For my Phase II training, I'll run weeks 2, 4, and 6 of the Daniels 5K plan.

Week of 12/31:

S: 15L (max 120 min.)
M: E + 10ST
T: 2E + 6 x (200R + 200jg + 200R + 200jg + 400R + 400jg) + 2E = 10 mi
W: E + 8ST
T: E
F: 2E + 5 x 1T w/ 1 min rests + 6 x 200R w/ 200jg + 2E = 10.5 mi
S: E + 8ST

Average easy day volume, assuming one rest day: 8.17 miles.

OK, decision is made, I train for the Polar Bear Grand Prix, and when it's over, I'll make a decision about a spring marathon. KY Derby is 11 weeks after the last race in the PBGP, so I can almost do a short Pfitzinger cycle after that. With the winter training it should be good enough.

Here is my training schedule for the PBGP. We start weeks on Sundays.

Phase I: 12/10
Phase II: 12/31
  Frostbite 5K: 01/13
Phase IV: 01/21
  Snowman Shuffle: 02/10

For Phase I, I just easy runs to ramp up the mileage. Tentative plan is to run 50 (12.5 + 5 x 7.5), 55 (13.75 + 5 x 8.25), and 60 (15 + 5 x 9) miles a week.

Reindeer Romp 4k Race Report

Goal: Place well, maybe win age group. Due to terrain, temperature, and training, no time goal.

We signed up for the Polar Bear Grand Prix race series with Esther mostly to keep ourselves motivated to train through the winter. (And for her, maybe for the swag.) I just had my recovery month after the Bowling Green Marathon, which was complicated by a bad case of PF after that race - but I'm not complaining. So the goal was just to race as well as possible given the circumstances.

And those were not easy! The course is only 4 km, which is way too short for me, it has two long, hard hills (Urban Bourbon Half Marathon hills compressed into 1/5 of the length of that race), and it was a balmy 25 F (-4 C) in the morning. We jogged the course last afternoon with Esther so we knew what to expect. We arrived to the park at 8:15 for the 9:00am race. We did about 2 miles of warmup, a few strides, and we were ready to race.

I got a little boxed in at the start, but quickly jumped ahead (got a cheer from Esther), and off I went. The large amount of cold air flared up my exercise induced asthma, and I had some breathing issues for a minute of two, but fortunately it quickly resolved. After a short (0.1 mile) flat segment, we started the first downhill (1/2 mile long). I knew I can't rest on the downhill if I want to race well, so I pushed a 5:30 pace there. When we got to the bottom, I settled into a slightly uncomfortable, but controlled effort that (I guessed) I could maintain (or increase) till the end.

Mile 1: 5:52

I tried to run somewhat conservatively in this flat section between the two hills, so I tried not to overtake people. But I found that people around me slowed more than I expected (their pace was 6:20-ish), so after a while I passed a young guy, then a child, and I was back to my 6:00 pace. I kept slowly passing people, and I did not get passed after the first few hundred yards (I think), so I guess it was a well-run race.

We started the climb (1/2 mile long) of the second hill. My strategy was to be conservative here, and to start to run hard on the top. I allowed my discomfort to slightly increase, making sure I'm not going over my VO2 max. I ran the uphill at a pretty constant 7:10 pace, and then accelerated on the top to my standard 6:00 pace. We went on a slight downhill, took a U-turn around a statue of Daniel Boone, while I kept my place behind a small group.

Mile 2: 6:32

I knew we were close to the finish, but there was one more climb left to go back up the first hill. Not as bad as the other one: only about a 1/4 mile long, and the finish line is on the top. At the bottom of the climb I increased my effort and I passed the small group. I was powering up the hill, but I got slightly worried around 3/4 up that I started this kick too early... I was suffering bad! But I knew that only a few seconds left, so I toughed it out, and finished the race.

Last 0.5: 3:16 (6:44 pace)

Time: 15:40 (15:37 chip time). 13th place (out of 422), 1st in AG. (In fact master win, see update.)

I waited for Esther and cheered her on when she arrived at 18:30. The great thing about this race was that we both won our age groups! This motivates me to train harder for this race series and try to win my age group in the cumulative results. And if we both do it with Esther, that would be something!

We hung around for the awards, but we didn't quite feel like eating anything yet. We just had some hot drinks (it was still freezing), hung around for the awards, and then we jogged back to the car.

Update: A few days later I found out there they somehow miscalculated the results and I actually won the master division. They will switch out the trophy at the next race of the Polar Bear Grand Prix.

That recovery plan was completely ignored. First I was fighting with a pretty bad case of plantar fascitis, and then I was busy or lazy, or it was too cold or too dark... the point is, for the last month, I just ran when I felt like running, which (I think) turned out to be a remarkably good recovery strategy. Today, I feel fine, recovered, still in somewhat reasonable shape.

Recovery plan.

M: Rest
T: Rest
W: 5 R
T: Rest
F: 6 R
S: 5 R
S: 8 GA

M: Rest
T: 6 R
W: 8 GA
T: Rest
F: 8 GA + 8x100 ST
S: 5 R
S: 10 GA

Bowling Green Marathon Race Report

Goal: 3 hours (?)     Secondary goal: 3:10

Preparing for this race, my goal was to run 3 hours on a difficult course. I chose Bowling Green mainly because it is hilly, and I thought it would be nice to run a 3-hour marathon on a hilly course. There is a website that compares marathon courses, and I didn't read they methodology, but they rated Bowling Green 2 minutes slower than Indianapolis Monumental (where I ran 2:59 two years ago), just based on the elevation profile. 

Three or four weeks before the race I thought my shape was worse than going into the Indianapolis race, but I started that training cycle after some serious 5K-10K training and I started this one on nothing but base mileage. By the time I did my last workout (3 x 1600), I felt I caught up, and I was maybe in better shape. I weigh a few pounds more, but that's actually upper body muscle, because I spent some time in the weight room in the summer. Good or bad for running, it is arguable, but I need it for firefighting.

Then I saw the weather forecast. It got worse and worse as race day approached. The last two weeks of training in Louisville was in cool weather, typically 40 F (4 C), no sunshine; in fact my last (medium) long run was in 35 F (2 C). Compare that to race day morning: 70 F (21 C), 90% humidity (66 F dew point for the weather geeks), and mostly sunny. It wouldn't be terrible, if I didn't acclimate to the cool weather in the last two weeks, but it was quite brutal this way.

I did my usual morning routine: getting up early, having a good breakfast, driving to Bowling Green (2 hours). The advantage of a small race and being early is that I could park just 100 yards from the start/finish line. I was hit by the hot and muggy air when I got out of the car, so I decided not to warm up (except for some dynamic stretching), because I knew I would pay dearly for any fluid loss, even if it happened during warmup. I was also able to pick up my packet on race day morning. They had amazing swag.

