Weekly Summary – 106 miles 13 runs. A GREAT workout on Sunday with 20 miles at 2h13 marathon pace. Feeling a boost from the lower mileage and VERY excited to get to race day in less than 3 weeks!
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Lunes, 25 de Mayo, 2015 – 10am: Easy run out/back to Alexandria. Warm already in the 70s. Felt good, better by the end. Total run 10M+ in 70’.
3:30pm: Shorter double. Cutting back the mileage now. MV south and then around CC. Down to 3’50 or so by the end. Felt better. Hot, 90F. I love to sweat. Total run 5.5M in 37’.
XT: Core, 12’
Martes, 26 de Mayo, 2015 – 9am: Easy run on MV to Alexandria. Hot again – in the 80s already. Gonna be a brutal week. Felt good though. Total run 10M+ in 67’.
3:30pm: Shorter double again. Ran around CC. So hot and muggy. Felt like I was going to die. Finished with drills and a couple short accelerations just to get the legs moving. Total run 5M++
XT: Hips.
Miercoles, 27 de Mayo, 2015 – 9am: Workout Wednesday! 8k fartlek of 1’ on, 1’ off in 24’23. “On” pace was 3’10/km -> 2’50/km (most around 2’54/km), “off” was 3’20/km -> 3’10/km. Felt VERY good.
Longer version: Had black coffee, no breakfast, since this was a short one and I wasn’t hungry.
Warmed up 2M easy outside, full drills, 2 easy strides.
The plan this morning was to do 8-10km of 1′ on/1’off fartlek (same as 2 weeks ago before GB marathon). Since I’m planning to do a few workouts on the treadmill in the next month, I wanted to make sure that the machine was accurate and that I understood what effort coordinated to running outside. So, I did a basic calibration of one of the machines in my gym counting RPM at various speeds. I also read online that there’s a general rule of running at 1% incline for speeds faster than 7’00/M which basically accounts for the wind resistance. I found that this felt pretty accurate.
I should also note that it was still 70F in the gym – much better than the 85F and sunny outside, but not ideal. I will try to find a fan for the long run on Sunday.
The workout itself went great. I started out with the “off” around 3’25/km and the “on” around 3’10/km. I quickly progressed until I was recovering at 3’10-12/km and the “on” was ~2’54/km. I held it steady there from about 4-7km and then ran the last couple reps a bit harder on the “on” (~2’50 and then on the last one I ran the last 500m in 1’22).
Ended up as 8km in 24’23, which is about 45 seconds faster than last time (2 weeks ago). Full splits at the bottom.
Honestly, I felt perfect though – and had that feeling where it felt pretty tough the last mile, but 5 minutes after I finished, I felt totally fine. Even the fast last 500m felt hard but nowhere near straining or all out. I think this really was a “yellow” effort. After jogging a half mile, I felt like I could have run the whole workout again. I definitely could have gone to 10k, but I was running so much faster than last time, that I decided to show some restraint and cut it at 8k.
So – this was basically exactly what I needed. It was a great turn-around/confidence booster going into this weekend, but I don’t think I’ll feel it at all tomorrow.
Cooled down short (1M) and then did legs at the gym.
1 km 3’12.0 (3’12.0)
2 km 6’20.7 (3’08.7)
3 km 9’27.6 (3’06.9)
4 km 12’30.2 (3’02.6)
5 km 15’30.2 (3’00.0)
6 km 18’29.7 (2’59.5)
7 km 21’30.3 (3’00.6)
8 km 24’23.7 (2’53.4) – (last 5k 14’56.1) – last 500m 1’22.2
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)]. Felt good
5pm: Ran to the DCA field and then met Matt. Ran with him a bit further south and then looped back north to finish at his office. Really nice run – hot again in the 80s, but not too bad. Didn’t feel the morning’s effort at all. Total run 6M in 41’.
Jueves, 28 de Mayo, 2015 – 9am: Easy run solo on Matt’s loop. Felt VERY hot and muggy by the end. Strong sun and light wind – pretty brutal. Already 88F by the time I finished. Legs felt good though. Total run 11M in 1’14.
4pm: Easy shakeout on the bike path, finished at Costco and walked home. Very hot 90F. Total run 4M in 27’.
