Marathon Training Thread - Week Ending 5/8

brumrunner - I disagree. A week off, followed by your first run being a 5k in 16:14 is pretty impressive. Hope it's nothing serious with the knee.

Goal Race: Chicago

Goal Time: 2:26

I had a good week, nothing special. A couple of missed runs, but still hit the mileage I wanted.

M: am - 8 easy (7:24) / pm - 6 easy (7:44)

Tu: am - 12 easy (7:12) / pm - 6 easy (7:52)

W: am - 10 easy (7:33) / pm - 6 easy (7:50)

Th: 12 easy (6:59)

F: 10 easy (6:36)

Sa: am - 10 easy (7:12) / pm - 6 easy (7:27)

Su: 20 easy (6:22) with miles 14-17 @ marathon effort (5:30ish)

Weekly Total - 106 miles

YTD - 1,300 miles

I had something interesting happen on my Saturday afternoon run.

I was just out for a really nice and easy 6 miles....running one of my three 6-mile loops from home. This one mostly runs along a paved bike path that parallels a river. Only about 2 miles into the run, I see something ahead in the distance on the bike path. My first thought was somebody was lying down on the bike path for some reason...I don't know, maybe they're tired. As I get closer I realize it's not a person, but I still can't quite make out what it is. A downed tree? A roll of carpet? No, it's a f**king GATOR! Just as I'm about to turn around and run for my life (people underestimate how fast these guys can run), I hear someone yell "It's okay, he's dead!"

I decide to go investigate myself, and sure enough...the gator is dead. There was a blood trail leading from where a small road crosses to where he was laying. My best guess is that the gator was out on land for God knows what reason, and got hit by a car. I wish I had a camera, because this thing was massive. I layed down next to it, and it had about 4 feet on me from head to tail...suggesting this thing was very close to 10 feet long. It definitely put some spice into my run.

Incidentally, this isn't the first time I've run up upon a dead gator, but the other time was on a trail. Only in Florida.

Anyway, that was my exciting week.

great story pablo. All we get over here is dead birds and squirrels! Sounds like you're building a decent base.

I've had to jump over a couple of snakes (including one while leading a 5k), but those are the largest reptiles I've seen on a run. Kind of an in-between week for me. Recovering from my ten miler but also trying to start getting ready for a 5k on the 21st.

Good luck with the knee brum. Pablo's right, after a week completely off that's not a bad first day back.

Mon - 4 (Pretty easy 7:30's)

Tues - 6.5 (Included 2 miles of 'in-and-outs' on the track 5:45,:51. Just wanted to stretch out and get some turnover in)

Wed - 7.5 (7:22's Comfortable, but not quite easy)

Thurs - 9 (Easy overall. The first 4 were with a Jones Counter to find the markings for the 5k I was helping direct on Fri.)

Fri - Off (But lots of biking related to the race)

Sat - 7.5 (7's Steady effort)

Sun - 14 (Varied effort long run. 4 mi. steady 3 mi. fartlek. 3 miles steady. 2 mi acceleration tempo in 12:30)

49 For the week (Approx. 1025 YTD)

Some nice training being posted. Brum, I agree with Pablo, impressive pace after a week off.

M - 12M easy

T - 3M easy

W - 2M easy

T - 2M easy

F - 5M easy

S - 6M easy

S - 18M steady

Total: 48M

Felt like cr@p most of the week, so decided to take it really easy. Felt a bit better today so decided to test the water. Hope to be able to jump back into things this week.

Goal Race - TBD

Goal Time - TBD

M - 6 easy AM 8 easy PM

T - 6 easy AM 8 easy PM

W - 6 easy AM 8 easy PM

T - 6 easy AM 8 easy PM

F - 12 moderate

S - 4 slightly intoxicated

S - 4, very painful, hungover

Total - 76 miles

YTD - 1496 miles

This was a decent week, just running very easy and doing whatever felt good. Was hoping to get up early on Saturday and get a run in before heading to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby but being up until 4 drinking with my friends who came down prevented that. Wanted to keep my consecutive days streak alive so went for a run when we got back from the track with a friend, was interesting to say the least. Today has been painful, Derby is awesome but I am glad it only comes once a year because Sunday is rough.

Sorry to hear about the knee brumrunner, hopefully its feeling 100% soon. Nice week pablo, solid long run today.

Nice sunday long run, pablo. Also, your story reminds me of a horatio kane moment...