It was a very small marathon: less than a thousand runners, and most of them ran the half. There were only 166 entrants of the full. It was a nice group of people, and I had conversations with a bunch of them. Most notably I met Hajime Nishi.

The race started at 7:00 (central time), but Louisville is on Eastern Time, so it was really 8:00 for me. The course has a unforgiving elevation profile starting with four major hills. It is basically uphill-downhill-uphill-downhill etc., for the first 7.5 miles, and everything is steep. If you've ever been to the campus of Western Kentucky University, you may remember Cherry Hall: it's on the top of a steep hill. Well, basically we climb that hill four times. Then from 7.5 to the halfway point it is "flat", but not like Indianapolis. It is still up and down, just without the steep grades. Then we are back to campus, and repeat the whole thing again.

I should have known that with the way the weather was and the way my fitness was, I had no real chance to run 3 hours. Yet, I didn't want to give it up before I started, so I decided to follow the 3-hour plan until mile 16, and then decide: if I don't feel great, then I slow down and just focus on getting my safe Boston Qualifier (3:10).

I started with a group of runners who ran the 3-hour pace (some of them were half-marathoners). The pace felt OK, but you can't make it feel super easy when you are climbing the Cherry Hall hill. The group broke up quickly, but everyone was in sight, and we sometimes passed each other: some people were faster going uphill; I was usually faster on the downhills. There was a guy in an "Army" shirt (his name was Peter), who was mostly ahead of me, but I passed him on a few downhills.

Mile 1: 7:01
Mile 2: 6:29
Mile 3: 7:03
Mile 4: 6:26
Mile 5: 7:11

The pace seems to vary, but it was a quite even effort with the hills. I was about 30 seconds ahead of my planned time (very unwise). I tried to take it easy, but I didn't want to walk uphill and didn't want to brake downhill. Mile after mile I recognized that the 30 seconds stayed about constant. On the other hand that meant that at least my current pace was correct.

We were still downtown, going up and down on parallel streets. A few jackrabbits were passed by this time, and I found myself in 5th place. I knew that the guy just ahead of me (Ryan) was a half-marathoner, so that made me at least 4th in the marathon.

I caught up to Ryan, and asked him if he knew who were marathoners and who were half-marathoner in front of us - he wasn't sure. I had had a conversation with him before the start, and I knew he was aiming run a 7-minute/mile pace. I told him we are a bit faster than that. We climbed the last steep hill of the first loop together.

Mile 6: 7:05

The hot and humid air affected me already. I felt warm. I took water at every aid station - drank half of it, dumped the rest over my head. Ryan started to fade and I left him on the next downhill. We entered an alley (it seems to be called BG262 Alley - I'm note sure if it's an official name). We ran a good half a mile in the alley among backyards. I liked that part. By this time I only had Peter (Army guy) in sight, and our distance was basically a constant 100 yards.

Mile 7: 6:32

Conditions deteriorated quickly. Temperature rose, the sun came out, and wind got stronger. We ran on a large road (two lanes in each direction), on which one lane was closed for runners. No shade, quite hot, and no aid stations. My singlet and my shorts were complete wet now and started to drip.

Mile 8: 6:46

I was just following Peter, still at 100 yards. I felt fine. The steep hills were over, I was running a good pace. I knew I was losing a lot of fluid though, and despite drinking at every aid station, I knew I can't physically replenish enough when I sweat so much.

Mile 09: 6:57
Mile 10: 6:42

After a short loop in a suburban neighborhood, we were back on the large road to the opposite direction. I noticed that Peter was slowing a bit, and I started to catch him. I didn't want to pass him. It is much better to run behind somebody than just ahead. Behind us there was nobody in sight any more. I was content to give up a few seconds here, because I knew that things would get hard. By this time my sweat saturated my socks and shoes so much that I heard a swishy sound on my footfalls. My right nipple patch fall off from the sweat and I started to bloody up my shirt. And there were still 16 miles left.

Mile 11: 6:54
Mile 12: 6:52

Peter continued to slow, so I pulled up to him. I asked his age (34). I knew we were 3rd and 4th on the road, but I didn't know how many were half-marathoners (I knew Peter was running the full), and how many over 40. I wanted to win an award and for that I would either have to place in the top three, or would have to win the over 40 category. I thought, even if Peter beats
me, I would have a good chance for the latter.

Mile 13: 6:57

Peter seemed to slow even more here, so I left him. I ran by the finish line to start my second loop. My time was a few seconds under 1:30, as planned.

And this is when things are started to go wrong. Yes, this early. I climbed the Cherry Hall hill again, and I lost all my advantage against the clock. Peter was quite a bit behind. I knew I wouldn't run 3 hours today, so I tried to conserve more energy. I decided that from here my goals are (1) securing my Boston Qualifier (2) preserving my position. People looked at my bloody shirt in horror (or at least that's what I conceived).

Mile 14: 7:37

This was a super lonely mile. I went down on a straight road, no spectators, no cops, no signs. I started to get worried that I got lost, but then I recognized some of the buildings from the first loop. This part was mostly downhill. From the little attention I was getting from the organizers I deduced that I'm not the leader of the race. He would surely get at least a leading cyclist.

Mile 15: 6:33

After the next aid station I decided to remove my shirt. I was climbing a hill slowly while I unpinned my bib from my shirt and pinned it to my shorts while running. The chafing was so bad that I didn't mind the lost time. I carried my shirt in my right hand from here, and I only put it back on right before the finish.

Mile 16: 7:36

A cyclist organizer finally started to lead me. I figured I was second or third; I was guessing second (I was correct). I could have asked, but I decided not to: it wouldn't have changed my strategy. I learned my position a few miles later when somebody told me (without asking) at an aid station. I was working my way over the hills. They were much harder than for the first time. I started to feel my quads.

Mile 17: 6:39
Mile 18: 7:43
Mile 19: 7:36

I switched into survival mode. I didn't need fast miles to finish under 3:10, but I still needed to do a sub 8-minute pace. So I just focused on to keep running.

Mile 20: 7:05

On the big road again. Even hotter, full sun, misery. I think I had a runner right behind me, because I heard the cheer squads cheering the a second time shortly after I left them. In one intersection, a cop stopped the traffic for me, and I noticed that he didn't let the cars go when I crossed the intersection. From that I knew that this other runner must be very close. I never looked back, just tried to maintain my pace. And somehow I got rid of him. Not sure exactly where and how, but I didn't hear the cheers behind me after a while.

Mile 21: 7:19

I turned into the suburban neighborhood again. I had a crisis here. I really thought about dropping out or at least starting to walk. But I would lose my BQ time for sure.

Mile 22: 7:52

I summoned some more will and kept pushing.

Mile 23: 7:27

Back on the big road. More hot, more sun, less energy.

Mile 24: 7:52

This part of the course followed the same big road back that we took to get from downtown to the suburb. I was now heading back to downtown, and I saw Peter running still toward the suburbs. He was now way behind me. (He finished in 16th place in 3:43.)

