Next race: St. Albert Viking Dash 5K, June 19.

Pfitzinger's recovery plans are so long, I can't afford them. However, in his Road Racing book, he has a much quicker recovery routine. He says to run 50% mileage in the second week (after taking a week off), 75% the third week, and resume training in the 4th, if you feel good.

So what was my "mileage". Taper doesn't count, so let's call it 50 miles. It should have been 55, but in reality, it was more like 50. So I'll be running 25 miles next week, and 37.5 after that. Or I could try 28, 40, 5x, if I feel good. Then I'll figure out the best plan for the 5K. I should be at 60 mpw-ish by the time I race it, even if workouts need to be skipped.

Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon Race Report

Goal: 3:20. Secondary goal: beat my time from the fall (3:26:11)

About the secondary goal: it is kind of funny that I remembered that my fall marathon was 3:24:xx, when in fact it was 3:26:xx. So during the race, I felt my secondary goal was to break 3:24.

The race start was 7:00. Brutal for a night owl like me. I couldn't sleep until 1:30am, and my alarm was set for 4:00. So I got about 2.5 hours of sleep. Not great, but probably doesn't matter that much.

I did my usual morning routine: plenty of food, bathroom, drive to the race, park in the soccer filed parking lot, about a 1/2 mile from the start line. A nice morning walk in the dark. The temperature was about 55 degrees and falling. Theoretically ideal, but it was a bit humid. Indeed, my clothes were soaked after the first few miles.

I came prepared. I had a throwaway sweater and 3 small bottles of water. Good thing. The port-a-potty I chose before the start somehow didn't have toilet paper in it, so I used one of the three bottles to clean myself.

I met up with the group for a picture, proudly sporting my new the Korfedge singlet. I met my pacers (3:20) in the corral. Good guys. They did try to get me over the finish line on time. It's not their fault I didn't succeed.

I felt funny through the taper. The night before the race my whole body was hurting. I had stomach issues, a mild cold, felt sluggish and all. Mike Korfhage ensured me this was normal, but my race day was not great. Thinking about this, I realized that I *never* had a strong spring marathon. Winter training is hard, and I always have maximum stress and workload in the weeks before the marathon at work.

I met one of my heroes, Rick Torres in the start corrals. He was running the half. Look him up. A real inspiration.

After the anthem and all the other things in the starting ceremony, we were off at 7:00. It took us about 30 seconds to get to the start line, and I started my watch right when I crossed it.

The first five miles were uneventful, but a bit weird. We went through downtown, all the way out to 18th street (some of the less wealthy neighborhoods), lots of turns, and my slight struggle to keep at pace, because I want to go faster or slower, just not at this pace. Spectators were great. It was cool, but very humid, and I was heavily sweating.

The first time I saw my cheer squad was in Mile 5. Thanks folks! You are awesome!

Mile 1: 7:41

Mile 2: 7:27

Mile 3: 7:23

Mile 4: 7:47

Mile 5: 7:34

I started to feel better. Finally, my old body got into pace, the joints got lubricated, breathing got easier, and I wanted to run faster. We approached Central Park, where I expected that one of my friends and his children would cheer for me, so I didn't mind to pull ahead of my pace group. Just 50 yards. Enough that I could still hear them having conversations. The good thing is that this pace for the official pacers is very easy, so they can have conversations the whole time.

My friend wasn't out there (no worries, Evan), I circled the park, and I realized I enjoyed being in front of the group. It was actually less effort, because I didn't have to slow and accelerate the whole time. This is one lesson from this race. Don't run with the pace group at the beginning. Join them later in the race, or never. The pace group has the same issue as treadmill running. You must maintain the same pace exactly, even if you don't want it.

I kept ahead of the group the next few miles.

Mile 6: 7:35

Mile 7: 7:27

We took a right on Central Avenue to the famous Churchill Downs. We entered the building, underpass, path outside the track, another underpass, out. This adds difficulty to the course: elevation that Strava doesn't even count, many turns, etc, but it's still nice. It is a hallmark of Louisville, and horses were practicing on the track already at 8 in the morning.  

Mile 8: 7:34

Mile 9: 7:32

My boss at BGHD (motorcycle training) has her house on the course, so she came out to cheer for me. Thanks Carol, it meant a lot!

Mile 10: 7:36

Mile 11: 7:20

After Mile 10, I told my pacers that this 3:20 is not happening today. I didn't feel terrible, but I also didn't feel super fresh. I have enough experience to know what this means. If I want to finish this race without walking, I have to slow down. I told them not to worry about me, and leave me behind in the park, when the hills start.

We hit Iroquois Park and the hills. My legs and lungs told me this isn't the day. I slowed. I changed my goal from 3:20 to 4 hours. Literally. I just decided "I need to finish". OK, maybe 3:30. But honestly, with my experience, I thought: "If this won't be my slowest marathon, that's a partial success."

Many runners passed me. I told them to go on "it's not my day to shine". They were all super nice.

This is the hilly part of the course. There are 3 hills, peaking at 12, 13, and 14 miles, plus a little bonus incline, which is as steep as the other, peaking at 15. I took it easy on the uphills to survive the park.

Mile 12: 8:06

Mile 13: 8:06

Mile 14: 8:07

Mile 15: 7:53

Exiting the park, once the hills were done, I felt a bit better. We also had better organized aid stations, so I was able to drink Powerade at almost every one. Since I always run without gels, I need the sugar and salt in those drinks. Straight course, more cheering from my friends, so things were temporarily marginally better.

Mile 16: 7:29

Mile 17: 7:47

Mile 18: 7:38

I kept counting how fast I needed to run to get the race under 3:30. Things started to look better. In fact, I noticed that I could still see my pace group in the distance. I knew I couldn't catch them, but the 3:30 chance was good. I also knew that every mile I run at or under 8 minutes will get me closer to that goal.

Still, it wasn't easy. My body started to fight back. To keep a reasonable pace and good amount of strength one needs for the last 6 miles, I slowed a bit more.

We rejoined the half-marathon walkers, but this year the organizers did a good job of keeping them on the left side of the street, while we were running on the right side.

Mile 19: 7:56

Mile 20: 7:58

Mile 21: 8:08

We got back downtown. It was maybe just a bit easier with the crowds, and the changing scenery. We ran by the finish line to do an out-and-back part of the course.