Viernes, 29 de Mayo, 2015 – 9am: Easy run to Alexandria. Felt a bit sluggish at first but running quicker (3’40/km) for the last 4-5km. Felt pretty good. Total run 10M in 67’.
5pm: Easy run around CC. Hot around 85F and sunny.. Stopped and did drills and 8x strides in flats. Finished with 1km at around MP which didn’t feel very good. Total run 5M+.
XT: Core, 12’.
Sabado, 30 de Mayo, 2015 – 9am: Lazy morning watching last night’s races from the Pre Classic – great way to get pumped up. Ran easy on Mt Vernon N. Felt good. Very good actually. Holding way back and still running 4’00/km. Total run 8M+ in 52’.
4pm: Easy shakeout around CC. Felt good. Total run 5k, 3M+, NT.
XT: Hips.
Domingo, 31 de Mayo, 2015 – Sparknotes: Last big workout before Grandma’s (3 weeks out): 20M at goal marathon pace in 1’42’03 – overall pace 3’10.2/km, 5’06.1/M, 2’13’46 marathon pace. Big negative split 51’20, 50’43 for 10M. Felt sluggish first 10k and then much better after that. Great workout. New territory fitness – 2h13-14 shape for sure with a good day.
Longer Version: 8am: Woke up around 5am for the “dress rehearsal” today. The last big workout of the block. The goal was uncharted territory: 20 miles at goal marathon pace. I had done 30km (18.5M) at goal MP 5 weeks earlier and that had given me great confidence that 20 miles should be reasonable. That run had been more of a progression run with a quite fast finish, while with this run, I wanted to feel more steady and relaxed, and actively not crush the last few miles. I wanted to get to 20M feeling like I could run for another 32 minutes.
I actually slept very poorly for some reason, so I was not feeling great in the morning. This was a big workout and after last weekend didn’t go as well as I’d hoped I was a bit more nervous than I expected. I tried to treat this morning (and yesterday) as a “practice run” for the marathon – timing meals, sleep, warm-up, etc.). I would start the run right at 8:45 which is the same time as Grandma’s (in central time).
I had almost no breakfast – just wasn’t hungry and didn’t want to upset my stomach. I had had a big dinner the night before and so just had maybe 1 cup of animal crackers, just because I knew I should have something just to settle my stomach. I was a bit worried about this so I drank a bit of powerade before leaving as well just to really fill up the fuel tank.
I left at maybe 8:10am to warm up. Very short, about 1km easy. Stopped and changed into flats (first long workout in flats) and did drills. I had a lot of time left over, but this is usually good on race-day as there’s more to do. I did no strides or quicker running before starting, just tried to stay loose for the last 10 minutes or so of just standing around.
I started right at 8:45am and right away did not feel very good. I had a moment of panic where I thought I was going to have a repeat of last week where I wouldn’t even be able to finish the workout, but then I remembered that the last time I’d done a long continuous run at marathon pace, I had not felt so good for the first 10km or so. So, I told myself to just relax and get through those first 30-40 minutes and THEN take a body-check and see how I was feeling.
Unlike last week, even though I wasn’t feeling too great, the first few km seemed to fly by. I started out slowly, as Jon and I have stressed greatly in the last 6 month, coming through well behind goal pace at 16’06 for 5k. By then, I had brought the pace down and was running steadily at about 3’10/km. I would hold that pace through 10k (31’59, 15’53 second 5k) and take my first gel, and then 15k in 46’51 (15’52 3rd 5k).
By this point – around halfway, 10M in 51’20 – I was feeling much better. I don’t fully understand why this happens, why the first few miles often feel so much worse. Maybe my body really just needs to warm up more and it uses that first 5-10k to get mechanically and aerobically warmed up. Who knows. Either way, by half-way, I was feeling good and confident that I’d be able to finish the workout on pace.
I passed 20k in 63’44 (15’52 4th 5k) and took my second gel. Shortly after, I passed half marathon in ~67’10. At this point, I began thinking about how much I had left instead of how much I’d done. With 12k left, I imagined myself at 30k in the marathon and felt great about my energy level.
