Well, training could hardly be any worse than it is. I have to risk this is my worst cycle so far, except for the once that injured me. I had to play catch up all week.

5 x 600 m on Monday: 2:16, 2:13, 2:16, 2:18, 2:16. This is reasonable for VDOT 52, but my legs were still dead from the 20-miler two days before, so it was still pretty hard.

The other workout was supposed to be a tune-up race, but I just did 5-mile LT: 6:27, 6:42, 6:48, 6:46, 6:41. Not terrible, except if we realize that my LT pace is probably 6:40, and not getting any better.

This also trashed my legs, and the following day I bonked on my 17-miler. Probably not due to the tempo run, but messed up hydration. I got very dehydrated. I stopped at 13.5 and walked home. Not the end of the world, but a missed opportunity at some good training.

I already started week -3, and it's not going great. But first the plan:

Week -3:

Mon: 7 R w/ 6x100 ST

Tue: 10 w/ 4 x 1200m

Wed: Rest

Thu: 11 MLR

Fri: 4 R

Sat: 20 L

I felt great on my recovery and I got my hopes up, but today, before my track workout, I felt very tired. I ran my 1200 a bit slower (deliberately) at 4:40, 4:39, 4:42, 4:41, and even this felt pretty hard. This really is only 50 VDOT, which would put me over 3:10 for the marathon. The more I train, the slower I get.

I used to 5 x 1200 in 4:21 each in the good old days.

I survived the monster week, and "survived" sounds like the appropriate word. I felt fine for the 12-miler mid-week, and then the hard part came on Thursday and Saturday.

My Thursday LT run was a bit of a failure. We had serious winds outside, which meant that I had streets where I seriously had to push against strong headwind. You never get that back downwind - almost like elevation changes. I ran 6.6 miles (one neighborhood lap) at a perceived LT pace. I'm not sure how much the splits mean: 6:34, 6:54, 7:02, 7:13, 7:03, 6:47, and the fractional last part in 4:01 at a pace of 6:36. So altogether 45:34 for 6.6 miles, roughly 6:54 pace. That's almost as slow as marathon pace. If 6:54 is my threshold, then Daniels says my marathon is ~3:14. I hope that's not true. I really want to run a 3:!0.

In Saturday, I ran my first 20-miler. This was tough. It was warm outside, and my legs still felt the Thursday run. Also, this run is 3 miles longer than the longest so far. I pushed though the pain and tiredness, and finished the run decently. I tried to check out the course of the marathon, but I missed a turn in the trail, and I got hopelessly lost. So I ended up exploring some other trails. One more tough thing in this run was that I had to carry all my water, which meant that I carried a liter bottle for a while; I stashed it, and picked it up coming back.

It is getting a bit easier from here, though the next 3 weeks is still pretty hard.

Week -4:

Mon: 8 w/ 5x600

Tue: 11 MLR

Wed: Rest

Thu: 4 R w/ 6x100

Fri: 8K-15K race, but I'll probably do 6 miles LT instead with 2/2 wu/cd.

Sat: 17 L

Total: 50 miles

Week -6 is done. I've had too hard workouts this week: 5 x 1000m and 15 mile long run with 12 miles at marathon pace.

My goal splits for the 1000s were 3:48 (far cry from the 3:37 I used to train at), at this was OK. Splits were 3:45, 3:47, 3:49, 3:50, 3:48, and no serious pain until the last one. A fairly crowded track, but pretty polite runners. Total mileage was 10. It was brutal to run a 12-miler the day after on tired legs, but I know it is by design.

Then after two easy days (one rest, one recovery), I ran the marathon paced run. My legs didn't feel good, even during warmup. The fast splits were 6:54, 7:06, 7:12, 7:05, 6:56, 6:56, 7:08, 7:11, 7:06, 7:03, 7:14, 6:55. Average of 7:04, which was my exact goal. But it was hard. So I'm definitely no better shape than this. 3:05-ish marathon. Said this way, it doesn't seem far from 3 hours, but considering it is some 15 seconds per mile slower, the difference is astonishing.

No question, there are no miracles in running. Training too little last summer/fall, you can't just start to run long and fast in the spring. It will be my fall cycle, where I can do something hopefully better. Definitely need more miles, stronger base, and longer training cycle is necessary.

Crazy to remember that we have only 6 weeks left.

Week -5:

Mon: 6 R w/ 6 x 100 ST

Tue: 12 MLR

Wed: Rest

Thu: 12 w/ 7 @ LT (6:40)

Fri: 5 R

Sat: 20 L

Total: 55 miles.

This is the most brutal week of this cycle. 7 miles LT is already crazy hard, then a 20-miler long run (3 miles longer than the longest so far) will make me feel like the last miles of a marathon. I will have to keep everything else on the slow side.

To be fair, the 18/70 plan has much harder weeks, and more very hard workouts, but of course, you are more prepared for those.

I have developed this system to (half jokingly) give medal prizes to workouts: the most brutal ones are the "gold medal workouts". There are three of them in Pfitzinger's plans: 7-mile tempo, 5 x 1200 m VO2 max, and long run with 14 miles at marathon pace. The 18/70 plan has all three. My current one only has one.

Week -7 was supposed to be recovery, but it didn't feel like that... Every single run felt hard. OK, maybe that medium long 12 miler wasn't too bad, though I was counting down the last 2-3 miles.

The threshold run was hard as always: the fast miles were at 6:37, 6:39, 6:40, 6:44. I did run it at a pace that subjectively felt like my lactate threshold. I don't think I was 100% recovered from the 12 miler, but that should be normal, and this Germantown course have some rolling hills. But I think that considering 6:40/mile as my current lactate threshold is spot on.

I have started from lower VDOT before, but not 7 weeks from the marathon and not at low mileage like this. On the other hand, I never expected this to be an ideal cycle.

The long run of 16 miles should have felt easy, I guess, but it wasn't. Granted, I ran it at Turkey Run Park, which is as hilly as it gets around here. I also messed up hydration a little, but I fortunately didn't hit the wall.

Week 6 is coming up. I can't believe I'm almost halfway. I'm hitting peak mileage soon.

Week -6:

Mon: 5 R

Tue: 10 w/ 5x1000 (3:48/rep, 91s/lap)

Wed: 12 MLR

Thu: Rest

Fri: 6 R w/ 6x100 ST

Sat: 15 w/ 12M (7:04)

Total: 48 miles.