10 weeks to go until Memphis--advice needed

[Jeff Necessary]

Ran a hilly 20K yesterday at 8:15 average pace (see my blog for race report) off a five-day taper. The first 12K or so was at GMP or a tad faster, but then the hills got to me for a couple of miles. GMP for me is 8:00, which would result in a BQ at my age. After my little bad patch, I was able to run the last mile and a half at GMP. I'm overall pleased with my performance, but now I'm looking ahead to a half-marathon on Oct. 25, then the St. Jude marathon in December.

I guess my question is, what can I do (if anything) to improve between now and Dec. 6 so that I can turn 12K at GMP into 42K at GMP. I chalk up some of the problem yesterday to my approach to the hills; I probably attacked the uphills a bit too hard and thus overextended myself. What do I need to focus on in my training (my base plan is Pfitzinger 24/55, tweaked to a 62-mpw max with two more 20-mile runs scheduled)? Or is BQ too much to expect this time and I should plan for a somewhat slower pace? I know I'll have a better assessment of that after the half on 10/25, but if there are tweaks I can make now, I'd like to give them 10 weeks to work. Maybe it's speedwork I need, of which Pfitz gives me a fair amount between now and December (seven VO2-max sessions and a couple of tough tempo runs). Or maybe I'm worrying too much and finishing the plan plus a good three-week taper and an intelligent approach to my race strategy will put me in good shape.

Also, Sasha, since you have run Memphis IIRC, what's your assessment of the course? Are hills going to be an issue for me there?

[Sasha Pachev]

Jeff:

The good news is that your aerobic base is still lacking. You ran only 168 miles in July, and only 205 in August. In September you are so far at 212, more where you should be, but still you have not yet had enough time to assimilate the mileage. Which suggests, that with proper training in the next 2 months,  you should have hopes to be able to maintain your current 12 K pace for the whole marathon.

I would focus on one thing - base mileage. Do not worry about pushing the pace. Just go out and get through the distance. If speed work/tempos make you too tired or sore to run the mileage, drop those. Do not taper for your races except the marathon itself. I see no reason why you should ever have a day when you run less than 8 miles. Just make sure to keep the pace slow enough so you always feel good the next day.

I also noticed that you rest before the long run. This may give you a better performance in the run itself, but will reduce the training effect. Instead of resting before, rest after. Go into your long runs tired. For the marathon you need to practice running long and hard when tired.

Regarding St. Jude - it has no major hills, maybe a couple of short (0.1 mile) 3% grade bumps, the rest is no steeper than 1%. But there is hardly one truly flat spot. You are always going either 1% up or 1% down. The course is not terribly slow, but it is not terribly fast either. If you are restricted to flat terrain I think the best way to prepare for it is to do tempo runs alternating 1 minute at a faster pace (10-15 seconds faster per mile than your target pace) with 1 minute of slower pace (5-10 seconds per mile slower than your target pace).

[Jeff Necessary]

The reason I rest on Friday is that five days a week, I run in the evening; on Saturday, I run with a group before dawn. Thus, if I run Friday night and then again Saturday morning, it's only about 10 hours apart, maybe less. I did try the Friday night-Saturday morning combination one week and had a terrible run on Saturday (not just slow, but painful; my muscles just would not loosen up) after only a five-miler on Friday. And because Friday is my toughest work day of the week, physically as well as intellectually, I don't want to change the Friday run to AM and show up at work already fatigued. (I have a good job, and I'd like to keep it.) The Thursday night to Saturday AM span is only about 34 hours. I also get about a 30-something hour break between the Saturday and Sunday runs, and I find that by Sunday evening, I WANT to run to get the kinks out.

I get where you're coming from, though, and I know Hal Higdon advocates the same thing -- doing your long run tired. I think at this point in my training, my legs are tired all the time anyway; it would take a lot more than 48 hours to fully recover. But I agree that doing base mileage instead of Pfitz's tempo/VO2 stuff might let me handle the present mileage better. Doing 8-10 miles five nights, plus the LR on Saturday, will get me into the low to mid-60s as well.

I'm used to hills, really; what got me Saturday was running those hills fast. Many of my long runs are over portions of the Little Rock marathon course, which is considerably hillier than what you're describing.