Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6 miles @ 8:47/mile
I decided to move my first run of the week to Tuesday this week as the ATT 10-miler is on Saturday. I ran at a very easy pace today as I'd only had one rest day since Sunday's long run.
Wednesday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Thursday: 6 miles @ 8:22/mile
The temperature this morning was down around 40F so I got a chance to test out my new $1 gloves that I will wear at the start of the Marathon. It was breezy enough that I kept them on for the entire 6 miles!
Friday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Saturday: 10 miles @ 7:49/mile
I stuck to my conservative plan (8:10/mile) for the first seven miles
(7:57, 7:58, 8:11, 7:55, 7:57, 8:07, 7:59) before I got bored and
cranked up the pace a little to finish with 7:27, 7:10, 7:22 and just
under 78 minutes. Maybe next year I'll go all out and see what I can run
on the flat, fast course. The 9am start for the race didn't really help with practicing my pre-race routine for the Marathon as that begins at 7am, but I did at least get a chance to run in a race and experience people passing me for the first couple of miles. I ran on my own for the entire 10 miles and used my watch to help me with my pacing as I found that whenever I settled in behind someone that passed me they seemed to slow down and our pace would drop. I felt like I was running an even pace (as my splits from the first 7 miles show) but there was one guy that kept charging past me then slowing down and he was a major reason why I speed up just past the 7 mile mark. There was also a guy in basketball shorts that were down past his knees that was just ahead of me at that point, and I wasn't going to be beaten by him! Overall I was pleased with the outcome and that I'd stuck to my plan for 7 miles. The course felt flat (although the elevation chart on my Garmin workout showed over 350ft of elevation gain over the 10 miles) and it was certainly pretty so I can see why lots of people make the drive down to Apex to run on the trail.
Sunday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Total miles for Week 16: 22
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Marathon Training Week 15
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 6 miles @ 8:10/mile
For whatever reason I struggled to through this workout. The effort was much higher than it should be for 8:10/mile. I did take a detour down the new Abbots Creek trail and found that the City has made great progress and there is about 2/3 of a mile complete now, with more to come very soon (the workers were completing the bridge).
Thursday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Friday: 6 miles @ 8:11/mile
It didn't feel windy at all until I turned the corner on to Capital Hills and then there it was right in my face! Capital Hills is breezy at the best of times, but it pretty bad today. 8:10/mile felt easier today, even in to the wind.
Saturday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Sunday: 14 miles @ 8:13/mile
1 mile warm up (8:50) followed by 12 @ 8:10 and a 1 mile warm down. Ran further on the new Greenway Trail today towards the Soccer Park - it was a great day for a run along side the Neuse River with a nice chill in the air. 21 days to go until the City of Oaks with the ATT 10-miler next weekend.
Total miles for Week 15: 26
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 6 miles @ 8:10/mile
For whatever reason I struggled to through this workout. The effort was much higher than it should be for 8:10/mile. I did take a detour down the new Abbots Creek trail and found that the City has made great progress and there is about 2/3 of a mile complete now, with more to come very soon (the workers were completing the bridge).
Thursday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Friday: 6 miles @ 8:11/mile
It didn't feel windy at all until I turned the corner on to Capital Hills and then there it was right in my face! Capital Hills is breezy at the best of times, but it pretty bad today. 8:10/mile felt easier today, even in to the wind.
Saturday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Sunday: 14 miles @ 8:13/mile
1 mile warm up (8:50) followed by 12 @ 8:10 and a 1 mile warm down. Ran further on the new Greenway Trail today towards the Soccer Park - it was a great day for a run along side the Neuse River with a nice chill in the air. 21 days to go until the City of Oaks with the ATT 10-miler next weekend.
