Since the 10 miler last Saturday, I spent this week running easy, finishing the week with 20 miles. For better or worse, the BEST training program is now complete. The final number for my training comes to 475 miles covered over 76 hours. I think it’s a common feeling at this point to look back and find flaws and deficiencies in your training. I realize that now is not the time to second guess. The race is in two days and I should do whatever I can to be as prepared as possible. But no matter what I do, I won’t become a better more conditioned runner in the next forty eight hours.
It’s too early to rate my race performance and after all that will be the biggest factor in assessing my training. But if I had to grade my training, my report card would be:
Consistency – A
Overall Mileage – C
Training with Purpose – B
In preparation for Sunday, I’m eating lots of carbs. I have not scripted my diet for Saturday night and Sunday morning, but I’m pretty sure that nutrition won’t be a problem. Danny, Peter and I will get down the shore Saturday night and won’t really do much except watch a movie and go to bed. On Sunday morning, I will probably wake up at 6:00AM, three hours before the race. I’ll eat my usual bagel with peanut butter, some fruit and skim milk. I get on the bus at 7:15 to ride to the start. At some point, I’ll have a Power Bar and a 20 once Gatorade. During the race, I’ll stop at every aid station and alternate drinking water and Gatorade. Later in the race, I’ll have a gel with my water. This worked well for both 20 milers.
The temperature at the start of the race is predicted to be 35F and go up to 45F during the race. I plan to run in shorts with a long sleeve shirt covered with a tee shirt. I expect to be cold before the race starts and will likely have a throw away pair of sweats.
The temperature for the race has not and is not a concern to me. The wind is another story. Even with an obvious understanding that the weather is totally out of my control and almost equally hard to predict, I have been watching and tracking the wind forecast for the Sunday. The current forecast is for 10 MPH winds coming from the Northeast at the start of the race. That’s would be a direct headwind. Then the forecast calls for a gradual shift to an easterly cross wind but probably not until the race is over. Clearly, this is not optimal, but it could be worse. From my many days on these same beaches, I know that the wind can shift at any moment. It’s a unknown that adds some excitement to the race.
While it might seem trivial, I still have not decided my Ipod situation. I have run probably 90% of my training miles, listening to music. So I think I will have it with me. I’m still not sure, if I will spend the time to update or change playlists for the run. One of my drawbacks is that my 46 year old eyes have trouble reading the display on my Nano while I am running so I won’t want to be fishing around for music. One option would be to create 4 hour play list and just go with it.
The best news of all is that physically, I am in good shape. From head to toe, I can’t really complain about any lingering ailments. I’m sure that 4 hours on the road will change that, but at least I’m starting fresh.
Finally, I continue to evaluate my pacing plan for the race. All along, I’ve stated that 4 hours was the goal and a 9:00 MPM pace would give me a 4 minute cushion. That has been the goal all along. Last week, I suggested that I need to run according to the way I feel and a controlled relaxed pace was essential for the first half of the race. The reality is, my mind will be constantly calculating and will not allow me to casually decide to run slower just because it feels better. On the other hand, I hope that my legs, lungs and heart, will help me judge the best pace. I expect to reach a balance between mind and body to run a smart race. After all, I do have a pretty good handle on the range of my ability. What causes me to obsess over this is the fact that my goal is pretty much on the fastest end of the range.
So, I’ll keep an eye on the weather and get to the starting line and see what happens. One thing is for sure, I plan to be happy when its over,,, strengthened from the 21 weeks of training and pleased with the outcome.
Then it’s on to the Media 5 Miler.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
End of Week Twenty 3-23-08
Happy Easter!
The first week of my Taper is now complete and I’m left with just seven days until the race. The last of any really hard workouts are also behind me. At this point I have run 465 miles in preparation for the race, which is about 97% of what I will end up running. Many would say that my total mileage is far short of what is considered proper preparation for a marathon. I also suspect that many have run 26.2 on much less. But one thing is true for sure: there is nothing I can do now to change how I trained. The training is essentially over. The preparation continues and there are things I should do and things I should avoid to give me the best chance for a good race, but the legs, the lungs and the heart are as good as they are going to get for the race.
