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

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

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

The rest of the week:

T: 12 MLR

F: Rest

S: 6 w/ 6 x 100 strides

S: 15 w/ 12 @ MP

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

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

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

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

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

M: Rest

T: 12 MLR

W: Rest

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

F: 5 R

S: Rest (CF Moto demo)

S: 16 L

Total: 42 miles.

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

Week -9. Alright. Everything by the plans, except for the marathon pace on Sunday.

 It was a very hot week. On Thursday I've run 11 miles in temperatures in the mid 90's, but even my pace was fine. It was hard though. That, and the increased mileage, and the fact that it's been my highest mileage week, like for ever, made my weekend long run increasingly challenging. I gave up on the marathon pace, and I just ran a long run. Still it was a full sweat, partial dehydration, hard last few mile run. 8:26/mile average.

Week -8:

M: Rest

T: 5 R

W: 10 w/ 5 @ LT

T: 11 MLR

F: R

S: 5 R

S: 17 L

I might switch this up. If I shift everything from Wednesday one day ahead, I could run hard Tuesday evening, 11 MLR on Wednesday (say midday in the gym), easy 5 on Thursday (Thirsty Thursday). It would probably fit my schedule better.

Week -10 is in the books. The LT run went well with an average pace of 7:06.5/mile, and that's on a hilly course. Sounds too good to be true, as it would point to a VDOT of 47-48. Long run was a bit hard at the end - I got a bit dehydrated. I ran a 8:20 average pace, which, again point to 47-48 VDOT, and even then it's borderline too fast.

So assuming 47, let's plan the next week.

M: Rest

T: 8 GA w/ 8x100 strides

W: 4 R

T: 11 MLR (so either skip TT, or run long after they finished)

F: Rest

S: 4 R

S: 16 w/ 10 @ MP

Total: 43 miles

The only tough one is Sunday, and the pace is a question. With 47 VDOT, it should be 7:40 (on mostly flat ground), but in the Parklands I'd be fine with anything sub-8. This will also be the highest mileage week since April 2022, if I succeed.

Things go well for now. For week -11, I finished my 9 mile general aerobic run during Thirsty Thursday hungover, and it was alright. I felt better after the first two miles. We had a good group, too. The Saturday 5-miler was a bit of a struggle in the midday heat (I had to cook later), but the Sunday marathon paced run was perfect.

I was meant to aim a 7:45 pace, because I intend to run my super hilly race at a 8:00 average, and I was too busy to drive to some hills, so I trained in the neighborhood. I was stronger than I expected. The splits for the last 8 miles averaged out to 7:34. I don't want to read anything special into this, but this was some fine run.

Week -10 already started. Here is the plan.

M: Rest

T: 11 MLR

W: Rest

T: 8 w/ 4 @ LT

F: Rest

S: 5 R

S: 15 MLR

Total: 39 miles.

I've already done the 11-miler yesterday, and it was fine. Indeed, quite a bit faster than I intended at 8:10 average. But I felt pretty good. The rest should be easy.

The lactate threshold run at Thirsty Thursday will be fun. I can't make it early, and I'll do the fast portion during the group run. The plan is to take off after the overpass, and do a fast 2 out and a fast 2 back. I'll have to add mileage at the end.

That week, I did finish. No issues. In fact, I felt pretty great even during my 12-mile run in the weekend. I've done that in Chicago.

Sunday nigh we drove back from Chicago. I only slept 5 hours, then I went to teach a motorcycle class. That's OK, Monday was to be rest anyway. But Tuesday, I slept until late (to pay back some sleep debt), then I had a Zoom meeting, and then practically, I had to go teach again. On Wednesday, I was on campus all morning, then to teach the motorcycle class. So another 3 days with zero training. Plus, some good amount of bourbon last night...

I think it would be very dangerous to jump back to the plan. My longest week was only 42 miles, and my next one would be 54. My longest run was 15 miles, and I would no have to do 18 this weekend, and 20 next.

But since this is week -11, I had this idea that I could just restart the training with the 12-week program. I won't be fast for my marathon, but I never meant to be. This means that I will have done a very extensive "endurance" block, but that also makes sense, because I did feel that my endurance was borderline sufficient when I started the 18-week plan.

