Miles, Miles, Miles!

Sooooo many miles. I'm officially training for the Tidewater Striders BQ Invitational Marathon on March 27. That's four weeks away! I had been targeting Myrtle Beach, but they postponed the race, so thankfully I had a backup. This meant three extra weeks of training, which I think ended up being for the best. Typically when I train for a marathon I spend 3-4 weeks in the 70's and that's about it. But with this cycle, I've been running high mileage ever since the start of the year. 

Here's a graph of my training since the year started.

This past week, I logged 79 miles, which is my third highest week of all time. My highest week of all time, 90 miles, was not during marathon training, but was done as a special challenge last spring just to see if I could hit it. 

Current Run Streak
I'm on day 66 of my current streak, which started after I took a rest day on Christmas Eve. This run streak has averaged 9.8 miles per day!  

I don't streak for the sake of streaking. Rather, my body can handle running every day without getting injured, and if I feel like I need a day off, I take it. I've been working with the same coach for over six years now, and he knows me pretty well. He knows how to push me without breaking me, and that's always a fine balance to strike.

I logged 302 miles in February, which is more than I get in most months with 30+ days! Thankfully, everything is feeling good, although my legs have been feeling heavy these past few days. 

Why, tho?
I often get asked why I run so many miles, and is it really necessary? If I want to run a 3:10 (or faster) marathon, then yes, it's necessary for me. Some women can run a 3:10 on 40 miles a week because they have natural talent. To get to the next level and have another breakthrough, I believe I need to run high mileage combined with strength training. This is all about seeing what I am capable of and getting to my lifetime peak. I'm 42 years old, so I'll probably start slowing down or plateauing soon. Now is the time to see what I can do in the marathon!

Key Workouts
Typically my weeks look like this:

• Monday: Hard workout
• Tuesday: Medium-long run (usually around 11 miles)
• Wednesday: Easy Run
• Thursday: Hard workout
• Friday: Easy Run
• Saturday: Long Run (often with fast miles at the end)
• Sunday: Recovery run

I've had to navigate around snow storms and icy roads quite a bit in February so I've adjusted my schedule almost every week! I don't mind doing easy runs on the treadmill, but I really think I need to be on the road to get the full benefit of some of these long, hard workouts. Here are a few breakthrough workouts I am super proud of.

8 x 1-mile with 2-minute recovery jogs (January 21). I had never done 8 mile repeats before; 7 was the
most I had ever tackled! I decided that the only palatable way to approach it would be to avoid the track and run on the road. There is a 1.4 - mile loop near me that has slight inclines and declines throughout which I thought would be a good substitute. That way, I would never pass the same spot during one rep, and all reps would start and end in different places.  I knew that the small hills would mean it wouldn't be as fast as the track but this wasn't a vanity workout—it was about doing the work and making it through the entire 8 reps.

Pacing wise, my coach told me to shoot for 6:30-6:45, ideally at the faster end for most of them. For reference, I had just set a 10K PR at a pace of 6:37. So I was now going to run 8 miles at around 10K pace, with very short recovery jogs. Not walks, not rests, but jogs. It was 28° with very little wind, and I consider this to be very good weather. 

I pretty much wanted to quit after the first two reps. They were long and hard. But after the 3rd rep, things didn't seem so bad and I flew through the rest of them quite nicely. It was difficult to rally for that final 8th rep, so I started out on the slower side but then sprinted the second half to get my average pace down:  6:40, 6:42, 6:34, 6:35 6:35, 6:34, 6:30, 6:42. This is an average of 6:37, which is exactly my 10K PR pace. 

12 x 800m with 400m recovery jogs (February 11).  It was 34°, 7 mph winds and wet snow! I had never run more than 10 x 800m so this was a new challenge. It took me 4 full reps to get my legs turning over at top speed but then I settled into it: 3:32, 3:22, 3:15, 3:14 3:10, 3:09, 3:08, 3:09 3:08, 3:07, 3:07, 3:09

According to Bart Yasso, the average of 10 x 800m predicts your marathon fitness. I averaged the last 10 reps and got 3:09.6, which is exactly what I’m aiming for at my marathon. I was happy to finish strong.

