Monday, September 21, 2009
Day 105
Another day, another 20 mile bike ride.... really slow though. My legs are out of energy. Had to go back and clean up my gator-aid and power-gel wrappers from my weekend run though.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Day 104
Last of the long runs before the ultimate long run.
Distance: 22.4 miles
Duration: 3:17:53
Pace: 8:50
HR Avg/Max: 132/149
notes:
Started the run off pretty sore after yesterdays 10 miler but loosened up after about 3 miles. From there I pretty much cruised at about exactly a 8:50 pace for the entire run. I was even able to average 8:47 for the last 5 miles which was the first time I didn't have to slow down and fight my way in at the end of a long run. Definitely my best long run to date as far as being a confidence booster.
The conditions of the run were less than optimal. The first 12 miles went smoothly, but then it started to pour rain. I still had 10 miles left to go and the trail that I was running on became muddy and covered with about a inch and a half of standing water. My cloths were completely drenched and my shoes were waterlogged. The traction was terrible as well and I had issues getting good footing. On the bright side I think it made me run faster because I just wanted to get the run finished with as fast as possible.
52 miles logged this week and I'm feeling tired, but not injured. 3 more weeks to marathon time. The taper has officially begun!
Distance: 22.4 miles
Duration: 3:17:53
Pace: 8:50
HR Avg/Max: 132/149
notes:
Started the run off pretty sore after yesterdays 10 miler but loosened up after about 3 miles. From there I pretty much cruised at about exactly a 8:50 pace for the entire run. I was even able to average 8:47 for the last 5 miles which was the first time I didn't have to slow down and fight my way in at the end of a long run. Definitely my best long run to date as far as being a confidence booster.
The conditions of the run were less than optimal. The first 12 miles went smoothly, but then it started to pour rain. I still had 10 miles left to go and the trail that I was running on became muddy and covered with about a inch and a half of standing water. My cloths were completely drenched and my shoes were waterlogged. The traction was terrible as well and I had issues getting good footing. On the bright side I think it made me run faster because I just wanted to get the run finished with as fast as possible.
52 miles logged this week and I'm feeling tired, but not injured. 3 more weeks to marathon time. The taper has officially begun!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Day 103
Hal is going to be mad at me... he said that I was supposed to cut out cross training during the week and what did I do? I went out and biked 20 miles yesterday... Of course I had an excuse. I was dropping off gator-aid and power-gel for my 20 miler tomorrow.
Then today I decided to follow the intermediate 2 plan instead of the intermediate 1 plan... So 10 miles at marathon pace... no problem.
Distance: 10.0 miles
Duration: 1:15:58
Pace: 7:36
HR Avg/Max: 159/176
notes:
Seems like I have a problem with pace. The plan started out easy enough... 8 minute miles. But for some reason I'm always worried that I'm starting too slow (even though I have a Garmin which tells be exactly how far ahead I am of pace) and I wound up running my first mile in 7:15. I slowed down, averaging 7:40 miles for the next 8 and then kicked in the last mile in 7:10.
So I'm happy with the run... this was my third run at this pace in the last week starting with my half-marathon last Sunday. On the other hand I'm a little worried about my inability to keep pace. My plan is to find the Nike pace group at the marathon and let them do the work... otherwise, I'm going to go out too fast and die.
As far as the quality of the run through I figured my lactate threshold to be 158-176 bmp which was my average and max of the run. I hit 158 at about the 3 mile mark so I was in the threshold range for about 7 miles (50 minutes). Hell of a tempo run.
Tonight's the Berlin marathon and they're streaming it live on NBC Universal Sports. Hopefully I can either stay up till 1:45 am or wake up and watch it because there's a good change a world record is going to be set!
Then today I decided to follow the intermediate 2 plan instead of the intermediate 1 plan... So 10 miles at marathon pace... no problem.
Distance: 10.0 miles
Duration: 1:15:58
Pace: 7:36
HR Avg/Max: 159/176
notes:
Seems like I have a problem with pace. The plan started out easy enough... 8 minute miles. But for some reason I'm always worried that I'm starting too slow (even though I have a Garmin which tells be exactly how far ahead I am of pace) and I wound up running my first mile in 7:15. I slowed down, averaging 7:40 miles for the next 8 and then kicked in the last mile in 7:10.
So I'm happy with the run... this was my third run at this pace in the last week starting with my half-marathon last Sunday. On the other hand I'm a little worried about my inability to keep pace. My plan is to find the Nike pace group at the marathon and let them do the work... otherwise, I'm going to go out too fast and die.
