Week 9 went down well. The 14-miler on Tuesday was incredibly hard for some reason: I'm guessing mostly due to hot temperatures (80 degrees or so) and very strong headwinds for the second half of the run. I was completely exhausted. Then I had a great 12-miler on Thursday, running it at a 7:25 pace, which felt easy (and this was the Iroquois Park loop, which is hilly).
But the icing on the cake was the long run on Saturday. 17 miles with 10 at marathon pace. I ran the 10 miles at 6:40 average, and pretty even splits (except for the first mile, which was 6:29). Even without the first mile, the average pace was 6:41. The weather was pretty good, though it was raining the whole time.
This suggests that I should be capable of running a 3-hour marathon, and probably keep training at VDOT 55. Though I should run my marathon paced runs at more like 6:50. This is because the goal of a marathon paced run is to practice the pace, and gain some confidence, not anything physiological.
Week 8:
M: 13 MLR
T: 15 MLR
W: 5 R
T: 10 w/ 5 LT
F: 5 R
S: 18 L
Total: 66 miles
Monday, February 26
Monday, February 19
Everything went fine until Friday. I did my medium long runs, and my 4 mile LT run on Wednesday (on treadmill) went fine. It was hard, as usual, but it was doable, never painful, and I ran at 6:18/mile.
Then I had oral surgery on Friday, so I had to skip my Friday and Saturday runs, and the dentist didn't seem very eager to let me run anything on Sunday either. So I decided to make some changes. After skipping the rest of the week, I'll start Week 9 of Pfitzinger's 55-70 in 12 plan on Sunday.
S: Rest
M: 9 GA
T: 14 ML
W: 5 R
T: 12 ML
F: 5 R
S: 17 w/ 10@MP
This last day will be hard, and it will determine the rest of the training. If I can do it, I'll try to go on, if not I'll rethink my plans.
Then I had oral surgery on Friday, so I had to skip my Friday and Saturday runs, and the dentist didn't seem very eager to let me run anything on Sunday either. So I decided to make some changes. After skipping the rest of the week, I'll start Week 9 of Pfitzinger's 55-70 in 12 plan on Sunday.
S: Rest
M: 9 GA
T: 14 ML
W: 5 R
T: 12 ML
F: 5 R
S: 17 w/ 10@MP
This last day will be hard, and it will determine the rest of the training. If I can do it, I'll try to go on, if not I'll rethink my plans.
Sunday, February 11
Possible tune-up races:
03/31: Run the Bluegrass 7 miler. It's a very fancy race (and expensive!), but it may be a lot of fun. 700 runners, hilly. Register by 2/28.
04/14: Trooper Cameron Ponder Memorial 10K: Typical small southern race, not much in awards, probably slow, small field. Register by 4/6.
03/31: Run the Bluegrass 7 miler. It's a very fancy race (and expensive!), but it may be a lot of fun. 700 runners, hilly. Register by 2/28.
04/14: Trooper Cameron Ponder Memorial 10K: Typical small southern race, not much in awards, probably slow, small field. Register by 4/6.
Saturday, February 10
Snowman Shuffle 4 Miler Race Report
Goal: Win the master division, both in this race and more importantly, the overall in the Polar Bear Grand Prix.
This was the third race in the series, and by far the longest - also my first ever 4-mile race. Given the drizzle, the hills at the end, my lack of experience in 4-mile races, and less than perfect shape, I didn't really know what to expect. I was leading the master division coming into this race, and I googled the second place to see how the guy looked like, so that I would know who I had to beat. (His name is Marc.) I recognized him at the start, and walked up to him, telling him about our standing in the race. I thought it is just fair he also knows who he is racing against.
Again, we ran the race with Esther: she was also running to win her age group. We arrived to the park about 45 minutes early. I had time for a good warmup, and a bathroom break, but I didn't feel very good. I was hoping I would feel better during the race.
The race started with a downhill of about a 1/2 mile long, then flat until mile 2.7. In the last 1.3 mile there are two decent hills: the first peaks at around mile 3.0, flat until 3.2, down to 3.7, and then up for the rest. My plan was to go out strong and they try to hang onto my position: go out at sub-6 pace for the downhill, then slow down a bit, but try to reach 2.7 with an average pace around or just over 6:00/mile. Conserve energy on the first hill in case I need to race the last hill - unless Marc would try to pass me on the first hill.
At exactly 9 am, we were off. I was pushing hard the downhill, so much so that I was doing a 5:30-ish pace. My race position got established very early at my usual 10th place. I was breathing hard, and I knew I couldn't sustain this effort, but it was all according to plans.
Mile 1: 5:36
Crazy first mile but with net elevation loss of 71 ft (22 meters). The second mile was basically the symmetric tail and of an out-and-back portion of the course, so after about a 1/2 mile, I was able to see the runners coming from the other direction. Most importantly I realized that Marc was not far behind: maybe 100 meters. That meant I could come down to the line, so I can't blow up before the end. I slowed a bit to conserve energy. Unfortunately I missed Esther as she was running out. I did meet another friend though, who shouted out some encouragements at me.
