Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 5 miles easy with Megan.

A little symmetrical soreness in the calves, slight tightness in the inner hamstring area but it felt good to run. A lot of easy running this week to absorb the half and go into the final 2-3 weeks of the marathon buildup. Feel pleased with my results from yesterday.

AM/Lunch: 10 miles. Still a little sore.

+ light stretching

PM: 5 miles on the treadmill while Megan lifted.

AM: Off. Up late working. Slept in.

PM: 10.25 miles easy.

AM: 10.25 miles.

Amazing fall day. Around 70 degrees and sunny. A leaf carpet on Forbidden Drive.

PM: 5 miles. Ran into Leo and chatted with and ran with him for a bit.

+ Rolling and stretching (very late)

AM: 4 miles.

Wanted to sleep in but still get a few miles. Realized I didn't have any bus tokens, so I combined my errand and my morning run, something I somehow rarely think to do. It was wet and humid for November 5.

PM: 11 miles.

Felt good. Light, fast, and free (And prone to cliches apparently). Maybe not exactly light. at least 4-5 pounds over racing weight. Too much stress eating. Calorie counting and diary-ing is not enough to tame the monster who lives in my right hamstring and whispers devilishly to me, "eat a few more fistfulls of cheerios and a few granola bars; you'll feel better about life."

+ Rolling, stretching, and core (very late)

Noon+: 10.3 miles. Did a few short strides.

PM: 4 miles. Shirtless again, but with my headlamp. That was weird.

PM: Germantown + Forbidden Drive O&B - 16.2 miles, averaged 7:10

Coach Bam said to keep it about 2 hours instead of my planned 18, which seemed okay with me. I've been hitting it pretty hard and I think all you need two weeks out is about 2 hours, maybe 2:10 on your feet. I was just under 2 hours with 1:56. Called it good at 16.2 to round my mileage off for the week.

Honest easy for most of it them picked it up running Forbidden Drive in a little over 35 minutes of just under 6:40 pace (started around 6:50 and dropped to 6:28). Not much of an effort change from 7:15 to ~6:30 and just went more or less by feel.

PM 10 miles easy. 5 with Megan then looped around here and there.

+ Rolling, stretching, and core (very late)

AM/Lunch: 8 miles easy.

PM: 6 miles. Did 6 x 200 on the track in 36.8 average to get the legs stretched out. Stride felt smooth and powerful.

+ Rolling, stretching, and core (very late)

AM: Off. Might take the afternoon off too and put my day off in earlier than planned (Friday). I took off Saturday before the marathon last year just before my last longer run and doing so sooner before I really start to taper seems to work best. I'm 32 days on, which means I usually take a day whether I want to or need to or not.

PM: off. Felt good to rest. Got a nap in. Grumpy, which generally happens when I don't run.

(Weight 173.3)

AM: 13 miles, averaged 7:05. 10 Day Out Workout, 3.5 up/3.3 down. Few strides cooling down.

Well, 11 days technically but Wednesday is my "midweek workout get nothing else done in the morning day." Like last fall and spring 2013 I did a 10k wave tempo alternating ks @ HMP/MP. It's a difficult workout at this point in a buildup. It was around 60 and humid for November 11 with a little wind. Felt okay to maybe "just kind meh" but this is very typical. A day off yesterday didn't help but have me some rest so it helped overall. Stride felt clunky and had no turnover.

Goal was roughly 3:35 per k (5:46 pace) and recover at 3:55 per k (6:18 pace). Usually I will not be able to get down to my recent HMP and my MP will be too fast and as HMP gets slower MP gets faster. Not today, but I was on the track too. HMP intervals were consistent but MP was all over the place! My body was getting confused between a straight tempo and kilometer repeats. I'd start too fast or too slow then try to get on pace.

10k in 37:34 (6:03 pace) (5:50 for HMP/6:16 for MP)

3:37/3:50

3:37/3:52

3:38/3:57

3:37/3:58

3:38/3:50

PM: 5 miles.

AM: Off.

PM: 6.25 miles easy.

+ Rolling, stretching, and core (very late)

AM/Lunch: 8.25 miles.

The price on a pair of ISO Triumphs came down enough finally for me to try a pair. I am very impressed. I wanted a high mileage shoe for recovery runs, long runs, whatever runs. I picked up a pair of Rides a few months ago and they are too firm for as much cushion as they have and they are too inflexible and for faster runner I think makes my achilles work harder (a completely untested theory). The ISO Triumphs were fantastic on this first run. Cushy but not squishy! I now want a closet of them.