I brought the pace down just a tiny bit around 22km (10k to go), but was still feeling very relaxed. I was now running 3’08-10/km instead of 3’10-12/km. I passed 25k in 1’19’33 – which is the fastest I’d ever covered that distance. I was still feeling very good and kept the effort the same.
I kept the effort the same all the way through 31km (passing 30k in 1’35’14, 15’40 6th 5k) and again, picked it up just a tiny bit to run 3’04 for km 32. This did not at all feel like a “kick”, but just felt like a small increase in focus. I ran the extra 200m to get to 20 Miles in 1’42’03 (second 10M in 50’43) – overall pace 3’10.2/km, 5’06.1/M, 2’13’46 marathon pace.
I finished this run with 100% certainty that I could have maintained my original 3’10/km pace for significantly longer. This was the first time I’ve gotten to 20M at goal marathon pace and felt that way. It is a GREAT confidence booster and I think this has been a missing stimulus from my past build-ups. In my past two build-ups, my longest continuous run at goal MP was only 25-26km. I think there’s a big difference both mentally and physically between 25 and 30-32km and being able to get to that point a few times in practice makes the idea of getting there and feeling relaxed MUCH more realistic on race day (and a lot less scary).
The other big take-away from today is to not make judgements about how the run is going to go based on how I’m feeling at any one point. Even after the first 10k, there were many times where I went through stretches of a few minutes or so where I just didn’t feel good and started to worry. It takes a lot of self-confidence to basically ignore these and focus on the overall trend of the run instead of one small datum. It’s also important to recognize when the body is going through a rough patch or when something is really wrong or the wheels are falling off or whatnot. But I think this distinction is generally clear.
Finally, it also just further cements the idea that (at least for me) running progressively and negative splitting is the best way to run. I still have a great deal of doubt and it’s so hard to trust in this on race day in a marathon – especially because I have still NEVER negative split in a marathon – but all my workouts and shorter races have shown that it’s GOOD to start out a bit behind pace and that I can EASILY make up for it in the end. I think if I have one goal for the next 3 weeks, it is to really convince myself of that fact and to trust that I can go out slow and make up time in the second half.
Anyway, this was a great workout, maybe one of the strongest I’ve ever done. It certainly is “new territory” fitness and I think it says that 2h14 or even 2h13 is in the cards ON A FAIR DAY. Now, it’s just time to play the waiting (and staying healthy!) game…
Total run 21M++
Splits
1 km 3’13.1 (3’13.1)
2 km 6’29.2 (3’16.1)
3 km 9’43.7 (3’14.5)
4 km 12’55.7 (3’12.0)
5 km 16’06.2 (3’10.5) (16’06.2)
6 km 19’16.6 (3’10.4)
7 km 22’28.1 (3’11.5)
8 km 25’38.1 (3’10.0)
9 km 28’48.6 (3’10.5)
10 km 31’59.5 (3’10.9) (15’53.3)
11 km 35’07.6 (3’08.1)
12 km 38’19.1 (3’11.5)
13 km 41’29.2 (3’10.1)
14 km 44’39.7 (3’10.5)
15 km 47’51.9 (3’12.2) (15’52.4)
16 km 51’02.9 (3’11.0) (51’20 at 10M)
17 km 54’13.3 (3’10.4)
18 km 57’23.9 (3’10.6)
19 km 1’00’34.8 (3’10.9)
20 km 1’03’44.2 (3’09.4) (15’52.3)
21 km 1’06’52.7 (3’08.5) (67’11 at HM)
22 km 1’10’03.0 (3’10.3)
23 km 1’13’13.9 (3’10.9)
24 km 1’16’23.2 (3’09.3)
25 km 1’19’33.8 (3’10.6) (15’49.6)
26 km 1’22’42.8 (3’13.0)
27 km 1’25’50.6 (3’07.8)
28 km 1’28’59.2 (3’08.6)
29 km 1’32’06.2 (3’07.0)
30 km 1’35’14.3 (3’08.1) (15’40.5)
31 km 1’38’23.1 (3’08.8)
32 km 1’41’27.3 (3’04.2)
32.2 km 1’42’03.8 (0’36.5) (50’43 last 10M)
PM: OFF – Got PT treatment from Jeff Brannigan. Then a bunch of walking downtown and some Kayaking with Mar and her brother who was visiting. Very tired.
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