So here we go. Week -11 of the 12-week program, or what remains of it:

T: 9 GA

F: Rest

S: 5 R

S: 13w/ 8 M

Week 10 will have a 15-miler, and I won't have a 20 until week -5.

A bit of a setback on week -13 and -12. After a nasty infected wasp sting (and too much hiking in the weekend), I skipped the 16-mile run on Sunday, and the next three days of training in week -12. I got back on the train with an 8-miler on Thirsty Thursday. The rest of the week (supposedly recovery):

F: Rest

S: 4 R

S: 12 MLR

This should be doable. The real question is if I can do the following one: 50 miles with a 5-mile tempo and an 18-mile long run. And some motorcycle teaching, and starting the semester.

I've finished week -14 without any issue. I've done a 15-miler on Friday (compressed week, due to motorcycle teaching), and it went all fine. I did a 8:23 average, and a 7:42 last mile. All good.

Then the weekend went by teaching, and I got tempted, and I skipped Monday as well. It was hot, and I didn't feel good either. Also, this week, I don't have weekend teaching. So I just get back to the normal calendar.

It's not going to be easy. Today the heat index is brutal, and I have a 5-mile LT run. Oh my!

M: Rest

T: 9 w/ 5@LT

W: 5 R

T: 10 GA (Thirsty Thursday!)

F: Rest

S: 5 R

S: 16 w/ 10@M

Total: 45 miles.

Paces:

LT 7:17, unless it feels too hot, and then I can go down to 7:25. But, if I go late enough, I should be OK. Maybe after sundown.

MP: sub-8. This really should be done in the Parklands.

Week -15 is in the books. Another week of teaching, another week of good achievement.

Notable runs:

LT run on Wednesday (4 miles) with splits 7:16, 7:18, 7:14, 7:16. I had to stop at the crosswalk in my last mile, so that would have been a few seconds faster. This points to a solid 46 VDOT.

14-mile run on Friday. 8:21 average pace, which sounds way too fast for 46 VDOT. Yet, it felt easy until about the last three miles, but even those were fine, and my last mile was in 7:32. This points to more like 48-ish VDOT, even considering that I'm stronger at long distance.

I think all this just shows that my endurance is better than my stamina, which is probably better than fitness. Not all that surprising. The marathon paced run last week was hard for some reason, so I'll stay careful, and keep my M pace just under 8 min/mile. It doesn't have any training effect beyond easy runs anyway. And the brutal terrain makes it a challenge to run an 8 min pace for my marathon anyway. All for future success.

But as for LT and VO2max, I think I'll train at 46 VDOT. Not that it matters for this week though.

Week -14:

M: 8 GA w/ 8 strides

T: 5 R

W: 10 GA

T: 4 R

F: 15 MLR

Total: 42 miles. Paces, mostly by feel.

This week doesn't feel like it should be challenging. It's the same as last, except an extra mile on a recovery run, and an extra mile on the long run, but no LT effort. The weather may be a tad cooler. Teaching again in the weekend.

It is extremely difficult to have all the running in, when I teach motorcycle classes regularly. I did manage last week though. This week included my longest run since April 2022. Only 13 miles, but in the hilly Parklands, and the last 8 at marathon pace.

This run, which was my only workout, ended with the 8 hilly miles at paces 7:40, 8:12, 7:47, 7:45, 7:56, 8:49, 7:45, 7:44 for a 7:57 average. That's pretty perfect for a 3:30 marathon. And since this was sufficiently hard (struggling though the last mile), I'll keep training at this VDOT: 45. I can go faster, if all workouts get too easy.

OK, one might argue that it was very hot (86 F, feels like 91), and quite hilly (529 ft over the 13 miles, but the first 5 was mostly flat), my VDOT may be a bit more. But I still have to try to be conservative.

The week was complete with 36 miles. On a very positive note: no use of the inhaler. Not even my workout. It's because I forgot to bring it. But I didn't need it.