When it rains, it pours. I careless volunteer misdirected my cyclist and I. I only ran maybe 20 yards in the wrong direction, but I was tired enough without this! She apologized profusely. (Honestly, it's OK. It didn't change anything.)

Mile 25: 8:03

The last mile. Many turns, strong winds, hills, and my only thought is on finishing. I was running like a zombie, looking at my GPS every minute. I tried to imagine how many laps of a track is left. "Only five laps. I can run five laps."

At one point we had another out-and-back portion of the course - a short one - but it was enough for me to see the competitors at least a quarter mile back. Nobody was that close behind me. I was fairly sure then that I had my 2nd place.

Mile 26: 8:07

Even the last 0.2 mile was long. I put my shirt back on. Somehow the motion of the sweaty shirt in my hand washed out the bloodstain, and it was reasonably presentable. I crossed the finish line, picked up my medal, and I sat down on the curb. I used up everything I had.

Final time: 3:08:37, 2nd place overall.

The winner ran 2:58:04, and the third place was at 3:14:11.

Post race food and party was fantastic. They offered beer and burger. People were very nice. They didn't announced the awards, but they gave them out (or mailed them out, if the winner didn't ask for it). It is slightly weird, but I see this at more and more small races. I won a really nice glass cup.

I don't know if this was the hardest race I've ever done, but it was definitely the most miserable. On the other hand, it is not clear that if I ran a 1:34 first half, then I could have run a faster second half. The weather was clearly an issue: I got overheated and dehydrated by the end, but there were also some muscular fatigue problems from not training enough on hills. My fitness, the only thing I had actually been worried about, was probably fine.

It is very temping to come back next year to redeem my performance. But there are so many other nice races to do, and there is new fall marathon in Louisville (also hilly). For now, after recovery, I'll do a winter race series of 4K, 5K, 5 mile races with Esther. I have at least a few more days to figure out if I want to run a spring marathon.

It doesn't matter how fit you are. When you have to race in 70 degrees and 90% humidity, you can't realistically aim for the same the same goal as you would in 50 degree dry weather.

Tomorrow's weather forecast is exactly like that. 67 F at the 7:00 start, 71 F at 10:00. Dew point is pretty uniformly 66 F, which corresponds to humidity going from 92% to 84%.

I'm pretty sure I have no chance of running 3 hours in this weather. I'm not sure I should even try. According every heat table, it is already a good performance if I run 3:10 tomorrow.

I did my 3x1600 workout last Thursday, as planned, on the Jeffersontown High School track (asphalt, quarter mile track), in the dark. It wasn't the easiest thing, but I hit my paces with no problem: 5:48, 5:49, 5:50. Only the last one felt hard, but no pain cave.

Then I felt strong for my "long" run on Sunday: 13 miles @ 7:38 pace, but 3.6 miles were on trails with many steep hills. The last four asphalt miles 7:21, 7:10, 7:25, 7:01, and they also had some hills in them. It almost makes me worried that I push too hard on these runs, and I won't be sufficiently recovered.

So I took my Monday rest day, my very easy Tuesday run (still 7:47 pace), and I was ready for my dress rehearsal today: 7 miles, 2 at marathon pace. I ran the two miles way too fast: 6:39 and 6:29. OK, the second one was slight downhill, but the first one was slight uphill (Strava GAPs are 6:36, 6:33), but it is still too fast. They felt quite easy. I tried to restrain myself, but I felt if I ran any slower, it would be jogging. I will seriously have to restrain myself in the first half of my race.

Now it is really nothing left, but eating healthy, not getting sick, not getting injured, and finish my recovery in the last few days.

After my hard LT run on Saturday late evening, in about 12 hours I was again on the street running my 17 miler. It was not so easy to do it on tired legs, but I managed to finish it at a decent pace. I ran the first portion with Adam, so that was a bit slower (8 min/mile), and I picked up from there. Good training.

Nothing hard is left. The only somewhat challenging training is the VO2 max session this Thursday. It would probably count as a hard session on a typical day, but considering the shape I'm in, it should be fairly easy. I was able to run some 6:1x miles at the end of the LT run without getting too winded, so running single miles at 5:50 pace with ample recovery on already fairly rested legs should not pose a problem.

Taper plan:

10/23, M: Rest
T: 7 GA w/ 8x100 ST
W: 4 R
T: 8 w/ 3x1600 VO2 max. (5:50/mile, 5:48/1600), 50-90% rests (~2 laps)
F: 5 R
S: 6R w/ 8x100 ST
S: 13 MLR

10/30, M: Rest
T: 7 R
W: Dress rehearsal: 7 w/ 2@MP (6:43/mile)
T: 5 R
F: 5 R w/ 6x100 ST
S: 4 R
S: Race

OK, so I waited until 8pm with the LT run. So the weather cooled down, but I had to face the other problem: chili and coffee before the run = upset stomach. Somehow I did manage the run without throwing up though, and my splits were quite good: 6:15, 6:18, 6:31 (hilly mile), 6:16, 6:08, 6:13. It's a 6:17 average, and this was definitely not race effort. In fact I sprinted another quarter mile after finishing the sixth mile, because I felt like pushing a bit and I thought it would be cool to run a sub-39 10K in training (which I did).

So it seems like all three components are together. Fitness is fine. Lactate threshold is fine. Endurance is fine. I do have a chance of sub-3.

About a week after my last post, not much happened. I had my last 20-miler on Sunday, and I felt good, so I pushed it a bit. I ran a 7:26/mile average, and the last part was the fastest. After that run I only had pretty easy runs, except for a 12-miler on Wednesday, which, again, went just fine.

Today I was supposed to run a tune-up race, which didn't happen, because we went to the cross country state championship for schools, because Esther ran the 4K there. I will go out for an LT run later (maybe soon). It's 78 degrees and sunny outside. I'm wondering why I don't ever have the chance to do a good lactate threshold workout in nice, cool weather...

I had a very strong 17-mile run on Sunday. Finally it was cool, and I felt good the whole time. I averaged 7:25/mile, and it felt pretty easy.

Monday was rest, then two horrible recovery runs on Tuesday - this happens often: when I have a little rest after some hard work, the next easy runs feel totally hard. I didn't sleep much the next night, and I had a terrible headache all day on Wednesday, so I wasn't looking forward to going to the track at 8pm in the dark for a 6 x 1200 session. Fortunately it went fine. Splits were 4:22, 4:20, 4:22, 4:20, 4:22 (goal was 4:21).

Interestingly, the second rep felt very hard, and I thought I was done, and I decided I would just go out carefully (not too fast) for the third one, and try to speed up the last lap, if necessary. I used this approach for all the remaining reps, and it not only worked: the first two laps always turned out to be fast enough and I never had to overexert myself for the third one.

I'm probably not as strong as I was two years ago at the same time, so that's not a good sign for sub-3, but I have some time left, and maybe I can peak and race better. If it won't be sub-3, it's not a disaster, as long as I safely BQ. I will need about 3:10 for that.