I started week twenty with Maddie and Peter at the track. Maddie is juggling her role in the school production of My Fair Lady with track season. Peter is now preparing for his first track season (7th grade). The three of us went out to the high school track, each with our workout in mind. Maddie was going to do 400’s, Peter was doing some 400’s and 800’s mixed. My plan was to warm up with an easy mile and run a fast 5 miler. A couple weeks ago, I had this day planned to run a 10K as a prediction run for my marathon. I’m glad to say that I have stopped trying to predict my race time based on such measures. And anyway, I felt like running 5 miles.
It was one of the fastest 5 mile runs in my life. My first mile was at 8:08 and got faster each mile; my last split was a pretty fast 7:36. Total time was 39:46 (7:57 pace). This was the fastest workout so far, and I don’t expect any faster next week.
Thanks to this workout, I ended the week with my fastest overall pace (9:00). I am left wondering if there might be something significant in the coincidence of coming up with that number. I ended the week with only 20 miles and not much to mention about the other runs. I probably could have benefited from a few more miles this week, but I’m not too worried, at least about my mileage total for Week Twenty.
While closing out Week Twenty, I realize that the mile repeats and 800 intervals that I planned from the start are not going to happen. I had some success with mile repeats in the past and planned on getting in some track workouts during the Speed Phase as well as the Taper. I think I wrote earlier that I wanted to do these because I enjoyed them and they made me feel fast. At this point I am generally pleased with the speed work I am getting out of the tempo runs. And I am not about to introduce anything new to my training at this point.
The first run of my last week (Week Twenty One) was a 10 miler. I ran two 5 mile loops (same course as my last 20 miler). A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about workouts that would provide me a basis to lock in on my pace for the race. No such thing has actually happened. If one were to view my training log they would find a mix of long runs, fast runs and steady runs in between. My times for these runs surely provide some insight regarding my conditioning and race potential. I’ve had some interest over the weeks trying to justify my ability to run the race in four hours, but when all is said and done, my training can only provide an assessment of my ability. The distance is too far and the experience too much of an unknown for me to have too narrow of a window for my race pace. I don’t want to be misunderstood. My goal is still run this race in four hours, but I need to allow my body to dictate the pace on race day, not my watch.
My intention for this 10 miler was to run it at goal race pace of 9:00. I ended up finishing the 10 miler at an average pace of 8:47. That’s the good news. But I didn’t manage my pacing as well as I hoped. I ran the first 5 miles at 8:40 and the last 5 miles at 8:52. I would have preferred to flip those times in reverse.
It was during this run, when I really started to appreciate the feel for my pace. At mile 5 or 6, I realized that I hadn’t controlled the pace well for the first 5 miles. I slowed down just a bit and got to a place, where I felt like I could speed up if I wanted, or hold steady for a long time. Holding back for a while made my final mile at 8:03 possible. This is the feeling I need to have for the race: control. I expect to be in pain for the final 45 - 60 minutes of the race. But I need to avoid being in pain for any longer. I’m in good enough shape to run pretty fast (out of control) for 10 to 14 miles. But, if I don’t control the pace properly, I think a breakdown would hit pretty soon after the halfway mark and could be pretty severe. I just need to trust my conditioning and hope that my controlled pace is adequate to reach my goals. It might even be faster, but I need to feel it throughout my mind and body, not just my watch.
I’m going to take it easy the rest of the week. I intend to wrap up the loose items in my preparation and will provide a final report before the race.
The first week of my Taper is now complete and I’m left with just seven days until the race. The last of any really hard workouts are also behind me. At this point I have run 465 miles in preparation for the race, which is about 97% of what I will end up running. Many would say that my total mileage is far short of what is considered proper preparation for a marathon. I also suspect that many have run 26.2 on much less. But one thing is true for sure: there is nothing I can do now to change how I trained. The training is essentially over. The preparation continues and there are things I should do and things I should avoid to give me the best chance for a good race, but the legs, the lungs and the heart are as good as they are going to get for the race.