Week -15:

M: 10 GA

T: 4 R

W: 8 w/ 4@LT

T: 4 R

F: 14 MLR

Total: 40 miles. Paces: GA: 8:40-9:00, R: just jog, LT: 7:25, MLR: definitely sub-9 for the second half.

Week 1 is in the books. Not too easy, but I hope I can do this cycle. The Sunday 12-miler was fun with Flora. We did an 8:22/mile average, which sounds fast, but it didn't feel hard. The 87F temperature almost felt too cold, I'm so well acclimated. :)

All the evidence suggest that I may bet at 48-49 VDOT, or soon I'd be there. But I'll be super careful. Fitness is surely not there, and stamina is lacking, too. This is probably the result of the lack of workouts for years now.

Since I teach MSF this weekend, let's try to frontload this week. There are only four running days. This is the idea:

M: 8 GA + 6 x 10 hills + 8 x 100 strides. I'll probably skip the hills, because that would make this workout much harder, and Monday is supposed to be rest anyway.

T: Rest

W: 10 GA

T: 5 R

F: 13 w/ 8@M. I'll start this at 7:58 (45 VDOT) to be careful again. 13 miles will be hard anyway, especially with such condensed week, and the main goal is to develop endurance. I'll only speed up, if this feels too easy (doubtful).

For this cycle, the first time in my life, I'll try to follow the stretching and strength exercises as well as the runs. To have some notes available, here is what Pfitzinger suggests:

Dynamic stretching:

Arm-cross (10)

Cat-cow (8)

Leg swing (15 per leg)

Side swing (15 per leg)

Hip circle (10 per direction)

Knee hugs (10 each leg, 5 both legs)

Side skips (15 each direction)

Static stretching: (2 per side each)

Bent-leg calf stretch

Straight-leg calf stretch

Straight leg hamstring stretch

Lying hamstring stretch

Quadriceps stretch

Hip flexor stretch

Gluteal stretch

Hip rotation stretch

Shoulder and lat stretch

Chest stretch

Swiss ball lower back stretch

Downward dog

I finished the race week with only 21 miles. Then the following week started with a couple of motorcycle classes (Sunday I took one, Monday to Wednesday I taught one), so no running. Then flew to New York on June 28 to meet up with my family.

I did run! 5 miles in Union City, NJ which was a lot of fun. I was not fast, but it was nice. I ran another 5 on the 29th, also in Union City, and then we drove to Lewiston, NY, when I had a 6.3 mile run by the beautiful Niagara River.

On July 1st, my training started, in true Pfitzinger manner: a rest day. I used it to walk many miles at the Niagara Falls State Park. Then today I drove home from there, and I did my first actual training run: in true Pfitzinger manner it was a workout.

So that was today: 2 easy + 4 LT + 2 easy. I aimed to run the easy portion at 9:00/mile, and the LT portion at 7:25, according to 45 VDOT. I ended up with splits 7:10, 7:21, 7:13, 7:10 for an average of 7:13.5. It felt spot on my lactate threshold, but it was also in adverse conditions: 84F, 62% humidity, and after driving all day. In any case, it shouldn't be a problem to train at 46 VDOT.

Here is the rest of the week:

W: Rest

T: 9 GA (Thirsty Thursday is perfect for this)

F: Rest

S: 4 R

S: 12 MLR

Total: 33 miles.

Paces: GA: 8:31 to 9:00, R: over 9:00, MLR: under 9:00.

I really should reread Pfitzinger. And incorporate stretching, core, and all in my training regimen.

The total is not too much, but the individual runs are kind of long. Still, I hope I'll deal with them just fine.

St. Albert Viking Dash 5K

Goal: 7 min/mile pace, i.e. 21:46. Secondary goal: 7:15 pace, i.e. 22:33.

These goals look conservative, because I haven't raced for ever, because K didn't really do any specific training, because even my non-specific training was inconsistent, and because it was 91 degrees with 46% humidity.

The race was at 7pm (one reason of the hot weather), and I was there very early. Probably around 5pm. This was catholic church picnic, which has a great tradition in Louisville. Despite not being religious, I like the vibe. Good food, music, nice people.

