Marathon Training - Week 9

With no extra races on my calendar this week, I finally managed to revert to my training program of 3 runs per week. Tuesday's speed workout was my second attempt a 3 x 1600 which I attempted for the first time in early April (and barely completed two intervals). This time I had much more success!

Tuesday evening was relatively cool (70F, 21C) and the sun was on its way down as I finished my warm up and stretching. 1600m in 6:49 is just about 26 seconds per 100m, so in my first interval I attempted to hit 26 seconds for each 100m around the track. I felt good and relaxed and I remember passing 800m in 3:20 and thinking I was a little quick. For some reason I didn't look at my watch again until I was at 1200m and I found that I wasn't slowing down at all, in fact I was speeding up - my watch read 4:55. I tried to slow down, but the pace felt easy and I coasted around the final lap in 1:39 for a 6:34 first 1600m. I know the training program calls for a 1 minute rest interval, but I changed it to a 3 minute 400m jog - I wanted to get through all three intervals this time and I can reduce the RI in a few weeks!

Interval #2 was very similar to #1, however, this time I worked harder on checking my split every 100m and making adjustments to stay on target for 6:49. The last 400m was harder than interval #1, but not overly uncomfortable. I finished #2 in 6:44 and enjoyed the chance to jog for a few minutes.

Interval #3 was hard from the start. Although my heart rate had recovered quickly during my jog, my legs felt heavier immediately as I set off for the final 4 laps. The splits for the first 800 were all on the upper end of 26 seconds per 100m for a 3:28 first half. I counted my strides for a lap and came to the final 400m with 5:10 showing on my watch. I felt like I had nothing left, but knowing I only had one lap to go to achieve something I couldn't do 5 weeks ago was enough to make me push harder. The last lap is a blur, but my watch read 6:47 as I crossed the start/finish line!

I was really pleased that I had managed to complete the workout this time with all three intervals faster than the target pace. Over the next few months I will have this workout a few more times, and I can look at reducing my rest interval (however, the hot, humid weather might have a say in that).

The moment I walked out of the house on Thursday morning I knew it was going to be tough to do three miles around the lake at 7:22 in the heat (80F, 26C) and humidity (>70%) but after a good speed workout on Tuesday, I thought I'd at least try. I don't worry too much about doing my easy miles in the tempo workout at that pace the book says (8:57/mile) so I wasn't worried to see they were 9:12 and 9:30. I planned to run comfortably hard and see what that would give me for the first mile, which turned out to be 7:19. I felt hot and regretted not bringing any water/Gatorade and all of a sudden I felt like my heart rate increased and body temperature jumped a few degrees as I ran in to the wooded area and the humidity got worse. I had no choice but to slow down and allow my heart rate to decrease. Split #2 was 9:05, but it did the trick and my heart rate and body temperature had dropped enough (and I was out of the wooded area) that I felt fine attempting #3. I knew I couldn't do another 7:22, so I settled for a comfortably hard mile which turned out to be 7:55.

I learned a few things from my tempo run:
1. Get up earlier and hydrate more: Although I got up an hour before I left the house, I didn't drink much at all. I know that my obvious dehydration played a big factor in my failure to be able to hold a pace I can comfortably hold on colder days. Hydration is so much more important in hot and humid conditions, and I simply forgot to do it.
2. Adjust pace goals for the weather conditions: The idea of my tempo run is to train my body to work at my lactate threshold which should feel comfortably hard. On days when my heart rate and body temperature are higher I get to my lactate threshold earlier and with a slower pace. Attempting to run at 7:22/mile pace on a 80F day did absolutely nothing for my lactate threshold! I need to do a better job next time of listening to my body and adjusting my pace.

Next weekend (May 16th) I am running in the final race of the Second Empire Grand Prix Series which happens to be a Half Marathon. I had looked at the course map a while back and decided that I should go and run part of it, as I had heard it was hilly. So, on Sunday, I took my 10 mile long run over to Cary and ran most of the course. I am glad I did.

The course certainly is hilly. The first and last few miles of the out and back course have some rolling hills which aren't too bad, however, around the middle (and the turn) there are two giant hills. They both go around corners and seem to go on forever! I am not overly worried about them as I will adjust my pace on the up hill portions now I know how long they are, but I am really glad that I now know what to expect! The majority of the course is crushed gravel which I had always thought was harder to run on, however it didn't bother me.

The weather was a cool 60F (15C) and I wanted to run portions of the 10 miles at close to Half Marathon Pace (7:45/mile) just to see how the hills would effect me. My overall pace for the 10 mile run was 8:00/mile which included a couple of stops to check my location on the maps. So, I think it is safe to say that the hills didn't factor in too much as I was able to make up the time lost on the up hills going down the downhill part and along the flat areas.

I am looking forward to the Half Marathon now, and the challenge that the course will give me. Running 1:41 on a flat course is one thing, running on a hilly course is something very different and I am excited to see what I can do in my last competitive race of the Spring.

Speed
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Plan: 10-20 min warm up, 3 x 1600m (6:49) (1 min RI), 10 min cool down
Actual (Tuesday @ 7:30pm, 70F, sunny): 1600m warm up, 3 x 1600m (6:34, 6:44, 6:47) 1000m cool down.

Tempo
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Plan: 6 mile run: 2 miles easy (8:57/mile), 3 miles @ short tempo (7.22/mile), 1 miles easy
Actual: (Thursday, 8:00am, 80F, sunny & humid) 5 mile run: 9:12, 9:30, 7:19, 9:05, 7:55: Click here for Map/Splits

Long
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Plan: 10 miles @ Marathon Pace + 45 (8:55/mile)
Actual (Sunday @8:00am, 60F, sunny): 10 miles @ 8:00/mile: Click here for Map/Splits