I started week twenty with Maddie and Peter at the track. Maddie is juggling her role in the school production of My Fair Lady with track season. Peter is now preparing for his first track season (7th grade). The three of us went out to the high school track, each with our workout in mind. Maddie was going to do 400’s, Peter was doing some 400’s and 800’s mixed. My plan was to warm up with an easy mile and run a fast 5 miler. A couple weeks ago, I had this day planned to run a 10K as a prediction run for my marathon. I’m glad to say that I have stopped trying to predict my race time based on such measures. And anyway, I felt like running 5 miles.
It was one of the fastest 5 mile runs in my life. My first mile was at 8:08 and got faster each mile; my last split was a pretty fast 7:36. Total time was 39:46 (7:57 pace). This was the fastest workout so far, and I don’t expect any faster next week.
Thanks to this workout, I ended the week with my fastest overall pace (9:00). I am left wondering if there might be something significant in the coincidence of coming up with that number. I ended the week with only 20 miles and not much to mention about the other runs. I probably could have benefited from a few more miles this week, but I’m not too worried, at least about my mileage total for Week Twenty.
While closing out Week Twenty, I realize that the mile repeats and 800 intervals that I planned from the start are not going to happen. I had some success with mile repeats in the past and planned on getting in some track workouts during the Speed Phase as well as the Taper. I think I wrote earlier that I wanted to do these because I enjoyed them and they made me feel fast. At this point I am generally pleased with the speed work I am getting out of the tempo runs. And I am not about to introduce anything new to my training at this point.
The first run of my last week (Week Twenty One) was a 10 miler. I ran two 5 mile loops (same course as my last 20 miler). A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about workouts that would provide me a basis to lock in on my pace for the race. No such thing has actually happened. If one were to view my training log they would find a mix of long runs, fast runs and steady runs in between. My times for these runs surely provide some insight regarding my conditioning and race potential. I’ve had some interest over the weeks trying to justify my ability to run the race in four hours, but when all is said and done, my training can only provide an assessment of my ability. The distance is too far and the experience too much of an unknown for me to have too narrow of a window for my race pace. I don’t want to be misunderstood. My goal is still run this race in four hours, but I need to allow my body to dictate the pace on race day, not my watch.
My intention for this 10 miler was to run it at goal race pace of 9:00. I ended up finishing the 10 miler at an average pace of 8:47. That’s the good news. But I didn’t manage my pacing as well as I hoped. I ran the first 5 miles at 8:40 and the last 5 miles at 8:52. I would have preferred to flip those times in reverse.
It was during this run, when I really started to appreciate the feel for my pace. At mile 5 or 6, I realized that I hadn’t controlled the pace well for the first 5 miles. I slowed down just a bit and got to a place, where I felt like I could speed up if I wanted, or hold steady for a long time. Holding back for a while made my final mile at 8:03 possible. This is the feeling I need to have for the race: control. I expect to be in pain for the final 45 - 60 minutes of the race. But I need to avoid being in pain for any longer. I’m in good enough shape to run pretty fast (out of control) for 10 to 14 miles. But, if I don’t control the pace properly, I think a breakdown would hit pretty soon after the halfway mark and could be pretty severe. I just need to trust my conditioning and hope that my controlled pace is adequate to reach my goals. It might even be faster, but I need to feel it throughout my mind and body, not just my watch.
I’m going to take it easy the rest of the week. I intend to wrap up the loose items in my preparation and will provide a final report before the race.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
End of Week Nineteen (3-14-08)
End of Week Nineteen
My recovery from this 20 miler was better than last time. After the long run, I managed to get out and cross train the following day to loosen up the legs. The following day was Tuesday, and I got in my 6 miler, but I took it real easy. I think it would have been a mistake to either skip the day (which I was tempted to do), or to attempt anything even moderately hard. My legs felt good for the rest of the week and I ran progressively faster for my runs on Wednesday and Thursday 6 milers.