Mile 22: 7:47

Mile 23: 7:57

This part got difficult. Running out of River Road, desperately waiting for the turnaround, which felt like it would never come! Fast people coming back. My former pace group (I gave them a big cheer), and many KorfEdge runners. Finally, the turnaround. Now I just have to crawl back to town.

I knew I had the 3:30 in the bag, and the 3:24 was hopeless, so I just ran, still pushing, taking the race one mile at a time. By my body was really done.

Mile 24: 8:21

Mile 25: 8:28

Mile 26: 8:26

Of course with lots of waving and not being able to run the tangents, I knew I would get some extra mileage, and from the mile markers I knew I had 0.35 left. But back in Main Street, with my friends cheering, I summed some crazy energy, running the last ~600 meters at 6:46/pace.

Official time: 3:25:26, 149th overall, 16th in age group.

So I guess I did get my secondary goal, even though during the race I thought I didn't. Still, considering the easier course and the better weather, this is no better (in fact, probably slightly worse) than my fall marathon.

Back to the drawing board. I need more miles for sure. The only time I could successfully race these longer races was when I ran 70 miles at my peak weeks. So I'll figure out how to ramp up my mileage for that. Other than that, good sleep, strength exercises, healthy eating should be more of a priority. I need a 3:15 in the fall!

This week -1 was really fine. In fact, it was pretty much in line with the potential 49-50 VDOT.

Tuesday's 1200's. I ran it at Middletown Christian Church with Craig (regrettably, all tracks are now closed to the public near me), and it went better than expected. The split were 4:37, 4:36, 4:42, 4:39 for an average of 4:38.5, or 50 VDOT.

Then I poisoned myself badly with alcohol, but I still finished my week. My medium long 12 mile run was somewhat of a struggle at 78 degrees and not much sleep, but I still manage to finish it at 8:30 pace average.

Training plan for race week:

S: Rest

M: 6 R

T: 7 w/ 2 miles @ MP

W: Rest

T: 5 R w/ 6 x 100 m

F: 4 R

S: Goal marathon

Week -1 plan:

S: Rest

M: 7 R w/ 8 x 100 m

T: 8 w/ 4 x 1200 m @ 5K pace

W: Rest

T: 5 R w/ 6 x 100 m

F: Rest

S: 12 MLR

Total: 32 miles.

I will almost certainly run the 1200's by feel. My last bout of them were terrible, so anything sub 5-minute (on all four) should be taken as success. If I'm serious about the 3:20 marathon, they should be run in 4:49 (96 s laps). It would be nice to seek out an actual track for this.

I will probably skip the strides on Thursday. I can do the 4-mile route, which is almost 5 miles, and a little extra at the end.

Week -2 was rather decent! A bit lower mileage (technically the first week of taper), but higher intensity with both a VO2 max and an lactate threshold workout, plus a long run.

The VO2 max was 5 x 600 m. The intervals were 2:23, 2:16, 2:19, 2:21, 2:19. That's an average of 2:20, which is 93s lap time. Sounds way too fast. Daniels says that's 50 VDOT. But I ran it by feel, and this came out. Maybe the fact that the university canceled classes, so I was working by myself in my office all day helped.

Friday I had a 5-mile tempo. This, after a little too fast 4-miler on Thirsty Thursday, which was also a little too thirsty... The mile splits were 6:51, 6:59, 6:53, 6:52, 6:41. I admit, I pushed the end, because the training plan said tune-up race, so I figured it was OK to go over my threshold for the last mile. In any case, even without the last mile, it averages to 6:54, which is better than 49 VDOT. Kind of scary how it's similar to the intervals, especially if I add the last mile in.

Saturday long run was 16 miles, on tired legs after the workout, but I stayed strong (and finished strong) with moving average of 8:16/mile. That would be just too fast for 47 VDOT. The fastest you may go on 48 is 8:13, so that's fine, but maybe this also points to somewhere closer to 50.

I'm not crazy, but it now it seems like 3:20 may be easy.

Week -2 plan:

S: Rest

M: 8 w/ 5 x 600 m @ VO2 max

T:  6 R

W: Rest

T: 4 R

F: 8K-10K tune-up race

S: 16 L

Total: 43-45 miles

The 600's should be around 2:28. On Friday, I'll probably do a 5-mile tempo. No races available, and the only Saturday 10K I found is not appropriate.

Though I haven't posted recently, I've done a fairly consistent job of training, though I admit I did skip some runs.

After the 10K, I did my long run, and my 5 x 1000 m workout on the street with some hills during Thirsty Thursday. But when it came to the Sunday 18-miler with 14 at marathon pace, I couldn't get myself to do it. It was cold rain outside, and getting dark. So I skipped that one.

Then I skipped the next Monday (lots of work, as always, but also scheduled rest day), and on Tuesday, which was supposed to be a workout, I decided to bring the schedule ahead by a day to get in line with the Saturday race.

I did a 5-mile tempo instead of a tune-up race that weekend. And then I did week -3 correctly exactly, except the 4 x 1200 m was done on the street again. This time, I can't even opt into the track, because Waggener is being resurfaced.

OK, so where are we? Long runs are more or less OK. I did a 20-miler yesterday in the rain, and I felt pretty strong the whole time. I'm not too worried about endurance, though clearly 54-50-mile weeks are kind of low. But my speed is much more worrisome.

Here is the the tally of the workouts since the 10K.

5 x 1000: 4:10, 3:57, 4:16,  4:07, 4:40. This was super hilly, the last interval included the infamous Library Hill, but I would put the flat equivalent to somewhere around 4:07. That is 48 VDOT.

5-mile tempo: 7:11, 7:09, 7:20, 7:13, 7:10. This was in the neighborhood with some rolling hills, so the average should be a fairly accurate assessment of my lactate threshold. That is 7:12.6, which is 47 VDOT.

4 x 1200: 4:57, 5:01, 5:02, 5:08. Again, neighborhood, rolling hills. The slowing is concerning. Average is 5:02, 46 VDOT.

Given that the 5 x 1000 is mostly speculation, I think 47 may be the correct VDOT figure. That would make me barely faster than I was in the fall, at 3:21:00 marathon.

