Weekly Summary – 101 Miles in 11 runs. One BIG workout of 50km with second half at race pace. Otherwise, just easy running.
Lunes, 2 de Febrero, 2015 – 10am: Slept late and ran solo on Mt Vernon to DC loop. Felt pretty beat at first but better as things went. Warmer (40s) but windy. Total run 11M++ in 1’26.
5pm: Another easy run. Felt better than the morning. Total run 9M in 66’.
XT: Core, 12’.
Martes, 3 de Febrero, 2015 – 12pm: Busy morning so didn’t get out the door until noon. Ran easy longer single. Cold and windy! Total run 13M in 1h33.
5pm: Easy shakeout. Ran to grocery store and back. Total run 3M+, NT.
XT: Upper body circuit. 5 sets of [20x pushup, 30x flutter (x2), 20x dips]
Miercoles, 4 de Febrero, 2015 – 10am: Easy run on Mt Vernon to Potomac park. Nice area. Short today with a big effort tomorrow. Total run 8M in 57’.
5pm: Ran back from the Mall after spending all afternoon checking out some free museums. Pretty awesome! Beautiful run back. Total run 4M in 30’.
XT: Hips.
Jueves, 5 de Febrero, 2015 – 8:30am: Last workout of this block. 50km. Up early at 530am, breakfast of half bagel, black coffee, snacking on some pretzels. Water.
Aimed to start the workout right at 8:30am as the race will start then but was running late and ended up starting about 8:40. Warmed up very easy ~1km and then stopped and did drills and 1 longer stride.
Goal was to continue the progression of all the long runs in this block: 20km steady, 5km pickup @50k race pace, 5km steady, and then race pace to the end (20km in this case).
Fueling was: gatorade (as desired) every 5km, 1 powergel packet every 10km (and 1 packet 10 minutes before starting).
I ran the first 32km outside on a 5km out/back section of mt vernon trail and then the last 18km on a treadmill inside to give myself an option to bail and make fluids a bit easier (plus it was very windy and cold).
First 20km (1’13’14) was moderate and felt fine. Really not much else to say. Pretty boring and just wanted it to be over. Consistent splits 18’06-18’28 per 5km.
First pick up actually felt better and more natural pace to be running. Ran even for 16’59.
Next 5k felt quite good and was the slowest at 18’34. Really tried to recover and mentally prepare myself for the last 20km.
Tried to think of the whole workout up to that point as an extended warm-up and the last 20km was the real “work.” I’d split everything into 5k chunks and so I continued thinking of the last 20km as 4x 5k.
I had to stop for about 40-60 seconds on the way into the gym, but otherwise it was continuous the whole time. The treadmills there are good and the pace felt consistent with outside, if a bit easier without the wind (when it was in my face).
A lot of ups and downs in that last 15km, with a few times kind of getting into a groove and feeling quite good and sometimes really losing it for a second, but overall it always seemed manageable to get to the finish. Pace was even was I was running on the machine.
Finished feeling very tired, but did not increase the speed or attempt to kick or anything. Just wanted to finish on pace.
Felt pretty beat afterward. Very tired and extremely thirsty. Fueling was not a problem, but I felt extremely dehydrated and thirsty by the end. Probably from running inside. Definitely need to drink more during the race.
Total was 50km (31.1M) in 2’56’32 (3’31.8/km, 5’40.9/M). Marathon was passed in around 2’29. The last 20km was 1’07’43 (3’23/km, 5’27/M).
Splits:
5km: 18’06
10km: 35’34 (18’28)
15km: 55’01 (18’26)
20km: 1’13’14 (18’13) (HM:~1’17)
25km: 1’30’13 (16’59)
30km: 1’48’48 (18’34)
35km: 2’05’47 (16’59)
40km: 2’22’42 (16’55) (Marathon: ~2’29’50)
45km: 2’39’36 (16’53)
50km: 2’56’32 (16’56)
PM: OFF. Rest.
XT: OFF.
Viernes, 6 Febrero, 2015 – AM: OFF. Recovery day #1.
4pm: Very easy bike/run combo since my left leg was feeling a bit testy. Total run 5M in 45’.
XT: Core. 12’.
Sabado, 7 Febrero 2015 – AM: OFF. Recovery day #2.
2pm: Easy shakeout on bike/running again. Felt better than yesterday. Total run 6M in 50’.
XT: Hips.
Domingo, 8 de Febrero, 2015 – 10am: Easy run solo. Super nice day. Ran to the turf but lots of soccer players, so easy out/back on mt vernon. Total 5M in 37’.
3pm: Super nice day – 65F! – so took the train to Georgetown and ran with Mariana up rock creek park to the zoo. Very fun afternoon!
Total run 5M++ in 45’.
XT: Core 12’.
Really interested to read about your training; great stuff! I’m particularly interested in your cross training: do you have a particular source for what you do, or is it just stuff you picked up from various places? And do you keep what you do fairly constant or is there a progression over the cycle?
Hi Jack – thanks for your question and for reading! My cross training is mostly a regimen that my coach and I have established over the years. I switch between 4 different programs: Hips, Core, Upper-body, and Legs. For the most part, these are all for “maintenance” and injury prevention – not really trying to build muscle or anything. None of them are super strenuous – they all take 10-20 minutes – and generally they’ll stay pretty constant over an entire build-up until the last few weeks, where it’s “tapered off” a bit in the same way that mileage is. If there’s interest, I could do a separate post where I describe each one and the context a bit more.
I’d be very interested and find that useful, if you have the time!