As far as the quality of the run through I figured my lactate threshold to be 158-176 bmp which was my average and max of the run. I hit 158 at about the 3 mile mark so I was in the threshold range for about 7 miles (50 minutes). Hell of a tempo run.
Tonight's the Berlin marathon and they're streaming it live on NBC Universal Sports. Hopefully I can either stay up till 1:45 am or wake up and watch it because there's a good change a world record is going to be set!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
101
Another day easy day at conversational pace.
Distance: 5.35 miles
Duration: 45:01
Pace: 8:24
HR Avg/Max: 140/154
notes:
Pretty much the same run as Tuesday... I'm very satisfied with the fact that this pace seems to be my easy running pace now and considering that both Tuesday and Thursday's runs are on the heels of two of the hardest workouts gives me even more confidence.
Also, I feel like my stride is really improving... I've been focusing on it a little bit, but i mostly just think that the faster workouts are forcing it to improve. I definitely feel like I'm mid-foot striking and each stride feels more effortless than it used to. The marathon is getting closer and closer and my anticipation is building!
Distance: 5.35 miles
Duration: 45:01
Pace: 8:24
HR Avg/Max: 140/154
notes:
Pretty much the same run as Tuesday... I'm very satisfied with the fact that this pace seems to be my easy running pace now and considering that both Tuesday and Thursday's runs are on the heels of two of the hardest workouts gives me even more confidence.
Also, I feel like my stride is really improving... I've been focusing on it a little bit, but i mostly just think that the faster workouts are forcing it to improve. I definitely feel like I'm mid-foot striking and each stride feels more effortless than it used to. The marathon is getting closer and closer and my anticipation is building!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Day 100
One hundred days since I started training for the Chicago Marathon! I've come a long way... I'd like to stop and reflect on my training so far, but I still have about a week and a half of good solid training before I'm planning on hitting full taper mode so I think I'll hold off on that. Instead I decided to honor the 100 day mark with a particularly grueling Wednesday workout.
I had 8 miles scheduled for today, and it's Wednesday so I wanted to run it pretty hard. I also wanted to get some speedwork in too so I decided pepper some hard mile repeats into my run, by alternating easy running and marathon pace running every other mile. Here's how my plan unfolded.
Distance: 8.0 miles (plus .5 mile cooldown)
Duration: 1:01:12
Pace: 7:39
HR Avg/Max: 156/179
notes:
Started out at a moderate pace but quickly started speeding up despite myself and ran the first mile in 8:09... at this point I decided to change my plan from alternating between E running and MP running and instead alternate between MP running and hard running. Here's the mile by mile breakdown.
Mile 1: 8:09 (feeling better than expected)
Mile 2: 8:03 (all warmed up and ready to burn)
Mile 3: 6:51 (woaw this feels fast, but I'm feeling good)
Mile 4: 7:55 (amazing how easy this pace feels relative to 6:51)
Mile 5: 6:42 (woaw, this feels really fast and I'm not feeling so good anymore)
Mile 6: 8:07 (amazing how this pace doesn't feel so easy anymore)
Mile 7: 7:56 (hit the first .4 at 6:51 pace, next .35 was up a steep hill and my muscles finally remembered the half-marathon from Sunday... heart rate averaged 172 and peaked at 179 during this stretch)
Mile 8: 7:33 (last mile... man I want to walk, but I can't quit now... time to see what's left in the tank)
Last mile and a half was horrid, painful, and the opposite of fun. I just wanted to quit, but I knew that pushing through the pain would help me when I hit the "wall" in the marathon so I pushed on. Glad that I did now because I feel great!
24 more days to the marathon and I'm trying to spend the rest of the time cleaning up my diet, shedding a few pounds, getting some last ditch polish on my fitness, and resting up with a good taper so that I can be in top possible shape come marathon day!
I had 8 miles scheduled for today, and it's Wednesday so I wanted to run it pretty hard. I also wanted to get some speedwork in too so I decided pepper some hard mile repeats into my run, by alternating easy running and marathon pace running every other mile. Here's how my plan unfolded.
Distance: 8.0 miles (plus .5 mile cooldown)
Duration: 1:01:12
Pace: 7:39
HR Avg/Max: 156/179
notes:
Started out at a moderate pace but quickly started speeding up despite myself and ran the first mile in 8:09... at this point I decided to change my plan from alternating between E running and MP running and instead alternate between MP running and hard running. Here's the mile by mile breakdown.