We ran the course as warmup with my group - they were a little too fast for a warmup for me, so I slowed to my barely-faster-than-9-minute-pace. Two guys, Craig and Nick were nice enough to stay with me.

The race was off on time. Just before the race, I was talking to Mac from the running group, who said he was going to go out at a 6:50 pace. I should have learned not to listen to these guys... but I hadn't. So I tried to pace off of him. I did feel a bit fast, but not so much different from my distant memory of past 5K's I ran.

After about 0.7 miles, I realized he was doing a 6:30 pace, so I carefully slowed a bit and let him go. Mile 1 was slightly downhill, but barely enough to affect the pace.

Mile 1: 6:46

Yes, too fast. I decided to slowly ease my pace until my average falls to 7 min/mile. Then I would try to maintain it. I was running in 10th place from about mile 0.2, when I passed the kids who started to sprint this 5K. After that, nobody passed me, and I passed nobody. Oh, except I did pass Robert Boston, who treated the race as a workout, and did some walking intervals. So the race had a bit of a time trial feel, especially after passing Robert, because I haven't seen a single runner afterwards.

Mile 2: 7:01

So far so good. But then, lack of training, lack of racing, lack of fitness came over me. Pain set in, and I struggled to keep going. I also held back a bit for the last half mile. I struggled, but I tried to keep it controlled. I have no stamina - the lack of LT training showed.

Mile 3: 7:24

We hit the finish line, and as usual, I was able to faster again.

Last 0.1 in 37s, 5:49 pace

I finished with official time of 21:51, which was good enough for 10th overall and 1st in my age group at this small race (about 80 runners). So I just missed my goal, which I could have achieved with a bit of smarter racing. This is OK. About 45-46-ish VDOT, which should be fine for 3:30 marathon. I think I'll train according to that, though the specific race won't be as fast: (1) it's very hilly (2) I'll go in on lowish miles. Training starts in a little over a week.

I've spent my May and June (until now) with some variably consistent training. Lots of work, at school, at home, and motorcycle teaching - so I haven't always been doing my runs. Here are the week totals since May 2.

30, 15, 35, 30, 35, 10, 35

It's not terrible though, so I think I may be able to start the Pfitzinger plan. As long I don't try to run too fast.

I was sick with a stomach bug this week from Monday to Wednesday, and my running group went to participate a 5K on Thursday. So I decided to sign up on a whim. Next post is race report.

Wow, this blog is still around.

My last race is still the Kentucky Derby Marathon in 2021. That is, I haven't raced in three years. It actually feels longer...

Meanwhile, I never stopped running, but I just maintained my 178 lbs (as opposed to my 150-ish racing weight), and I had a bad asthma flare-up after my last COVID infection. After a while I just accepted that I was recreational runner, and not somebody too serious about the sport. I'm also 48 for god's sake - when is it time to retire from racing?

Well, all was well, but Tracy, from my running club started to encourage me to return to racing. Seeing the other guys doing so well, recalling my former awesome long runs and marathons made me nostalgic. And I could still pull off a few miles at sub-7 pace without ever doing workouts or any serious training. Meanwhile, Mike Korfhage, who is the founder and leader of this group, run a sub-3 marathon, a PR, and he is over 50. So why not me? Why shouldn't I try? Wouldn't it be awesome to return to Boston?

Both of my kids have their driver's licenses. One moved away already, and the other is about to at end of the summer (she is a track/XC star BTW).

Bottom line is that I signed up for a fall marathon. Louisville Marathon, November 3. For now my only goal is to be able to finish it in 4 hours. At the moment, 10 miles feels long for me, so I have to develop some serious endurance. But my VDOT is still no worse than 45, so if I could just develop some endurance, and do a standard training cycle, 4 hours should be cakewalk. Even on the hilly course.

Here is the timeline:

18-week training starts on July 1. Two more months to build endurance. I'm trying to run 35 miles/week for now to see if I can maintain this. If I can, and perhaps increase it a bit, then I could do a 55/18 plan from Pfitzinger. We will see. If I don't get injured or sidetracked, the chances are not bad.