PM: 5 miles.

Noon: 8.5 miles somewhat moderate. George Bush run.

PM: 5 miles with Megan. We ran on Forbidden Drive and it was very dark even with the street lights and my headlamp. Not super smart given that it's a perfect place to get attacked even in the very upper-middle class neighborhood of Chestnut Hill. Very clear and crisp.

This might be my last double. I am ready to run a marathon and yet I'm enjoying my fitness. Medium long tomorrow, 2-3 mile tempo on Wednesday, and descending singles up to race day. It's been an excellent buildup after a fairly crappy spring racing season.

PM: 13.1 miles, averaged 7:35. Did a few strides.

+ Rolling, stretching, and core (very late)

Lunch: 8.25 miles easy.

Broke 2014 mileage totals. I won't hit 4000 miles unless I get ambitious given my planned week off after the marathon but somewhere between current mileage and 4000 will be plenty. It's been a pretty good year. I just need one more solid race to cap it all off.

PM: Off. Taper.

AM: 6.25 miles. Did a couple strides. Feeling pretty good.

PM: Hopefully a nap.

AM: 8 miles. Did a 3-mile dress rehersal tempo in 18:58 (6:19 average)

3 up/2 down with strides

6:20, 6:22, 6:15

Wore my HR monitor for some stupid reason. I was in the lower 170s but I was already running ~145 for 8:40 pace. I tend to run my marathon workouts around 168-170 average.

I ran this on a flatloop in the next town over where I sometimes do my recovery runs. The loop was okay, but it is square and I lose time on the corners. The Flourtown tempo loop is much better even with its ups and downs.

The effort felt a bit high but pretty much how the first few miles of an 8-mile tempo feel when I'm not feeling absolutely fantastic. I'll try to lock into the effort I did last year and try to run as hard as I can. It's likely going to be windy, so I need to try to relax and not fight every split.

PM: 5 miles in the rain and semi-darkness. Completely soaked but I had fun and I'm feeling pretty good. On par with last year.

Bib #444. I guess I need to break 2:44:4x. Going to be some difficult winds I'm afraid. I'm not a good wind runner. Or a hot weather runner. Pretty much I'm good when it's 30-45 degrees, overcast, and calm.

+ Rolling, stretching, and core (very late)

AM: 5 miles. Did some strides.

+ light stretching

Feeling pretty good! Still on par with last year. Not feeling stale but not 100% full of fire. I think I'm pretty much there though. Strides felt good and I got down to 5 flat pace or a little under without really jumping on them.

AMish: 4 miles easy with 2 one-minute pickups around marathon pace. Did two short strides in the parking lot to get the knees up.

I feel good. I haven't felt stale during the taper. Not so fresh that I feel like I couldn't control my pace, but my legs are moving above a shuffle.

Weight is way up. #goteamskinnyfat

About 200g of carbs for lunch. I hate carboloading because I feel like crap. I just hate eating this heavy when my mileage is down. I know it's necessary of course. Typical pre-race dinner of Thai early this evening. Race is at 7:00 #groan

Wind was a little tough at times today and I missed my goal. However, I called on my extra fat stores to kick the tar out of the last 10k. Dropped a 6:10 at mile 26 (I think my fastest of the race) and 5:30 pace for the partial. I ran a 22 second negative split, so I'm learning the marathon you might say. A PR by 1:28, which is decent but I just ran a half PR of 1:23. No complaints. Slow, yet steady improvement. Full race report to follow.  

REPORT

My goal was to run a PR but my A-goal was sub-2:45. However, with 10-12 MPH winds to start and increasing gusts to 14-18 MPH (or more I'm not sure) things were not always easy, particularly with the headwinds going into West Philly (and uphill in a few spots) and heading down Kelly Drive.

Warmed up for 8 minutes and got to the line. Security was tighter this year and I got in the wrong way on the corral. I was going to jump the fence but a guard was busting people, so I waited until he went by to yell at a group of people who jumped over and I jumped when his back was turned :-) I know they have a job to do and that is to keep us safe but if I end up in the 8 minute pace range coral that isn't safe either.

The Race (In the shortest version I can tell for a long-winded fellow):

-Start out well. Pace felt good around 6:20. Got some winds in the first 6 miles. I did not feel as good in the first half as I did last year overall

-The winds in West Philly were not fun. Around miles 10-13 I knew I had to dig deep. I wasn't suffering but I wasn't feeling bullet proof. My watch was way off, so I shut it off for a while.

