End of Week Seventeen (2-29-08)

This was the second week of my Speed Phase. I cut back miles slightly (27) this week but my overall pace for all miles this week was another 15 seconds/mile improvement to 9:09. I don’t think overall pace is a particularly important statistic, and based on what I have planned for the next couple weeks, I doubt it will get lower.

On Sunday, I ran 7 miles with Maddie at Ridley Creek. Our blended pace was real close to Marathon Pace of 9:04 and we ran the last two miles at an 8:15 pace.

On Tuesday, I ran a 6 mile progressive tempo run on the treadmill. Last week, I wrote about this type of run and extolled that benefits of increasing speed based on ‘feel’. Well this week, I did the opposite. I started at a good pace and increased the MPH by .1 at each half-mile regardless of how I felt. In reality, it all felt right. I was aiming for a certain overall time and completed this 6 miler at an overall pace of 8:33 (8:40 last week). I realize that this hard running is what will make me faster. I also realize that I should only do workouts this hard a couple times per week. I needed to follow this with a real easy day on Wednesday.

In addition to the run with Maddie and the tempo run, my other hard workout was a steady state run of 6 miles at 9:03. I did this on Thursday and realized that I put in some hard work this week and swapped a planned 5 miler on Friday with 40 minutes on the exercise bike. I think it was a good call. I have a tough couple weeks ahead of me.

There are now four weeks until the race. Over the next three weekends, I have important runs that I hope will serve two purposes. First, I hope they improve my conditioning and make me faster on race day. But I am also looking for these runs to add substance to my original belief that I could realistically break four hours in the race. If you were to look for advice or a list of tips for first time marathoners, you would find overwhelming evidence that one should run their first marathon to ‘just finish’ and one should not be too concerned with a goal time. The uncertainty about how the race will feel and the pace that should be run is significant. The results from your training along with race prediction calculators (based on other runs) help, but finding the right pace for a first timer can be tricky business.

Clearly, my goal is to run the best race possible in the fastest time without injury or hospitalization. For example, if my current conditioning and ability to run a marathon is really at a 4:15 finish time, and I ran the first half at pace for 4:00, I could very well end up running it at 4:30. Going well beyond my ability in the first 10 or 15 miles would result in a meltdown (hitting the wall) and a dramatic slowing of my pace. On the other hand, if I am capable of running it in 4:00, and I start off at a 4:15 pace for the first 10 or 15 miles, I would be able to make up some time, but not all of it. That’s pretty much why they say to run the first one to finish, or at least with an easily attainable goal. Rest assured that I will address this topic in the coming weeks.

This weekend I am going out for a 12 miler. I plan to do this at Marathon Pace. In the following weekends, I have a 20 miler planned and a 10K time trial. Along with these, I’ll continue with tempo runs and other base mileage.

Perhaps the real highlight of the past week was on Tuesday when I registered for the race and paid the money.