I finished the week, with a plan high of 40 miles. My gradual increase in pace over the past couple weeks came to end with a week of relatively slow running.. But that was necessary due to the 20 mile long run and my careful attention to recover safely from the long run. I’m not sure if a touch of paranoia has settled in, but I iced my feet, Achilles and calves every night. They didn’t hurt much, but there was some stiffness and aches. In the end, I think it worked out well. At the end of the week, I feel fresh and fast for the taper.
The notion of a full out taper is feeling odd right now. I have two weeks until the race and I don’t feel as if, I ran enough miles or suffered enough to justify a big reduction in training. But I will cut back some and try to focus on the race.
In addition to my focus on doing the best workouts that will bring me to start line feeling fresh, fast and strong, I need to turn my attention to the days before the race and the actual race plan. I need to nail down my specific plans for:
Diet for the week before – carb depletion, then carb loading
What I will wear – should be easy because I don’t have much to choose from
Logistics – getting to the race and shuffling my support team about
Music – Should I wear the Ipod or not? If so, I’ll need some long playlists
Race Day Prep – I have this pretty well rehearsed from my long runs in terms of eating and hydration
Race Pace – An endless controversy in my head that will not likely be settled until the gun goes off.
My recovery from this 20 miler was better than last time. After the long run, I managed to get out and cross train the following day to loosen up the legs. The following day was Tuesday, and I got in my 6 miler, but I took it real easy. I think it would have been a mistake to either skip the day (which I was tempted to do), or to attempt anything even moderately hard. My legs felt good for the rest of the week and I ran progressively faster for my runs on Wednesday and Thursday 6 milers.
I finished the week, with a plan high of 40 miles. My gradual increase in pace over the past couple weeks came to end with a week of relatively slow running.. But that was necessary due to the 20 mile long run and my careful attention to recover safely from the long run. I’m not sure if a touch of paranoia has settled in, but I iced my feet, Achilles and calves every night. They didn’t hurt much, but there was some stiffness and aches. In the end, I think it worked out well. At the end of the week, I feel fresh and fast for the taper.
The notion of a full out taper is feeling odd right now. I have two weeks until the race and I don’t feel as if, I ran enough miles or suffered enough to justify a big reduction in training. But I will cut back some and try to focus on the race.
In addition to my focus on doing the best workouts that will bring me to start line feeling fresh, fast and strong, I need to turn my attention to the days before the race and the actual race plan. I need to nail down my specific plans for:
Diet for the week before – carb depletion, then carb loading
What I will wear – should be easy because I don’t have much to choose from
Logistics – getting to the race and shuffling my support team about
Music – Should I wear the Ipod or not? If so, I’ll need some long playlists
Race Day Prep – I have this pretty well rehearsed from my long runs in terms of eating and hydration
Race Pace – An endless controversy in my head that will not likely be settled until the gun goes off.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Long Run Report - 20 Miler (3-9-08)
I came up with a marathon training plan five months ago and have continued to modify and improve it along the way and make adjustments when necessary (foot problem six weeks ago). I am now in Week 19 of the 21 week plan and have been sticking to my mileage goals with some consistency. According to the most recent version of the plan, I should have run 438 miles to this point and I have actually run 417 miles (95%). For the most part, the plan has also maintained the originally intended progression from Base to Endurance to Speed and now I am nearing the Taper.
Throughout the 19 weeks of training, there have been some ups and downs. Some runs felt great, made me feel strong and were encouraging. Other runs felt impossible after the first 30 seconds and my need to struggle to complete them has caused me to question my objectives and ultimate chance of success.
I ran the last of my long runs yesterday. From the moment I stopped running, I knew that this 20 miler would not fall neatly into the Up and Down categories that I mentioned above. However, I think I learned a few things will say with optimism that I can draw more positive thoughts from the run that I can negative ones.