I think I'll go for 3:20. I said this to Scott on Thirsty Thursday. Very disappointing, as that is barely any better than the 3:24 fall marathon on huge hills.

I don't take care of body. I don't eat well, and I don't sleep well, I drink too much, and I still have extra weight on me. I'll try to behave better in the last 3 weeks of taper, and we'll see if I can get faster by the fall.

Derby City 10K Race Report

Goal: sub-45.

Maybe this goal sounds soft, but given my current form, this is all I was hoping for. Still at peak mileage, I've had lots of cumulative fatigue, and somehow I can't seem to run fast nowadays.

I got up early, as usual, ate a good amount, and was out of the house by 6:00. The race was scheduled to start at 7:30. I parked the car at 6:15, and I departed for my 2-mile warmup. Very soon, I met with Craig (one of my running club bodies), who also did a warmup, although his was really a long run before the race. So I jogged with him a little. Then jogged around in the dark Waterfront Park to get to 2 miles. Just before I finished, I met Jessica (another teammate), who told me that due to impending thunderstorms, the start was delayed, and now it's scheduled for 8:00.

Around 7:15 we had a group photo, and then around 7:20, and I decided it's time to jog a little more to avoid cooling down entirely. But only a few minutes in, the thunderstorm hit, and I hurried back into the building of Slugger Field to watch the storm in desperation.

We got another delay notice: this time for 8:15. At 7:53, near the start line, I did my third warmup by jogging up and down a single block, next to the Angel's Envy distillery.

When I finished, I hurried into my corral. I lined up a little too close to the start, and I went out with the people doing sub-7 pace. I wanted to start at 7:15-ish, but got carried away, and my pace information was quite unreliable in the first few hundred yards, so I ran a first mile that was too fast, even though I let dozens of people pass me.

Mile 1: 6:58

I mean, I felt fine, but I knew I had no stamina, and my cumulative fatigue is real. So I tried to slow down, while managing the pace. Tried to focus on *comfortably* hard. We ran through downtown, with many 90 degree turns around the blocks. People still regularly passed me. I reminded myself just how much is left!

Mile 2: 7:01

Well, that's not much slower! I though I might try to hang on to that place, but again--it wouldn't have worked. So just relax, and be "comfortable".

During these miles many teammates passed me. All the more embarrassing.

Mile 3: 7:10

Finally, this sounds reasonable. We were back on Main St, a place I've seen a thousand times, but somehow nothing registered. In fact, I only noticed runners and myself. I sometimes tried to use other runners to pace me, but nobody had the right pace. Only one time I tried more seriously to tuck myself behind another guy, when we had some stronger headwind.

I noticed that one teammate, Alec, who passed me a was pulling away, didn't seem to pull away any more. I figured that I could try to get paced by him, if I can catch him. I slowly reeling him in, but by that time, he was definitely too slow for me, so I just passed him. He didn't end up having a good race.

Mile 4: 7:08

This split was assisted by a little downhill, so it's not actually faster. About the same as Mile 3. We hit the hard part of the course: a hilly out-and-back. I managed my effort, especially uphill. This was on Adams St, and the hills are very familiar to me. I saw the leaders, and then several fast teammates coming back.

Mile 5: 7:20

We turned around, and did the hills backwards. They felt easier this way, but maybe only because the finish line was closer. I was still running in a group of people, with spectators on the sidelines, and I was content in knowing that I'm pretty much guaranteed to be under 45 minutes.

Mile 6: 7:15

Left turn to the uphill finish line. Not long, but always a favorite!

Last 0.22: 1:40

Official chip time saved me 3 seconds at 44:29. That's a very satisfying result, and although going out fast wasn't ideal, I was able to moderate my pace quickly enough, and my heart rate was amazingly consistent during the race. This is probably not the fastest way to run a 10K, but it's still good training.

I had to go back to the car and then again to the finish line to change, and pick up my phone and stuff. It was OK. Also absolutely necessary, because I was soaked through completely. We tailgated a bit in the parking lot with the crew. That was great fun!

And I had a 17-miler coming up the following day!

The 600s were fine at 2:20, 2:21, 2:23, 2:23, 2:22 with 2 minute jog intervals. Surprisingly consistent, averaging 2:22, which is 95 s/400 m, a 49 VDOT. Funny that I can't perform my long runs and general aerobic to speeds consistent to that, but not my threshold and marathon paced runs. Patience, I guess.

So this week (-6) looks like this (including the run from yesterday):

M: Rest

T: 8 w/ 5 x 600 VO2max

W: 12 MLR

T: Rest

F: 5 R

S: 10 K tune-up, total ~10 miles

S: 17 L

Total: 52 miles

So I'm guessing I have to report on the last two weeks.

Week -8 was OK. The general aerobic and medium long runs were fine. The street 1/2-mile interval splits were 3:18, 3:15, 3:20, 3:20, 3:17 for an average of 3:18. Yes, that's slow. 98 sec 400 m, 47 VDOT. Excuses? Not much. Weather was nice, perhaps just that it was after a full day of teaching. I'll just train by 47 VDOT for now. Everything else is a bonus.

Week -7 was supposed to be at peak mileage. I couldn't get myself to do my Wednesday run though. Dark, cold, late, tired - and a 11-miler with an LT portion. No...

So on Thursday, which was supposed to be a rest day, I showed up at Thirsty Thursday, and in lieu of the Wednesday workout (which is not supposed to be made up), I decided to go with the fastest group I can follow. A new friend, Sam Meredith showed up, and he is a 1:10 half-marathoner. So I did my best to make it somewhat interesting for him, and we ran some fast miles. Not very long, not very structured, but I did run some low 7 paces.

And yes, I finished up the week. 12 + 5 + 20 miles, running 48 miles in 4 days. It nearly broke me... but I'm here, ready to do a workout after a single day of rest. I'm going to the Middletown Christian Church parking lot to do it with some friends. Plan and report later tonight.

Quick plan update:

M: Rest

T: 7 R w/ 6 x 100 strides

W: 11 w/ 7 @ LT

T: Rest

F: 12 MLR

S: 5 R

S: 20 L

Wednesday won't happen. Maybe 40 minutes at the lowest LT I can imagine... Things are not that good.

