Sean's Running Blog

11 drizzly miles this morning but the temperature was relatively mild. Even left the gloves at home. To be fair...I couldn't find them or I would have worn them. But my hands were fine during the run. With six weeks to go until the marathon, I'm back to 90-mile weeks which means today is double day.

PM. Another peacful 10 plus miles this evening. The skies cleared which made it colder than it was this morning.

Today was one of those classic Seattle spring days where at one moment, the clouds are covering the sun and you're glad you have gloves and a long-sleeve shirt. Then five minutes later, the sun peeks out and you feel like stripping down to your shorts. Don't worry...I didn't.

Today was a rare mid-week long run. 10 days after the Indy Mini I was feeling ansty and ready to get back into things. So my coach gave me a Race Simulation workout focused very much on prepping for the June marathon.

The workout was run 12M at regular easy pace and then roll right into a 5M run at marathon pace (5:16-5:18) and then a 2-mile cool down. With the way my work and personal schedule was shaping up, the only time to do this was at 5:30 in the morning. Not exactly my favorite time to do a workout, but at least it wasn't raining. It was chilly, but no rain.

The idea behind a race sim is much more than just hitting marathon pace times. It's about trying to make as much of the workout exactly like a race as possible.

So I wore the shoes I am going to wear. Same shorts. I didn't wear a singlet because it was so cold. The biggest thing, for me anyway, is simulating the hydration. This is always an issue for me and it will likely be the make or break factor in Duluth in five weeks. So I did the 5 miles around the track so I could have two water stations within those five miles. I drank at Mile 1 and Mile 4. Drinking is hard at that pace especially when your fingers are frozen and you have to unscrew a lid. But I managed to get some good fluids down which was probably the most important part of the race sim for me.

Something else about the race sim is it trains you to run hard miles deep in to a run. While 12 miles at easy pace (6:45) isn't exactly exhausting, it's amazing how challenging it is to (a) change speeds after doing so many miles at one pace; and (b) run at marathon pace after 12 miles at a slower pace.

The concept of "cutdowns" teaches a similar thing.  

My times were 5:20, 5:17; 5:16; 5:17; 5:17. That first mlie was by far the hardest. It's really hard to rachet down after humming along at 6:45s for 80 minutes.

12 cool but rain-free miles. Supposed to be a great three days of weather ahead.

13 beautiful miles through Snoqaulmie Ridge this morning. Blue skies at 5:15am and chilly but when the skies are clear...it just doesn't seem so chilly.

I knew today's workout was going to be pretty tough. The plan was a "cut-down" tempo run of 4M starting at 5:16 and dropping 8 seconds each mile to 5:08; 5:00 and 4:52-54.

It was 75 degrees and clear sunny skies. There was actually a touch of humidity as the heat index was at 78. Good practice for Duluth next month.

After a 2-mile warmup I jumped right into the 4-mile tempo. The 5:16 felt awesome as did the 5:08. Nailed them both as planned. The first lap of the 5:00 was right on as well. As I started the second lap, I grabbed the water bottle I had set at arm level along the side of the track. It was here that I learned a tremendous lesson. I never take water when I am running at 5:00 pace. The only races I run at that pace are the 5k and 10k and I never take water in a race that short. So I have virtually no experience taking water at the speed. When I took the water I took a big gulp and about three swallows later it was all gone. However, I didn't breath during that entire time which put me anaerobic very quickly which caused the lactic acid to peak and my legs instantly tightened and felt lethargic. It was the weirdest feeling. I had felt it a bit before during the previous workout when I was running at marathon pace and took water twice but not nearly as dramatically. My first lap of the 5:00 mile was a whopping three seconds slow. I managed a 5:05 for the mile but once I went anaerobic, recovery from that was almost impossible. Mile 4 was very challenging and it took everything I had to hit 4:59 missing my time but 5-7 seconds. Ouch. I was disappointed by the time but what I learned from the experience was well worth it.

For the rest of my workouts leading up to grandma's I am going to be taking water but doing so in a way that allows me to continue breathing sem-regularly so that I can stay aerobic. It was funny because I had a swimmer friend tell me a couple of weeks ago that during a triathlon once she panicked and went anerobic and she was never able to recover.

The feeling in my legs before I took the water and after was night and day. And once they were hurting there was no going back.

Looking back to Indy, I remembered taking my water in very short sips that allowed me to continue breathing normally and everything went fine. However, the marathon will be different because you can get away with drinking lightly in a half marathon. You can't cheat hydration in a marathon so I will have to figure out how to take the full cup(s) of water while still breathing.

Oh yeah...there was another part of the workout. After a 20-minute rest I did 7x1-minute hills up the steepest part of Snoqualmie Pkwy. 2 1/2 minutes rest between each rep. Hills are awesome. They are so multi-functional. Good aerobic work and killer for the calves.