekend. I'll have to condense my Pfitz schedule a day somewhere since the race is Sat. 4/16 but I'm not too worried about that.

Mon - 6am 4pm (Easy, 7:3x each)

Tues - 9 (Included 5x600 400 rec. 1:59,2,2,2,1:55. Felt really good to be able to finish like that.)

Wed - 12 (6:58's Probably too fast but I still wouldn't call it a "hard" run)

Thurs - 6.5 (7:35's Included 6x100)

Fri - 6 (7:18's Running at easy HR, despite what the pace ended up being.)

Sat - 9 (2/2 up/down. 5 mi. time trial 30:13 on a tough course. Mostly gently rolling, but includes a 100 ft climb in one 3/4 mile stretch.)

Sun - 17 (7:15 average. Just a nice steady effort. No real pushing at all.)

69.5 for the week.

I'm leaning towards running in flats (T6) for the marathon since it is a fairly level course and I've done the bulk of my training in pretty light shoes. Time to rest and hydrate.

Boston Runners:

I haven't been posting this year but have frequently visited to thread to check out others training. I am shooting for a sub 2:40 at Boston so if anyone is interested in working together so we don't start too fast that would be great.

Also, if anyone is wanting to save money and split a hotel send me an email. I know it is late notice now but my original plans had to change. I have a room booked now that could be canceled or I share the room I booked.

joshm367@hotmail.com

marmite

Sub 75 looks like a decent time. I've raced against the guy who came 3rd and he is strong.

CTA

Hope your London taper is going OK. Not long for us now!

My week:

Monday: Rest (0)

Tuesday: 10x1k (3:11/10/10/10/09/10/08/10/11/09), warm down, ran there and back (14)

Wednesday: 8 miles. Spaghetti Junction and back (8)

Thursday: 2x400,2x600,2x800,2x600,2x400 averaged about 68/1:47/2:26, ran home. Passed the 1000 mile mark for the year (10)

Friday: 9 easy (9)

Saturday: Cannon Hill Parkrun 5k, 15:46 PB - 1st, ran home (9)

Sunday: towpath run (14)

Week total: 64 miles

2011 total: 1034 miles

The taper is going well. Two very light weeks coming up. Only one big session planned which is 1 x 26.2 miles at marathon pace in two weeks.

Goal Race: Boston (bib 336)

Goal Time: 2:37

Mon – 8 miles easy

Tue – 10 miles easy

Wed – AM: 1 up; 5 x mile cutdowns w/ ¼ mile jog (6:02, 5:46, 5:45, 5:35, 5:38); 1 down

PM – 9 miles easy

Thu – 10 miles easy

Fri – 9 miles easy with 2 x 800m fast

Sat – 4 miles very easy

Sun – 2.5 up; Cherry Blossom 10-miler (58:06); 3.5 down

Total: 74 miles

I had a good week. I was shooting for 58:20 at Cherry Blossom, so I definitely can’t complain. There was a decently strong headwind in the final two miles, so I probably would have dipped under 58 minutes without the wind. Ready for Boston! I hope everyone had a good week.

Will catch up on everyone's training tmrrw.

Next Race: Palace Saloon 5k

Goal: WIN

Mo - 9pm (6:46s) with 8 by 25-28sec hill sprints

Tu - 6am (7:10s)

We - 11am with 6 by 1000m w 600m job recovery / 4pm (7:11s)

3:03, 3:01, 3:02, 3:04, 3:02, 2:57

Th - 8pm (7:03s)

Fr - 8am (7:15s)

Sa - 6pm (7:31s)

Su - 14am with 6 warmup, 6 by 1 mile, 2 mile down

5:26, 5:19, 5:17, 5:14, 5:11, 5:06

Total Mileage - 66

YTD - 1,179

So I'm an idiot (I know most of you already know this). Seminole Invite is invitation only and no individuals. I won't be doing that.

Palace Saloon is a great race in Tallahassee, FL that I have done 5 years in a row, always finish in the top 5 but have never won. So like you pablo , my only goal is to WIN.

Oh, btw - pablo I'm stealing your workouts left and right. Got weds' workout straight from your training. And 4TM , notice I put my second workout of the week in my long run. Thanks guys!