30 mins at marathon pace, 30 mins at threshold (February 17). This was an hour-long run: 30 minutes at marathon pace, 30 minutes at 6:50. My coach prescribed marathon pace at 7:18 but I ran by feel and ended up being slightly faster. Plus, if I want to run a sub-3:10, then I’ll need to be just under 7:15.

It was 31° with 8-10 mph winds which were brutal in some portions. It was originally scheduled for Thursday but I moved it forward a day to avoid the snow storm. This meant just one easy day since my hard effort on Monday. I warmed up for 2 miles and then started the work:

30 minutes, 4.16 miles: 7:15, 7:13, 7:12, 7:11 (7:14 for the 0.16)

30 minutes, 4.39 miles: 6:50, 6:50, 6:50, 6:50 (6:46 for the 0.39)

This was one continuous run, no stopping, which ended up being the 8.54 miles at an average 7:01 pace. I kept thinking I would have to stop early because it got hard during the last 15 minutes. But I kept saying “just one more minute” until I reached 60. I can’t believe I hit those paces so perfectly and I do think I have the fitness for a 7:14 marathon pace!

Hopefully these hard workouts, high mileage, and strength training will get me to 3:10 level. I just need some decent weather on race day. I think I have addressed my digestive issues so I don't run into the same problems I had during my last marathon. The Maurten Drink Mix and gels have been amazing and so far I have had no issues with them. Greg will also be running this race, and I would love to see him have a major breakthrough as well. 

How I trained for the Rehoboth Beach Marathon

This has been an interesting training cycle. Up until about two weeks ago, I honestly wasn't feeling all that confident about my marathon fitness. I had "bonked" my long run and had two disappointing tune-up races, where I missed my goal by over two minutes each time. But then, things started to turn

The Richmond Half, by C. Young

around. I nailed a workout with 8 tempo miles in it, I ran my first sub-20 5K ever (PRing by 19 seconds), and I felt amazing during a 22 miler that included a hefty amount of speed work.

I need to remember that fitness gains aren't linear and performance is dynamic. It can feel like a plateau for months, only to see a large jump all at once. And you never never know if your body will be up to performing on race day, despite your fitness level.

The Rehoboth Beach marathon is now six days away, and I'm in full-on weather stalking mode as well as anti-germ mode. I check the forecast 3-4 times a day, and wash my hands about 7-8 times a day (I touch a lot of door handles at work).

A late start
My coach told me that he thinks that once you are in great 10K shape, it only takes six weeks to get into marathon shape. Because I had been so sick over the summer, he didn't want to ramp up the intensity too soon. Furthermore, our summer lasted through mid-October so I wouldn't have been able to handle much until that time anyway. I specifically chose Rehoboth Beach so that I would be training in cool weather and not risk getting sick.

My first long run was on October 27th-- just six weeks out from race day. It was an 18-miler at an average pace of 8:04. Prior to then, my longest run had been only 15 miles. Five weeks out, I ran 20 miles, and then came the Richmond Half Marathon. I'm not someone who likes to run more miles after finishing a half marathon, so I ran 14.1 miles that day if you include the warmup and no more. 3 weeks out was when I attempted a 22-miler, but bonked, having only made it to 17. And finally, 2 weeks out, I completed a 22-miler at an average pace of 7:59 (including 6 tempo miles and some intervals). As I said above, that final 22-miler restored my confidence in my fitness and my ability to run my goal time.

Faster-than-easy long runs
Speaking of long runs, I ran all of them at slightly faster than easy pace. I typically started at around 8:30 and then progressed to 7:45 in the final miles. I actually started doing this in early October, when my long runs were only 14 miles. It sounded hard on paper but every time I went out for a long run, the progression always felt really natural. And it made the average pace of 8:05 feel comfortable. This approach makes me want to start my marathon at 20 seconds per mile slower than goal pace and finish it at 20 seconds per mile faster, but I probably won't be that dramatic in my progression.