I've had two weeks of pretty good training. After the race I had a good long run (18 miles) the following day. Then a rest day on Monday, and Tuesday 6 x 1000 meters VO2 max workout pretty consistently in 3:40. Three more long runs at 15, 12, and 18.6 miles: the last one included a 14 mile marathon paced workout that I nailed pretty well.

Then this week started with another rest day on Monday then 5 x 600 meters on Tuesday that went well, and felt quite easy. It is still too damn hot pretty much every day, but intervals are not affected much. The intervals were consistent 2:09. 14 miles on Wednesday, then two easy days, and an LT run today. It was supposed to be a race but I haven't found a good race in 2 hours driving distance, so I ran a 6-mile LT run instead. It was hot and windy, and I didn't feel great. Seriously, 79 F at 8pm on October 7? Anyway, I still managed to run 6:13, 6:24, 6:29, 6:22, 6:22, 6:13, and I lost ~4 seconds in mile 2 at a road crossing, so it's a 6:20 average. All in all, a successful run. It was hard, but not unreasonably, and some of the time variation was due to terrain and wind direction.

I'm a little worried that this LT run may have felt a bit harder than it should have been. I thought after this run I would have a better indication on what I can run in Bowling Green, but I didn't really get any wiser.

Hawk Walk 10K Race Report


Goal: 39:21 (6:20 pace). Revised goal: run at least as fast as my perceived lactate threshold, and try to win the race.

This was  a very small race near Indianapolis. The reason we chose it, because it was the only 10K available within 2 hours of driving on this day, it had a 5K, so Esther could run with me, and it was for a good charity (fighting addiction). Also, because it is a small race, maybe we would have a chance of placing, and Esther and I thought it would be really cool if we both place in our respective races.

The 10K only had about a dozen runners, so I already thought it would not be a real competition. In either case of being the fastest runner, or not, chances are that I would be running alone.

We also loved the idea that the race started at 10am, so we didn't have to get up super early. The downside, with the record breaking heat waves we are getting here that we realized we would run in 80 degrees. Add the hills to that (220 ft of climbing in 10 km according to Strava), and it was clear to me that running a 6:20 pace would place me well below my lactate threshold. It is certainly possible to run a 10K below the lactate threshold, but it may be unwise, if I'm winning the race. Position over time, any day.

So I decided to go out and run at my perceived lactate threshold: a comfortably hard pace. Unless I have to compete faster.

I got even more scared when I was totally sweaty and hot after just two miles of very slow warmup. I quickly figured out that you can tell by the bib number what race everybody was running. I asked a singlet wearing guy (his name was Armani), who had a 10K bib number, about his pace. He said 7:30, which I found suspect.

A cute little boy started the race by blowing a horn, though we had the ready-set-go commands about two seconds before he could push that button, so there was some confusion about the start time. They also started the race 6 minutes early, which screwed up my warmup recovery, but it was OK. You can expect these things in a small local race.

I went out by feel at about a 6:15-6:30 pace. The first mile was gently rolling hills that ticked up a bit at the end. Armani followed me a short distance behind: I heard him running behind me. Immediately I thought he was BS-ing me with the 7:30 pace. We ran through some patches with no shadows, and we started to climb. Somebody was passing me, and I though it must be Armani, but in fact it was a 5K runner (Alec). After we discussed briefly that we don't actually compete against each other, I let him go.

At the steepest part of the climb, Armani passed me (I did slow on the uphill deliberately to conserve energy). I thought he would probably beat me today, but to my surprise, he didn't pull away, and I was running right behind him.

Mile 1: 6:33

I didn't pay much attention to the splits. The race was being run slower than 10K pace at perceived lactate threshold, and this split was about right for the circumstances. I followed Armani for a short time, and when the climb got gentler, I pulled up next to him, and I said:

"This is definitely not a 7:30 pace."
"What?"
"We're doing like a 6:30-ish pace."
"Yeah, I know."
"You said 7:30 at the start."
"That's my minimum goal. That's in fact my half-marathon pace."
"OK."

I wasn't sure if he was still playing games, but this pace seemed still too fast if in fact his half marathon pace was 7:30/mile. In which case I would probably beat him easily. Of course there is still the possibility of somebody coming behind us beating us both.

I left him, and I kept following Alec. Our distance stabilized at about 50 meters. The climb extended to mile 1.7, where there was a sharp right turn, and then slowly descending, but rolling hills down to the start line, at around mile 3. The 10K did the course twice. I was in the zone, trying to do constant comfortably hard effort. This part of the course was mostly in the woods.

Mile 2: 6:34
Mile 3: 6:26

Alec won the 5K easily, and I ran back to the course for my second loop. I made a mistake by turning down the water here. It was so hot that a 10K managed to dehydrate me a bit. If for no other reason, I could have dumped the water on my head.

I had two goals after the turnaround: to see my standing in the 10K, and to see how Esther was doing, who was finishing the 5K soon. Armani was about 30 seconds behind me. I saw a girl about 30-60 seconds behind Armani, but I thought she was in the 5K. There was a 5K runner, and then Esther. So with the winner, I thought Esther was at 4th place, 2nd place female, when in fact she was in 3rd place, 1st female, because that other girl was in the 10K. I told her "2nd place female", but she didn't hear me (fortunately, as this was wrong information). She was very exhausted.

I started the climb now, in a patch of full sun, which was obviously hotter than the first time around, and I was obviously more tired/overheated/dehydrated.

Mile 4: 6:38

I got to the long climb with nobody in sight. The whole mile was almost pure climbing: I reached the top at mile 4.9.

Mile 5: 7:11

I started to meet 5K walkers and some people who just enjoyed the trails, but were not in the race. I glanced back a few times to make sure that Armani (or anybody) is not in sight, but otherwise just continued comfortable hard. No pain, just strictly at lactate threshold. Rolling hills, net downhill.

Mile 6: 6:33

I had to dodge some more walkers here. I had to leave the path twice due to careless walkers, but this is part of the game in local races. I clinched the easy victory with a time of 41:55.

People congratulated, but Esther wasn't there, because she got light headed, and sat down in the shadow. She finished her race in the 3rd place!

There was a small post race party, where Esther and I enjoyed our minor celebrity status. The best post-race food ever: strawberry sorbet! After about 20 minutes of resting, eating, and conversing, we headed back to the car. I did a 2-mile cool-down in a different part of the trail, and I didn't feel too tired. Clearly this was not a 100% effort from me, but it had the right training effect, and I didn't want to risk victory for time.

The only regret I have is that I would have loved a good indication of my fitness. This was hopeless when we realized what the race-day temperature would be. I may run another 10K in two weeks and/or one in four weeks. We will see what happens then. If this was the best I could do, then a sub-3 hour marathon would be hopeless.

