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.
Saturday, July 22
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
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
Thursday, July 20
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).
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).
Sunday, July 16
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.
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.
Saturday, July 1
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.
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.
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