I started building easy mileage this week. I just basically ran by feel. I was in paris for part of the week and ran alot along the river. Weather was great so there were big crowds making it difficult to get into a rhythm. However, some guy blew by me at around 5:00 pace. He was doing laps involving two bridges, i do not know how he managed to avoid the crowds and the cars at the same time.

Goal: berlin in 2:56

M 5@9:15 tm / 6@7:55

T 3@9 tm

W. 6@8:03 / 3@8:xx

R 6@7:25 / 4@7:42 

F 7@7:39

S 6@8:48 tm

S. 4.5

Week=50.5.  Ytd=1066

Pablo: I like how you can just bang out these 20 mile long runs like they are nothing. Pretty impressive.

rhrunner: Solid week. I've been to the track in Saratoga a couple times and it's a lot of fun. I can't imagine being in Kentucky for the derby. Insanity must have ensued.

Goals: NYC Marathon (2:35??)

4:00 (1500), 15:30, 33:00

Mon: 8 (7:53...calves and feet still killing me from the 5k on Saturday)

Tue: 10 (7:30)

Wed: 10.5 (2 w.u. / 4.5 mile progression / 8' jog / 2 x (400/200 jog/200/400 jog) / 2 w.d.; 4:33, 4:30, 4:20, 4;11, 4;06, 3:58...65, 32, 66, 31)

Thu: 6 (7:30)

Fri: 8 (7:10 w/ 4 x 100m strides)

Sat: 13 (AM: 4 w.u. / 2 x (4 x 400 @ mile pace,400 jog) & 800 jog between sets / 2 w.d.; 65,64,64,64,64,64,64,63 PM: 3 SLOWWW)

Sun: 12 (7:00 medium long)

Total: 67.5 miles

Calves were actually sore until Wednesday. That workout didn't go great. The progression was a little slower than last time I did it (on purpose), but I ate too much food beforehand and my stomach was really bothering me for the faster stuff. Had enough after 2 sets. Saturday's workout went great, and I think I fell in love with doing a secondary slow, short run. My legs this morning actually felt pretty good for the "long" run. Couple more weeks with hard workouts then backing off to really sharpen up for a few weeks of racing! Tomorrow's 6 miler will make it 1,000 YTD, which is nothing compared to you guys, but for me is way ahead of any pace I've had in the past. Have a good week everyone!

Goal Cleveland 5/15- Sub 3

Sun- 18 with 7 at marathon pace- humid

Mon- 7 easy

Tues- 12 with 10 at 6:44 pace

Wed- 13 decent pace

Thurs-8 with 5 at 6:18 pace- a bit warm

Friday- 10 easy

Saturday- 7 easy

Total- 75

Decent week. Almost there.

Goal: Hmmm....

brumrunner- I would give a left...to run that after training for it, nice job!

pablo- How do you make that mileage seem so effortless. I'm glad to see the runs you posted though, cause I was asking myself if it is common to run consecutive doubles on higher mileage days...obviously this comes with time and experience.

So, I've been seriously questioning how I've been training for quite awhile now, and one of the biggest questions I have (which is probably universal) is hard day easy day pacing. Watching you guys and seeing, sometimes 2 min variations has me wondering if that may be a huge problem with my improvement. While I haven't been running too long, I have probably maintained a low 7min average for most runs. I have taken progression runs as low as 5 min miles, but comparatively they don't add up.

As I watch some of you post easy runs as slow as high 7's, I wonder if I am shooting myself in the foot. My easy runs seem easy, but I obviously don't have the speed work to back it up, as my "easy" pace, and it seems difficult to fathom a mid * min pace as easy. Any ideas, as to how I should determine these paces?

This is my last week of increasing my mileage, and then I will drop back a bit, and start over. I have ran everything without a watch, and strictly off of feel. I'm not sure if it's the increase, but my sciatica is wreaking havoc on me. My PT has been doing some pretty aggressive ART, and I feel amazing, but he says the fact that my new job requires me to sit all day, it is going to be a long road...anyways, here's my week. Sorry for the rant!

M- am 5 (7:18), pm 6 (7:23)

T- am 7 (7:11), pm 4 (7:04)

W- am 6 (7:14), pm 6 (8:03) trails w/900 ft of climbing

T- off

F- am 6 (7:18), pm 9 (6:51)

S- am 6 (6:48)

S- am 14 (7:12), pm 5 (7:34)

Total- 74

Oh yeah, I am humoring either a 10k or 1/2 this weekend, and was wondering if anyone wanted to give some input as to how I should structure this week, since I was going to drop it back anyways. Or, should I just let it go, since I didnt do any specific training for either.

As always thanx.