Goal Race: Boston

Goal Time: sub-2:37

M- off (rt. achilles sore after the half marathon)

Tu- am 6 (7:53) pm 7 (7:36)

W- 11 (7:47)

Th- 19 (6:45- A very hilly, dirt loop. Threw in 4mi hard (23:48), then 4min jog, then 1.5mi hard (8:52) at which point I hit a big hill that killed my momentum)

F- 10 (7:47)

Sa- 12 (7:48)

Su- am 9 (5k race, 16:28, 16th place. Good effort, fast course, but the last mile was into a strong headwind. I forgot just how painful 5k's are. 512,1029,1550)

pm- 8 (1.5mi w/u, 5mi @MP (5:49/mi),1.5mi c/d)

Tot- 83mi/6d

Solid week. I was very happy with the race and tempo on Sunday.

Next Race: Providence half

Goal: 1:12:XX

M - 8

T - 3a/12p w/6xMile@5:19

W - 8

T - 8

F - 3a/13p w/8x800@2:33, 6x400@73, 4x200@34

S - 8

S - 18

Total - 81

Pretty good week... legs are getting pretty tired though

Hope everyone's training is going well!

Goal Cleveland 5/15: Sub 3

Sun-24+ at 7:40 pace- worked down from 7:50 first 12

Mon- 7 trails

Tues- 15 with 13.1 in 1:28

Wed- 10 easy

Thurs- 5 am with 3xmile ¼ mile jog (6:06, 6:10, 6:15) PM 7 – 3.5 moderate, hammered 2nd half

Fri- 8 decent pace

Sat- 10 easy with 10x100m strides

Total- 86+

It was a solid week aside from Thursday’s am workout. I had originally planned 5xmile, but I was still a bit zonked from Tuesday. I felt much better that night.

Goal Marathon: Country Music Marathon, 4/30

Goal Time: 2:30ish

Mon: 5.5 miles very easy; 7.9 miles easy; legs felt like crap on both runs

Tue: 3 miles (7:47); 6.1 miles with a bailed workout. I was going to try the 4x5k I attempted last week but I made a deal with the weather gods, that if it started raining, I would stop the workout. Hit the first mile in 5:37, with the second mile around the same time but then it started raining. I stopped the workout and five minutes later, it stopped raining. Go figure.

Wed: 10 miles hilly progression (5:52). Ran a mile warm-up, then ran the last 9 as a progression, starting a little slower than marathon effort and working to near half marathon effort. The course was out-and-back with the first two miles rolling, two miles downhill and a flat mile. The uphill killed me on the way back; 2 miles (7:35)I wanted to run more but was at a track meet and figured I could use the extra rest

Thu: 6 miles (7:14); 8 miles (7:54)

Fri: 8 miles (7:28); 2.5 miles with strides

Sat: 12.9 miles with 10k in 39:30, 1:00 pee break, 10k in 34:04 (17:05, 16:59); 13.4 miles with 10k in 39:26, 1:00 pee break, 10k in 33:32 (16:56, 16:36). This was straight out of Canova's book with a goal of 10K@85%MP, 10k@MP or a tad faster. Between workouts, I ate very few carbs and survived on coffee, meat, cheese, eggs and nuts. This was a really motivating session because I felt strong the whole way and never had to dig deep. There was 16-20 mile winds during the PM workout, so I'm glad I held on.

Sun: 4 miles (7:37), 8 miles (7:35)

Week Total= 97.3 miles. The goal was 115 miles but I was not recovering at all and you can't build strong marathon specific endurance if you can't run marathon specific workouts. My legs were garbage for nearly three weeks and my body felt very similar to how it felt when I was low on iron, so I boosted my iron intake up and really slowed down the recovery days. I was really bummed out and doubting my fitness until Saturday's session.

Pablo: despite not breaking 15 (and like you said, you never really had an opportunity to), you had a couple great races that point to big things in the fall.

rhrunner: You're looking really strong at the right time. You have to let us know your bib number before the race.

VF Runner: I think flats are a good pick. The T-6s are light but have a decent amount of cushioning for a racer. You can wear them on your long runs and fast days until then to get adapted.

NoleRunner: 6x1k with 600m jog was my main bread-and-butter workout in college and probably my favorite workout.

pablo: Sometimes breakthroughs happen when you least expect them, don't be surprised to be going for the win and bust out a sub 15. Here's hoping you do it!

marmite: Solid half, with you being 4th and no one breaking 73 must have made for an interesting pack as the race developed.

Another: Nice 10k, huge PRs like that are great! You'll get that 10 seconds soon enough.

CTA: Nice sessions this week, Sunday's looks really nice.

VF: Nice time trial followed up with a good, solid long run. Great training for a marathon.

brumrunner: Nice job getting a PB in the 5k! Your training amazes me, there is no way I could do all that quality in a week and still be able to function.

VeganDude: Good job with the 10 miler, being under goal time is always a positive!

