Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 8.5 miles on the treadmill in 75:23. HR 139.

Picked up the effort the last 15'. Sweaty. Was going to run again, but didn't. Winds today were 20-30 MPH with gusts in the 40-60MPH range. I wasn't going to deal with that. Give me single digits or under and I'm just fine. Wind ticks me off.

9 weeks to the marathon. I have a lot of work still left to do to sharpen up and get marathon pace down. If I had to run one in two weeks, I imagine breaking 2:50 would prove difficult. I'd like to be 2:43-2:45, but I came to the conclusion that this might be a "rebuilding marathon," which was not a pleasant thought. Quite enjoying the training though.

Just saw on Strava that Jason Butler of Oklahoma (formerly on the blog) just broke the 45-49 National 50k Record on the roads. He ran 3:09:26, which is 6:03 pace. His marathon PR is around 2:31/2:32 or just under 5:50 pace.

AM: Off.

Got up and wasn't dealing with the weather. Two more hours of sleep was a easy choice.

Evening: 10.25 miles, averaged 8:57. HR 135. Did some strides.

Latest I have been out running in a while. Got home and relaxed a bit after a stressful afternoon. Took a nap and didn't want to get up, but got it done. Felt better on the latter half of the run.

AM: 4.3 miles, averaged 9:54. HR 123.

Moved workout to afternoon as we had department awards at lunch. Didn’t want to get up, but figured a short shuffle might be good.

PM: 18 miles, averaged 7:17. HR 157.

9 x 1 Mile @ Half Marathon Effort w/ 3' Honest Recovery

Took my car in for some service and it took longer than I thought. As such, I was going to move the workout to tomorrow, but we have snow coming in and it wouldn't work. Got out and got it done.

Wamred up 3.3 or so with some really weanie strides. Didn't feel great and thought I might just skip it, but worked into it. I figured I would start conservatively as it has been a LONG time since I have done mile repeats and certainly not this many (usually 6 x 1 mile with 2-2:30 recovery as slow as necessary). First mile felt clunky but I have felt clunky all day. Worked into it and felt pretty solid.

I ran most of it in the dark on a 1-mile loop. I actually turned the average pace/lap pace screen on for the first time since I have had the watch (15 months) just to keep on top of the pace and the recoveries. Worked out fine.

Going into the workout I felt a lack of confidence I have been feeling the last 10-14 days, but I felt decent about this workout. Good volume and some faster full miles that I haven't been doing. A good turning point back to the optimism of the first 6 weeks of the new year.

Recoveries were just about 8' pace or a bit below.

Splits: 6:15, 6:06, 6:04, 6:02, 6:02, 6:00, 5:58, 5:52, 5:51 (6:01 Average)

Cooled down to 18 miles.

AM: Off. Slept in.

PM: 8.5 miles, averaged 10:24. HR 122.

AM: 9.2 miles, averaged 10:14. HR 127.

Stayed up too late last night for a week night. Felt sluggish this morning, but it was nice and sunny. Some snow covered roads and walks, but some decent clear stretches.

PM: 7 miles in 61’ on the treadmill. HR 150.

Did some strides to prep for hill blasts but was running short on time. Felt a little rough.

Noon: 9 miles on the treadmill. 8 x 8" Hill Blasts

Weights after: Pec flys 3 x 12 @ 70#; Chest press 3 x 12 @ 70# ; Pull downs 3 x 12 @ 70# ; Rows 1 x 15 @ 30# & 2 x 15 @ 45#; Shoulder press: 3 x 15 @ 30#

PM: 7.3 miles, averaged 9:54. HR 129.

PM: 23 miles, averaged 7:08. HR 164.

18-Mile Moderate Tempo (6:41 Average)

3 up/2 down

Pretty much the same workout as last week but supposed to be 35 seconds slower than marathon effort. This was pretty much marathon effort. The overall effort was about the same as last week, but I think I felt better this week and I also ran about 13 seconds faster for the tempo. I figured 6:48/6:50 would be good.

I didn't feel great and had a bit of dense malcolored congestion, which seems odd given that I haven felt sick. The last 3-5 miles felt like the closing miles of a marathon. These long tempos just above to right at marathon effort are very challenging, but I am convinced they are some of the best workouts you can do, though I would like to see one of the blog classics (a 10 + 10) thrown in.

The idea over the next several weeks leading into the race is to run just about marathon pace and just under (about 10-15 seconds per mile).

Got through the workout and notched another 20+ miler, of which I think I have about as many currently as I usually do in an entire buildup.

Tempo Splits: 7:00, 6:51, 6:44, 6:41, 6:41, 6:41, 6:36, 6:38, 6:38, 6;35, 6:386:36, 6:38, 6:40, 6:37, 6:38 6:40, 6:37 (6:41 average)