Several days ago, I checked on the weather and noticed that Saturday’s forecast was for drenching rain with temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s and Sunday would be a bit cooler and windy, but dry. I ran a few junk miles at the Y on Saturday as the rain forecast was indeed accurate and I planned my 20 miler for Sunday afternoon.
I used GMAP Pedometer to measure out a 5 mile loop through the streets of Swarthmore, Rutledge and Morton. The loop went by my father’s house about midway through and with my car parked at the other end of the loop, I had water and Gatorade at my disposal every 2.5 miles. These streets are flat for the most part and this is really the same as the 4 mile loop that I did last week for my sub 9:00 pace, 12 miler. I just extended it at a few locations to make it 5 miles.
I thought about what I wanted out of this 20 mile effort. As mentioned earlier, I want to gain training and conditioning benefit from the run. But I also want a useful baseline by which, I can determine if I need to make any adjustment to my 9:00 MPM goal race pace. After some thought, I decided that a perfect run for me would result in an overall pace in the range of 9:30 – 9:40 with the fastest miles at the end of the run which would be near race pace.
My overall pace for the run was 9:40 MPM, but my pace at the end was slower rather than faster. When you use the pedometer on the Internet, it is difficult to come up the exact placement for the mile markers, so individual mile splits aren’t always accurate. But the pace for each of the 5 mile loops is a good measure of how I ran.
Miles 0-5 9:42 pace
Miles 6-10 9:47 pace
Miles 11-15 9:23 pace
Miles 16-20 9:49 pace
I ended up being on my feet running for 3 hours and 13 minutes, which was pretty much my goal. I have read a lot about the benefit of fast finish long runs and I wanted to finish fast in the final loop (5 miles). What I learned on this particular day is that I can speed up after 10 miles, but my body was not about to speed up after 15 miles. Perhaps I was too aggressive on the third loop (miles 11 -15).
The weather turned out to be windy as predicted. Since my loop was basically a big circle with 90 degree turns, I can’t claim the wind was in my face the whole way. But, like running a hilly course, the fact that the net result might be neutral, does not take away from the reality that running on a very windy day (unless it is at your back) makes you slower.
There were certain stretches on the course where it was a real struggle to maintain pace. The Ocean Drive Marathon course brings the real possibility of having strong headwinds the entire way. If the weather is bad, the point to point course will be unforgiving. In 2007, the average finish time was approximately 10 minutes slower than previous years. For this 20 miler, I was cursing the wind at certain points.
My first 2 miles were at 9:18 and I realized I needed to slow down. I was in fairly good control of my pace for the next 8 miles. At the 10 mile mark, I decided that I was in good enough shape to start my gradual acceleration. I was cruising pretty good for a while. I was probably cruising too good, because as I came to mile 15 and my final loop, I realized I was very tired and very sore. Miles 16 and 17 were Ok, but the last three miles were at 10:00 MPM.
It was not a melt down by any account, but it didn’t turn out as I hoped. It might be as simple as I started to increase my speed about 3 miles too soon. I’m not in good enough shape to sustain an increase in pace for more than 5 miles after already running for 2 hours. I fought off the strong urge to walk and finished at 3:13, which is 14 minutes faster than the 20 miler I ran seven weeks ago.
Q: Did I reap meaningful benefit to my conditioning from this run?
A: I don’t know for sure. As a first timer, I think a 20 miler is essential for confidence/curiosity. Since I came up injured after my last 20 miler, I needed this more for the head than the legs. I think a 16 miler would have resulted in a much stronger effort that probably would have been more beneficial to my training with less risk of injury. My legs still don’t feel quite right (24 hours after running)
Q: How do the results of this run affect your planned race pace of 9:00 MPM?