Total miles for Week 15: 26
Monday, October 10, 2011
Marathon Training Week 14
Monday: Rest
Wow, my legs and lower back were tight today! 20 miles on concrete on Sunday certainly had an effect on my body, but all of the aches and pains subsided as the day went on. The problem left calf felt exactly the same as the right calf - tired, but that was about it - which was great news! I managed to squeeze some gentle stretching in today, but it was a busy day and I didn't do as much as I'd hoped
Tuesday: Rest
I probably could have run this morning, but I stuck to my new plan of just 3 running days per week and lots of rest after a long run.
Wednesday: 6 miles @ 7:57/mile
I was raring this morning but surprised myself by being able to start out slowly (8:39 and 8:44) before deciding that everything felt great and that the cooler weather (it was chilly enough that "I'll need gloves on race day" crossed my mind) was too good to miss. I picked up the pace and ran 7:32 and 7:18 before easing back on the hills (8:02) and finished with a 7:27. It felt great to stretch my legs and push the pace!
Thursday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Friday: 6 miles @ 7.57/mile
I ran at a much more even pace today: 8:23, 7:50, 7:56, 7:41, 8:06, 7:46. I wouldn't say I was struggling to hold the pace, but the sub-8 pace felt harder than normal today. I just let my body work as hard as it wanted and didn't push. Not doing anything stupid and getting injured was constantly on my mind.
Saturday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Sunday: 18 miles @ 10:04/mile
Scheduling problems for next weekend meant that we decided to move our last 20 miler to this weekend. Steph and I headed out to Umstead and flew though the first 13 miles at an average of 9:20/mile before some stomach issues caused Steph to have some trouble and after a few of miles of run/walking we decided to cut our run short at 18 miles and walk back to the car. We started today's run at 11:30am, which proved hard from a fueling point of view. I am fairly set on my pre-race food and drink for a run before about 9am, but 11:30am is difficult as I couldn't really eat lunch at 10am, but knew I wouldn't be home until after 4pm! I didn't have any energy or hunger issues during our run, but obviously Steph's body didn't handle it quite as well. Luckily, the Marathon starts early and we won't have these issues on race day.
Total miles for Week 14: 30
Wow, my legs and lower back were tight today! 20 miles on concrete on Sunday certainly had an effect on my body, but all of the aches and pains subsided as the day went on. The problem left calf felt exactly the same as the right calf - tired, but that was about it - which was great news! I managed to squeeze some gentle stretching in today, but it was a busy day and I didn't do as much as I'd hoped
Tuesday: Rest
I probably could have run this morning, but I stuck to my new plan of just 3 running days per week and lots of rest after a long run.
Wednesday: 6 miles @ 7:57/mile
I was raring this morning but surprised myself by being able to start out slowly (8:39 and 8:44) before deciding that everything felt great and that the cooler weather (it was chilly enough that "I'll need gloves on race day" crossed my mind) was too good to miss. I picked up the pace and ran 7:32 and 7:18 before easing back on the hills (8:02) and finished with a 7:27. It felt great to stretch my legs and push the pace!
Thursday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Friday: 6 miles @ 7.57/mile
I ran at a much more even pace today: 8:23, 7:50, 7:56, 7:41, 8:06, 7:46. I wouldn't say I was struggling to hold the pace, but the sub-8 pace felt harder than normal today. I just let my body work as hard as it wanted and didn't push. Not doing anything stupid and getting injured was constantly on my mind.
Saturday: Rest
Stretch & Foam Roll
Sunday: 18 miles @ 10:04/mile
Scheduling problems for next weekend meant that we decided to move our last 20 miler to this weekend. Steph and I headed out to Umstead and flew though the first 13 miles at an average of 9:20/mile before some stomach issues caused Steph to have some trouble and after a few of miles of run/walking we decided to cut our run short at 18 miles and walk back to the car. We started today's run at 11:30am, which proved hard from a fueling point of view. I am fairly set on my pre-race food and drink for a run before about 9am, but 11:30am is difficult as I couldn't really eat lunch at 10am, but knew I wouldn't be home until after 4pm! I didn't have any energy or hunger issues during our run, but obviously Steph's body didn't handle it quite as well. Luckily, the Marathon starts early and we won't have these issues on race day.