 

Week -9 is done; less then perfect, but it will do.

After the very easy Monday recovery (25 F), Tuesday was brutal: going out at 6:22pm for 14 miles in 22 degrees. My last water bottle froze shut by the end. so I ran the last 5 miles without water. Big snot and sub-20 temperature on Wednesday forced me on the treadmill, then two easy days with 0 and 6 miles (29 F).

Saturday was 16 with 12 at marathon pace, but it wasn't happening. Too cold (38 degrees), too hilly, too tired somehow. Still pushed it a bit, and I ran miles 5-10 pretty hard (essentially marathon pace or close), and the rest also decently fast. So I ended up averaging 8:05/mile (moving). Not sure why, but by the last mile, my legs didn't want to move.

OK, I'm slow as fuck, but at least I got the miles in. Last cycle I never exceeded 95 miles in consecutive weeks, and I've just cleared 106 these last two. Maybe that's why I'm slow.

Next week is recovery. Week -8:

S: Rest

M: 8 GA

T: 8 w/ 5 x 800 at 5K pace, 50-90% jog 

W: 5 R

T: Rest

F: 8 GA w/ 6 x 10 s hills + 8 x 100 strides

S: 14 MLR

This is not hard, though I'm not sure how fast I should do the 800s. Doing them by feel is not stupid.

I've finished week -11 reasonably well. I did all my miles. I cut the LT run to 5.5 miles, because I don;t want to go over 40 minutes, and because it sucked big time, and I was much slower than I expected.

My splits on that run were 6:58, 7:13, 7:19, 7:15, 7:15, 3:32 for the last 1/2 mile. After the first sub-7 mile, I knew it wasn't going to happen, so I slowed and ran the rest by feel. Well, that was my threshold on that day, in that temperature (29 F), in that part of the training. This comes out to be 7:11/mile on average. It looks like I'm not any faster than I was in October. This, and the MP run points to 47 VDOT, as opposed to my 48 VDOT in October. In fact, reading back my blog, I don't look any faster than in the last cycle. The only saving grace here is that I am much farther out.

Week -9:

S: Rest

M: 6 R

T: 14 MLR

W: 6 R

T: Rest

F: 6 R w/ 6 x 100 

S: 16 w/ 12 @ MP

Total: 48 miles

The only hard one is Saturday, but that's  plenty hard. I'll go out at 7:30's, and I'll see how long I can maintain it.

Also, the weather forecast is brutal. Wednesday will be snowing and temps are in the 10s, so that's a treadmill run for sure. Even Tuesday will be quite cold (low 20s), but I'll try that outside. The problem is that the snow won't melt until next week. So I may need to do my Saturday run indoors as well.

From my last post: "Last cycle this time I was was trouble. I skipped so many runs that I had to change to the 12 week cycle. At least I seem to be in better shape now."

Well, I jinxed it... I had a very busy Monday, and I just couldn't get myself to get out the door in the evening, in the dark and cold to do a 5-mile LT run. So I didn't. And as it happens sometimes, I just didn't run until Friday.

On Friday, I finally broke the spell, and I ran 7 miles. And on Saturday, I ran 17, the longest until now.

Why these mileages? I have no idea. Somehow I managed to totally misread the plan, because the Saturday run was supposed to be 18. Too late... The frosting on a bad week.

Let's try to correct it next week. It will be large.

M: 7 R w/ 6 x 100

T: 12 MLR

W: Rest

T: 10 w/ 6 @ LT (probably make that 40 minutes instead).

F: 5 R

S: 20 L

Total: 54 miles. LT should be under 7 min/mile, but who knows. It may be too hard. Medium and long runs should be a bit slower, because of the brutal mileage and effort.

The Thursday workout sucks, because if I do it at Thirsty Thursday, it will have to be solo. Maybe I'll do it in the morning.

Edit: I just realized an additional complication that Saturday is the MSF meeting. I think there is still no other way to do this week than running that day. But it won't be much fun!

Little hiccups in Week -13.

First, Monday LT run was still indoors. It was single digit cold outside. But I couldn't do it. I set the treadmill to slightly below 7 min/mile, and I was good for only 2.5 miles at that pace. My stride started to fall apart, and I had to slow down. I finished the rest at about 8:35 pace.

Then, for the marathon paced run on Saturday, I didn't feel particularly good to start with. Upset stomach, breathing issues, bathroom, inhaler, then go. Still cold outside: just above freezing. By the end of the run, the road was slick (which did slow me down). Still, the fast miles were slower than should have been: 7:21, 7:26, 7:29, 7:25, 7:34, 7:28, 7:34, 7:45, 7:53, 7:36.

Clearly I was done after mile 7. Still finished it as fast as I could without going into some crazy race effort. By that time it was dark, cold, and I was tired. the average is 7:33, which is not the end of the World, but that 7:53 mile there looks really bad (though that part was quite icy). Anyway, I'm not dwelling on it. It's still a fine training run. It's said though that there was a time when I could do 7:15 miles without noticing them much.

I'm definitely overweight (for a runner - at least 10 lbs too heavy), even heavier than a year ago. I eat like crap and I drink too much. So there is definitely space for improvements.

Week -12 is here. This is cutback week.

M: 8 w/ 10 x 100

T:  5 R

W: 8 GA

T: Rest

F: 4 R

S: 12 MLR

Total: 37 miles. No workouts. Looks easy. The 4 R on Friday could be shifted for Thursday for the group run. Finally the absurd cold will change into reasonably cold.

Last cycle this time I was was trouble. I skipped so many runs that I had to change to the 12 week cycle. At least I seem to be in better shape now.

Week -14 was fine. I had a program on Wednesday, so I shifted my 10-miler for Thursday, which went fine. I had a good 15-miler on Saturday. The weather is terrible, but this is spring training so it is expected.

Week -13 is like this:

M: 9 w/ 5 @ LT

T: 5 R

W: 10 GA

T: Rest

F: 5 R

S: 16 w/ 10 @ MP

Total: 45 miles.

I tried to run 5 at LT on Monday on the treadmill (because it was like 10 degrees outside), but I couldn't do it. Fast running on the TM is still harder for me than running outside. So I had to give up after 2.5 miles. That's OK. This part of the cycle is mostly for endurance anyway.