No marathon pace runs
Speaking of marathon pace, I haven't done any marathon pace work this cycle, which is a change from the past. Does that make me nervous? Not really. I think the main benefit of training at race pace is mental and getting your body used to how that feels. I think the other training I have done has benefitted me more from a purely physical standpoint. I can comfortably run in the 7:40's at the end of my long runs without feeling like I'm straining, so I think the 7:20's is still a good target.

Originally, my coach did plan for me to run marathon pace miles in my last 22-miler. However, he changed it to a run that included 6 tempo miles instead + 3 miles of intervals. All of that was faster than marathon pace.

High volume
The chart above shows my weekly volume. There are a few valleys due to tapering for tune-up races, and I was sick for three days in October. Even though I set a new weekly mileage PR, this volume is not as consistently high as my training for Boston. But, it's close. My Boston cycle was longer and my only tune-up race was six weeks out. No Turkey Trots, either! So I had more of an opportunity to log really high mileage.

Trial and (hopefully not) error
Optimizing a training plan is really just one large experiment. My coach changes things up each cycle to see how I respond, and I appreciate the variety. I was extremely happy with how my Boston cycle went, whereas this one had a few more hiccups. So, while this cycle didn't go perfectly and was on the shorter side, I do feel prepared for the marathon. The last three weeks of training went really well, so I just need some fresh legs to execute on race day. I'm still on Cloud 9 with my sub-20 5K, so I've already realized one really strong outcome.

Final track workout

Marathon goals
My exact goal and strategy is going to depend on the weather. Right now, I'm looking at sustained 13 mph winds out of the north with temperatures in the mid 30's. This means an extra slow start for the first 6 miles (maybe 15 seconds per mile slower than goal pace) and then being prepared for a difficult/slower patch during miles 20, 21, and 22. Combined with the crushed gravel trail that we run on during those miles, I need to mentally prepare for a tough stretch. But with wind from the north, I should get a nice tail wind during the last 4 miles.

My goal pace is 7:25 for a 3:15 marathon, in ideal conditions. If the wind is a noticeable factor, I might be looking at 3:17, which is still really strong. And, if I'm having the race of my life, I don't think 3:12 is out of reach. So. . . I expect (and hope) to run between 3:12:00 and 3:17:59. In other words, I want to PR by at least four minutes. I'd also like to place in the top 3 for the Women's Masters division. I think they only give an award for first place, but my personal goal is to be in the top 3.

I look forward to writing a detailed recap next week at this time!

Pushing Past Limits

I've heard the phrase "pushing past limits" over and over again throughout my running career. Whether it comes up in the blogs I read, on Facebook posts, in running magazines or during in-person conversations with other runners, it's a very common theme.

I've never given the phrase much thought and honestly it's always seemed cliche. But now I am starting to really think about what it means to push beyond one's limits.

Shamrock half marathon 2014

I'm at the stage in my running where PRs will be few and far between. I've run 100+ races over the course of 8 years, with over 10,000 training miles and I'm starting to question if I am at my peak, or if I still have the potential to run faster.  Greg pointed out that it's only within the past year that I have truly addressed my mental pillar and I'm finally starting to arrive at races well rested and relaxed. Mental limits can be the most difficult to identify and break through, and I think I am making great strides there.

I think my next challenge is pushing past my pain tolerance during races. I always think I push myself as hard as possible, because racing always hurts so much, but then I wonder if there is a certain amount of pain that is familiar to me during races, and if I push past that, I would fear blowing up and not being able to sustain it. And therefore, I am afraid to run past a certain pain threshold.  I think most runners (well, I guess all runners) have this threshold, but I think I can push mine farther.

I know that Greg's tolerance and pain threshold far exceeds mine because he races much faster than he trains and it takes him a few days longer than me to recover. A common line of his is "I had no business running that race as fast as I did." We often wonder that if it was his mind running in my body, how fast I would be.

No matter how a race goes for me, my final kick is always very strong (usually over a mile per minute faster than average race pace).  I almost always have plenty of gas left for that last quarter mile or so. I'm just afraid to turn it on until the very end, when I no longer fear a blow-up.

