Weekly Summary – 119 Miles in 12 runs. A GREAT controlled 26.2 mile training effort at the Green Bay Marathon. Very pleased but not satisfied. More work to come. Less than 5 weeks to go!
Lunes, 11 de Mayo, 2015 – 9am: Slept well last night. Ran very easy on Mt. Vernon north and finished at Costco. A couple easy days after 3 big weeks. Total run 11M+.
5pm: Ran later. Pretty warm again, over 80F. Felt okay. Kept it easy again. Total run 5M+ in 35’’.
XT: Core, 12’.
Martes, 12 de Mayo, 2015 – 9am: Very hot today, high of 92F! Good practice for what may be a warm run this weekend in Green Bay. Felt very tired at the end. Also worth noting I was very light this morning: 114lb is the lightest I’ve been since last season. Total run 11M+.
4:30pm: Felt much better this afternoon. Ran easy/moderate around CC. Ready for a light workout tomorrow. Finished with drills and then 1km around MP in 3’10. Total run 6M+.
XT: Hips
Miercoles, 13 de Mayo, 2015 – 10am: Workout Wednesday! Another light workout in between two big efforts (last Saturday and this coming Sunday). Goal was to just get the legs moving and do a bit of quicker running. The workout was 8km of fartlek with 1 minute moderate, 1 minute quick. As always, we wanted to progress the pace, so started at about 3’30/km and 3’15/km but worked down quickly with the majority about 3’20/km and 2’55/km. The last few were fastest on both recovery and hard rep at about 3’15/km (rec) and 2’45/km (quick). All felt great.
Finished 8km in 25’08. Last 5k was 15’20.
Very cool to have 3’15/km feel very slow and be able to recover at that pace. Makes the idea of running the first 21km on Sunday at 3’15-20/km very appealing.
I did not do hills as I ran faster than I’d expected, but instead did 4x150m accelerating to pretty close to top end speed for just a couple seconds. These also felt great.
Cooled down longer and then to the gym for legs. Overall, a really great workout. Felt 100 times better than last week’s mid-week workout. Very excited for this weekend.
Total run 16M.
Splits:
1 km 3’24.1 (3’24.1)
2 km 6’39.9 (3’15.8)
3 km 9’48.1 (3’08.2)
4 km 12’58.1 (3’10.0)
5 km 16’00.0 (3’01.9) – (16’00.0)
6 km 19’05.6 (3’05.6)
7 km 22’09.5 (3’03.9)
8 km 25’08.0 (2’58.5) – (15’19.9 last 5k)
XT: Legs at the gym: 3 sets of [15x each leg step ups, 20x overhead lunge (10lb), 24x static lunge (20 lb), 12x squat (bar)].
5pm: Easy run around CC to shake out the legs. Feel very good again, running effortlessly and really didn’t feel the morning at all. Total run 5M in 32’.
Jueves, 14 de Mayo, 2015 – 9am: Easy run to Alexandria and back. Felt pretty good once I got warmed up. Very light again this morning. Time to load up. Total run 13.5M in 1h30.
3pm: Easy run around the fields to CC. Finished at Costco. Ran 800m in the middle quicker around MP for no real reason. Total run 6M.
XT: Core, 12’.
Viernes, 15 de Mayo, 2015 – 10am: Up early around 5am for 6:55am departure from DCA to ORD and then to Green Bay. Pretty uneventful morning. Picked up by the remarkably friendly Green Bay Marathon elite director who showed me part of the course and took me to the grocery store. Got dropped off at the hotel and unpacked my stuff and went for a run. Got dropped off around mile 19 of the course and ran back, which was great, so I got to see the last 7 or so miles of the course. It’s pretty flat with a few small inclines (one over a bridge around 20.5M, one right around 23M, and one right before 25M (this is probably the steepest). The course ends with a lap around Lambeau field, but actually finishes outside the stadium. I couldn’t run that part, but it looks like you enter the stadium with about 1100m to go and come out with about 300m to go (so an ~800m loop between entering, going through the players’ tunnel, around the field, and back out). Unfortunately, this means that the last 400m or so are up a pretty steep ramp and then up an inclined driveway from the loading area up to the parking lots. It will be a tough finish!
Otherwise, the course looks like a good ol’ midwest marathon. Lots of concrete, lots of long straight sections (though more turns than Indy), but overall it should be pretty fair.
Felt surprisingly good running though, despite the travel and early morning.
Total run 8M++ in 54’.
4pm: Very easy shakeout from the hotel. Ran the first two miles of the course out/back. Very flat. Felt fine. Total run 5M in 35’.
