Marathon Training Thread Week Ending 3/4

Posted last week as 'Storm'

Debut Marathon - Manchester 29th April

Aim - 2:18

Monday: AM: 6 Miles 42:39 Avg 7:07

PM: 10 Miles 62:49 Avg 6:17

Tuesday: AM: 6 Miles 42:48 Avg 7:08

PM: 12 Miles including Track Session 8 x 1k off 200m jog recoveries (approx 75 secs). 2:58, 2:55, 2:56, 2:56, 2:56, 2:56, 2:56, 2:48. Good session but felt drained and had a bad stomach. Maybe just tired from Sundays race.

Wednesday: 15 Miles 1hr40:39 Avg 6:43

Thursday: AM: 6 Miles 41:55 Avg 6:59

PM: 10 Miles 68:55 Avg 6:54

Friday: 8 Miles 57:29 Avg 7:11

Saturday: 5 miles 36:04 Avg 7:13

Sunday: 23 Miles including Trimpell 20 Mile race as tempo 1:49:04. On Garmin 1:48:58 for 20 (5:36, 5:31, 5:31, 5:29, 5:24, 5:28, 5:25, 5:38, 5:29, 5:27, 5:33, 5:24, 5:26, 5:25, 5:21, 5:19, 5:22, 5:20, 5:25, 5:16). Group of us 4 at the front until 15 miles and then me and my brother pushed on. Felt comfy to 15 and strong in last 5… good signs that 2:23 pace felt easy.

Total - 101 Miles

YTD - 746 Miles

Goal 2:20-22ish

M: 12 mi

Tu: 5x1 mi with 4:30 active rest (5:55-6 min pace so about 0.75-6 mi) splits: 4:56, 4:56, 4:54, 4:54, 4:51

Went through 8 miles in about 42:30

W: 8 mi

Th: 12 mi

F: 10 mi

Sa: 9 mile tempo broken up with a mile "easy" to start and an "easy" mile in the middle. Splits: 5:44, 5:22, 5:21, 5:18, 5:13, 5:43, 5:13, 5:06, 5:03

Su: 23 mi ~6:40 pace

Total: 90 mi

Pretty good week, Saturday and Sunday felt harder than I wanted. Chest feels tight. Not sure if it is leftover from last week's sickness, guess I'll find out soon enough.

samblackbones - good on you mate, top 5 is great going, nice one. Bet the massage will feel good.

Stormin - really great to see you hitting some form. Say "hello" to Dave for me, he's an ace bloke. Great to see you racing well as I know you've had endless injury troubles over the years. Hope to see you post a blinder in Manchester.

Goal Race: Bath 1/2M

Goal Time: sub-73

M - 5 easy / 8 easy

T - 20 (7:02 m/m avg, mild progression)

W - 5 easy / 7 easy

T - rest

F - 8 easy (incl. 8 strides)

S - 5 easy

S - 8 (incl. 1M w/u, Dewsbury 10k - 33:41, 17th, 1st V40 but behind 2 V45s, 1M c-d)

Total: 66M

Decided that if I felt reasonably well recovered that I'd try and slot a 20 in this week in case London ends up happening. Tuesday turned out well, did 7M first, 10M with the Tuesday group and then another 3M. Was tired on Weds, but felt ok by the weekend. Today went well enough. Happy enough with the time and placing, hoping to clock a 72:xx at Bath next weekend provided the conditions are reasonable.

Hope you've all had a good week.

Race TBD...(possibly half relay (7.1 in Vegas on st patty's day)

M - 7.6 at 735

T - 7 AM at 815 5 PM at 735

W - 7.6 at 725

T - 5 AM at 745 7 PM at 720

F - 9.2 at 730

S - 7.6 at 710

S - 14 at 720

Total: 70

First time I've ever hit 70 miles, my achilles was rather sore/tight today, but in the past if I just stretch well it's fine...otherwise felt great...now I've just gotta find a race or two...

Nice posts here so far this week. Great race, Marmite!!!

Goal: London sub 2:58

M: 7 slow

T: 10 with 6 miles as 3,2,1 M (6:38, 6:37, 6:11 !)