NoleRunner26: Very nice K workout on Wednesday! That Saturday mile repeat workout looked pretty damn good too.

Abu Seyame: Interesting to do a tempo the day of a race. How did that feel? Did you actually go race effort in that 5k or did you hold back a little bit? Could definitly see myself trying this at some point, seems like a great marathon training tool.

the FARM: Nice week! When is your half?

lsd87: If you can do a half by yourself in 1:28 two days after a 24+ miler I would think you could race a marathon in 2:55 or better. How did that half feel?

blaznbison24: That is one hell of a session on Saturday, very nice!

I am bib 226 for Boston. Can't believe it's two weeks from today.

Wow, I can't believe we're 2 weeks out from Boston!

Race: Boston Marathon

Goal: A: Break 2:40 B: 2:37:30

Mon- 4- Very very tired from yesterday's 21+ with 10 of it alternating half miles at 5:40/6:10 pace.

Tue- 15/ 10&5

Wed- 16/ 7&9

Thur- 14/ 3 up, 3 down, 2x4M in between. VERY good workout. Legs were still tired from last Sunday, but still did exactly what I wanted for my last long workout. Wanted to really beat up the legs, so chose to do loops of the hilliest section of Central Park. Started on a slight downhill first mile (for those who know the park, started a little south of Engineer's Gate) and wanted to mimic starting easy at Boston, so targeted a 6:15 first mile. Ran 6:13. The next mile is partially downhill and wanted to continue to mimic the Boston plan, so wanted 6:05 for mile 2... hit 6:05. I then settled in nicely with 2 5:56s. Once I got to mile 1 (roughly the 102 transverse on the East side) I did the rest of the workout on the 102/110 loop. This is VERY hilly. Destroys the legs. My next 4 miles I ran 5:59/5:58/5:59/5:51. After the cooldown, could feel the ache starting to come on.

Fri- 8 easy (8:00 pace on treadmill. Legs dead weights)

Sat- 8 easy with a friend (7:30-8:00 pace. Legs still dead)

Sun- Wanted 18 with the last 3 hard. Got through about 12 at a little under 7:00 pace and then the wheels fell off. Just not recovered well from the last 2 long hard efforts. Ran 2 more miles at 7:30 and 7:50 and called it a day. Was doing more harm then good. A little mad I did not get my last "long" run in, but 2 single run 14 milers this week and 2 other days of 15 and 16 still make for enough mileage 3 weeks out.

Weekly Total: 80

Year Total: 1,135

Legs are definitely beat, but with 2 weeks to go, I have plenty of time to rest up. Have run 62 days in a row, and today am taking off. Looking forward to feeling light and springy. Not really expecting it until next Thursday, though. Hopefully normal by Saturday, and feeling ready to race late next week.

lsd87: If you can do a half by yourself in 1:28 two days after a 24+ miler I would think you could race a marathon in 2:55 or better. How did that half feel?

I felt fairly strong during the workout. I planned on running 1:30, but I picked up the pace the last 5 miles. My last two marathons I've crashed really hard so I'm planning to go out conservatively in Cleveland. Thanks for the encouragement.

4TM - Your singular goal for the next two weeks should be to rest up and feel rested and healthy in two weeks. If you feel like taking a day off take a day off.

I took last Monday off. I will take tomorrow off. And I will take either next Monday/Tuesday off and the Saturday before Boston off.

I did my last long run this morning. 17.35 @ 7:28. Had to get up early to get it in, but luckily missed the rain. I could still feel the 10k from yesterday but legs didn't feel too horrible.

I've got Pfitz's 3 x 1mile on Thursday. 12.5 on Sunday and I think next Wednesday his 7 with 2MP. Don't know if I will be doing 5k pace for those mile repeats. Don't know how the legs will handle low 5:40's...

Rest up everyone!

Lsd87: you are in fantastic shape. You will kill your goal.

Boston/london runners: what workouts are you doing this week? I still havent decided if i will do 3x2M or 3-4x1M. On Sunday i will probably just do 12M easy. Going to try to keep mileage this week at 50ish. Good luck all.

CTA wrote:

Boston/london runners: what workouts are you doing this week?

I'm basically just doing the same runs or sessions I would normally do this week but less. 12 mile evening run (M,W,F) becomes 6 miles, 6x1 mile (Tues) becomes 2x1 mile, 20 mile LR (Sun) becomes 10 miles. I've also got the National 12 Stage on Saturday which is going to be a big race effort but shouldn't affect next week as I will be down to almost nothing next week and am also off work so will have plenty of recovery time.

Good luck with yours CTA. Which start are you in? Good for age?