I ran the 10 GA outside (in 23 F) and it was OK. I preemptively used the inhaler.

Saturday the weather will be nicer. We will get above 40 degrees. I'll try to do that MP run, but no guarantees.

Week -15 is done. It was a sad one, because we have a foot of snow on the ground, so all my runs, except for Thirsty Thursday, was on the treadmill. But I did manage to do everything, so I've finished the week. The hard workout, the 4-mile LT run was alright: 6:57 pace for 4 miles on a treadmill. I still feel TM is harder than outside, but it's getting slightly easier as I get used to it.

It's Monday, so my first run is in the books. Week -14:

S: Rest

M: 8 GA with all kinds of crap, like strides and hills sprints, which won't happen on the treadmill. (And it didn't happen.)

T: 5 R

W: 10 GA

T: Rest

F: 4 R

S: 15 MLR

Shift the 4-mile recovery to Thursday, if I make it. Everything is most likely treadmill until Saturday. Saturday, we might get lucky. We'll see.

Total: 42 miles. It doesn't look too hard actually. Just miles.

Week -16 is done. The only challenging run was the marathon-paced: 8 out of 13 was to be run at marathon pace. The goal was sub-7:30, and that was accomplished. Indeed, the splits were 7:02, 7:19, 7:31, 7:19, 7:23, 7:31, 7:24, 7:17. This is a 7:21 average. A bit too fast, but not terribly: it puts me at around 49 VDOT, which is not entirely unreasonable.

Week -15:

S: Rest

M: 10 GA

T: 4 R

W: 8 w/ 4 @ LT

T: Rest

F: 4 R

S: 14 MLR

Total : 40 miles. Friday recovery is better to be done at Thirsty Thursday. LT pace is sub-7.

First week fine. Week -16:

S: Rest

M: 8 GA w/ 8 x 100 m ST

T: Rest

W: 10 GA

T: Rest

F: 5 R

S: 13 w/ 8 @ MP

Marathon pace is sub-7:30. Sounds brutal, but based on my numbers, I should be able to do it.

Very soon after I wrote that previous post I realized that it won't work. First, jumping into 50+ weeks from a 41 peak with workouts and all and with only one transition week is brutal. Second, we went to Maine for the week. We flew there and drove back in a small car, so I only brought running clothes for 40+ degree weather. Which occurred probably like once the whole week. Plus the day of flying, and the two days of driving back: it was impossible to fit in the larger volume.

So this cycle will be another 55 mpw one. That's fine. Let's see if I can do a better job to be consistent. There is always more time between a spring and a fall marathon, so for the fall of 2025 I can run a flat one (like Monumental), and try to BQ.

I already started my week. I'll keep the Sunday week start, because the marathon is on a Saturday, and I like the Sunday rest day. I ran my Monday LT run already, and it went pretty well. (I can probably train at 49 VDOT.) But more on that after the week is over.

S: Rest

M: 8 w/ 4 @ LT

T: Rest

W: 9 GA

T: Rest

F: 4 R

S: 12 MLR

I may shift the 4 R for Thursday if we have a Thirsty Thursday.

Recovery week #5 went fine. I have not only finished my 41 miles with no issue, but I had a rather strong medium long run (12 miles) at an 8:00 min/mile average pace. Well, maybe not exactly entirely voluntarily: The group was very fast, and the slowest runners were still going a bit too fast. When I turned around at mile 6 (most people went on), I slowed a little but not that much. From mile 7.8 to 10.5 the course in constant uphill, which added to the challenge (fun).

I guess I am officially recovered. In fact after a bit of slacking (no running at all on the first week after the marathon), I did the 70-mile schedule recovery to build mileage faster and stronger. I got a bad cold on week #2, so I skipped 5 days, but then I continued the recovery without any adjustment.

I have a week before starting the schedule for the KDF, but if I really want to do the 18/70, even Pfitzinger says that I should have run at least 45 miles the week before, and a long run that is close to the first long run. (But then why does the recovery end at 41 MPW/12 miles?)  So no workouts, but I'll need a longer week.

Transition week:

Keep it simple. ~6.5 miles/day for 5 days, plus a 14-mile long run. Since Saturday is forced rest, I'll run every day. Long run will happen based on vacation schedule, because we'll be in Maine.

The rest of the schedule:

12/22: Week -17

12/29: Week -16

1/5: Week -15

1/12: Week -14

1/19: Week -13

1/26: Week -12

2/2: Week -11

2/9: Week -10

2/16: Week -9

2/23: Week -8

3/2: Week -7

3/9: Week -6

3/16: Week -5

3/23: Week -4

3/30: Week -3

4/6: Week -2

4/13: Week -1

4/20: Race week

Recovery week #4 went fine. Pretty cold the whole week, and unfortunately my asthma is back, but I seem to be faster than a few months ago. My 11-miler was done barely over 8 min/mile, and I didn't push it very hard.

Recovery week #5.

S: Rest

M: 6 R

T: 8 GA

W: Rest

T: 9 GA + 8 x 100

F: 6 R

S: 12 MLR

Total: 41 miles.

I'll have to double check, but I think I can do a cutback week after this, before the next 18/70 cycle. Yes, 18/70. I'm still about to try that.

Recovery week #3 has not ended yet, but it's been going fine, and I only have my Saturday "long" run left.

Here is Recovery week #4.

S: Rest

M: 5 R

T: 7 GA

W: Rest

T: 8 GA w/ 8 x 100

F: 5 R

S: 11 MLR

Total: 36 miles.

Recovery week 2 didn't happen as planned. I already was mildly sick on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, but I still ran. Wednesday, I was more sick, and I developed a bad cough. So I skipped the rest of the week. I finished the week with only two runs and 10 miles.

Recovery week 3 already started, and I'm two runs in. Here is the plan.

S: Rest

M: 5 R

T: 5 R

W: Rest

T: 7 GA w/ 8 x 100 m

F: 5 R

S: 9 GA

Total: 31 miles

 

 

Recovery week 1 was all fine. I did all my runs. I was a little faster than recovery, but my legs felt fresh after the skipped week. Breathing problems: yes, unfortunately. But perhaps not unexpected with so little running.