T: 5 slow

W: 6 with strides / 4 slow

R: 14 with 9 miles (6:58) (groups of 3M: 6:58, 7:05, 6:51)

F: off - transatlantic flight

S: 8 easy

S: 13 (8:20)

Total: 67

YTD: 667

Down week for me. Pretty cool to call 67 miles a down week but i have had a nice string of mileage so it does feel like a down week. Tuesday's session was great. I always enjoy the 3+2+1 workout. I hit my target pace 6:38 on the first group and held it for the second. But i just went with it for the 1M to close. Was flying and it felt great!

Thursday's MP session was ok. I started off as expected at around 7:00 pace and wanted to bring it down in the middle but got hit hard by heavy wind that took alot out of me. I held it together though to close decently. An ok workout.

Started a running journal for a website covering local college runners. So this is that entry for this week. I know it isn't the usual format but you get more detail I guess.

Goal: Outdoor

Time: Survive

Monday- Ran in good weather, little cold ran hospital

route. Slight knee soreness tightness in my calve that made running slow. Pace was about 7:10-7:20 pace. Went back to the gym and got 10 minutes on the stairmaster, bike and treadmill (more that 10 minutes and I am bored on a machine)

Total 6 Run +3 Cross Train

Tuesday- Ran in heavy rain, was hard to stay warm. Knee got stiff after 14 minutes and limpted back to make 4 miles. My limp is actually mostly on my toes so I keep the pace pretty quick 7:05ish pace today. Went back and got 35 minutes of cross training. Did abs and made sure to get a decent amount of rehabing hip exercises in. I think I have been slacking.

Total 5 Run + 4 Cross Train

Wednesday- Had a snow day here at DWU, running was pretty much a chore today. Got out with the wind down a decent residential area. Most of the run was ploughing through snow. Kept 7:30 pace for just under 5 miles, went back to the wellness and did 30 minutes cross-training (eliptical, bike, stairmaster). Iced knee, slowly getting pain-free, really miss level non-slippy surfaces to run on.

Total 4 Run + 5 Cross Train

Thursday- Good weather for running today, ran in high 30’s. Some slush around that was a nuisance to run around. Knee felt good, form is slowly getting a better knee drive, maybe even better than before I was healthy. Went into the wellness to do some cross-training and someone decided to blare some god-awful pop music. Ruined my ESPN Around the Horn and PTI session. Left after 20 minutes :(.

Total 5.5 Run + 3.5 Cross Train

Friday- Felt bad about today. Didn’t exactly eat well and went on to only run four. The run was sore and the knee was acting up. Ran with my teammates for one of the first times in a long time since I had tried to distance myself from that. It was nice to do it again but they was a lot more stopping and starting with awkward footing. Iced a lot and hoped for a better day tomorrow

Total 4 Run

Saturday- Today wasn’t much better. Got 5 in with my teammate at a decent pace, around 7:10 I would guess. The knee I think is just acting up and saying I need a rest, things have been going from strength to strength so a setback to consolidate gain I think is expected. Didn’t cross train but went sledding for part of the day and got a decent hill workout pounding up the hills. Legs/Body are sore.

Total 5 Run

Sunday- Body was still sore from the sledding so I decided to give it just a cross train day. Did 20 on the Stair-master, 30 on the bike, and 20 on the elliptical. Nice to get that sort of volume in was pretty tired breathing wise after it all. Overall a good week, not exactly where I wanted to get to but I can’t be disappointed. I am going to focus on not killing some of the run I have been doing as I feel it was the reason my knee’s kinda broke down at the end of the week. Will talk to you all next week.

Total 10 Cross-Train

Overall 55 Running Miles of Effort

Strange week for me. Today I ran my home town half marathon down south, a race I won last year. My last session on Tuesday went really well but on Thursday morning the cramps in my quads and calves returned. The pain continued on Friday and on Saturday I couldn't walk without discomfort.

I didn't want to miss the chance to defend my title so I got a good night's sleep and gave it a go. Bizarrely, having suffered crippling pain for half the week, as soon as the gun went my legs just felt fine. I have no idea why. Even so, I sat in behind the leaders for the first couple of miles and fortunately the pace was slow. By 3 miles (17+ mins) it was just two of us so I just sat on his shoulder, not knowing whether my legs were going to sieze up or not. I went to the front at 6 miles and he covered it, so I tucked back in knowing there was a big hill coming up. I tracked him up it and the pace remained slow (just under 40 mins at 7 miles). At 8 miles (45:20) I decided to go and pushed on. He tried to cover it but I just went for it and dropped him. The tenth mile was uphill and I got there at 56:10 with the other runner still too close for comfort, so I pressed on, using the lead car as my target. The last mile is downhill which makes for a great finish, and I crossed the line in high 71s (no official time yet and I didn't wear a watch). I was really pleased with the last 5k as I must have covered it in ~16 minutes.