Total miles for Week 14: 30
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Marathon Training Week 13
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 6 miles @ 7:36/mile
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 6 miles @ 8:18/mile
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 20 miles @ 9:56/mile
Steph had been away for the weekend but rushed back from Asheville to run 20 miles with me at 3pm on Sunday afternoon. Luckily this run was scheduled for October and the weather was a cool 65F with a bit of wind as we would never have been able to run at 3pm in August when temperatures were close to 90F. We decided to stay close to home for this run and avoid the 30 minute drive in each direction to get to Umstead. This meant that Jack and Liz were able to come out and cheer for us at about 6 miles and that we could stop by the house at around 12 miles to refill our water bottles.
The 3 hours and 20 minutes of running passed by relatively quickly but running 20 miles (3 miles further than I had ever run before) on mostly concrete was hard and my entire lower body ached from about 14 miles onwards. Had I not been running with my running partner, I would have really struggled to get through those last 6 miles.
This run had a dual purpose for me: 1. running 20 miles at "long, slow distance pace" builds endurance and body strength, 2. it helped me build a huge amount of confidence that I have recovered from my injuries and that my body will be able to handle the marathon distance in 5 weeks time!
Total miles for Week 13: 32
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 6 miles @ 7:36/mile
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 6 miles @ 8:18/mile
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 20 miles @ 9:56/mile
Steph had been away for the weekend but rushed back from Asheville to run 20 miles with me at 3pm on Sunday afternoon. Luckily this run was scheduled for October and the weather was a cool 65F with a bit of wind as we would never have been able to run at 3pm in August when temperatures were close to 90F. We decided to stay close to home for this run and avoid the 30 minute drive in each direction to get to Umstead. This meant that Jack and Liz were able to come out and cheer for us at about 6 miles and that we could stop by the house at around 12 miles to refill our water bottles.
The 3 hours and 20 minutes of running passed by relatively quickly but running 20 miles (3 miles further than I had ever run before) on mostly concrete was hard and my entire lower body ached from about 14 miles onwards. Had I not been running with my running partner, I would have really struggled to get through those last 6 miles.
This run had a dual purpose for me: 1. running 20 miles at "long, slow distance pace" builds endurance and body strength, 2. it helped me build a huge amount of confidence that I have recovered from my injuries and that my body will be able to handle the marathon distance in 5 weeks time!
Total miles for Week 13: 32
Marathon Training Week 12
Oops, I guess I forgot to post this blog entry!
This week I was in Phoenix (again).
I had decided to stay at a different hotel and ran 5 miles outside at 5:15am on Tuesday and Thursday. Before sunrise is about the only time that I would even consider running in Phoenix, and even then it was still in the low 80s. Luckily there was no humidity at all and I covered the miles at an easy pace without a problem.
I continued my twice daily stretching and self massage routine and felt that I would be ready for a 12 mile run with Steph in Umstead on Sunday.
Given that the weather has cooled down nicely in Raleigh now, we were able to head to Umstead later than normal (8:00am) and did an out and back route instead of a loop that would have involved the hill on Turkey Creek and a long walk back to the car! My legs felt great throughout the run and we breezed along at a sub 10:00 pace.
Total miles for Week 12: 22
I had decided to stay at a different hotel and ran 5 miles outside at 5:15am on Tuesday and Thursday. Before sunrise is about the only time that I would even consider running in Phoenix, and even then it was still in the low 80s. Luckily there was no humidity at all and I covered the miles at an easy pace without a problem.
I continued my twice daily stretching and self massage routine and felt that I would be ready for a 12 mile run with Steph in Umstead on Sunday.
Given that the weather has cooled down nicely in Raleigh now, we were able to head to Umstead later than normal (8:00am) and did an out and back route instead of a loop that would have involved the hill on Turkey Creek and a long walk back to the car! My legs felt great throughout the run and we breezed along at a sub 10:00 pace.
Total miles for Week 12: 22
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