Goal: New York 2:46

I've come to realize that I hate May. Why May? Because its the month where: yard work + pollen + running + marathon recovery = me feel like a slow piece of crap.

Had some good runs this week, but this weekends runs were crap. I've been wearing a HRM since after Boston and my HR was sky high this weekend. Looking back at my logs, it seems to be a common occurance for a couple of runs post-Boston. The pollen is extremely high here now, plus consecutive days of heavy yard work for 5+ hours (with running) just doesn't do my body good. I'm exhausted most of the day.

Plus since I'm tired, I sleep in and I up running in sun and mid-to-upper 60s now which I haven't done since October. So I guess I'm getting "warmth" acclimated. pablo would probably laugh.

I have the new Garmin 610 and I like it. Though I have noticed that all of the regular course I ran with my 305 are coming up about 0.7-0.8% shorter with the 610. So a 6.98-7.00 route is now 6.92. A 10.98 mile route is now 10.92, etc. Nothing drastic...

My week

M: Off

T: 6.10 @ 8:20 AHR 130

W: 9.58 @ 7:46 AHR 140

R: 7.17 @ 8:14 AHR 132

F: Off

S: 10.92 @ 7:48 AHR 147 (1st crap run)

S: 6.92 @ 8:34 AHR 134 (2nd crap run)

Tot: 40.7

I'm supposed to hit the track for 200's and 400's tomorrow. That should go well. Not.

Running4IAM: Your easy pace is yours and yours alone. What I mean is that all runners feel comfortable running "easy" at different paces. I run with a friend of mine who is not in as good shape and he always complains that we go too slow. Personally, I think I run on the slower end for my "easy" pace. I've always thought the Jack Daniels, Mcmillan, etc. charts have your "easy" pace as being way too fast. They are paces I could hold aerobically yes, but day in day out they would kill me, especially with hard workouts surrounding them.

What I've learned in the past year is that easy runs should be based on how you feel that day/session. Saying before you go out "I need to hit 7:00 pace even though I feel like crap because that is a pace I can run fairly easily normally, and a book says that is my aerobic pace" is not that way to go about it. The more you run, the easier the pace will come to you each day. I think a lot of people here would agree with that, and I'm sure some have different opinions. That is my opinion though.

Another good week for me.

M:9 (7:30)

T: 16 - AM:6 (6:30) PM 3 up, 16 X 400 (from 79 down to 64, this killed me), 3 down.

W: 10 (7:30+)

Th 9 on the treadmill (6:55)

F 10.2 (7:20)

S 10.5 (7:30)

S 21 with the first ten at 7:25 pace and the last 11 at a 6:25 pace. Felt great the whole way.

Total: 85+ miles.

Goal: Gold Coast Marathon 2:35 July 3rd

Noosa Half 1:13, May 22

M am 8 (7:33)

T - am 9 (6:50)

W - am 5 (7:52) / pm 13 – w 7 * 2k (7:11) avg

T – am 6 (7:59)

F – am 8 (7:19)

S – am 9 including 5km (18:50) + 1mile (5:55)

S – 3 vvvslow

Total: 61

YTD: 1686

Although wed session was slow I was particularly pleased with the effort, first time in 4 weeks I’ve been able to push. Sat session was to be 2 * 5k (6:00) pace and 1 * 5k (5:30-5:40) pace. First 5k was very comfortable. One mile into 2nd was feeling good that I was finally getting back on track and right calf (lateral) went, Hobbled home. Hopefully it will recover this week. I am not going to be anywhere near 1:13 shape in two weeks which is disappointing because when I set the goal I thought it was conservative. I won’t change it because I have no idea what will happen.

Pablo: great story.

stamford - Damn, those are some pretty sick 400's you did on Saturday. When is your next race/meet?

lsd - That's a pretty big week considering you're only a week out from the marathon. Also, the fact that you're able to run 10 @ 6:44 within a 12 miler and 5 @ 6:18 only 2 days later suggests to me that you'll shatter 3 hours in Cleveland. Just take it real easy this week to freshen up.

Running4IAM - I agree with everything that stamford said. My definition of easy changes on a day to day basis. The important thing I try to keep in mind on these days is to never push anything. Sometimes that means 8:00 pace, some days that means 6:30 pace. The only run I try to keep an honest pace are my long runs. Otherwise if it's not a workout, it's probably gonna be slow.

