Week Minus 4 - Tempo (8 miles)

Garmin Link
8.22 miles
1:04:50
Target:
- 1 mile easy (actual: 8:14);
- 7 miles @8:00 (actual: @7:50)

Today I was feeling the effects of every-other-day training for the last 5 workouts. Keeping below an 8:00 pace was more of an effort today for 8 miles than it was Sunday for 17. Legs were hurting for the first mile or two. I will have 2 days off before the final 20-miler, so hope I can rest/heal enough before then so that the long run is not too punishing at an 8 minute pace. Would like to have another confidence-building long run (like last weekend) before the marathon.

Interesting article in NY Times yesterday - again referencing Christopher McDougall's Born to Run - but this time discussing human beings' evolutionary suitability for distance running: Human Body Built for Distance.

Week Minus 4 - Speed Intervals (8 miles)

Garmin Link
8 miles
1.5 mile warmup
10 X 400m @1:35 target (1:26.5 actual!) 400m RI
1.5 mile cooldown

Good workout today. It rained and drizzled until mid-morning, and I was able to get out to the track at about 11:00. These 400 meter sprints (not quite sprints, but close) are much easier mentally than the longer ones, even though there were 10 reps. My time was substantially under the target - almost 10 seconds/rep faster. Slowest was 1:31 (first one); fastest was 1:19 (last one).

Got talking to another runner, and it turned out that she is on the same "Run Less, Run Faster" training program. She had done a number of marathons, including Boston, and was able to give me some advice. I realized that one thing I haven't thought about at all is hills, which is a big factor in the Boston course, and somewhat less for Philly. I guess it is a bit premature to be worrying about Boston....

Week Minus 5 - Distance (17 miles)

Garmin Link
17.01 mile (Target: 15 miles @8:10 pace)
2:14:44
7:55 pace

This wasn't the longest run or the fastest, but it was the longest under an 8:00 pace. Felt pretty good, too - good enough to add an extra two miles over the target at the end. Nothing hurting too much. Foot felt better than on the two previous runs - quite a relief, since I was afraid it could develop into something worse. Next weekend is the last 20-miler before the marathon, and after today's run I'm going to feel comfortable aiming for an 8:00 pace - my target for the marathon, four weeks from today.

Decided not to do the NERR run, mostly so I could get an earlier start. Passed their start point a few minutes before they were about to begin, and I was already at 11 miles. Also, I would have been tempted to race as fast as possible, instead of maintaining the 8:00 pace.

Had a bowl of oatmeal and an apple before running, and Gu packets at 6 and 12 miles. Think that helped keep energy up. Did not feel exhausted afterward, and got home early enough to take Doug to an Autocross that Matt Grubel was competing in. Now it is 6:30 and I'm tired and legs are aching a bit. If I'm still sore on Tuesday, I might skip the speed intervals this week. It's important that I keep from getting injured or worn down again before the marathon.

Week Minus 5 - Speed Intervals - 6 miles

Garmin Connect
6.36 miles
warmup (1.5 miles)
3 X 1600m @6:41 target (6:35 actual) 400m RI
cool-down (1 mile)

Decided to squeeze in the speed workout that I missed on Monday before the 15-miler this weekend. Left foot started hurting immediately, and I almost quit out of caution after half a mile. Warmed up for another mile, and foot was getting better, so began the speed work.

Today I was at the track. It is cool enough now that I can start to run at lunch time for the shorter workouts, and the track works well for speed. Had no trouble meeting the target, although my one complaint about the Forerunner is that I cannot tell how I'm doing on the intervals until after the run, so it is hard to gauge and adjust my speed between intervals.

15-miler planned for Sunday. Haven't yet decided if I will sign up for the 25K NERR Marathon Tuneup, or just run on my own. The organized run will guarantee that I get out there and finish it, but it also means I have to ride my bike down and wait for the race to start - plus spend $20-25 bucks - and no t-shirt this year! Tony and Cole won't be racing after all, either.

Week Minus 5 - Tempo - 12 miles

Garmin Link
12.43 miles (20K)
1:38:16
7:54 pace
(7:47 pace for 1st 18K)

Felt somewhat healed up after a week off. The first couple of miles were much more comfortable than what I am used to. Kept up a faster pace than usual - 8:00 was the target for 10 miles. Left ankle (or upper foot?) started hurting again for the last mile and a half - I slowed way down. The first 18K (or about 11.2 miles) averaged 7:47. Last mile and a half of that was 7:40.

Forerunner was accidentally still set to metric and no mile splits from my last speed interval run, and I forgot to reset it before starting out.