-First half in 1:23:38, about a minute and a half behind schedule.

-Some tough winds out to North West Philadelphia to the 20 mile mark. I pass my running buddy Jonathan around mile 17 who is struggling. I felt bad and tried to tell him we had a tailwind coming back.`

-Around 19 miles I see Matt (FreakityPopo) and give him a shout at mile 21 in 2 hours on his way to a time I am sure he will soon post :-). I feel tired around 20 (I'm going wall up at 20?!!?). The slight uphill felt terrible. I think disaster will hit. It doesn't. I hit the turn around and my vision pulls the course into sharp focus. I started digging.

-Some tail wind in the last 10k (I think) that I couldn't feel. Some shifting winds that slowed me down around 23-24. I start passing people. I usually get stitches very late but avoided them again this year. Around mile 24 I knew I had it and pushed.

-Mile 25ish I was cruising 6:10 pace pumping my first as if I was Olympian, but actually I am trying to teach Philadelphia crowds to make some noise for an event other than loosing sports teams. #theytry

-I started kicking before the 26-mile mark and gave it heck, finishing at 5:30 pace.

-Second half in 1:23:16 for a 22-second negative split, which really came in the last mile and a half but, hey, where better? I ran a 26ish second negative split last year.

The rich, chocolatey goodness: 6:23, 6:28, 6:28 (balanced; markers were off or something) 6:22, 6:22 (balanced miss split), 6:26, 6:15, 6:36 (hill), 6:18 6:38 (hill), 6:05 (downhill), 6:16, 6:25, 6:21, 6:26, 6:25, 6:28, 6:27, 6:28, 6:30, 6:11, 6:11, 6:23, 6:26, 6:16, 6:10, 76 seconds for .23 (5:30 pace)

Many thanks for the continued encouragement, comments, and many fine examples of running and living. Thanks to Sasha (as always) for continuing this space for this community.

I'll be taking this week pretty much off completely as has been my practice for the last three marathons. I might run short and easy with Megan in Toledo depending on how I feel over Thanksgiving  (I'm currently shuffling around at 1:15AM). But that won't be until Thursday or Friday at least. No real training plans until January.

Cheers.

Complete recovery day. Fairly sore. I feel good about yesterday.

Already thinking about spring racing plans. I am not sure I will do a spring marathon. I'll likely follow last year's pattern of using this week and December as a 5 week recovery cycle and January to start basebuilding into February, while looking to run a fast half in early April. I'll then try to see what I can do at Broad Street four weeks later
 

Day off # 2.

Still a little sore. Some assymetrical soreness in the left quad. Hips are tight and could use some stretching and a nice long walk. Stair test is about a C+/B-. No one-step shuffle but I can feel where I'm tight.

I had a lot of work to do Sunday and yesterday. I cancelled classes basically so I could work on grading. Megan and I are headed to Toldeo fairly soon. It's possible I will run either Thursday or Friday. If we go to the gym with Chas I will cross traing. I am both anxious to run (mostly just anxious in general) and enjoying the time off as I know I need my rest. Put in a lot of miles this year.

Day off #3. Legs feel much better. Stretched out my hips briefly.

Grading at Starbucks. Not at all what I want to be doing. Your home office is like your baseball glove. I'd much rather have been out running.

Day off # 4.

Megan and I were going to run but went to bed very late and I got up late. I've just been lazy and reclining in the chair. Maybe a run tomorrow. I used some of the drive to Toledo to put together my training schedule for spring. Pretty much whatever I feel like for December with a low-stakes trail race that I did last year. Increase mileage back up over the next 8 weeks, throwing in some farlek runs and basic tempos before starting everything in full swing just after my birthday at the end of January.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I've already eaten and drank much more than I should have.

Noon: Treadmill - 7 miles easy. 50 push-ups after.

Chas invited us to the Y. I was going to jump on a bike but someone was using it. I decided I'd run easy for however long felt comfortable. I felt good. Overstuff and overwined, but I needed to get the brain chemistry working. Felt terrible and awesome after. 

So . . . not a complete week off, but it mostly will be. 

Day off.

I will return to my regularly scheduled running on Monday, but I might hop on the treadmill depending on when we get back to Philadelphia tomorrow.

Day off. Long travel day back from Ohio.

Noon: 5 miles