Mile 1: 8:09 (feeling better than expected)
Mile 2: 8:03 (all warmed up and ready to burn)
Mile 3: 6:51 (woaw this feels fast, but I'm feeling good)
Mile 4: 7:55 (amazing how easy this pace feels relative to 6:51)
Mile 5: 6:42 (woaw, this feels really fast and I'm not feeling so good anymore)
Mile 6: 8:07 (amazing how this pace doesn't feel so easy anymore)
Mile 7: 7:56 (hit the first .4 at 6:51 pace, next .35 was up a steep hill and my muscles finally remembered the half-marathon from Sunday... heart rate averaged 172 and peaked at 179 during this stretch)
Mile 8: 7:33 (last mile... man I want to walk, but I can't quit now... time to see what's left in the tank)
Last mile and a half was horrid, painful, and the opposite of fun. I just wanted to quit, but I knew that pushing through the pain would help me when I hit the "wall" in the marathon so I pushed on. Glad that I did now because I feel great!
24 more days to the marathon and I'm trying to spend the rest of the time cleaning up my diet, shedding a few pounds, getting some last ditch polish on my fitness, and resting up with a good taper so that I can be in top possible shape come marathon day!
day 99
Tuesday after a half-marathon... 5 miles at a "conversational" pace (not literally since I run by myself)...
Distance: 5.1 miles
Duration: 42:47
Pace: 8:23
HR Avg/Max: 143/154
notes:
My brain said yes but my legs said no! First mile hurt like hell but once I loosened up I felt much better. By 3.5 miles I was tired though. Had to run up a couple hills (even though this is my "flat" course) and those just about killed me. Last mile was mostly downhill and combined with the knowledge that I was almost done went smoothly.
In a side note, I started running while listening to audio books... I wasn't sure if this was going to work or not, but it turns out that it's not that bad for easy - moderate paced runs. It takes my mind off the run just enough help me ignore the bad parts (pain, fatigue) while still letting me enjoy the good parts (fresh air, freedom, my stride)... Don't think I'll try it for a hard run though, that requires too much focus.
Distance: 5.1 miles
Duration: 42:47
Pace: 8:23
HR Avg/Max: 143/154
notes:
My brain said yes but my legs said no! First mile hurt like hell but once I loosened up I felt much better. By 3.5 miles I was tired though. Had to run up a couple hills (even though this is my "flat" course) and those just about killed me. Last mile was mostly downhill and combined with the knowledge that I was almost done went smoothly.
In a side note, I started running while listening to audio books... I wasn't sure if this was going to work or not, but it turns out that it's not that bad for easy - moderate paced runs. It takes my mind off the run just enough help me ignore the bad parts (pain, fatigue) while still letting me enjoy the good parts (fresh air, freedom, my stride)... Don't think I'll try it for a hard run though, that requires too much focus.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Day 97
Race day! IVS Half-Marathon.
I drove most of the way to the race and then parked about 1.5 miles away from the start on a side street. I used the 1.5 as a warm up and felt great as I lined up to start the race. The gun went off and we were off!
Distance: 13.1
Duration:1:39:19
Pace: 7:35
HR Avg/Max: 161/183
notes:
Turned out to be a way tougher race than I anticipated. I planned to just go out relaxed and coast the first 10 miles and kick in the last 5k. The problem with this plan was that the course was two laps over the hilliest terrain I have ever attempted. My GPS says there was over 3000 feet of total accent!
All in all I think I raced it well. I started smoothly and didn't let the race day anticipation get the better of me. Many of the runners took off fast when the gun went off but I stayed relaxed and ran my own race and hit the first mile in 7:48. From here I picked up the pace slightly, but focused on running relaxed and within my means. We hit the first big hill at the 1.75 mark and this is when I started passing people. By mile 3 several of the runners who had went out too fast were already walking and I easily must of passed about 30 people as we went up and down rolling hills. I just focused on not slowing down on the uphills and coasting on the downhills to recover. I finished the first loop in 50:15, about a 7:40 pace.
At this point I started running into some trouble. Cardiovascularly I felt fine with my heart rate sitting at 160 but my legs felt shot. It felt as if I had been lifting weights rather than running. My quads were tight and I had a pain in my ass! The next 6.55 was pretty rough. I was by myself at this point with only one or two other runners even in sight since the course was so hilly and winding. I just tried to keep my stride loose and not slow down and as I came to the big hills I just put my head down and didn't look up focusing on one foot after the other until I reached the top. Somehow I didn't slow down and maintained a 7:40 pace even though it seemed that I was going much slower. I think the steep downhill forced sprints must have helped with the pace.
By 10 miles I knew that my plan to kick in the last 5k was out of the question. I just maintained the 7:40 pace and was happy even to do that. The next two miles had a couple more really steep hills and I finally started catching some more runners as they died on the hills. About the 11.5 mile mark we started up the last hill and I knew that after this is would be smooth sailing. I powered up the hill, passing two more runners and even surging as I passed them just to make sure that they were completely demoralized and didn't try to latch on and follow me.
