End of Week Nine (1/4/08)

It might be generous to say that my execution of the plan for Week Nine was not ideal. But it might also be harsh to say that it was just plain lousy. In the end, I think it’s fair to say that if my Week Nine performance becomes commonplace, the whole plan is in jeopardy.

The week called for a Long Run of 13 miles followed by two mid week 7 milers.

I got out on Sunday for the Long Run. Once again, I ran the first several miles with Suzy. Her half marathon is on 1/12/08 and today I ran the first 8 miles with her. She did well and we completed these miles at an approximate 10:45 pace. She left, and I went on for 5 more miles. I was generally pleased with my 5 solo miles, which I completed at a 9:23 pace. My total run was 13 miles in 2:12 (that’s hours and minutes).

Looking back on the Base Phase, I never got around to running much at my race pace. Now in the Endurance Phase, it will be even more unlikely to go out and do many runs at Marathon Pace (MP), it I want to get in all the miles. I look forward to the Speed Phase to start running faster. However, I am reminded of what I have read from a few marathon training experts, specifically Mc Millian, who promotes the value of the ‘Fast Finish Long Run’. The general principle behind this is to keep the first portion of your Long Run at 60-90 seconds slower than MP. Then run the last few miles at goal MP.

As you know, 9:23 is not my goal MP; I am shooting for 9:00. In McMillian’s writing on the Fast Finish Long Run, he suggests that these are hard workouts and should not be done every time you go out for a Long Run. On Sunday, I could have done the 5 miles at MP, but that really wasn’t my goal. My goal was to get under a 10:00 mpm pace. I chalk this up to a modified Fast Finish Long Run.

On the subject of pacing, I realize that I need to test myself at some time in the near future. I want to make sure that I am not delusional about running 26.2 miles at 9:00. I will consider a 10K or 10 miler in the coming weeks to test my fitness. McMillian also has an excellent tool for figuring equivalent performances at other distances. For example, you plug in your time for a certain distance and it will calculate equivalent race times/paces at other distances. Of course, you must have trained for the distance in order for this to be valid. My time for the half marathon was 1:49, which equates to a 3:50 marathon. This is one of the things that give me confidence of my ability. But my current running times are slowly chipping away at that confidence.

After the Long Run I took Monday off and Tuesday was New Years Day. The weather was good, but I didn’t run. Then I didn’t run on Wednesday either. To stick with the plan, I would need to put in a 7 miler on both Thursday and Friday. This is what I mean about less than ideal execution of the plan.

Patti and I are hosting a large family party this coming Saturday evening and I know I will spend all of Sunday in clean up mode and taking down Christmas lights, tress etc. I won’t have time to spend two and half hours running, so my 15 miler next week needs to be on Saturday. If my math is correct that totals 29 (7+7+15) miles in three consecutive days. That is what I mean about execution that is just plain lousy.

I should have run Tuesday and when I didn’t there was no excuse not to run on Wednesday.

I ran my 7 miler on the treadmill at Y on Thursday AM and it was monotonous, but not too difficult. On the drive to work, I was once again, going over the alternatives of running over the next couple days. At one point I was convinced to skip Friday and be fresh for the 15 miler on Saturday. Since I felt OK, I then convinced myself to suck it up and put in all the miles. In the end, I got on the treadmill Friday morning and did 3 miles.

I did 23 miles for the week, which is the same total as last week. I didn’t skip any runs, but did cut one short. I am pretty sure the right thing would have been to take the day off and focus on Saturday’s Long Run. I guess I can’t stand the shame. One thing is certain, as I write this on Friday afternoon; I am glad I didn’t do all 7 miles this morning. 15 miles is the most I have ever run and I am coming off two days of running.

While I should have been running on Tuesday, I went out and got a new pair of running shoes (Asics Nimbus 9). I like them very much after two runs, but have a little blister situation going that should make Saturday even more fun.