Recovery week 2:

S: Rest

M: 5 R

T: 5 R

W: Rest

T: 6 R

F: Rest

S: 8 R

Total: 24 miles, all easy.

So I signed up for the Derby Marathon for 2025... the race is April 26, so if I'm not mistaken, training starts on December 22, Sunday. Since the race is on Saturday, I would train on a Sunday to Saturday week schedule.

Until then, I'm thinking about doing the recovery for the 55-70 mile schedule, so I'd be ready to start a heavier volume cycle. I basically skipped the first week. :) I have my excuses (e.g. getting sick after a COVID shot), but mostly just wanted to rest.

This is fine. I still have 6 weeks. I can do the recovery schedule, plus a cutback week.

S: Rest

M: Rest

T: 4 R

W: Rest

T: 5 R

F: Rest

S: 6 R

Total: 15 miles.

I'll probably cheat and run today, too, because I haven't run for a whole week, and starting to have withdrawal.

Louisville Marathon Race Report

Goal: 3:30, Secondary goal: 4 hours

Yes, I know the secondary goal looks very soft, but I haven't raced for years, and I haven't run this long for the same amount of time. So I thought it would be appropriate to set the same secondary goal that I had in my first marathon.

Training cycle: I would rate it mediocre. I planned an 18-week cycle, then I fell off, and changed into a 12-week cycle. As we know, a 12-week cycle only works if you are in a good shape anyway, which I wasn't. But I also needed to build up more endurance, so starting over at 12 weeks out didn't sound so bad. I skipped some runs, some critical ones, and I barely got over 50 miles per week on my peak. So mediocre may sound a bit generous actually.

The race started at 7am, so I woke up at 4am, which - after daylight saving time - was really more like 5. The traditional egg breakfast, coffee, and I was off. The race venue was only 20 minutes away, and I drove a car this time. I arrived, found parking, and I had plenty of time to even relax before the start.

This is a very small race. The kind I like, really. Maybe not a lot of crowd support, but do I really need the crowds? I can get into the zen, the flow state, and run without noticing anything, except for the beautiful nature. The best kind of running.

At the start, it was cold: 45 degrees, and it wasn't predicted to rise above 50 for an hour. So I wore an old and battered cotton long sleeve shirt and an old and battered hat. I planed to ditch them when it would get warmer.

After the National Anthem, we were off. I didn't realize that my GPS  watch reset itself, so I had to restart it. It took about 0.2 mile for the watch to find the satellites again, so I started it about 0.2 mile late. Everything in this report should have an extra 0.2 mile added to it.

This course has five hills. It's out-and-back, so you do hill #1 (English Station Rd, a.k.a. Sally), then #2 (Sky Meadow), then #3 (the Silo), then Sky Meadow again, and Sally again. All five are pretty damn serious. You meet Sally at mile 2, and then it's mostly slight downhill until Sky Meadow at mile 11. Except for the first two miles, it is all on bike paths.

I tried to find my pace after the start. I knew I had to take it easy. I was joking around a bit with some other runners, then I settled in a group.

Mile 1: 7:45
Mile 2: 8:00

We already started to climb shortly before the mile marker. I took it pretty easy. I'm very familiar with the course, and otherwise this climb is pretty hard, but this morning, it was no problem. Second part of the mile was downhill, and from here to Mile 9, each mile was some net downhill.

Mile 3: 7:43
Mile 4: 7:16

I remember looking at this split and freaking out how fast it was. This mile wasn't even significant downhill. Shortly after this, we ran through Pope Lick Park, and I saw my cheering squad. It's the best running club in Louisville (Korfedge). I didn't ask them to come out to cheer for me, but they still did.

I really tried to get into a flow state: somewhat quick, but still must feel easy. This is a beautiful part of the course, some forest, some farmland, and a small river, crossed multiple times on bridges.

Mile 5: 7:23
Mile 6: 7:36

We hit an aid station that wasn't quite ready. To make things worse, there was no other aid station for 3 more miles. I also started to feel that I may have under-hydrated until this point: the perfect triple whammy. But what luck! A guy was giving out 1/2-liter water bottles! I picked up one, and I slowly rehydrated in the next two miles. Then I put down the bottle with a little water in it on a bench. Sorry, this was best solution I found. I know it will be cleaned up.

Mile 7: 7:41
Mile 8: 7:36
Mile 9: 7:42

The variable pace is due almost exclusively to terrain and curves. This really was an even effort run. However, the temperature finally rose, and the run got just a bit harder, just a bit too early. I knew we would reach this nice parking lot in a ghost village called Seatonville (really, only the old cemetery remains), so I decided to ditch my long sleeves and hat in that parking lot. I can come back for it later, but if somebody throws them into the trash (or picks them up for themselves), that's fine, too.

Mile 10: 7:31

Seatonville, long sleeves, hats off. I'm too wet with sweat, but the sun is out, and it's not cold. All good. Except that hills are starting. By this time the crowd thinned out, and I was alone.

Mile 11: 7:49

Sky Meadow hill started. I think it was around this time that the I saw the leaders coming from the opposite direction.

Mile 12: 7:55

Mostly Sky Meadow up and down.

Mile 13: 8:14

Mostly up to the Silo, but remember, everything is +0.2, so I hit the halfway point at 12.9 on my GPS.

Two little kids, 5-6 year olds, maybe, were standing at the halfway point, offering high fives. I had to lean to touch their hands, but they were elated! I felt so great after this! Also, downhill is coming.

I hit the halfway mark at 1:39:05. I knew it was too fast. The second half of this marathon is a lot harder with a constant elevation gain in the middle, but I'm guessing it should only be 2-3 minutes harder, at the most. Am I expected to run 3:22? Probably not. I also felt my legs more than I should have.

Mile 14: 7:53

The climb up to Sky Meadow has started. I took it pretty easy, and I was happy to know that after this peak, only one hill is left. On the downhill, I gave some cheers and thumbs up to the climbing runners going the other direction.

Mile 15: 7:23

We reached Seatonville again, in the valley. Now the long miles to 23 start, relentless slight uphill.