I have been feeling so much anxiety about the marathon that I decided a couple nights ago not to run it. I probably still will - I paid for it - but am getting too mental about it. I'll just keep training and see what happens.

Week minus 6 - Speed Intervals

6.9 miles
10-20 minute warmup
1000m @4:03 (actual 4:08)
2000m @8:26 (actual 8:58)
2 X 1000m @4:03 (actual 4:13, 4:09
(400m RI)

Had a setback Saturday morning. A quarter mile into my planned 15-mile run I decided to bag it. Legs were hurting and I didn't want to aggravate them. Decided to rest for the weekend.

Didn't exactly tear things up on my speed workout this morning, either. I just feel easily tired and winded for some reason. My shin splints aren't going away, and I have a new sharp pain in my right foot. I also feel mentally fatigued. Just get tired of running whenever I think of the miles ahead.

I have a short (6-mile) run scheduled for Thursday, which I might skip if legs are still hurting. I really want to force myself to do the 20-miler scheduled for next weekend, if only for morale reasons. Then the following weekend there is a 25K (15-mile) marathon tuneup race that I'm looking forward to. It was fun last year, and this year Tony and his son Cole will be running.

Tried out the new Nike Lunarglides today. They are a little large for me, but I think they will work out. My old shoes had a lot of miles on them, so maybe the new ones will be a little easier on my body.

Barefoot in Central Park and Other Interesting Links

Saw a NY Times blog post about Christopher McDougall, who wrote Born to Run, the book that got me thinking about barefoot running techniques. (It is also an fascinating adventure story, although the gonzo writing style was a little much for my taste - I recommend it.)

Also found the McMillan Running Calculator, which recommends paces for different types of workouts based on your times for various races. It also calculates predicted times for many race distances. There seems to be a lot of useful information there on training, although I haven't dug into it yet.

Week Minus 7 - Tempo (12 miles)

Garmin Link
12.02 miles
1:35:51
7:59 pace
(10 miles @7:51 plus 2 miles @8:35)

Feeling much better about the program today. (Thanks for the encouragement, Dad.) The target was for one easy mile plus 10 miles @8:00 pace. It feels good to have exceeded the pace pretty easily. But it's still scary to think that my goal is to continue that pace for another 14.2 miles. I guess I should just trust the training program and see what happens.

This was my first afternoon run since the springtime. Suited up to run this morning, but it was raining, and the forecast was for sunny weather in the afternoon at about the same temperature (65 degrees.) It turned out to be beautiful fall weather, but very windy. Got hit by a small falling tree branch near Hunting Park Avenue, and remembered a news story a few months ago about a runner who was killed by a falling branch a couple of miles up river.

Now I have two days off, and a fifteen mile run @8:20 scheduled for Saturday. Since I did not make 20 miles last weekend, I'm thinking of extending Saturday's run. 20 miles would put me just over 40 miles for the week - something I've rarely done.

Week minus 7 - Intervals (8.17 miles)

Garmin Link
1.5 mile warm-up
6 X 1200m @4:55 (4:57 actual) 3 min. RI
1.5 mile cooldown

I was happily surprised to see that today's speed intervals averaged only a hair over the target (4:57 vs 4:55 - or 6:40min/mi). Usually the speed runs are hardest for me, so maybe that is good sign for the rest of the week. Legs were hurting significantly, but I don't feel it so much when moving fast.

Wednesday's run may be challenging (1 mile easy, 10 miles @8:00/mile). But I've got to get back to that sustained 8:00 pace for long runs pretty quickly if I have any hope of doing it for the marathon.

Week minus 8 - Distance (fail) 13 miles

13.01 miles (20 miles target) Garmin Link
1:50:24
8:29 pace (8:30 target)

Another disappointment today - was supposed to make 20 miles, a distance I've done 3 times in the past couple of months without a problem. Today I pooped out at 13 miles. Forgot to bring Gu packets, which I usually eat every hour on a long run. Maybe I just ran out of juice. Or maybe I'm just a little burnt out physically and mentally. Next weekend is a 15-miler, which I should be able to handle, before trying another 20-miler the following week.

Week minus 8 - Tempo (6.21 miles)

6 mile run:
1 mile easy
4 miles @7:29/mile (7:24 avg actual)
1 mile easy

Ran with Chris this morning. First run this fall with weather in the forties. Had a hard time getting the speed going for the 4 tempo miles. The first two were about 7:47, but we made up for it with the second two, which were about 7:00 each. I have definitely lost some ground, whether it is from lackadaisical training (and injury) over the last couple of months, or from running too hard at the PDR, I don't know.

20-miler on deck for Saturday. Only have to maintain an 8:30 pace, and have previously done this distance @ 8:22.