Mile 2: 6:16
Mile pace was swinging a bit and I'm not exactly sure why. I know I had to run around a group of dogwalkers who cut in front of me as I approached, and there were a few turns where I slowed down a bit either due to slippery roads or traffic. I averaged around 6:30 pace here, which is a bit pathetic. Maybe I also tried to run slower deliberately, knowing the hills were coming.
Then we started to climb, and pace pace dropped like a stone. A woman passed me uphill. I let her go, because I had zero chance following her: she was fast (beat me by 31 seconds and she gained that in a little over a mile).
Mile 3: 6:53
I pushed the downhill a bit, and I got a little surprise at mile 3.4: the rest of my family came out to cheer us along! It gave me a lot of motivation, and I pushed harder, even though the last hill started. I looked back and I saw nobody, so I didn't run too hard. But when I glanced back again 100 meters later, I saw a woman approaching quite close to me. Even though she was clearly not a danger to my master division position, I wasn't about to let her pass me. I pushed hard up the hill, to the finish line.
Mile 4: 6:40
Total time: 25:24, 9/295, 1st in master division.
I slowed a bit more than I should have, and I did struggle at the end, but I've never been good on hills, right? (Well, I did have some success on hilly races, but some bad disappointments, too.) Job is done, master division has been won both in the race and in the Grand Prix. Esther came in at 42nd place in 30:16, which is a great time for her.
The timing company messed up again. Not my time or place this time, but they awarded 3rd place overall trophy in the PBGP to a 9 year old boy, who was beaten by dozens of people. It was quite obvious fr everyone that he could not have been 3rd place, and he was embarrassed and reluctant to take the trophy. What a mess-up! I used to have high opinion about River City Races, who organized this race, but out of the last four races I ran with them, they messed up the results badly at least three times! (I was involved twice: see reports on White Mills 5K and the Reindeer Romp 4K.) And these are the people who are now running the triple crown! Those are high profile races. If they continue the way are operating now, there will be scandal!
Note that I'm not actually sure that I deserved the master win either, because a 53-year old man beat me in all three races by a good margin. My luck is that they cut off the master division at age 49: over that it is "grandmaster". That doesn't seem logical to me. In fact if a master or a grandmaster wins in overall, they should always be awarded the "better" trophy. Anyway, at least these peculiarities seem to be in the rules (though they were never got published).
It makes me want to organize my own races, so that at least they would be run well!
I take a rest today, and then almost surely start to prepare for the KY Derby marathon. I have 11 weeks. Can I run 3 hours? (It does have a few hills.)
Goal: Win the master division, both in this race and more importantly, the overall in the Polar Bear Grand Prix.
This was the third race in the series, and by far the longest - also my first ever 4-mile race. Given the drizzle, the hills at the end, my lack of experience in 4-mile races, and less than perfect shape, I didn't really know what to expect. I was leading the master division coming into this race, and I googled the second place to see how the guy looked like, so that I would know who I had to beat. (His name is Marc.) I recognized him at the start, and walked up to him, telling him about our standing in the race. I thought it is just fair he also knows who he is racing against.
Again, we ran the race with Esther: she was also running to win her age group. We arrived to the park about 45 minutes early. I had time for a good warmup, and a bathroom break, but I didn't feel very good. I was hoping I would feel better during the race.
The race started with a downhill of about a 1/2 mile long, then flat until mile 2.7. In the last 1.3 mile there are two decent hills: the first peaks at around mile 3.0, flat until 3.2, down to 3.7, and then up for the rest. My plan was to go out strong and they try to hang onto my position: go out at sub-6 pace for the downhill, then slow down a bit, but try to reach 2.7 with an average pace around or just over 6:00/mile. Conserve energy on the first hill in case I need to race the last hill - unless Marc would try to pass me on the first hill.
At exactly 9 am, we were off. I was pushing hard the downhill, so much so that I was doing a 5:30-ish pace. My race position got established very early at my usual 10th place. I was breathing hard, and I knew I couldn't sustain this effort, but it was all according to plans.
Mile 1: 5:36
Crazy first mile but with net elevation loss of 71 ft (22 meters). The second mile was basically the symmetric tail and of an out-and-back portion of the course, so after about a 1/2 mile, I was able to see the runners coming from the other direction. Most importantly I realized that Marc was not far behind: maybe 100 meters. That meant I could come down to the line, so I can't blow up before the end. I slowed a bit to conserve energy. Unfortunately I missed Esther as she was running out. I did meet another friend though, who shouted out some encouragements at me.