Mile 16: 7:38
Mile 17: 7:48
Mile 18: 7:52
Mile 19: 7:54

The slowing pace is the result of trying to keep a constant effort. Largely worked: I felt tired, but not exhausted, my overall pace was still under 8 min/mile (required for the 3:30 goal), and only a little more than a 10K left. Which we all (who ran marathons) know: halfway. In terms of effort.

Mile 20: 8:05
Mile 21: 8:03
Mile 22: 8:00

Th reason mile 22 was that fast is my cheering squad in Pope Lick Park again. It's insane how much noise they can make! You got to run faster when they are all cheering for you!

And then, shortly after passing them, Sally is coming back with vengeance. One reason why this marathon is so great, because it is so difficult. Brutal hill at mile 23? Oh yeah.

The marathon runners were so spread out by this time, that I haven't seen any of them. On the other hand, the half-marathoners started an hour later, so I encountered all the racers going for 2:30-3:00 half-marathons. As one would expect, they were *all* walking up this hill. I felt like a superstar, because I was running (OK, more like jogging), even after running 13.1 miles more than them.

Mile 23: 8:39
Mile 24: 9:04

Mile 24 is actually net downhill: it is most of Sally's uphill and downhill portions combined, but just a bit more down than up. It doesn't look terrible in absolute terms, but it does show how tired I was.

And now, slight uphill (and a bridge) for the last two miles. This was a sufferfest.

Mile 25: 8:34
Mile 26: 8:29

In the finish, my squad was there again. Cheering tunnel and all. Thanks folks!

Total time (official): 3:26:11
24th overall, 1st in age group

When I finished, I felt like passing out, so I had to walk about 5 minutes to get back to normal. Then I found my cheering squad. They were in a good mood (possibly due to some alcohol), and Lisa told me I won my age group. I went back for my age group medal and my Derby Pie (wow, yummy) and my beer (another guy gave me his ticket, so I had two).

This gives me some optimism. Almost like my first marathon. Boston Qualifier, here I come! The 2026 qualifying time (when I'll be over 50) is 3:20. Just by smarter training and smarter racing, I can be there. Maybe even significantly under! Will I ever be under 3 hours again? Realistically, probably not. My genes are not good enough. Can I run a decent time in Boston ever? Possibly...

I ended up skipping the Wednesday workout entirely. In fact I just didn't run at all. I had a beer before the run at the Bridge Race, and after getting home in the dark at 8:30, I asked Melinda if I should go out for a run. The vote resulted in a solid "no".

So I moved the rest of the week a day up. This way, I ran 5 on Thursday (TT), pretty hard actually, because I stayed with the lead group. Rested on Friday, and ran the 12-miler on Saturday. I had some GI issues, but the run itself felt very easy at 8:09 average pace. Am I ready? Probably not, but I'm also not woefully under prepared.

Since I have an extra day (resting on Sunday), I'll space out my runs a bit more. Also, the days work out better that way:

M: 6 R

T: 7 w/ 2 @ MP

W: Rest, sailing, perhaps some Dark & Stormy (which will be the only alcohol this week)

T: 5 R w/ 6 x 100m at Thirsty Thursday, thirsty for water or soda only

F: Rest

S: 4 R in the morning, packet pickup, boat pull in the afternoon.

S: Goal marathon

Week -2 went well. It's not an easy week with the 600s, the tune-up race and the long run the day after that, but I did it all quite fine.

Instead of the tune-up race, I ran another 40-minute LT run, and this time, I was aiming for a 7:09 pace (because last time I ran 7:09 pace while aiming for 7:15). Guess what. This time, it turned out to be 7:00.

Funny thing, I ran the first mile, and I pushed the beginning a bit to get my system up to LT quickly, and when I hit the first mile marker, the split was 6:51. I loudly exclaimed "holy shit!" I slowed a bit, but it does seem like I can sustain 7 min/mile without accumulating lactate. Still not near where I used to be, but not astronomically far any more.

That puts me squarely at 48+ VDOT, I'll do training according to this number now.

The Sunday run after the workout was not easy. I ran in the Parklands again, just so that I would experience more brutal hills. It was "only" 16 miles, and I don't think it would have been an issue, if it wasn't after the hard workout on Saturday. This way, I had to fight. It wasn't quite as hard as my hilly 20-miler, but I would put it into the same category as my relatively flat 20-miler.

I'm finally hitting taper this week. I was thinking about running on Monday, because the schedule works better that way, but legs were totally dead, so I skipped it. I ran today (on Tuesday), 7 easy, but I had breathing issues. I resisted using the inhaler, but it made the run slightly unpleasant, feeling harder than it should have been.

Yet, this week, still has a hard workout on Wednesday. I'm debating if it is worth doing it or not. The hay is probably in the barn. The portion that's left outside can rot. :)

M: Rest

T: 7 R w/ 8 x 100

W: 8 w/ 4 x 1200m @ 5K pace

T: Rest

F: 5 R w/ 6 x 100

S: Rest (that's new)

S: 12 MLR

I usually run my "5K pace" at my VO2 max prescribed by Jack Daniels. That would be 6:26/mile, or 4:49/1200m for the 48 VDOT. But his 5K time for the same VDOT is 20:39, so that's only 6:39/mile or 4:57/1200m. Maybe I should do that.

I will probably shift the 5-mile recovery for Thirsty Thursday (if I even do that), and maybe do the 12 MLR on Saturday.

Here is the last week:

M: Rest

T: 6 R

W: 7 w/ 2 @ MP (called the "dress rehearsal")

T: Rest

F: 5 R w/ 6 x 100m

S: 4 R (packet pickup, boat pull)

S: you know what... I'm scared.

Week -3 was fine. As I already wrote, I did the 4 x 0.75 mile workout on Tuesday, per schedule, and I ran a proper 4:52 average per interval, which is fine. And then I did another 20 on Sunday. It was hard, because a) I ran it in the Parklands, on hilly course (but my marathon will be just as hilly); b) it was 80 degrees; c) it came at the end of a longer week with a hard workout on Wednesday, and a 11-miler on Friday. But I finished it. The last bit was hard, but I still averaged 8:28 moving time, and didn't slow down much at all.

Week -2 is on us. I already did the VO2 max workout yesterday: 5 x 600 m. My splits were 2:28, 2:25, 2:21, 2:23, 2:16 for an average of 2:23. I'm happy with this. Again, it wasn't in ideal circumstances (it never is, right?): after dark, sudden cold (first run in long sleeves and hat), couldn't find inhaler (though breathing was *mostly* fine), two days after the 20-miler (by design).