XT: Core, 12’.
Sabado, 16 de Mayo, 2015 – 9am: Very easy shakeout around Green Bay. Ran the last few miles of the course and then around the start area. Stopped and did drills and then ran the first 1km of the race at goal pace for tomorrow in 3’19. Felt decent. Total run 6M+ in 40’.
PM: OFF – rest. Ice bath around 2pm, Early dinner around 5pm, gnocchi. Tried to go to bed very early around 8pm.
XT: Hips.
Domingo, 17 de Mayo, 2015 – 7am: Sparknotes version: Green Bay Marathon. Goal was 35-42km at ~95% of MP. Wanted to accelerate and run very easy ~3’20/km through 15-21km and then accelerate in the second half. Weather was bad – very humid and 75F/sunny by an hour into the race. Led the first 21M. Ran perfect pace, 53’20 through 10M and then accelerated, 69’42 at the half still very under control. Continued quicker through 35km with a small tactical “lull” around 28km where we basically stopped running because no one wanted to lead into the wind. Felt pretty tired due to the heat around 36km (1’58’25, 2h18 pace), so jogged it in for a comfortable 2nd overall to finish in 2’20’28. For what it’s worth, Jack Daniels’ calculator says 2’20’28 in 75F heat is equal to 2’17’00 (!!) in cooler weather, so I’m VERY pleased with this effort.
Full splits at the bottom.
Leading the Kenyan train – about 15 miles in.
Longer Version:
I wake up at 3am local time for the 7am start of the Green Bay Marathon. Luckily, I’ve got this nice hotel room all to myself, so I turn all the lights on, make some coffee, and I’m feeling a bit more awake. I walk/jog and do some stretching around the hallways of the hotel and then come back and take a hot shower. Finally, I munch down about half a bagel around 4am.
From there, it’s just relaxing until I head over to the start area a little before 6am. Our gracious host, Liz Van Asten, has roped off a corner of the enormous Lambeau Field atrium for us – our own tiny bit of calm amid the storm. I sit and (not so) subtly check out the competition, as they do the same. The mellow voice of Ira Glass keeps me in check.
Finally around 6:20, I head outside. What was supposed to be a cloudy and cool morning is not being delivered as promised. The sun has been bright since the moment I stepped outside and the temperature is already in the mid 60s. As I warm up in just a t-shirt, I can feel the humidity and am sweating quickly, even on my short 10 minute jog. It’s gonna be a hot one!
I come back to our little pre-race cave and change into my singlet, shorts, and race shoes (the HOKA ONE ONE Clifton). With about 20 minutes to spare, I head out to the start and find my way to the front of the race.
After some light drills, waiting, and bouncing, we’re lined up and ready to go. The gun fires.
But why am I here? My goal marathon is in 5 weeks in another small midwestern town, so why am I bolting off the start line in Green Bay, Wisconsin?
The truth is, this race is, for me, a supported long-run, a very serious and hard training effort, but a training effort nonetheless. In each of my two previous marathon build-ups, we’ve done a run of 35-42km at about 95% of marathon pace about 5 weeks out from our goal race. Each time, this long run has provided great stimulus, has not taken too much out of me (in terms of recovery time needed), and has really taught us a lot about what’s going well and what I need to work on in the last 5 weeks of the build-up.
The first time, I ran 40km solo in Atacames, Ecuador. The second time, we decided to do this run in a race setting and I ran 42.2km at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. Here, again, we’re doing the run in a race setting in Green Bay.
It’s also worth noting that I do NOT taper significantly for this workout. I took only two easy days before the race, but ran 140 miles the week before and still about 120 miles the week of the race.
There’s a number of reasons for this. First and most importantly, a race offers a safe, supported course to run for a long time without any problems or interruptions. You have closed roads, fluid support, medical personnel in case anything goes wrong, and more. Second, it’s really good to just practice BEING at a marathon – all of the little things, from timing of meals, dealing with the chaos of being at the start of a big race, traveling, etc. And finally, there’s a financial incentive. Trying to make a living as a distance runner is hard and so if I’m going to run a workout that might be a 2h20 marathon, I’ll try to find a race to do it in where I could earn some prize money along the way.
So, as I take off from the starting line, this is what’s on my mind: stay in control. Today is about practicing control, practicing patience.
There are about 10 Kenyans and Ethiopians entered in the race, with PRs from 2h12 to 2h20ish. There were no other Americans that I had seen on the start list who looked like they would be a serious threat.