Training report of the last two weeks:

Everything was smooth for the first part of week 7. It was nice and cool for my 15-miler on Wednesday, and I ran a 7:30 average pace and it felt pretty easy (I went sailboat racing after the run).

Then by Friday the hot weather was back. I attempted to run an LT run outdoors on Thursday, but I got overheated and dehydrated. My splits were 6:10, 6:33, 6:36, 6:34, 6:34, 6:33, 6:42. According to Daniels, my LT pace should be 6:20, and I've done a 6-mile 6:18 LT run just a bit more than a week ago on the firehouse treadmill. So this sucked - again. I didn't call it a failed run though. My heart rate was pretty constant ~168; in fact it jumped to 170 for the last, slowest mile. It shows that my exertion level was probably appropriate. It was just two hot. I sweated through my shoes again.

Nevertheless, the 22-mile run just two days later on Saturday was fine. It was still hot during the day, but I waited until 6:45pm to start my run. It was completely dark for the last hour for this 3-hour long run, but it wasn't super hot. I still got drenched by the end, but I completed the run and finished relatively strong (7:25 last mile). It took quite a bit out of me though.

So I did struggle to recover, and the prevailing hot weather didn't help. I had a 5x600 workout on Tuesday my splits were 2:09, 2:10, 2:10, 2:08, 2:12. I got drenched again by the end, and I still felt the 22-miler in my legs.

I ran 14 miles on Wednesday, which I did by running four 3.5-mile laps shirtless in the neighborhood. I didn't want to carry water, so I just periodically returned to my house. It worked well. I may do this for other medium long runs, until the weather gets cool enough to get away with just the water fountains along the way.

Then two days of recovery runs (the first 6-miler on Wednesday was run in 97 degrees), and I'm racing tomorrow. A 10K tuneup, and Esther runs the 5K. It would be great if it wasn't going to be 76 degrees by the 10 o'clock start. Probably over 80 by the time I finish. It will be hard, but I'll try to go out at 6:20/mile, and see if I can hold it in the rising temperature. It will be a very small race, so chances are, I'll run alone (hopefully in the lead).

A pretty smooth week 8. The only workout was a 6 x 800 that I ran on the Iroquois High School track while there was a soccer game in progress (probably high school students, but with three referees and a decent audience). It went pretty great: amazingly even intervals at 2:54, 2:54, 2:54, 2:55, 2:54, 2:55. It wasn't very hard either.

Now a monster week ahead with 70 miles, a 7-mile LT run, and a very long run. Here is the schedule.

M: Rest
T: 6R + 4R
W: 15ML
T: 6R
F: 12 w/ 7T
S: 5R
S: 22L

If I survive this, it should be a relatively smooth sail from here. I'm looking forward to racing in just 10 days!

Every cycle must have some low points... I got mine last week, on the 16-mile long run, when 12 was supposed to be at marathon pace (6:43). I was perfectly fine for the first 6 of the 12, and then I started to slow. Mile 7 was 6:54, Mile 8 was 6:51, and mile 9 slipped over 7 minutes. I called it quits and I jogged the rest.

I felt very demoralized, but it's not a huge deal. I'm now two runs into week 8, and I feel good. I will not have many marathon paced runs in the remaining of the training cycle, but I'll have one very long (14 miles), which will tell me my progress.

What went wrong? Who knows. It was warm (80s), but not very hot, I got a bit dehydrated, but not too much. My cardio felt fine; it was my muscles that seem to have given up. Too many miles? Dehydration? The oil change and tire rotation in the hot garage before the run? I will probably never know.

Week 8 (recovery):

M: Rest
T: 9 GA
W: 9 w/ 6 x 800 @ 5K pace
T: 6 R
F: 11 ML
S: 8 GA w/ 10 x 100 ST
S: 15 ML

Tune-up races: September 23 (8K-15K), October 7 (8K-15K), October 21 (8K-10K).

September 23: Hawk Walk 10K (already registered)

October 7: Lincoln Days Railsplitter 10K ($35 until 09/17, 1 hr)

October 21: Med Center Health 10K classic ($30 until 09/21, 2 hrs)

Week 10 was largely OK, but somewhat mixed. The 14-miler went pretty well, judging from my Strava record, but I don't even remember it, so it must have been quite good.

I ran the 6-mile LT on the treadmill at the fire station (9.5 mph = 6:19/mile). It was pretty great. I changed to 2-1 breathing at around 3.9, and used for most of the fifth mile; however, I started to develop side stitches at 4.8, and I realized I was breathing too hard. I changed back to 2-2, and it was fine until the end of mile 6. It felt easier than the 5-mile LT last week.

Then the 20-miler was brutally hard. I finished it without a death march, but I faded toward the end quite a bit. Maybe due to the LT run just two days prior, of maybe because I mowed the lawn before the run, sweating for two hours in the sun. In any case, I was already tired after 12 miles, I wanted to stop after 16, I wend below 8 min/mile on the 17th, I just talked to myself into pushing into the 18th, I was fucking dying in the 19th, and my best sprint for the 20th was 7:43.

Maybe I just need a bad run every training cycle...

Week 9:
M: Rest
T: 6 R + 4 R
W: 15 ML
T: 6 R
F: 13 ML
S: 7 GA w/ 6 x 100 ST
S: 16 L w/ 12 MP

Week 11 went well. The LT run was on the treadmill: 5 miles at 6:18 pace. It was not too easy, and I changed to 1-2 breathing after 3 miles, but it wasn't unreasonably hard. I don't seem to be as fit as I was two years ago at the same point of the training cycle, but I'm mostly OK.

The facts that two years ago I was in better shape, and I barely managed to get under 3 hours on a flat course are not great signs for my 3-hour hopes. I may need to revise the goal.

I had my long run in Floyd Forks Park. 21 miles and it was quite hot, starting the run at 90 F and full sun. Many hills, too. I sill managed a 7:51/mile average (Strava, so water stops excluded). My shoes were totally wet by halfway, and I was quite tired at the end, but I still ran a strong last mile.

Week 10:

M: Rest
T: 6 + 4 R
W: 14 ML
T: 5 R
F: 11 w/ 6T
S: 6 R
S: 20 L

Total: 66 miles.

Week 12 finished with success. Happy to report that the 15-miler on Sunday felt kind of easy and the 55-mile week did feel like recovery - though remember that I had a "cheater" 51-mile week before this, which was supposed to be 63 miles.

And now for something completely different:

Week 11:

M: Rest
T: 10 mi w/ 5 @ T pace
W: 14 ML
T: 5 R
F: 11 ML
S: 7 GA w/ 10 x 100 ST
S: 21 L

Total: 68 miles.

Recovery week:

M: Rest
T: 8 GA w/ 10 x 100 strides
W: 12 ML
T: 5 R
F: 10 GA
S: 5 R
S: 15 L

Total: 55 miles.

It feels cheating that my last week was lower in mileage due to a skipped run, but it did contain some hard quality runs. Hope for the best. Try not to skip any more runs.