Mile 2: 6:16
Mile pace was swinging a bit and I'm not exactly sure why. I know I had to run around a group of dogwalkers who cut in front of me as I approached, and there were a few turns where I slowed down a bit either due to slippery roads or traffic. I averaged around 6:30 pace here, which is a bit pathetic. Maybe I also tried to run slower deliberately, knowing the hills were coming.
Then we started to climb, and pace pace dropped like a stone. A woman passed me uphill. I let her go, because I had zero chance following her: she was fast (beat me by 31 seconds and she gained that in a little over a mile).
Mile 3: 6:53
I pushed the downhill a bit, and I got a little surprise at mile 3.4: the rest of my family came out to cheer us along! It gave me a lot of motivation, and I pushed harder, even though the last hill started. I looked back and I saw nobody, so I didn't run too hard. But when I glanced back again 100 meters later, I saw a woman approaching quite close to me. Even though she was clearly not a danger to my master division position, I wasn't about to let her pass me. I pushed hard up the hill, to the finish line.
Mile 4: 6:40
Total time: 25:24, 9/295, 1st in master division.
I slowed a bit more than I should have, and I did struggle at the end, but I've never been good on hills, right? (Well, I did have some success on hilly races, but some bad disappointments, too.) Job is done, master division has been won both in the race and in the Grand Prix. Esther came in at 42nd place in 30:16, which is a great time for her.
The timing company messed up again. Not my time or place this time, but they awarded 3rd place overall trophy in the PBGP to a 9 year old boy, who was beaten by dozens of people. It was quite obvious fr everyone that he could not have been 3rd place, and he was embarrassed and reluctant to take the trophy. What a mess-up! I used to have high opinion about River City Races, who organized this race, but out of the last four races I ran with them, they messed up the results badly at least three times! (I was involved twice: see reports on White Mills 5K and the Reindeer Romp 4K.) And these are the people who are now running the triple crown! Those are high profile races. If they continue the way are operating now, there will be scandal!
Note that I'm not actually sure that I deserved the master win either, because a 53-year old man beat me in all three races by a good margin. My luck is that they cut off the master division at age 49: over that it is "grandmaster". That doesn't seem logical to me. In fact if a master or a grandmaster wins in overall, they should always be awarded the "better" trophy. Anyway, at least these peculiarities seem to be in the rules (though they were never got published).
It makes me want to organize my own races, so that at least they would be run well!
I take a rest today, and then almost surely start to prepare for the KY Derby marathon. I have 11 weeks. Can I run 3 hours? (It does have a few hills.)
Another week of training went fairly well. I did a strong long run of 15 miles on Sunday, and then 9 miles each day after that. The one on Tuesday was a treadmill workout with 3 LT miles with 2 minutes of rests. It felt pretty easy (6:19/mile pace), as it should with 2 minutes rests and only 3 of them. I rested on Friday to be ready for the 4-mile race on Saturday.
Saturday, February 3
I finished the full week without much trouble, though the LT max workout was less than perfect. The goal was to run 3 miles at threshold pace, rest for 2 minutes, and the run another 2 miles at threshold pace. Ideally, my threshold pace should be around 6:20/mile (55 VDOT), though I figured it would be more like 6:25 on the day. But I ran on gravel/dirt, some elevation, and it was cold (in the 30's) - or for whatever reason but I only managed to run 6:32, 6:33, 6:35 splits. Then, in the second bout, I ran a 6:14 mile, but I had to stop during the second mile for a bathroom break (probably 2-3 minutes), and I ran the second mile in 6:23 (without the break, of course). Realistically, the first bout was probably the LT effort, and the second bout was too fast. Though it is hard to know that with the circumstances, what VDOT that corresponds to.
For the second workout, on Friday, I ran 8x3 minutes VO2 max intervals on the treadmill with 2 minutes of jogging breaks. I ran the intervals at 10.3 mph (5:49/mile), and the jogs at 6 mph (10:00/mile). I managed to finish the workout, and it did feel that the fast pace was my true VO2 max (not faster). That would put into the 55 VDOT value. It might be that I have 55 fitness, but my stamina (LT) lags behind.
Here is the plan for race week:
Su: 15L
Mo: 9E
Tu: 3E + 3 x 1T w/2 min rests + 3E
We: 9E
Th: 9E
Fr: Rest
Sa: Race
For the second workout, on Friday, I ran 8x3 minutes VO2 max intervals on the treadmill with 2 minutes of jogging breaks. I ran the intervals at 10.3 mph (5:49/mile), and the jogs at 6 mph (10:00/mile). I managed to finish the workout, and it did feel that the fast pace was my true VO2 max (not faster). That would put into the 55 VDOT value. It might be that I have 55 fitness, but my stamina (LT) lags behind.
Here is the plan for race week:
Su: 15L
Mo: 9E
Tu: 3E + 3 x 1T w/2 min rests + 3E
We: 9E
Th: 9E
Fr: Rest
Sa: Race
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