I am making progress here, as I have been thinking about this topic for the past several months. When I ran the Shamrock half marathon and the GW Birthday 10K, I could see the finish line from about half a mile away. In both cases, I pushed hard early and was in that "I know I can't sustain this" zone longer than I usually am.  One of my goals for my next few races will be to push past my pain tolerance without the fear of a blow-up. To truly trust my training and realize that my limiting factor is my mind, not my body.

Peak Week
I haven't posted any training updates this year, and I typically blog about my "peak week" of training for a marathon. This Missisauga Marathon is on May 4, and this past week was my peak in terms of mileage.  Next week I will taper for and run the Cherry Blossom, and the week after that will include some recovery time.

I've gotten my hip under control with daily foam rolling and strengthening exercises. I've been extremely diligent about this and as a result my hip is now pain free. I did take 5 days off pre-Shamrock earlier this month to rest the hip, but since then, I have been running on it consistently with no additional time off.

Monday: 10 miles
10 Miles easy on the Mt. Vernon trail before work. It was in the mid 20's and windy, which made for a very cold run. I think record low temperatures were set that morning. Can't winter just end already!?

Tuesday: 8 miles with intervals
It started snowing about halfway through this workout, but I kept going. I knew it would probably start snowing on me, but I've had to miss quite a few track workouts this season due to a snow-covered track, and I really wanted to get this one in before anything accumulated. I warmed up for just over two miles and ran the following intervals, with 1/2 distance recovery jogs:
1600m (6:56)
1200m (5:05)
800m (3:17)
800m (3:17)

These are pretty typical paces for me. I followed it up with a cool down run for 8 miles total.

Wednesday: Rest day
Rest days are important! I still did my foam rolling and hip exercises.

Thursday: 9 miles with 5 tempo
Greg and I warmed up for 2.5 miles, ran 5 at tempo pace, and then cooled down for 1.5 miles. I think record low temperatures must have been set again, as it was only 20 degrees with a "real feel" in the teens.
Mile 1: 7:30
Mile 2: 7:35
Mile 3: 7:26
Mile 4: 7:17
Mile 5: 7:12

This is an average pace of 7:24.  I would love to run the Cherry Blossom 10-miler at that pace next weekend! I try to run my tempos at 10-mile race pace, so we'll see if I can execute on this.

Friday: 8 miles
An easy 8-miler with Greg, and finally the temperature was above freezing.

Saturday: 16 miles with 10 at marathon pace
This is a workout that my coach recommends and that I have done several times before, although none during this cycle. Considering I ran a 5-mile tempo on Saturday, I knew that I would need to keep the marathon pace miles at marathon pace and no faster. So how do I determine marathon pace for a workout like this? Based on my recent race times and paces for other workouts, marathon pace ends up being between 8:10-8:15. Do I actually think I will run the marathon at that pace? Maybe. It's workouts like these that help give me the confidence to believe I can execute.

Miles 1-2 (easy)
Miles 3-6: 8:11, 8:12, 8:17, 8:15
Mile 7 (easy)
Miles 8-10: 8:08, 8:04, 8:16
Mile 11 (easy)
Miles 12-13: 7:54, 7:40 -- I got a little carried away here.
Mile 14 (easy)
Mile 15: 8:01
Mile 16 (easy)

I felt really strong at the end and went faster than planned.  The average pace for the "marathon pace" miles was 8:06.  I felt strong throughout and my legs didn't get tired.

Sunday: 6 easy
It was 40 degrees, rainy and windy. Just miserable weather! However, I had a few friends running marathons and half marathons, so I didn't feel too badly for myself. I am in total awe of anyone who raced this morning.  Anyway, my legs felt great this morning, and I didn't have any noticeable affects from the marathon pace run.

Total mileage for the week = 57.

I'm feeling great about my training and I need to remind myself that training is just one piece of the marathon puzzle. It's the preparation. It's me doing my best to be prepared for whatever race day brings. It won't guarantee me a particular time. It will, however, give me the confidence of knowing that if I decide to push past my typical pain threshold, my body will not give out on me.