Rest of the week:

W: 6 R

T: Rest

F: 4 R w/ 6x100

S: 8K-10K tune-up race, total of 9-11 miles.

S: 16 L

I will probably swap the Friday recovery for Thursday to do it on Thirsty Thursday, and I almost certainly won't do a tune-up race. I'll probably do a time trial instead.

Week -4 was a lot weaker than I wanted. The conference threw a real wrench into the machine and I didn't run at all from Friday to Sunday. Then, on Monday, I was so sore and tired from the Sunday regatta that I decided to just follow Pfitzinger literally and take a rest day. That is 4 days of no running...

So this meant only 36.3 miles for the week. This did include the 5 x 600 m workout, which is on the shorter side. Running by feel I managed a 2:20 average, which is probably a bit too fast. It translates to 1:34 laps, which is 49.5 VDOT. I'm sure I'm not there.

Week -3 is on us. After the Monday rest day, I did a proper workout last night: 4 x 1200 m, or more precisely 4 x 0.75 mile on the street, again, by feel. Averaging 4:52, this put me into the more reasonable 47-48 VDOT category. Here is the rest of the week:

T: Rest (fun day at Thirsty Thursday)

F: 11 MLR

S: 4 R

S: 20 L

Honestly, this sounds relatively easy, and it still gets me 52 miles for the week.

Great progress on Week -5.

The Saturday threshold went well: I managed 5.59 miles in 40 minutes. That's a 7:09 pace, spot on 47 VDOT.

Then, on Monday (in Fall Break), I ran my first 20 miler since the KDF Marathon preparation, and I averaged 8:13/mile (moving). According to Daniels, that's the fastest allowable pace for 48 VDOT, so it was a bit too fast, probably. I did lose some time filling my water bottles and crossing some roads, though probably that's not any help. Also, it was still hot. 78 degrees, 68% humidity.

I'm trying to plan my Week -4 around a weekend conference and sailing regatta. Sunday running is basically out, and Saturday is limited (no long run). Maybe, honestly, the best would be to skip both days. In fact, since the week after that is hard, I'm thinking something like this:

T: 4 R (already done)

W: 8 w/ 5 x 600

T: 5.25 GA or whatever the longest run is on Thirsty Thursday

F: 17 L in the morning. Conference starts in the afternoon.

S: some recovery on the trails, max 10

S: sailing

This is a somewhat decreased mileage, because there is a mid-week 11-miler in the plan, but I'll substitute that with the Thursday run. I can't do much on Thursday, because Friday is the only day for the long run. This way I also catch up, and perhaps be even more rested with no running on Sunday. And with the delayed 20-miler on Monday, it actually will be a pretty large volume week.

Paces for the 600s is 2:27. That is 6:34 min/mile.

I had to skip a day due to a stomach virus. I had diarrhea for days, but I could still run - except for last Sunday, when I had that brutal 15-miler scheduled, 12 of which was supposed to be at marathon pace.

I decided to delay the schedule by a day for now. So this week (-5), so far, I've run

M: 15 MLR (no attempt to do the M pace - I was not strong enough for that)

T: Rest

W: 6 R w/ 6x100 strides

T: 12 MLR

----- This is where we are. -----

F: Rest

S: 12 w/ 40 min @ LT pace

S: 5 R

M: 20 L

Pfitzinger wants 7 miles at LT pace, but that's not for us, mortals. A really good runner can do the 7 miles is 40 minutes, but it would take 50+ for me. That long at LT pace in training is too hard. When I used to do it in 45, I could accept it, but now, let's just do 40 minutes, however long it turns out to be.

Week -7 was successful. The Thursday TT run particularly nice: the 4 mile splits were 7:07, 7:09, 7:10, 7:02 for an average of 7:07. That would be 47.7 VDOT, and 3:19 (flat) marathon. Sounds promising. I ran the 16-miler in the Parklands, and I felt strong. The last 5 miles of that was run at 8:00-ish pace without trying.

Week -6 was started without much expectation that I could finish it. Somehow I'm too busy, and the scheduled runs are on the wrong days. I thought about reorganizing, but I would have had to run om Monday, and I just felt too tired.

But so far I'm doing it. I've just finished my 5x1000m workout, running the 1000s at 4:06. I only have time for this midday, so I did it on the treadmill. At least this way the paces are pretty much guaranteed to be good. This the pace given by Jack Daniels for 47.3 VDOT. So perhaps a bit slow, but I don't mind. I needed to have some strength left for the evening race (sailing).

The rest of the week:

T: 12 MLR

F: Rest

S: 6 w/ 6 x 100 strides

S: 15 w/ 12 @ MP

Not sure I'll do marathon pace on Sunday... But the rest should be OK. This would give me 48 miles for the week. My largest volume since forever.

Week -8 was definitely *not* a success. I skipped my Wednesday LT run due to the fact that I was busy all day, but I also didn't want to redesign the week, because I was just too tired. I wasn't living healthy (food, sleep, alcohol) either, so maybe that's a reason. I felt down on myself, and I contemplated abandoning my plan.

Then, while on my way to Thirsty Thursday, which was hot, and I was already sure I wouldn't run 11 miles, I realized that I'd only skipped one day. So I decided to snap out of it, take it easy in Thursday (which I did with less than 5 miles, though I ran a fartlek by chasing down some groups, and pressing hard on Library Hill), and continue the plan. That resulted in a nice 17-mile long run on Sunday done at a 8:18 moving average with 7:42 last mile. I finished the week with 32.7 miles instead of the planned 48.

So that's a step-back, and I have a recovery week coming up. But the old rule says, you can't make up missed runs. So I just go on. We will see what happens now. I will also try to limit my alcohol consumption. I think that's key.

Week -7: (slightly rearranged to fit my schedule)

M: Rest

T: 12 MLR

W: Rest

T: 9 w/ 4 @ LT pace (no TT - it's the parade)

F: 5 R

S: Rest (CF Moto demo)

S: 16 L

Total: 42 miles.

This looks downright easy, if I don't have expectations for the LT run. Which I don't.