192 replies to this topic

[andicamp]

My favorite type of thread!!

Put up your training or skulk and comment, whichever you prefer.

 

I'm running Boston this year. I spent the fall training to get my basic "race" fitness back and get to a point where I could reasonably complete a marathon training cycle. I don't think it's necessarily reasonable for me to expect to be in PR shape come Boston, but I feel good about at least getting that ballpark. I took a break in early December and have been ramping back up since. I expect to be at full mileage in the next couple of weeks, and I start "real" workouts this week.

 

Here's my last two weeks:

 

Week ending 1/6/13:

M - 6 easy

T - 12 w/ very light, sad fartlek (still tired from being sick the previous week)

W - 6 easy

T - 7 easy (no strides, upset stomach)

F - 4 easy

S - 15 miles w/ moderate progression

S - 7.5 easy

 

Total: 58

 

Week ending 1/13/13:

M - 6 easy

T - 12 w/ fartlek on/off minutes: 2, 2, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 2, 2, 4 for total of 24 minutes on. Pace for on was 6:20-6:30 by the end of the workout.

W - 2 am, 6 pm

T - 8 w/ 8x100m strides

F - 2 am, 6 pm

S - 16 mile progression by feel (and terrain!)  splits: 8:37, 8:04, 7:50, 7:37, 7:24, 7:17, 7:01, 7:27, 7:22, 7:07, 7:19, 7:14, 7:34, 6:58, 6:53, 8:25

S - 10 easy

 

Total: 68

 

At the beginning of this past week, I seriously wasn't feeling it. Like big-picture not feeling it. I have this awesome training plan and schedule that I made up and it was time to actually get going on the meaty parts, and I was having doubts. I can train 60-65 miles a week, with a couple of good workouts per week, without blinking. That's kind of my default happy zone. Bumping that to 80 miles a week is a significantly higher committment level for me. I looked at my beautiful schedule and for a couple of days all I say was an endless string of 5 am runs.

 

But then on Wednesday morning, when my alarm went off, I just got dressed and ran my silly 2 mile run anyway. And then I was pretty much fine. I'm not into the heavy stuff yet, but my body seems to be giving me the indicators that we're ready to train. That's all you can really ask for.

 

And this morning when my alarm went off, I didn't question it, I just got up went for an easy 4 mile run. I might have even enjoyed it.

[Tim]

My favorite type of thread!!

Put up your training or skulk and comment, whichever you prefer.

 

I'm running Boston this year. I spent the fall training to get my basic "race" fitness back and get to a point where I could reasonably complete a marathon training cycle. I don't think it's necessarily reasonable for me to expect to be in PR shape come Boston, but I feel good about at least getting that ballpark. I took a break in early December and have been ramping back up since. I expect to be at full mileage in the next couple of weeks, and I start "real" workouts this week.

Once again, if you'd like "help" or company with your "real" workouts during this cycle, let me know. I'm always up for training!

[BrianH]

Seems that most people run a marathon with hopes to run faster than previous marathons.  That being said, there is some time in the training cycle where they must start running at a faster/marathon pace than what they usually do, right?

 

At what point in the long period of training(schedule wise and distance wise)  does a person overcome a training pace and  start running at the goal/marathon pace for long runs?

[BrianD]

I'll jump on this.  I'm headed off to Boston this year after PR'ing there in 2010.  Oh and Chad convinced me to join him in running Boston 2 Big Sur.    I spent most of last year running when I wanted, actually racing on occasion (which is rare for me) and just generally a) trying to give myself a break after training for three marathons in two years and try to build myself up physically so I could withstand the rigors of more strenuous training this time around.  I actually just completed a round of serious PT to try to finally balance all the muscles groups.  Now just doing things to maintain and increase flexibility (never been a strength of mine).

 

I'm using one of Hudson's systems from his book with modifications when my parenting duties and general chaos of being a stay at home dad of two under 4 wreak havoc.  The particular program is 20 weeks so with the holidays and just life, I suddenly looked up this week and realized I was already 7 weeks through.  So here's my mileage w the last two weeks in detail:

 

Week 1: 44 (14 long)

Week 2: 48.6 (16 long)

Week 3: 50.4 (14 long)

Week 4: 51.7 (15.5 long)

Week 5: 53.5 (17 long)

 

Week 6 (last week of base work):

M- 6 easy

Tu- 6.5 hill (6x1min intervals)

W- 10 progressive (4-9 in 41:10)

Th- 6.3 easy (10x 10sec hill sprints)

F- 8 easy

Sa- off

Su- 12 (1 easy, 10@6:33 pace, 1 easy)

 

total: 49.1

 

 

Week 7 (first week of speed phase):

M- 5 easy

Tu- 10.7 intervals (3 easy, 15 x 1min @ 5k/ 1min easy, 3 easy)

W- Unplanned offday (kids gave me the 24 hour flu)

Th- 10 v easy (didn't puke; yay!)