In the meantime, I've been taking this training cycle "one week at a time" focusing on immediate goals and not looking at everything as training for just one thing. Cherry Blossom is my current focus and I'm excited to see what happens next weekend.

Peak Week! (Part V)

Continuing with my tradition of blogging about my "peak week" of marathon training, I wanted to write a detailed report of this week, February 4-10. My total was 60 miles.

My weekly mileage hasn't been this high since the spring of 2010 (which I actually didn't blog about). After getting stress fractures in January of 2011, I decided I would try lower mileage for awhile, with swimming and pool running as cross training. This cycle, I removed the swimming and pool running and returned to higher mileage, along with strength training-- particularly core work. I am very thankful that I haven't gotten injured and that I've felt energized for the majority of my runs.

Previous Peak Weeks

• August 22, 2011: 51 miles
• August 9, 2009: 61 miles
• December 1, 2008: 56 miles
• August 17, 2008: 55 miles

The Big Picture
I know that many marathon plans "peak" 3 weeks out from race day. I prefer to peak 5-6 weeks out in terms of mileage and then do some tune-up races and some marathon pace workouts for the remainder of the cycle.

There wasn't a point when I "officially" started marathon training. I did create a 22-week plan when I was recovering from mono, which I have kept very closely to. I prefer to see myself as simply "training" rather than "marathon training" because it puts the focus more on the work itself and less on the end result.

Monday: 11 miles easy, avg. 8:46
I love starting the week with a 10-11 mile run. Technically, I refer to anything over 10 as a "medium-long" run in my log. I've discovered that if I truly keep these runs easy, my legs feel fresh enough for a interval workout the next day. This run went very well, but my legs did start to feel a little tired during the last mile. That's to be expected and if my legs never felt tired during a run, I would think that I could probably be doing more. It was 25 degrees and windy and I ran my typical residential route.

Tuesday: 8.5 miles, including 4 x 1200m
I did this workout with my team at the track in Arlington. It's a 25-minute drive to get there, and then 40 minutes to drive back to the gym near my office where I shower because of rush hour traffic. But it's worth it to run with such a great group and to have the coach encouraging you each lap. I warmed up for 2.4 miles, and then we started the workout. My times were 5:10, 5:01, 5:01, 4:58. Pace-wise, these are in the low 6:40's. I didn't look at my Garmin during the run, and although the coach was calling out splits at each lap, I have zero ability to do the math when I am running fast. I wasn't targeting any particular pace, I just put out an effort level that felt appropriate for 1200's. Recovery between each was a 500m jog. I then cooled down for 2.1 miles, giving me 8.5 for the day.

Wednesday: Rest + Stretching/Strengthening
Wednesday has been my scheduled rest day for most of this cycle. I know it would probably be ideal to have complete rest rather than to do core work and weights, but it's so hard to fit in strength training on the days when I am running so many miles.

Thursday: 10 miles, inc. 6 tempo avg. 7:29
On Thursday, I ran 2.5 miles warmup, 6 miles tempo, and 1.5 miles cooldown. I prefer a longer warmup in the winter and a shorter warmup in the summer, for obvious reasons! I don't think I have run a 6-mile tempo since the fall of 2011. I wasn't at all intimidated by this run because I knew all I had to do was keep my heart rate between 172-179 and I'd get the desired benefit. No pressure to run a particular pace. It was a pretty good morning for a tempo run-- 27 degrees and very little wind.

Mile 1: 7:31 (165 avg. HR)
Mile 2: 7:25 (174 avg. HR)
Mile 3: 7:34 (174 avg. HR) - net uphill
Mile 4: 7:32 (176 avg. HR)
Mile 5: 7:30 (176 avg. HR)
Mile 6: 7:15 (176 avg. HR)- net downhill

It definitely nice to finish on a downhill! I was very pleased with how I kept my effort level consistent and my heart rate reflected that.

Friday: 5.5 miles easy, avg. 8:44
I was pleasantly surprised at how peppy my legs felt after the previous day's tempo run. This was not a nice day for running- very cold, windy, overcast, but I got it done.