A decent week is finished today. On Tuesday, I did my LT run on the treadmill, and it went well. This was 9 miles with 5 at LT pace, which I set to 9.5 mph (6:18/mile). I changed to 2-1 breathing somewhere in mile 3 of the LT portion, and I struggled a bit in mile 5, but I never lost rhythmic breathing, and never went into the pain cave. A good threshold training run.

Then on Friday, I had to skip my medium long run of 12 miles, because I drove all night the night before, and I was too tired. A good decision in light of the circumstances, but it is still not good for training. That also killed my weekly mileage. Instead of 63, I finished with 51 miles. I know that even Pfitzinger says not to sweat a single skipped run, but it feels wrong...

I finished the week with an 18-mile long run, where the last 10 miles were done at marathon pace. Sounds impossible, but I did it with relative ease. It was raining the whole time, so my shoes and socks got soaked, and I had to carry the increased weight on my legs, but it was cool, so I didn't need to drink too much (I consumed a 1/2 liter of fluid), and I didn't overheat. I ended up averaging 6:45/mile for the last 10 miles.

After another real life interference, I skipped a Sunday training and used the opportunity to push myself back to Monday-Sunday schedule. It's ironic that the skipped run is a long run, but it won't show decreased mileage on Strava, because I already "paid" for this in week 1. So here is the new schedule.

Week 13: 07/31
Week 12: 08/07
Week 11: 08/14
Week 10: 08/21
Week 9: 08/28
Week 8: 09/04
Week 7: 09/11
Week 6: 09/18
Week 5: 09/25
Week 4: 10/02
Week 3: 10/09
Week 2: 10/16
Week 1: 10/23
Race week: 10/30

Otherwise things are going well. Last week was 62 miles with no quality other than long runs: 14, 11, and 18 miles. (I didn't remember Pfitz being this light on fast workouts.) They all went really well. The 14-miler was brutal, because it was done in 90 degrees, but weather cooled a bit for the second half of the week, so I managed a good 11 and a good 18. I would have called the 18 "very good", but I had some GI issues and I had stop stop for a bathroom break at mile 8.

The moment of truth is coming today: 9 miles with a 5-mile threshold part. I may need to run it on the treadmill though. Even though it's not super hot, it will be close to 90 in the early afternoon and I have firefighter training in the evening. I haven't decided to go for sure, but I want to, and it that case, I will just take the tempo run to the gym.

Today I had my first real workout of the marathon training plan. I mean that 16 mile run with 8 miles at marathon pace was hard enough, but I think of that more like a difficult a long run.

So this was 9 miles with 4 miles at threshold pace. I had to do it on the treadmill, because it was impossibly hot outside (right now, at 22:18, it is still 90 degrees, feels like 103). It went fine: I ran the fast part at 9.5 mph, which is 6:19 pace. It felt like it was spot on my threshold pace. I did 1-2 breathing all the way, and oxygen never was a problem. My legs were not entirely recovered, but they held up well enough to finish the run.

Unfortunately it looks like it may take a while before I'll be able to test my strength outdoors. But at least the treadmill runs indicate that I'm at or around VDOT 55, which is a good place to be at in July. Of course a million things can go wrong, but for now I'm good.

Week schedule for marathon training for easy reference. To make Tuesday a rest day, I'm following a Tuesday to Monday schedule, so each week starts on a Tuesday. This makes me 1 day late, which will have to be cut out somewhere later. (I wrote somewhere two days, not realizing that the race is actually on a Sunday.)

Week 17: 07/4
Week 16: 07/11
Week 15: 07/18
Week 14: 07/25
Week 13: 08/01
Week 12: 08/08
Week 11: 08/15Week 10: 08/22
Week 9: 08/29
Week 8: 09/05
Week 7: 09/12
Week 6: 09/19Week 5: 09/26
Week 4: 10/03
Week 3: 10/10
Week 2: 10/17
Week 1: 10/24
Race week: 10/31

Temperature: 101 F. Feels like 124. No tempo run outdoors today. Treadmill it is.

Every year I must have one of those long runs when I completely run out of gas, unable, or almost unable to finish. Pfitzinger's 18/70 plan has a combination of a 11 miler followed by a 13 miler midweek for the third week of training. Add the fact that we are having a heat wave, and that I only had time to run the 11-miler in the evening and the 13-miler in the morning, it may have been predictable that this would be killer hard.

So I ran the 11 yesterday at 6pm, still over 90 degrees. I ran the 13 this morning starting at 8am: 75 degrees at 8am, and 85 at 9:45, when I finished; super humid all the way. Mile 12 was absolutely brutal; I hardly could convince myself not to stop. I summoned all my fighting spirit for mile 13 to run 7:52.

What kind of training plan is this anyway?! It's shifted by one day for me, but here: 16 miles w/ 8 @ MP, rest, 11 miles, 13 miles. This is my week so far. All my runs are colored dark green on Strava (long run).

After the 5K I had slower week, mostly because I was taking my CPAT test, and I didn't want any risk of failing it. The embarrassment would have been enormous. I started Pfitzinger's 18/70 plan after a few days of break from running. Right now I'm two days behind, because I run the schedule on a Tuesday to Monday cycle, and the target race is on Saturday as opposed to Sunday.

However, I have another option. There will be a marathon in Louisville on November 12, Sunday. If I run that, I'm 6 days ahead of schedule. Which is great if there is a problem that makes me miss important workouts, but it's a problem if I peak too soon. I'll have to make a decision in about a month, but I do strongly lean toward running Louisville. It's a smaller race, much closer to home. It has some nasty hills, but Bowling Green has that, too. And I'm rather familiar with course, because it is entirely in The Parklands, which is one of my favorite training places.

Here is the plan for next week.

M: MP, 16 mi w/ 8 mi @ marathon race pace (oh my!)
T: Rest
W: MLR, 11 mi
T: MLR, 13 mi
F: R, 5 mi
S: LT, 9 mi w/ 4 mi @ threshold pace
S: R, 5 mi

Using 55 VDOT, threshold pace is 6:20, marathon race pace is 6:43. If that's too hard, I'll ease back as necessary, but would be nice to run at least 6:26 pace for threshold and 6:49 for marathon paced, as that is VDOT 54. If I don't have at least 54 VDOT, it is a long shot to run under 3 hours on a hilly course in the fall.

White Mills 5K Race Report

Goal: 19:00. No dream goal. Minimum goal: 20:00.

This was my last 5K before the start of my systematic marathon training. I mostly just wanted to have a race experience; no specific goal, maybe winning something. I knew it would be hot and humid, as most July 4th races are in Kentucky, but hey, it is equally hard for everyone.

It turned out to be a very small race. About one hour of driving from home, in the middle of the beautiful and fertile rural Kentucky. I did a nice and relaxed warmup (though I didn't feel great), and lined up right behind the start line. I don't think I was excited enough: my mind was not really in the game. I started to think about my excuses before the start!