The next .5 miles was down hill and I lengthened my stride and let my body go limp trying to regain as much energy as I could for the final mile.
As I hit the 12 mile mark I consciously picked up the pace. Now I was running hard, but still tried to stay relaxed. With about 800 meters left I saw some two more runners up ahead and decided to really push it so as to catch them. I caught one of them with 200 left but there was still a woman up ahead of me. At this point we came out of the woods into the final straight away. She was still 50 feet ahead but I could tell she didn't have a kick. I went into full sprint mode and finally caught her with about 10 meters to spare. I hit the last 1.1 miles at a 6:40 pace so I guess I had something left after all. It helped that it was flat.
Happy with my finish I did some stretching and cooled down the 1.5 miles back to the car... not nearly as enthusiastic about where I parked as I was during my warm-up.
All in all the race was a positive experience. McMillan running calculator predicts my marathon time at 8:00 exactly based on todays time. Considering how hilly it was I suppose this was a positive sign. On the other hand the last 6 miles were ridiculously hard and I couldn't imagine doing another 13.1 afterwards.
I'm still having trouble hitting an 8:00 minute pace and am really going to have to focus on finding that groove if I want to run a successful race in Chicago.
I drove most of the way to the race and then parked about 1.5 miles away from the start on a side street. I used the 1.5 as a warm up and felt great as I lined up to start the race. The gun went off and we were off!
Distance: 13.1
Duration:1:39:19
Pace: 7:35
HR Avg/Max: 161/183
notes:
Turned out to be a way tougher race than I anticipated. I planned to just go out relaxed and coast the first 10 miles and kick in the last 5k. The problem with this plan was that the course was two laps over the hilliest terrain I have ever attempted. My GPS says there was over 3000 feet of total accent!
All in all I think I raced it well. I started smoothly and didn't let the race day anticipation get the better of me. Many of the runners took off fast when the gun went off but I stayed relaxed and ran my own race and hit the first mile in 7:48. From here I picked up the pace slightly, but focused on running relaxed and within my means. We hit the first big hill at the 1.75 mark and this is when I started passing people. By mile 3 several of the runners who had went out too fast were already walking and I easily must of passed about 30 people as we went up and down rolling hills. I just focused on not slowing down on the uphills and coasting on the downhills to recover. I finished the first loop in 50:15, about a 7:40 pace.
At this point I started running into some trouble. Cardiovascularly I felt fine with my heart rate sitting at 160 but my legs felt shot. It felt as if I had been lifting weights rather than running. My quads were tight and I had a pain in my ass! The next 6.55 was pretty rough. I was by myself at this point with only one or two other runners even in sight since the course was so hilly and winding. I just tried to keep my stride loose and not slow down and as I came to the big hills I just put my head down and didn't look up focusing on one foot after the other until I reached the top. Somehow I didn't slow down and maintained a 7:40 pace even though it seemed that I was going much slower. I think the steep downhill forced sprints must have helped with the pace.
By 10 miles I knew that my plan to kick in the last 5k was out of the question. I just maintained the 7:40 pace and was happy even to do that. The next two miles had a couple more really steep hills and I finally started catching some more runners as they died on the hills. About the 11.5 mile mark we started up the last hill and I knew that after this is would be smooth sailing. I powered up the hill, passing two more runners and even surging as I passed them just to make sure that they were completely demoralized and didn't try to latch on and follow me.
The next .5 miles was down hill and I lengthened my stride and let my body go limp trying to regain as much energy as I could for the final mile.
As I hit the 12 mile mark I consciously picked up the pace. Now I was running hard, but still tried to stay relaxed. With about 800 meters left I saw some two more runners up ahead and decided to really push it so as to catch them. I caught one of them with 200 left but there was still a woman up ahead of me. At this point we came out of the woods into the final straight away. She was still 50 feet ahead but I could tell she didn't have a kick. I went into full sprint mode and finally caught her with about 10 meters to spare. I hit the last 1.1 miles at a 6:40 pace so I guess I had something left after all. It helped that it was flat.
Happy with my finish I did some stretching and cooled down the 1.5 miles back to the car... not nearly as enthusiastic about where I parked as I was during my warm-up.
All in all the race was a positive experience. McMillan running calculator predicts my marathon time at 8:00 exactly based on todays time. Considering how hilly it was I suppose this was a positive sign. On the other hand the last 6 miles were ridiculously hard and I couldn't imagine doing another 13.1 afterwards.
I'm still having trouble hitting an 8:00 minute pace and am really going to have to focus on finding that groove if I want to run a successful race in Chicago.
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