Immediately, one Kenyan gaps the field and a pack of about 12 of us settle into what is a perfect pace for me. Jon and I had talked about running the first 15-20km VERY comfortably at about 2h20 marathon pace (about 5’20/M or about 3’20/km). At the first km we’re 3’19 and it really feels like we’re jogging.
Within the next few minutes, we reel in the quick starter and we’re all running together. We’re still running perfect pace, and so far the weather doesn’t feel too bad. The temperature is warm, but these first couple miles are shady and the wind (also predicted to be very strong), is mild for now. I’m feeling great.
Around 2.5km, we pass the first water station. I know that even if I’m not thirsty or don’t feel hot, staying cool and hydrated is super important today, so I make an effort to get both water (to pour on my head) and gatorade (to drink) at every stop. There are no special bottles for us, so I manage to get about a sip out of the dixie cup.
The water on my face feels nice and I stretch my legs out a bit as we come around a corner and head down towards the 2M mark. The field has strung out a bit now in response to this, but they seem to be coming back.
We pass 2M in 10’39 – perfect pace – and we’ve turned onto a long, straight section on Broadway. We’re supposedly running into the wind, but it feels extremely mild right now, so I have no problem leading the race and just running my own pace. Not looking back, it almost just feels like another long workout on the bike path (except there are police motorcycles and people cheering).
The pack works back up and surges past me and then comes back. All the while, I’m running 3’18-20/km like it’s my job and ignoring the pack’s movement around me.
We pass the first Rossi mat at 5 miles and our time is about 26’39 – still on perfect pace. From there, we have a little uphill over a bridge and then begins what looks to be the slowest part of the course from 5-10 miles.
I feel good going over the bridge and am still maintaining an even pace as the rest of the group has dropped back again, so I have a tiny lead as we come through a big, raucous town center. This is fun.
Each mile marker we pass, I am still right at 5’20 per mile and I still feel like I’m not doing anything yet. Every once in a while, I see someone’s shadow come up on my side, but no one else seems to want to lead and with light winds, I’m happy to run my own pace at this point. I take my first gel at 10k (just over 33’00).
7-10 miles has the most substantial hills and turns. At this point it is also feeling very hot, as the temperature is now above 70F (looking at the weather in retrospect) and the sun is bright with little shade. I’m still taking about a sip of gatorade and dumping water on my head at every station, but that only provides a minute or so of relief. The pace still feels very easy, but I am concerned about the second half of the race if it keeps getting warmer.
The hills are not as bad as I expect – short and not too steep – and by 15km (about 9.5M), we’re done with them. From here, it’s a short distance to the start of the bike path which makes up the next 7 or so miles of the course – a long, straight, flat shot back towards down-town.
We pass the 10M Rossi mat in 53’19 – right at 5’20 pace. I’m exactly where I want to be and, despite having led about every step of the race so far, I’m feeling fresh and comfortable. The plan is to accelerate a bit at this point and try to continue accelerating until about goal marathon pace in the second half of the race.
The acceleration feels easy and natural and I’m actually having to force myself to hold back. Goal MP feels easy at this point, but there’s still a ways to run and it’s not getting any cooler. This 5k is the quickest so far, running 16’12 and we come to the half marathon Rossi mat in 1’09’42.
Now, we are really moving pretty well and the pack is beginning to thin. I haven’t looked back much, but I know it’s just me and a handful of Kenyans. I’ve still led every step, but I’ve been in total control of the race and I’m executing my own plan, so I don’t mind. We run the 2M between 13.1 and 15 at 5’07/M pace and I’m still feeling good.
For the remainder of the bike path, I’m really holding myself back. I know I can run much faster, but I am very concerned about the heat as it’s now 75F and there is no shade. I am trying to run by effort and we’re running in the 3’15/km range, which feels more like marathon pace (~3’10). I figure I’ll wait until 30-32km to make any kind of more significant move.
As we approach the end of the bike path around 27km, I’m running with two Kenyans who I cannot seem to drop. As we turn off the bike path and head east, into what has turned into a relatively strong head-wind, I decide I’ve had enough and do not want to lead into this wind.
What happens is that I slow down and the Kenyans follow suit. I slow down more, and then Kenyans slow down even more, until we’re basically jogging at about 3’40/km (6’00/M). I motion to one of them to take the lead and I jog in behind one for some shelter for the wind. This section is about 2 miles and also features a decent hill in the middle, so I use it as a bit of a re-grouping section.
The three of us finish the long straight section just after 28km and then I take the lead as we turn north. I make a pretty strong move here and only one follows. We do a random 300m lap of the track at City Stadium and then we begin the long journey back to Lambeau for the finish.