A: I could talk all day about this one and would end up, right where I started. The experts tell you that your Long Run in training should be about 60 seconds slower than race pace. Mine was only 40 seconds slower, so I guess that’s OK. But I was totally spent when I was done, so that’s not good. Then there is the wind and the potential for weather on the day of the race. As a first timer, you really don’t know. At some level, I need to put away all the data and run the race as I feel it on race day. If I ever decide to do this again, I’ll be in a much better position to judge. For now, I’m sticking with the plan.
Throughout the 19 weeks of training, there have been some ups and downs. Some runs felt great, made me feel strong and were encouraging. Other runs felt impossible after the first 30 seconds and my need to struggle to complete them has caused me to question my objectives and ultimate chance of success.
I ran the last of my long runs yesterday. From the moment I stopped running, I knew that this 20 miler would not fall neatly into the Up and Down categories that I mentioned above. However, I think I learned a few things will say with optimism that I can draw more positive thoughts from the run that I can negative ones.
Several days ago, I checked on the weather and noticed that Saturday’s forecast was for drenching rain with temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s and Sunday would be a bit cooler and windy, but dry. I ran a few junk miles at the Y on Saturday as the rain forecast was indeed accurate and I planned my 20 miler for Sunday afternoon.
I used GMAP Pedometer to measure out a 5 mile loop through the streets of Swarthmore, Rutledge and Morton. The loop went by my father’s house about midway through and with my car parked at the other end of the loop, I had water and Gatorade at my disposal every 2.5 miles. These streets are flat for the most part and this is really the same as the 4 mile loop that I did last week for my sub 9:00 pace, 12 miler. I just extended it at a few locations to make it 5 miles.
I thought about what I wanted out of this 20 mile effort. As mentioned earlier, I want to gain training and conditioning benefit from the run. But I also want a useful baseline by which, I can determine if I need to make any adjustment to my 9:00 MPM goal race pace. After some thought, I decided that a perfect run for me would result in an overall pace in the range of 9:30 – 9:40 with the fastest miles at the end of the run which would be near race pace.
My overall pace for the run was 9:40 MPM, but my pace at the end was slower rather than faster. When you use the pedometer on the Internet, it is difficult to come up the exact placement for the mile markers, so individual mile splits aren’t always accurate. But the pace for each of the 5 mile loops is a good measure of how I ran.
Miles 0-5 9:42 pace
Miles 6-10 9:47 pace
Miles 11-15 9:23 pace
Miles 16-20 9:49 pace
I ended up being on my feet running for 3 hours and 13 minutes, which was pretty much my goal. I have read a lot about the benefit of fast finish long runs and I wanted to finish fast in the final loop (5 miles). What I learned on this particular day is that I can speed up after 10 miles, but my body was not about to speed up after 15 miles. Perhaps I was too aggressive on the third loop (miles 11 -15).
The weather turned out to be windy as predicted. Since my loop was basically a big circle with 90 degree turns, I can’t claim the wind was in my face the whole way. But, like running a hilly course, the fact that the net result might be neutral, does not take away from the reality that running on a very windy day (unless it is at your back) makes you slower.
There were certain stretches on the course where it was a real struggle to maintain pace. The Ocean Drive Marathon course brings the real possibility of having strong headwinds the entire way. If the weather is bad, the point to point course will be unforgiving. In 2007, the average finish time was approximately 10 minutes slower than previous years. For this 20 miler, I was cursing the wind at certain points.
My first 2 miles were at 9:18 and I realized I needed to slow down. I was in fairly good control of my pace for the next 8 miles. At the 10 mile mark, I decided that I was in good enough shape to start my gradual acceleration. I was cruising pretty good for a while. I was probably cruising too good, because as I came to mile 15 and my final loop, I realized I was very tired and very sore. Miles 16 and 17 were Ok, but the last three miles were at 10:00 MPM.
It was not a melt down by any account, but it didn’t turn out as I hoped. It might be as simple as I started to increase my speed about 3 miles too soon. I’m not in good enough shape to sustain an increase in pace for more than 5 miles after already running for 2 hours. I fought off the strong urge to walk and finished at 3:13, which is 14 minutes faster than the 20 miler I ran seven weeks ago.
