I'm doing the Pfitzinger 18/70 program and today was 18 with 10 at mp (for me I did this at 6:53 on the treadmill). This is, I think week 5 of the program. Aim is to go sub 3. PR is 3:10 and 1:24:30 for the half (easy course).
I found it very hard to hold the pace after 6 miles or so. Actually cheated a bit by lowering the incline from 1% to 0% in order to finish. HR crept up to about 94% though most of it was in the 88-90% range.
Is this normal or am I screwed?
What was the temperature wherever you did this? Was the mp at the end or the middle (I'm not familiar with Pfitzinger's program). Or was it 18, then 10??
When is your goal race?
Almost regardless, though, I would not say you're screwed. Unless I was in a race, I could never have held mp for 10 miles. That workout just seems too hard to me.
Yes, you're screwed if you continue to run workouts on the treadmill.
Temperature was inside but a warm room, maybe 72F or so. I did 5 miles warmup, then 10MP, then 3 cooldown. Goal race is first weekend of November.
I have little choice but to do a lot of treadmill running due to being injury prone. I have much better luck on the mill.
Week 5 of a ?? week program? If you have 13 weeks to go (week 5 of an 18 week program), you're looking good. 5 weeks to go, not so good. Treadmill tells me decent conditions whereas outdoors this time of year with heat/humidity would have played a huge part. I did a similar workout yesterday preparing for a 1:28 half. Did 8 easy & then 6 @ goal 1/2 MP. Was pretty tough and with 7 weeks to go I think I'm just on the cusp of being ready by Sept. ( 83 degrees, moderate humid). Would love to learn how it goes from here for you...
I have done the 18-85 plan a couple of times, and in fact was doing the same workout as you today. I have never been able to hold mp for the distances the plan calls for and today was no exception.
I try to run them at what I consider marathon effort rather than marathon pace. Ten miles an goal mp 13 weeks out is a huge ask.
I have always hit my goal times come race day (2.54 and 2.49).
Ran a similar workout to you 2 weeks out. Ran 10 miles on the treadmill at 3 hour pace at 1.5% incline in a 70 degree room. Wasnt a ball busting workout but definitely felt uncomfortable and was pretty tired by the end. Ended up running 2:58 on a hilly course after running most of the race at 2:53 pace and blowing up in the final few miles. I'd say if the weather for your race is ideal then you should be fine.
that was tough wrote:
Temperature was inside but a warm room, maybe 72F or so. I did 5 miles warmup, then 10MP, then 3 cooldown. Goal race is first weekend of November.
I have little choice but to do a lot of treadmill running due to being injury prone. I have much better luck on the mill.
I think you're fine. There's some advantages to following some pre-set schedule, but many disadvantages, too. You're discovering some of them. 1. They're written for a generic runner, not you, or, worse, for the guy who wrote them. 2. Sometimes you just have bad days. And when the workouts are as hard as this one, the day doesn't have to be all that bad for you to not hit it. Ten miles at mp 13 weeks out, by yourself? If you had hit it, I would advise you to reconsider your goals.
Stay consistent, but flexible. I know lots of people use Pfitz's book, but it's not written on stone tablets brought down from the mount, you know?
I can see why you're a bit panicked though. You'd think running just 38% of the race distance @ pace would be doable, even early in the buildup. I would feel better about it if you had done more than 5 miles before doing MP portion. Getting good taper advice & sticking to it may be the difference in the end….
OK good you guys are making me feel better. I probably should have just done 8 warmup and then 10@MP instead of the w/u c/d thing. I will do that for the next one.
kmaclam wrote:
Week 5 of a ?? week program? If you have 13 weeks to go (week 5 of an 18 week program), you're looking good.
That's right. This comes pretty early in the program. I have done 10@MP before but usually something like 3 or 4 weeks out, not in.
No, I would not (necessarily) say you're screwed. For my last marathon, I used Pfitzinger's 12/85 plan, and there were three marathon pace runs in there. I failed the first one (first week) - only got through 7 of the 8 miles, at 7:03 pace. For the next one (week three I think) I only made it through 6 of the 10 miles, although I did manage a 6:54 avg. I did, however, nail the last one (week six), running 12 miles at 6:54 pace, and it was a good run that didn't feel too hard (and it even had a few nice sized hills). Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is, I went on to run a 2:58:48 at the end of the 12 weeks of training.
Also FYI, my half marathon PR is very similar to yours - 1:24:20. Although I am definitely capable of faster.
I literally just today started the Pfitzinger 12/85 plan again, for the same marathon at which I ran 2:58. Goal is 2:55. Anyway, good luck on the rest of your training. I hope you are able to do some road runs here and there - not training on the same surface on which you will race can cause more injury than training too much on the roads, if you're not careful.
No cooling breeze on the treadmill, no slight change in muscle recruitment due to variations in elevation and turns. Treadmill is harder for such a long effort. 72 is too hot.
Alan