The race was an out and back course. A bit hilly, starting with a steep downhill for probably less than a quarter of a mile, and a wooden bridge crossing. Then a modest uphill for the rest of the first mile. Rolling hills in the second mile, followed by mostly downhill for the third. And of course, the steep uphill finish.

The weather was less than ideal. Temperature in low 70s, but some sunny areas, and nearly 100% humidity. Rain probably would have been easier, but it wasn't going to happen.

At exactly 8am, we were off. I was careful on the downhill (a fall can ruin your entire race), and then I started to run an effort that didn't seem very hard. One person passed me at 0.25 mile. I mention this, because after this, my position remained constant, and in fact I was running fairly closely behind a 16-year old guy for the whole race with nobody following me in sight.

Mile 1: 6:07

This was right on pace for 19 minutes, and since this was largely uphill (or so I thought, forgetting about the first steep downhill), and it didn't feel very hard, it made me optimistic about the sub-19 prospects.

After the climb we entered the rolling hill territory. I think it was more sunny here, and I didn't feel like I was slowing down, but I did command myself to run conservatively. I almost passed the 16-year old, but he started to run faster, so I decided to just follow him. In all honesty, this was a pretty flat mile, but somehow I just felt now that first mile sucked the energy out of me.

Mile 2: 6:27

Well, this was unexpected... Not even 20-minute pace! But I wasn't sure what to do. I was hurting like I was supposed to---and I knew not to kill myself, because I would have to run up that last steep hill. I tried to power up harder on the hills (which I just noticed---previously I thought this mile would be all downhill), and coast on the downhills.

Mile 3: 6:34

By this time, I basically gave up. Just end this embarrassing experience quickly! My only goal remained to finish this race under 20 minutes. I somehow summoned up enough power to run the last uphill at a sub-7-minute pace.

Last 0.1: 41 seconds
Time: 19:49

This was good enough for 7th overall and 2nd in age group (35-44). The organizer did manage the mess up the results again(!), and announced a wrong age-group winner. But I actually talked to the guy before and after the start and we both knew that I beat him, so he was nice enough to tell the organizers that he did not win the age group. Then they gave me the medal! But in fact, now that I see the results posted, it seems like I didn't win either: somebody ran 19:29. Edit: The organizers just emailed me that something may still be wrong with the results, and they are working on the correction.

In any case, this was a badly paced, badly run race. I don't know what else to conclude. The time is dismal, but it may not be that informative. It may also be the sign that I'm getting older, and my glory days are behind me.

I will go on with the marathon training now. If I can do 3 hours in Bowling Green, then all is well. If not, then I better find some really good excuse, or I will have to admit that my glory days are really over, and I'm just an old fart now.

I finished my second week of Phase IV (OK, one short evening run left), and it went quite well. I did a recovery run on the treadmill due to heavy rain, but my two workouts were outside and I nailed them. My VDOT is pretty solid 54 now.

I will race a 5K on July 1, next Saturday, so I'll change my training a bit to reflect that.

M: 75 min E (could be the total of 2 runs)
T: 2.5 m E + 3 x 1 m T w/ 2 min rests + 2.5 m E
W: 75 min E (could be the total of 2 runs)
T: 30-40 min E
F: 30-40 min E or rest
S: 5K
S: 120 min L

I have no idea what to expect from the race. There is no 5K specific peaking here whatsoever; even the mileage will be probably pretty much the same as the weeks before. I will probably be hot and humid.

I only had time for a 40-minute run, instead of a 75-minute run today, so tomorrow, on my rest day, I'll have to do another 35 minutes. I missed a fire by having a bad luck manning the only engine that wasn't pulled tonight from our fire station. Republicans won both special elections tonight.

This was a bad day...

I'm starting my 3 weeks of Phase IV Gold Plan today. Some compromise must be made due to real life schedule, so the four days between Wednesday and Saturday won't be easy. But I had the following constraints: Monday must be easy, because I had a long run on Sunday, Tuesday must be easy due to firefighter training, and Sunday must be easy, because I'll have to start next week with a hard run.

M: 75 min E (1 or 2 runs)
T: Rest
W: 20 min E + 3 x 3 min H w/2 min jg + 8 x 200 R w/200 jg +10 min E
T: 60 min E (1 or 2 runs)
F: 20 min E + 6 x 1000 T w/1 min rests + 6 ST + 20 min E
S: 120 min L
S: 75 min E (preferably 2 runs)

Next week plan:

M: 75 min E
T: 20 min E + 5 x 3 min hard w/2 min jg + 20 min E
W: Rest (more exactly CPAT practice)
T: 1 or 2 E runs of 30-40 min each
F: 20 min E + 6 ST + (8 x 200 R w/200 jg + 5 min E) x 2
S: 60 min E (1 or 2 runs)
S: 120 min L

Outrunning Autism 5K Race Report

June 3, 2017

Goal: 19:00. Dream goal: 18:30. Minimum goal: 20:00.

I haven't raced anything in a long time, and I'm certainly not getting any younger, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Based on my estimated VDOT of 54, Daniels says 18:40, but that assumes perfect training and peaking, so I thought 19:00 may be appropriate. Anyway, I decided to go out by feel, but not faster than 6:00 for the first mile.

The race start was 9:15, and it was large enough to have a packet pickup the day before, but I just honestly forgot about it, and so I had to arrive early enough to factor in the lost time on packet pickup. Additionally, parking was almost a mile from start, so I had to go back and forth after picking up the packet. I arrived before 8:00, and did everything usual: I finished my 2-mile warmup about 15-20 minutes before start. It was already quite hot and I was sweating quite a bit. I don't know if this was a factor.

The race was in full sun, and according to Wunderground, it was 75 degrees at start and 80 at finish time. But I think the asphalt road/concrete path and full sun environment increased the temperature even further. Many people complained about being hot out there. It probably did affect me, but I was acclimated, and a 5K is less than 20 minutes, so I don't think it had too much effect.

The start was a bit hectic, because people lined up incorrectly. I probably should have gone to the front, but there were a few college track runners up there, and I thought I should be more like in the third line. As a consequence, I had to zig-zag around people for the first half mile. I probably should have just taken a few seconds loss there, but I was too aggravated... so I wasted a bunch of energy and some time.

After that I settled into a fast, but sustainable pace (or so I thought). I was trying to run with other people to help me pace. My GPS showed that my start was too fast, but after about 1/2 mile, I was running a pace of just over 6 min/mile.

Mile 1: 6:05

Looks good. The course was very flat, but there were two bridges and an underpass at the halfway point. We ran across the first bridge in mile 1. After the mile marker, we ran through a large field. The sun came down hard, and I started to feel it. We reached an aid station at the halfway point. I should have grabbed a water to pour it over my head, but by the time I thought about it, it was too late. We went through the underpass (this was below a bridge), and when we came back up the other side, the hurt started. "That's normal", I told myself. "Less than 10 minutes left." My pace slowed, but I didn't feel it, and nobody passed me. In fact I passed a few people, including an older lady, who was running by me until now, and who had a great group of spectators: she got a cheer at every aid station from a bunch a younger girls, who looked like students. She slowed a bit just before the second mile marker, so I passed her. (According to the results, she is 47 and she ran 19:37.)