F- 9.5 intervals (2 easy, 2x15min @HM pace (6:16, 6:10) w 2 min recovery, 2 easy)

Sa- 8 easy w 10xhill

Su- 17 w last 6 moderate (6:59 pace) w OTC

 

total: 60.3

 

So far so good.  The body has been feeling it in places but the thing I keep telling myself is that my mileage doesn't go up a ton at this point; it just morphs depending on the week.  After doing Terwillger on Sunday though I definitely need to be throwing more hills into my regular running.  Heartbreak and Big Sur don't run themselves!

 

BD

[Ben F]

Race: Eugene

A Goal: Not die before finishing

B Goal: Be alive at the finish

 

 

Week 1 - 0 miles

M - 0

T - 0

W - 0

T - 0  0x4m hills

F - 0

S - 0

S - 0

 

 

Week 2 - 0 miles

M - 0

T - 0  10x0m repeats

W - 0

T - 0

F - 0

S - 0

S - 0

 

Time to kick it into gear!

[lmtortor]

This makes me so happy.  I am wrapping up a block focusing on speed with a race this weekend.  I will post after that!  

 

I am also running Eugene this year.  There is a huge group from Ptown going.  Can't wait.

[Fidel]

Ben, based on your post, you already look to be in usual PR shape. At least for comedic value.

[Julie]

Hooray for the Spring Thread.  

 

I registered for Eugene last week.   Recent History.   Houston  After my winter of 2011 experiment with Pfitzinger (55-70)  which landed me into overtraining mode.  It was a lot of work for arriving at the starting line mentally unprepared.  Ending in a lack luster finish in Houston of 3:24. 

 

Portland 2012. I was pretty much on the same plan as Ben has outlined above.   I stepped off the course at mile 10 with stomach issues but feeling extremely rested. 

 

The goal is to finish with a BQ and a New York Qualifying time.  I'd like to run one or both as a "Veteran" when I turn 50 in 2014. 

 

I like the structure of a training plan and trying to follow it as reasonably well as life allows.    I'm willing to experiment on this cycle and I'm on Hanson's Advanced plan.   I won't be running more than 25% of my weekly miles on any long run.  About 16 miles.   I debate it in my head.   The long run pace is about 25 seconds slower than marathon goal pace as is the day before the long run which is not a "recovery"  day...the idea is the two runs work together to better simulate the marathon and cause less wear and tear than slogging out 21 miles at a minute to 90 seconds slower than marathon pace.   I will likely top out my weekly mileage at just under 65 miles per week as I've done on successful training cylces.   It should make for some interesting comparison. 

 

Week of 1-07  week 3 of 18

Monday 6 x 800 with 400 recovery (3:28 avg pace)   total miles 8  (this is following a 44.25 10k the day before)

Tuesday - cross training zhumba

Wed:   Tempo  6 miles at MP-10 sec (7:37 avg pace)   total miles 8.5

Thur:    Easy 5

Friday:  Long run 10 @ 8:17 pace  total miles 12

Saturday:  7  @  8:28 pace

Sunday:  6 easy 8:58 pace

TOTAL  46.5

[andicamp]

Week ending 1/20:

 

M - 4 am, 6 pm

T - 4 am, 6 pm

W - 12 w/ 5x1800m w/200m recovery - 7:19 (6:31), 7:12 (6:23), 7:11 (6:22), 7:08 (6:19), 7:09 (6:20)

T - 4 am, 6 pm

F - 4 am, 6 pm w/ 6x ~100m strides

S - 18 moderate progression: 8:37, 8:07, 7:54, 7:41, 7:36, 7:37, 7:25, 7:10, 6:58, 7:28, 7:20, 7:08, 7:25, 7:21, 7:32, 7:02, 7:01, 8:25

S - 6 easy

 

Total: 76

 

This was my highest mileage week in something like a year and a half. Wednesday's workout was my first workout back on the track in 6 weeks. It went surprisingly well. I thought I might have to scale back my workout paces for a week or two until I got back in the swing, but I hopped right back in where I left off at the end of November. That workout felt like a good indicator that I'm doing things right. Saturday I was going to keep my long run pretty easy, but that's such a long time to force yourself to run easy. I felt myself starting to cruise a bit out on the Springwater, so I decided to let myself run a bit, but on the condition that I wasn't going to push to maintain that effort throughout the entire run, that I would back off later when there were more hills and interrupted terrain, etc. 