It was cold and raining heavily the whole way. Unpleasant but worth it.

Monday: 12 easy (12)

Tuesday: 5x1k off 200 jog. 3:05/3:03/3:01/3:00/2:57 (11)

Wednesday: 12 easy (12)

Thursday: Rest (0)

Friday: Rest (0)

Saturday: 2 easy (2)

Sunday: Berkhamsted Half Marathon, 1st. (15)

Week total: 52 miles

2012 total: 692 miles

Stormin - nice tempo run. You must be in good shape if that pace feels easy. Keep up the good work.

marmite - well done on the 10k. And a 20 miler in the week is never easy (assuming you did it in the evening) so great work.

2nd marathon - very impressive Tuesday and Saturday runs.

Any British people doing the regional/national 12 stage this month and next?

Thanks for starting us off, samblackbones! That's a big week, it's no wonder you felt a little sluggish on the line. I also didn't know you were targeting the Carlsbad 5k as well. It's certainly not gonna be easy to run your best 5k considering you're training for a distance 8 times that distance...but good luck!

Stormin - That's an excellent week and a great looking 20 miler! Definitely a good sign that not only did that pace feel easy, but you did it at the back end of a triple digit week. A strong performance indeed.

2nd marathon - I'm curious to the thought process behind the "easy" mile in the middle of a tempo. On paper it looks more like you did a 4 mile tempo, mile steady, then a 3 mile tempo rather than a straight 9 mile tempo.

marmite - Great to see you running strong again. Crazy to think that two >45 year olds ran faster than 33:41. Sub 73 definitely seems reasonable and would set you up nice for a fast time at London as well...should you decide on that route.

youngrunner - Congrats on hitting the 70 mark! A race in Vegas on St. Patty's Day sounds like it would be a helluva lot of fun, not because of the running though.

CTA - Very nice paces on that 3-2-1 workout...you were moving that last mile!

Tiger_runner - Good luck with the outdoor season...I know the feeling of running outdoors and feeling like you're playing catch-up with your other teammates. 2 out of my 4 years in college, I was out for the winter due to injury.

brumrunner - Very nice half! If you really closed the last 5k around 16:00, you've definitely got a better time in you. A great week nonetheless!

Goal Race: Gate River Run 15k (3/10)

Goal Time: sub-48:30

My week was pretty uneventful. Lots of ups and downs...mostly downs, but I'm feeling pretty good now so hopefully I'm out of whatever funk I was in earlier.

M: am - 6 easy (7:47) / pm - 6 easy (7:47)

Tu: am - 8 easy 7:39) / pm - 6 easy (7:48)

W: am - 7 total (bailed on a workout due to achilles issues) / pm - skipped run

Th: OFF

F: am - 10 easy (7:11) / pm - 6 easy (7:40)

Sa: am - 9 total w/ 3 miles of in/out 400's (15:58 total, 72/87 avg) / pm - 4 easy (7:44)

Su: 12 easy (7:25)

Weekly Total - 74 miles

YTD - 790 miles

A disappointing week. Saturday's session was good, but I was hoping for that to happen on Wednesday, and another quality session on Saturday instead. My right achilles has been a nuisance for a while and has finally decided to rebel against me. It's hard to explain, but it goes through periods of "instability"...where it gives out and it's hard to keep a normal stride. It's much better after the day off, but still present. Hopefully it won't be a problem at Gate next Saturday.

Boston 2:39

I'm not gonna bore you with the details of my week. Only four runs but they were good. Getting excited for Boston.

@brumrummer: you sound a bit like a head case. Congrats on the win!

Goal Race: Baystate 10/21

Time: TBA

M: 6

T: 8

W: 7

Th: Snow Storm 0

Fr: 9

Sa: 0 Lazy

Su: Very sick, stomach bug? 8

38, pitiful

Each week I feel worse and worse. There is no reason for me not to get out there. On short days (like Mon) I plan doubles and don't run the 2nd. Days like Th/Sa I just puss out. I used to do 80/90 mi weeks alone no problem, no i struggle to get 1/2 of that....

but nice job everyone-looks like progress is coming. i see some strong workouts, too. rest up and be careful with those injuries

Pablo - I have a comped entry for it - so I figure keep optimistic! after all it is labeled "the world's fastest 5k" although the course isn't particularly flat. I am just hoping to get some good confidence going into the taper as well, but who knows.