Saturday: 20.6 miles, avg. 8:56
I ran the Rock Creek Park loop with my teammates. A wind advisory was in effect, with sustained winds form 20-25 mph and higher gusts. The temperature was in the high 20's so this was really not ideal long-run weather. The wind kept waking me up the night before, so I hadn't slept well. In fact, for various reasons, I didn't sleep well this week at all. It didn't seem to affect my running, but I do want to make sure I get back on the right track with my sleep.

This Rock Creek Loop is much more challenging than my typical 20-mile residential route. The last 5 miles are noticeably downhill, but you pay for that in the first 15 which feel like they are primarily uphill. The coach recommends we hit marathon pace for the last 6 miles, which I did, but because they were all downhill, the 8:00 pace felt at the end of the run felt a little easier than the 9:00 uphill pace earlier in the run. I guess I'm just not used to so many hills. Once I finished, it felt great to have that run behind me, especially with such windy conditions.

Sunday: 4.4 miles easy, avg. 9:02
My legs felt great after the previous day's long run, but once again I didn't sleep well so I was pretty tired. I took a nap afterwards, so now I feel better.

It feels awesome to be logging this type of mileage and feeling good. I think I've finally found a training formula that works for me that I plan to repeat in future cycles.

Peak Week! (Part IV)

With only five weeks left until the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon I am feeling pretty good. I'll write a blog about my overall training cycle as the race gets closer, but for now I want to just focus on this week. As I've said in earlier blogs, I am running fewer overall miles with this training cycle in exchange for swimming and pool running. I've also added in core strengthening which consists of 3 planks each day.

Here have been my past "peak weeks" and their resulting marathons:

• August 2008: 55 miles. I ended up getting really sick (maybe the swine flu) and wasn't able to run the Hartford marathon
• December 2008: 56 miles. I bonked at the RnR Arizona marathon due to the heat/sun. 
• March 2009: 61 miles. I bonked at the NJ marathon and ended up in the medical tent with hypothermia.

I don't have blogs for my other peak weeks, but upper 50's-lower 60's has been the norm. This week I only ran 51 miles as my peak.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to add in as much pool running/swimming as I would have liked because my pool is closed for maintenance. Tomorrow I do plan to drive to another pool for pool running/swimming. Or I guess with all the rain we're supposed to get from the hurricane, I could just go outside. . .

 I started the week by mailing my new Garmin heart rate monitor back to Running Warehouse for a refund. The "soft" strap monitor has continued to chafe me, despite massive amounts of body glide. And the readings were completely messed up too, showing heart rates as low as 60 and as high as 200 within the same minute. My readings were just all over the map. I'm now using my old HR monitor and getting accurate readings and no chafing.


Monday: 9 miles easy, avg. 9:05
I took this run very easy knowing that I had a hard week ahead of me. The weather was nice and cool and I resisted the temptation to go any faster.


Tuesday: 8 miles, including 4 x 1200m
I ran this track workout with my teammates in Arlington. I was fully expecting to do 5-6 repeats, so I started out easy. Using the pacing chart from my coach, my goal was to be at 5:12 for each repeat or slightly under. In my past track workouts, I have been doing 800's at around 5:08-5:10.

The woman who I usually run with during these workouts was on vacation, so I wasn't quite sure who to pace off of. During the first lap, I tucked behind this girl who is super fast (wayyyy faster than me) and told myself that she'd probably get ahead of me. Instead, I kept fighting the urge to pass her, knowing how fast she is. I soon realized that she was having leg issues and purposely going slower than she otherwise would. As a result, my first interval was much slower than target pace: 5:23. But I was perfectly fine with this because I knew I had 4-5 more to go. I ended up compensating for that first interval by going a bit too fast on the next: 5:03. But then the next two were more in line with what I expected: 5:07, 5:07. Instead of doing a 5th, the coach told me I was "done" because my form was falling apart. He wouldn't even let me finish it off with a 400.

I was upset, but I trusted that he knew what he was talking about. I felt like I definitely had the energy for at least one more interval. As a result, I left the track feeling like I didn't "give it my all" like I typically do after these group track workouts. Since the first one was too slow, I really only did 3 intervals that challenged me, and it just didn't seem like enough given that this is my peak week, and considering that it was a cool morning.


