Of Mice and Marathons

Wow, nice workout!

I find doing things like that can *really* help leading into a marathon block. Makes MP seem much more manageable - more like a balancing of speed and stamina, but not overly demanding on the speed.

Pretty cool idea and a really nice result. Might steal it (the idea, not the result!).

Thanks, guys. The workout was about as fast as I could have hoped and I was breathing pretty heavy at the end. I finally locked into some dead on pacing and finished hard.

Joe: Basically combinations of 3-4 miles so you trick yourself into thinking it's going to be easy :-) I did a similar workout in light snow last winter but I had a 1200 after the 1600. That one is tough.

Drew: I did something as simple as 6 x 200 strides just below mile pace then cutting down last marathon buildup, and I attribute my lack of staleness leading into the marathon to those. They are just long strides of course but I kept them fast and it kept me from locking completely into marathon pace. I did find that running much faster than 6:00 pace wasn't as easy as it once early in the buildup.

I might do 1-2 track sessions once I get some more marathon stuff under my belt just to stay sharp as well as see how fitness improves with a more finely tuned aerobic engine and cooler weather.

nice workout. all of your splits are great but i think your 1600 is especially impressive. you are definitely heading into your half/full training with some fast wheels -- this is a fine recipe.

Thanks, allie. In cooler weather I've knocked out 3 x 1 mile around this pace but I am trying not to compare workouts too much (at least on the faster end). If I get in a mile under 5:30, run hard some more, and live to tell about it, I consider it a good day.

I'm trying to make marathon pace easy and current 10k pace sustainable for a longer distance. I would much prefer to run 8-mile tempos are marathon pace but those are my strengths, not my weaknesses.