Each week I feel worse and worse. There is no reason for me not to get out there.

Two options: accept or change it. Regrets don't work.

Care to share?

Goal Race: Big D Half Marathon

Goal Time: 1:18

First week using my heart rate monitor in a long time.

M: 7.21 @ 8:20 144BPM

Tu: 10.16 @ 7:52 156BPM

W: 4.69 @ 9:36 138BPM

Th: 7.34 @ 8:11 151BPM

F: 10.62 @ 7:31 161 BPM

S: 5.84 @ 7:42 148BPM on treadmill

S: 6.55 @ 8:04 151BPM

Rolled my ankle pretty badly today. I was originally going to run 90 mins averaging 155BPM but had to stop because the pain was too much. Sitting with my foot in a bucket of ice right now hoping that I can keep the swelling down enough to run tomorrow.

Crazy busy day so I'm gonna post quick then read through the rest later. Looks like good weeks at a quick glance though.

Goal: 2:4x

Race: Pocono

Week 1 of Pfitz

Mon - 6am 4.5pm (7:16, 7:33 easy)

Tue - 10.5 (Hill run etc. And 10 x 100)

Wed - 14 (7:01 avg.)

Thurs - 6am 4pm (7:18, 7:25 easy)

Fri - 12 (7:08)

Sat - 8 (7:25 included 8 x 100)

Sun - 17 (7:15 avg. 7:40 first 6. Quicker middle then 7.5 @ FMP 6:27 avg)

Total 82

Survived first week of the 85+ plan feeling good. I do think my goal pace is going to end up being 6:25-27 and I didn't think there was a chance I'd hit that today. First 3 pace miles were actually about 6:10, backed off and held about 6:20's until the last 1+ when I intentionally backed off some. Easy runs (including Sat.) Were all done by HR, so they really were fairly easy.

I may not be the fastest I've ever been in my life (as my mile showed) by I think I may be more "fit" than ever.

Some great race results this week. Congrats brumrunner on the win. Must feel good to win a race (I wouldn't know!).

Goal: Boston sub-2:50

Mon - Off (planned rest day after half)

Tue - 6mi Elliptical (shin bothering me)

Wed - 10mi Easy

Thu - 6mi Easy (+ got back MRI results showing no stress fracture/reaction)

Fri - 11mi Fartlek at about 7mi pace

Sat - 7mi Easy

Sun - 21mi @ 7:21. Was supposed to run this a bit faster, but legs just weren't interested.

Total: 55mi or 61mi if you include the elliptical

Not a good training week for me. Running isn't particularly comfortable, but the doctor said I can train through the injury (which he said was just periostitis (shin splint)). Taking a lot of alleve, icing as much as I have time for, and doing some exercises (toe taps, weighted foot-lifts, etc.) in the mean time.

este guey wrote:

Goal Race: Big D Half Marathon

Goal Time: 1:18

First week using my heart rate monitor in a long time.

M: 7.21 @ 8:20 144BPM

Tu: 10.16 @ 7:52 156BPM

W: 4.69 @ 9:36 138BPM

Th: 7.34 @ 8:11 151BPM

F: 10.62 @ 7:31 161 BPM

S: 5.84 @ 7:42 148BPM on treadmill

S: 6.55 @ 8:04 151BPM

Rolled my ankle pretty badly today. I was originally going to run 90 mins averaging 155BPM but had to stop because the pain was too much. Sitting with my foot in a bucket of ice right now hoping that I can keep the swelling down enough to run tomorrow.

used the wrong handle. my bad. total ended up being 52 miles for the week

NJ Marathon 5/6: Goal 3:05

M: 7 easy 7:55

T: 3xmile w/800 jog rest in Central Park hills

W: 6 easy 7:51

Th: 8 easy 7:41

F: 7 easy 8:08

Sa: off

Su: Race 5K: 18:52, slower than most of you guys but a PR, which translates to a 3:04:30 marathon, so I'm pumped!

Weekly mileage: 40, but wanted to take it easy to nail the 5K. Thanks for letting me participate here. I'm in awe of the mileage you guys are putting up. 2012 mileage: 370.