 

Overall, I feel pretty good so far. It's funny how my normal 6 mile recovery run already feels like nothing. Not that it ever felt particularly long or hard, but once you're running 11 or 12 times a week, you practically sleep through those 4-6 mile easy runs. Your mind wanders for a bit and then you're done. It'll definitely be a few more weeks before I feel adjusted to the over 2 hour long run, though. 

[BrianD]

Week ending 1/20

 

M- 4 easy

Tu- 7.6 hill (6x2min hill intervals @ 10k effort.  5 up, 1 down)

W- 10.2 progressive with 8 hard in 52:07

Th- 8 easy w 10xhill 

F- 2 easy, 5 @ HM pace (avg. 6:08), 2 easy

Sa- 14.1 (6 easy, 5 1min @ 10k/1 min easy, 1 easy, 2 hard @6:44)

Su- Off

 

Week - 53.1

 

The week got a little whacked out due to having to move some workouts around but overall a strong week in the speed department.  Was really happy with being able to hold up through F/Sa workouts and got a well deserved day off today.  Andi, I definitely appreciate what you're saying about the recovery runs; they just feel like nothing at this point!

[Julie]

Nice week Andi and Brian Week 4 of 18 Mon 6x800 3:23 avg pace. Total 10 miles Tue hot yoga Wed. 6 @ mp. -20 sec Total 9 miles Thur 6 easy Fri 9 hills Leif Ericson Sat. 8.5. 8:11 pace Sun 6 easy Total 48.5 I could probably up my mileage and drop the pace... I'm running a bit faster than I need to. So far the training plan seems too easy compared to other training cycles

[andicamp]

week ending 1/27:

 

M - 2 am, 11 pm: 6x (600, 400) w/ 400, 200 recovery, respectively, in 2:13, 88, 2:13, 88, 2:12, 85, 2:10, 84, 2:14, 87, 2:12, 86

T - 4 am, 6 pm

W - 4 am, 6 pm

T - 14 w/ 8 miles continuous miles on/off: 6:27, 7:00, 6:31, 7:03, 6:32, 7:06, 6:34, 7:04 (goal was 6:32/7:04)

F - 4 am, 6 pm

S - 10 easy

S - 20: 8:36, 7:54, 8:04, 7:30, 7:36, 7:28, 7:13, 7:09, 7:02, 6:56, 6:57, 6:57, 7:01, 7:04, 7:01, 7:00, 7:17, 7:05, 7:48, 8:36

 

Total: 87

 

I'm finally trying something I've wanted to try for a long time: the 2 week microcycle. LT has heard me talk about this for a while now.

Basically, I've always thought it was lame how a 7 day week just does not line up well with training. Maybe if you're an elite you can do a completely non-standard schedule and get away with it, but come on, people on a normal work schedule need to do their long runs on the weekend. I can get some pretty good workouts in on a weekday, but I find 14-15 miles is about my maximum. I simply don't have 3 hours to spend running on a weekday.

So I played around on paper with different combinations and the one I liked best was a 2 week cycle, where your quality days are Monday, Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, giving you 5 workouts in 2 weeks, with 2 recovery days after each. The catch is that after that Saturday workout you only have one day to recover before starting again. So that second Sunday has to be a short super easy day. And maybe that Saturday long run shouldn't be a killer either.

 

Anyway, I'm finally fit and healthy enough to give it a try. I didn't think I'd be too thrilled about the Monday night workout, but I just did it anyway, even with snow on the track, and it wasn't too bad. Thursday was fine, nothing too abnormal about that. Saturday was strange. Saturday is normally my long run day, but instead I just had an easy 10 miles to do. Plus, when I went out for that run, I was still tired from Thursday's workout. So I necessarily ran easy on Saturday, plus I had doubts about how I would feel for Sunday's long run. 

 

Surprise, surprise, I kicked ass on today's long run. I was totally prepared to be just trotting along tiredly, getting the miles in, but I felt pretty good from the get go. I held back for a little longer than usual, and then, still not trusting myself completely, I refused to look at my watch until I was 16 miles into my run (because I needed to make a decision about where to turn around and I wasn't 100% certain how far I'd run). Today's run was remarkable for me in how controlled it felt. At no point (until around 17 miles) did I feel labored. Several times I thought to myself, "my aerobic fitness is kicking my legs ass here". 