I am running very strong at this point at about 3’12/km (5’08/M) and it feels good to be able to really practice the tactics of competition as I try my best to drop my shadow, but he won’t budge. At 32km (20M official split was 1’46’06, 2’19’05 predicted finish), we make a turn on the River and then head over a bridge to the west side of town. Here, my shadow finally makes a strong move on the relatively steep bridge and puts a few seconds on me as we come down the other side.
I am still running well ~3’15/km and the effort feels more like 3’10 with the heat at this point, so I am afraid to push too hard today. I see that there’s a LOT of space behind me and decide not to follow his surge, but continue at my own pace and wait to see if he comes back.
His lead stays about the same through 35km (1’55’00, 2’18’39 predicted finish), but I am beginning to feel quite tired and overheated. At 36km, I run a 3’25 km and I decide to not risk anything today and simply jog it in. The effort has been great in terms of what we wanted to accomplish and running a very hard last 6km would be digging too deep for today. I just want to make sure I keep my 2nd place position, but I have no doubt I could do that if someone were to come up on me from behind.
So, I shut things down and jog about 3’25-30/km for the last couple miles, including a cool trip through the athletes tunnel and around Lambeau field. I finish in a very comfortable second in 2’20’28. Ayena, the winner, had run 2’19’40 and 3rd was 2h24. It seemed like all the other Kenyans had dropped out.
Overall, I think the effort was pretty much perfect. The first 15km were a jog and I ran super even: 16’30, 16’32, 16’27. And then, a very good 20km effort from 15-35km. Not quite as fast, but with 75F and sunny, I was VERY cautious. I think 3’15 felt more like 3’10 today, so I was very pleased with that middle section.
(Note – Jack Daniels’ calculator says that for marathon in 75F heat at 3’15/km, the heat accounts for about 4.9 seconds per kilometer. I swear I didn’t know that before I wrote the above paragraph!)
This was a really great effort and I’m also very confident that I’ll be able to recover well and quickly and get back to the grindstone. I’ve got less than 5 weeks now to my goal race and I’ve got just a few more big efforts that I really want to nail. I’m super excited to see what comes next!
1 km 3’19.3 (3’19.3)
2 km 6’36.2 (3’16.9)
3 km 9’49.7 (3’13.5)
4 km 13’12.3 (3’22.6)
5 km 16’30.1 (3’17.8) – (16’30.1)
6 km 19’48.5 (3’18.4)
7 km 23’08.8 (3’20.3)
8 km 26’27.1 (3’18.3)
9 km 29’46.6 (3’19.5)
10 km 33’02.3 (3’15.7) – (16’32.2)
11 km 36’21.1 (3’18.8)
12 km 39’39.5 (3’18.4)
13 km 42’56.0 (3’16.5)
14 km 46’13.9 (3’17.9)
15 km 49’29.0 (3’15.1) – (16’26.7)
16 km 52’43.2 (3’14.2)
17 km 55’57.7 (3’14.5)
18 km 59’12.4 (3’14.7)
19 km 1’02’23.7 (3’11.3)
20 km 1’05’41.4 (3’17.7) – (16’12.4)
21 km 1’09’16.3 (3’34.9)
22 km 1’12’18.3 (3’02.0)
23 km 1’15’28.9 (3’10.6)
24 km 1’18’43.3 (3’14.4)
25 km 1’21’58.7 (3’15.4) – (16’17.3)
26 km 1’25’16.2 (3’17.5)
27 km 1’28’42.9 (3’26.7)
28 km 1’32’09.8 (3’26.9)
29 km 1’35’22.0 (3’12.2)
30 km 1’38’34.8 (3’12.8) – (16’36.1)
31 km 1’41’49.3 (3’14.5)
32 km 1’45’05.9 (3’16.6)
33 km 1’48’21.6 (3’15.7)
34 km 1’51’42.3 (3’20.7)
35 km 1’55’00.3 (3’18.0) – (16’25.5)
36 km 1’58’25.3 (3’25.0)
37 km 2’01’51.9 (3’26.6)
38 km 2’05’21.5 (3’29.6)
39 km 2’08’47.3 (3’25.8)
40 km 2’12’19.0 (3’31.7) – (17’18.7)
41 km 2’15’54.6 (3’35.6)
42 km 2’19’10.6 (3’16.0)
42.39 km 2’20’27.2 (1’16.6)
PM: No run – travel back from Green Bay to DC through Chicago. A bit of a mad dash through the awards ceremony and then back to my hotel – ice bath, shower, pack up – and then to the airport for a 1pm flight. A bit sore, but pretty calm travel day. Home by 7:30pm.
XT: Off.
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