Another - Ha! Mid to upper 60's...around here that's "running with a t-shirt" weather. At the end of my long run on Sunday, it was already 88 degrees. I have a semi-related note regarding your Garmin. As you may know, I'm one of the few runners that doesn't own a Garmin (same with all my usual running partners). On Saturday, I actually ran with someone who wears a Garmin, so I took him on one of my 10-mile loops. As it turns out, his Garmin read 10.41 miles at the end of the run. So for the past 2 years, about half of my 10 mile runs have actually been 10.41 miles...meaning I might be selling myself short on mileage.

Thanks Pablo, I ran that workout hard. Usually I leave with something left in the tank, but this one I pushed hard, especially the last 150m on the last few reps. When I get that tired/burning feeling in the race, I want to be used to it and know I can push through to the end.

My next race is a road 5k on 5/19 (next Thursday). I am going for the 'W' and hoping that I can do it in like 16:30, or some time that does not result in me putting a max effort in. I'll be racing a 1500 2 days later, another road 5k the next Saturday, and a 1500 the following weekend. The track meets are the New Balance meets in Boston, so I will have great competition to help pull me to a fast time. When are you racing next anyway?

Goals: Mad Marathon July 10, 2:50

Fall Marathon (?), sub 2:40

Hi All, I'm back running again and thought I'd rejoin the discussion here. I have been following the thread for 3-4 months as I got back into the routine. Glad to see everyone still going strong. Enjoyed the Boston Marathon stories. Loved the gator story this week.

For those of you who don't remember, I was training for a sub 2:40 Boston 2010 when I hurt my knee last Feb. Got discouraged and swore off running for a long time, from Feb-Sept 2010. I was intent on finding a new hobby and never running again. Well, 8months and +20lbs later, I figured I should start running to stay healthy at least. I never weight more than 145lbs in my life and was up to 160lbs.

Ran a couple days a weeks thoughout the fall, but couldn't get anything going without a goal or plan. It's amazing how lack of conditioning combined with the extra weight made running so difficult. Then my wife and I had our first child at the end of Dec. That's what finally motivated me. I have always defined myself as "a runner" and I didn't want my son growing up not knowing that part of who I am. Anyways, enough of that.

So I held out from posting until I felt comfortable commiting to it again. I've built up to 60mpw since Jan and lost 15 of the 20lbs. I signed up for the Mad Marathon in Waistfield VT July 10th with a goal of qualifying for Boston, but mostly because I'll be in the area on vacation and thought I should get another marathon in before I take another stab at a PR in the fall. I'm hoping to be around 2:50 if the weather is good. Then hopefully shoot for a Sub 2:40 pr in the Fall.

Here is my week, rearranged because of illness and Mothers Day

M: Sick (getting over a cold that started Friday)

T: 8mi with baby jogger steady - chest still conjested

W: 10mi (7:30s)

T: 20mi (7:15 - 6:45) 6:53avg. Second half included miles 16-26 of the Boston course (long runs of 16 and 18 in the past 4 weeks)

F: 5mi easy

S: 8.5mi (7:30s)

S: 10.5mi (6:15s) middle 5 in ~6:00

Working on doing the easy stuff, easier. In the past I would run the easy days around 7s. Now I'm working hard to keep it to 7:30s. Hopefully that will prevent breakdown. I think I'm probably down to about 2:55 marathon shape right now, but it's hard to say. Only race I'd done since getting back into is was a 15K in Mar and it didn't not go well, but it was early in training and I was dealing with back spasms. Ran 6:20s on a hilly course with a lot of wind. Feeling 100x better now.

stamford - Next race on the list is a local 5k on the 28th of this month. Main goal is to defend my title. Last year, I needed a 15:48 to win it...but there's been some years where it only takes a 17:30 to win it.

BostonBound - Welcome Back! I remember you...the months leading into Boston 2010 were by far the most popular this thread has been. We used to get 50 or 60 posts every friggin week. Glad to see you took some time to explore other options outside of running. Sometimes you really don't know how much you enjoy running until you're away from it for a while. And whatever the motivation may be, also glad to see you've found your way back to it! I remain firm that slowing down my easy days has made me, if nothing else, a more consistent runner. So you have my support for slowing down your easy runs. Good luck with the upcoming marathon, and ultimately, getting back into the running lifestyle.

stamford/pablo- What you guys say makes a lot of sense. I guess my problem seems to be, the lack of workouts at faster paces. I hope as I build up, and feel comfortable at the increased mileage, I will be able to hit workouts at beneficial paces. Thanx

If anyone wants to run Houston 2012, early guaranteed registration is now open.

https://secure4.marathonguide.com/register/houstonmarathon/GuaranteedEntry.cfm?