Wednesday: Rest
Typically I would have gone pool running and swimming, but with the pool closed (and the next closest pool closed as well) I just took a rest day. Except for the planks, of course.


Thursday: 8.5 miles, including 6 tempo
I placed a lot of importance on this run because I feel like I haven't had many good tempos this cycle. I did two of them on the elliptical (trying to prevent a foot injury), and the ones that I did on the road were in really hot/humid weather with less than impressive results.

It was about 72 degrees for Thursday's tempo and very humid. My goal was to run 6.2 miles at a pace of 7:40. If it had been cooler, I would have targeted 7:25. My plan was to start out on the slower side and then pick it up slightly in the last two miles. I ran the first mile by feel and logged a 7:46. This was about what I expected-- so far, so good. Then came 7:44, 7:40, and 7:43. With two miles left to go I was started to feel it. I got through those last two miles with these thoughts:

• This tempo run IS important. You need a good tempo.
• Look at your HR monitor. Stay in Zone 4. If you go above that, just slow down.
• Your pace doesn't matter as much as getting in the full distance and staying in Zone 4
• If you keep up the effort level, I will reward you by not making you do that last 0.2

I focused really hard and kept my HR at the top of Zone 4 and logged 7:46, 7:46. And I allowed myself to stop after 6 miles, without requiring the 0.2. I don't regret this decision-- it was definitely time to stop. The average pace ended up being 7:44, which I was okay with given how hot and humid it was. I would have really liked to see 7:40, but I'm not sweating it (pun intended).

Based on my coach's pace chart, this training pace correlates with a marathon time of about 3:33. (My track paces correlate with a marathon time of 3:25). Given that the weather for the marathon should be substantially cooler and less humid than this tempo run, I think I am realistic in expecting to run a 3:35.

Friday: 3.5 miles

Friday normally would have been a rest day, but since I took one of those on Wednesday instead of going to the pool, I figured that a really short, easy run couldn't hurt. Average pace was 8:58.


Saturday: 22 miles

I was nervous about this run. The temperature was 76 with a "real feel" of 82 and 22 miles is a long way to go in those conditions. I pre-hydrated all day Friday and even used Pedialyte on Friday evening for added electrolytes.

This run was a "test run" for race day nutrition. I ate a fairly large meal on Friday night at Maggiano's with my family. We were celebrating Greg and my one-year anniversary. I ate the same things I typically eat the night before a marathon-- lots of bread and pasta and some chicken. Usually I eat a bagel and a half the morning of a marathon, but my coach recommends more of a "meal". I know peanut butter is popular among runners, but I don't particularly like it (gasp) and I have a sensitive digestive system. I was up at 4:15 this morning and had about two tablespoons of peanut butter on my bagel. Which, by the way, I did not slice in half. :-) I took three Honey Stinger gels with me and a bottle of G2 and set off with my husband on our journey.

At mile 1.5, my husband tripped on his shoelace and fell to the ground pretty hard. Luckily, his water bottle broke his fall so he was okay, but he was scraped up on his other hand and his knee. His water bottle proceeded to escape his hand and fall down the nearby sewer, so we had to go home and get him another bottle and also clean and bandage his scrapes. So at mile 3, when we got back home, there was a 10-15 minute break in the run. But we got him all cleaned up with alcohol and band-aids and got him a fresh bottle of G2.

After that incident, the run was relatively drama-free. We ran around local neighborhoods, as usual, and made two stops at a McDonald's to refill our bottles with water. I took my honey gels at mile 7, 13 and 18.5. During the marathon, I will probably start taking them sooner, but I had the calories from the G2 in those early miles. My husband had 20 miles on schedule, so we split off at mile 16 and he ran home and I continued around the neighborhood we were in.

I typically like to speed up the long run during the last 1/3, but given that this was a 22-miler and it was really hot and humid, I decided to wait until I had just 4 miles left to speed up, and even then, I wouldn't turn on the gas too much.