Q: Did I reap meaningful benefit to my conditioning from this run?
A: I don’t know for sure. As a first timer, I think a 20 miler is essential for confidence/curiosity. Since I came up injured after my last 20 miler, I needed this more for the head than the legs. I think a 16 miler would have resulted in a much stronger effort that probably would have been more beneficial to my training with less risk of injury. My legs still don’t feel quite right (24 hours after running)
Q: How do the results of this run affect your planned race pace of 9:00 MPM?
A: I could talk all day about this one and would end up, right where I started. The experts tell you that your Long Run in training should be about 60 seconds slower than race pace. Mine was only 40 seconds slower, so I guess that’s OK. But I was totally spent when I was done, so that’s not good. Then there is the wind and the potential for weather on the day of the race. As a first timer, you really don’t know. At some level, I need to put away all the data and run the race as I feel it on race day. If I ever decide to do this again, I’ll be in a much better position to judge. For now, I’m sticking with the plan.
End of Week Eighteen (3-7-08)
This week I ran the highest mileage week so far (34 miles) and the fastest overall pace for all runs (9:04).
On Sunday I ran a flat 12 miler through Swarthmore and Morton at an 8:43 pace. That was a good run at a good pace. This was the first of the three runs I mentioned last week to help me target my pace for the race. This 12 miler was not the toughest test in the world, but the pace for this run was good enough (even for 12 miles) to maintain my goal of a 9:00 MPM pace for the race.
The rest of the week, I managed to be consistent with 4 and 6 milers. I pushed the pace on most of these miles. My run on Wednesday was supposed to be my fastest tempo run, and I just didn’t have enough steam. I realize that I should limit the amount of miles that I run too fast. Nevertheless, the faster running is working. I feel stronger and can see my times improving. I just need to be careful.
Next week is my final long run of the plan: a 20 miler. It has been seven weeks since my last 20 miler. Since that time, I have run a lot of base miles and some tempo miles. To be honest, I will be happy when this run is complete. Like the 12 miler last week, I’m looking for a good training run that helps build my physical strength as well as confidence. I’m hoping to run the first 10 miles at approximately 9:50 MPM, then pick it up over the last 10 miles and finish close to 9:00 MPM. I would be happy with a blended pace of 9:35.
I’m fast approaching the high point in my training. After this 20 miler, it will be mostly downhill. (that’s figurative). I still plan to run plenty of miles next week (40) and some fast running in my taper, but the end is in sight.
On Sunday I ran a flat 12 miler through Swarthmore and Morton at an 8:43 pace. That was a good run at a good pace. This was the first of the three runs I mentioned last week to help me target my pace for the race. This 12 miler was not the toughest test in the world, but the pace for this run was good enough (even for 12 miles) to maintain my goal of a 9:00 MPM pace for the race.
The rest of the week, I managed to be consistent with 4 and 6 milers. I pushed the pace on most of these miles. My run on Wednesday was supposed to be my fastest tempo run, and I just didn’t have enough steam. I realize that I should limit the amount of miles that I run too fast. Nevertheless, the faster running is working. I feel stronger and can see my times improving. I just need to be careful.
Next week is my final long run of the plan: a 20 miler. It has been seven weeks since my last 20 miler. Since that time, I have run a lot of base miles and some tempo miles. To be honest, I will be happy when this run is complete. Like the 12 miler last week, I’m looking for a good training run that helps build my physical strength as well as confidence. I’m hoping to run the first 10 miles at approximately 9:50 MPM, then pick it up over the last 10 miles and finish close to 9:00 MPM. I would be happy with a blended pace of 9:35.
I’m fast approaching the high point in my training. After this 20 miler, it will be mostly downhill. (that’s figurative). I still plan to run plenty of miles next week (40) and some fast running in my taper, but the end is in sight.
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