Mile 2: 6:13

That's OK, as long as I can kill the last mile. We ran across the bridge again, full sun, concrete, and I was hurting bad. This is the point when you have to talk yourself into not stopping. I just wish I had a bit more mental energy. There was a 4 km sign when we got back to the big oval lawn that we had to circle, and it demoralized me a bit. My watch was showing something like 15:45, so I knew that my time would be well over 19:00 minutes, and if I fall apart, I might even go outside of 20 minutes. I probably could have pushed a bit more, but I was afraid of a total meltdown. I also knew I was in 10th place, so losing that would have been disappointing, too.

Mile 3: 6:21

Once the finish line was within 300 yards, I knew I could push a bit harder, and I passed one guy in front of me.

Last portion: 49 seconds.

Total time: 19:28, 9th overall.

I actually didn't get an official time for some reason. Unfortunately the race was timed by the worst timing company in Louisville, called Head First Performance. It is not their first screw-up, and if I knew they were timing this, I might not have signed up at all. In any case, I'm totally missing from their finish list. I paid the registration (with late fee), I have my number and timing chip, and I surely crossed the start/finish mat both ways... The organizer lady was nice, and they called me back and announced that a mistake was made and they gave me a 2nd age group award just based on the time I told them. So I guess they did what they could. But I don't show up on the list of finishers and I don't have an official time. My own estimate is based on the guy I beat on the finish line, whose time was 19:28.8. Of course this is chip time, but it also took me a few seconds to cross the start line, so this is my best guess. The AG 2nd place is almost surely correct, because the 1st ran 19:23, and the 3rd (who was also awarded 2nd place by mistake) ran 20:32.

I was disappointed with the poor time, but maybe it's OK. I should run more 5Ks to have a correct picture. This time would indicate a 51-52 VDOT which may be low, but maybe not too low... I only started to do any kind of workout 3 weeks ago. One thing to consider is to scale back my workouts to 53 VDOT, because 54 may be too high after all. I do hope I can get back to 55 eventually, because that seems necessary to run sub-3 hours in the hilly Bowling Green.

I stayed in the park until noon, because I ran a 5-mile lap with Jim Ball, who did an extreme version of this run: after he finished the 5K he went on to run for 24 hours, covering about 100 miles. It was very slow, of course, but it was a fine cooldown. I finished the day with over 10 miles, so I'm not sure how much I want to run today. I'll play it by ear.

I finished my 3rd (and last) Phase I week. Thank god, cause I've hated the 10 x 1/4 mile @ R pace workout.

I'll have 2 weeks of Phase II, but I also want to run a 5K on June 3. So I'm planning next week like this:

M: 60 min E (1 or 2 runs TM)
T: 75 min E
W: 3 miles E + 3 x 1 mile T w/ 2 min rest + 3 miles easy
T: 30 min E + 30 min E
F: Rest
S: 5K race w/2 miles warmup and 3 miles cooldown
S: 120 min long run

I'll try to run easy runs at 7:45-8:15. T pace is 6:26. Theoretically, I should be able to run the 5K in 18:40 (6:00/mile), but we'll see it on race day.

I did my LT workout yesterday on the treadmill. Originally, because it was heavy rain outside, but also, because the controlled environment appealed to me at this time: I wanted to get some solid indicators if I'm able to run steady 20 minutes at sub-6:30 pace, and how it feels. No distraction from weather, hills, traffic.

It went better than expected. After 20 minutes of warmup at 8:00/mile, I switched the TM to 6:27/mile, and I ran 20 minutes that pace. It wasn't too hard. At no time I felt I was over my LT. I certainly could have done it a lot longer.

I guess this is another indication of a 54 VDOT. I'll do my training accordingly. I will probably need at least 55 to run sub-3 hour in Bowling Green, but I have a lot of time.

Second week of Gold Plan finished. The last workout of the week is always this 10 x 400 m (or more exactly 10 x 1/4 mile), which I do on the street, because the open high school track close to our house is being resurfaced. This is physically not that hard, but mentally brutal for me. Every repetition is uncomfortably fast. They are just too long, and there are 10 of them! Like when you think you had enough after 3, but there are 7 left! It always feels good when I finally finish it.

The week ended with 57 miles, even lower than last time, but the quality makes up for it. I just wish I could finally nail the LT workout next week.

My mileage will be down a bit by using Daniels' Gold plan, at least in Phase I. It will be between 55 and 60, but that's fine. It quite a bit harder than doing 60 all easy.

Today I had my third T run in the last two weeks. As expected, it's not getting any faster. Today it was especially hard, because I ran in 87 degrees, mostly uphill, and mostly headwind. Splits were 6:24, 6:43, 6:51, which works out to be 6:40-ish average. Even the pacing is mostly fine, because last mile was the most uphill/headwind, and the first mile was mostly fine pace, except for a jackrabbit start.

Two threshold workouts later I can pretty well determine that my VDOT is slightly under 54. I decided that I'll try to Daniels' Gold Plan until the 18 week training starts. It will be probably quite hard, if not impossible - but hey it won't hurt to try, and maybe I can have some fun after so many weeks of just easy running. Tomorrow I'll have finished the first week of it.

Including this week, I'll have 8 weeks of training before systematic marathon training starts. That means 3 weeks in Phase I, 2 weeks in Phase II, and 3 weeks in Phase IV. Due to the fixed rest days on Tuesdays, This is how the Phase I weeks should look like:

M: 60 min E (1 or 2 runs) + 6 ST
T: Rest
W: 20 min E + 6 ST + 20 min T + 6 ST + 10 min E
T: 60 min E
F: 120 min L
S: 75 min E (1 or 2 runs)
S: 20 min E + 10 x 400 R w/400 jg + 10 min E

T pace is 6:30/mile, R pace is 83 s for 400 m. Strides are light, quick 20 second runs with 60 seconds of rest.

More than a half a year after my last post, nothing that I planned came through. With work and travel, I was training on and off; never stopped, but also never able to do as much as I wanted. I got sick a few times in the winter, too. According to my training log, here are the logged mileages since that last September post.

50, 11, 51, 51, 35, 56, 57, 52, 60, 27, 60, 9, 0, 26, 44, 32, 0, 0, 19, 4, 20, 45, 34, 0, 45, 43, 50, 46, 55, 35, 60, 38, 45, 60, 60.

So I gave up on running the KY Derby, and now I'm looking into a fall marathon. Bowling Green looks nice.

Marathon on 11/5. Training starts on 7/2. Until then, trying to get to 60 MPW, 15 mile long runs, and some quality to have a VDOT at 55.