The overall pace was 9:05, with an average heart rate of 157. For me (based on my VO2 max test) Zone 2 is 155-165, so I was towards the bottom.

• Miles 1-8 avg. HR in Zone 1
• Miles 9-19 avg. HR in Zone 2
• Miles 20-22 avg. HR in Zone 3 

I was very pleased with this run. I have been ending my long runs in Zone 4 and really exerting a lot of effort lately, but given the extra long distance and the weather, I opted to play it safe. 

Sunday

I plan to make the long drive to a pool that's actually open tomorrow and swim at least 1200yd and pool-run for 20-30 minutes.

I'm pleased with my 51-mile week. Up until now, my highest mileage week this cycle has been just 45, so it was a bit of a jump. Next week, I'll cut back the mileage slightly as I have the VA Beach Rock 'N Roll half marathon on Sunday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I stay injury and illness-free for the next five weeks and that Milwaukee isn't having a heat wave on Oct. 2!

Peak Week! (Part II)

Back in August, I wrote a blog called "Peak Week!". As the name implies, the blog was about my week with the highest mileage prior to the marathon. With this training cycle, I am mixing my previous program (Pftizinger) with another program (RW Ultimate). I thought I really benefitted from the 55-mile week in the previous program, so I decided to keep it in my training plan. Except for I added a mile to the long run and ended up with 56 miles.

I thought I would do a comparison of both weeks: August 18 vs. December 1. That week of August 18 was one of the last weeks I was able to complete before getting sick at the VA Beach half marathon on the 31st.

Monday: Recovery with Strides
Monday's run is 6 recovery miles, including six 100m strides. Not much change between August and now, as recovery runs are supposed to be run very slowly. In August, I was doing recovery runs at an average pace of 10:25 and now I am doing them at an average pace of 10:15, and my heart rate is actually lower for a faster pace. The pace of the strides is still the same, only strides have gotten a lot easier.

Tuesday: 12 with 7 Tempo
Tuesday is one of the most challenging workouts in the program: 12 miles with 7 at tempo pace. I did 4 warump, 7 tempo, and 1 cooldown. Here is where I see a real difference. I put in the same level of effort as I did in August, and ended up with a much faster tempo. Both runs were done on a treadmill, so weather was not a factor.

In August the miles were: 8:18, 8:16, 8:09, 8:05, 8:03, 8:03, 8:00.
8:08 Average.
This week, the miles were: 8:06, 8:05, 8:03, 8:03, 8:00, 7:57, 7:50.
8:00 Average.

Best of all, I felt like I had energy left over, and could have continued running at that pace. My 10K PR pace is 7:57, so I am thinking I can probably shave at least a minute off of that, if I don't go out too fast.

Wednesday: Rest!

Thursday: 12 Miles
In August, this run averaged a pace of 9:23. This week was actually slower- averaging 9:30. This was partially because I added "hills" (treadmill inclines) at grades 5%-6% during the run, for a minute at a time. While maintaining my pace. I've been adding hills to all of my medium-long runs, and also running a hilly route for my long runs. I think this has helped immensely, even though my marathon is relatively flat. Hills help with leg strength.

Friday: 5 Recovery
Not much exciting here.

Saturday: Long Run
The program calls for 20 miles, which I did in August at an average pace of 9:32. Yesterday, I decided I would do 21 miles, just to push my limits a bit, and log my highest weekly mileage ever. I ran a much hiller route, and averaged a pace of 9:26. Further, faster, and hillier.

I do have some lingering soreness in my quads today, but I think I will be ready to go again on Monday. Oh yeah, and this run was freezing. It was overcast and about 32 degrees. It took me nearly an hour to fully "thaw" afterwards.

I'm very pleased with my 56-mile week. And if you count the run that I did last Sunday, it's actually 60 miles in 7 days! As for the marathon itself, I only have six weeks until the big day. Right now, I feel pretty confident in a 3:45. I need a 3:40 to BQ, and I am not sure if that will be feasible. I have a few more tune-up races this month and some speed sessions which will help me determine what I am capable of.