 

So, 11 weeks to Boston and I'm running at my max mileage level. I feel good about that. I feel good about my training plan too. I feel like I've found a level of effort and a balance that is sustainable over time. I guess we'll find out. One more "normal" volume week, and then a rest week. 

[Julie]

That is a pretty big jump in mileage Andi. It wasn't always the most pleasant running weather last week. It is kinda fun having january behind us I had a good week too. 53 total week 5 of 18 Mon: 5x1000. (4:12 avg pace). Total 9 Tue: off Wed: tempo 6@7:31 total 9.6 Thursday: 8 hills easy 9:06 Fri: 7.25 8:23 avg pace Sat: 13.25 8:10 avg pace Fri: 6.25 easy and Zumba I had a stressful week at work so it was a huge accomplishment to have a solid week

[billa]

I sorta liked the old thread (the one I started  ), since marathon training is year-round, not necessarily just spring or fall. Someone's always training for something. But then again, I've been so remiss in posting, this message board has even changed looks since the last time I visited. I'm training for Berlin 2013, ran the Holiday Half in 75:19, followed by 80,87,99,90,83 mile weeks, no doubles, including Tues workouts and 21x2, 25, 24 mile long runs, mid-week 18's, then ran 73:29 for 13.0 miles at Vancouver Lake today. 13.0 you ask? Why yes, due to the always-dreaded-but-unfortunately-all-too-common misplaced turnaround cone. Story of my life. So I'm calling it a 74:12, still a great performance and my first time under 75:00 since 2001. Explanation courtesy of race director, Russ Zornick:

 

 

From: Russ Zornick [mailto:rzornick@comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 8:50 PM
To: 'Bill Aronson'
Subject: RE: VLH course

 

Bill,

To be 100% honest with you, I did not know that my co-race director changed the turn around until an hour after the race was over.  I mentioned to him that someone said the course was short and I asked him about the turn-around.  He said he couldn’t find the metal markers in the road,  so he decided to make one turn around for both directions which he thought was halfway between the 2 points.  I  was not happy about it because  I know that would  mess up 4 different miles splits.  We will get it right next year.

 

Russ

 

 

From: Bill Aronson [mailto:aronsonw@comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 8:39 PM
To: rzornick@comcast.net
Subject: VLH course
Importance: High

 

Russ- The course was short today, I guarantee it. I’d say between 10 and 15 hundredths short. Tell me what changed with the wide road turnaround compared to past years. On our cooldown, we ran up there to check it out, and the turnaround volunteer said something about “this year they changed it and decided to split the difference” for the 2 times you turaround on the wide road (at mile 1 point something and mile 10 point something). Why change the course when it had been correct in the past? –Bill Aronson, 73:29 (but I’m calling it a 74:12 based on extrapolation)

[BrianD]

Week ending 1/27:

 

M- 6.5 easy

Tu- 2 wup.  3x1mile (5:40-5:33-5:41) w 400 recovery, 3 wdown

W- 10 easy (though faster end of easy)

Th- Off

F- 6 easy (v. sluggish)

Sa- 4.75 of warmup/warmdown with a 10k TTT (Torrey led Time Trial) on the Springwater as the meat in the sandwich.  36:43 (36:36 10k equiv)

Su- 8 easy

 

Total: 50.5

 

In my current program, this week was meant to be a spot near halfway (9/20 weeks) to ease off a little, do some smaller mileage and then attack a 10k race in an effort to see where one is fitness wise.  After a very full and crazy weekend last weekend, this week was just full of sluggishness both at home (4/7 days of having a sick kid) and on the road (nothing felt easy and zero leg lift).  The only saving grace leading up to Tuesday's mile splits was I was able to do them in the afternoon v. morning where I tend to have a little more energy.  That being said, I expected next to nothing from the TT since I'd been desperately trying to find a race/find someone to help carry me along.  Thankfully Torrey was way overqualified for the task and he did a great job of just keeping/slightly pushing whatever pace I set and sticking a fire under me for the last mile or so.  While I would have liked to have been maybe a LITTLE faster, 1) the 10k really isn't my distance and 2) I have to remind myself I still have 11 weeks until Boston.  So chalk up a good race, enjoy it for the moment and get back after some longer stuff next week!