I'm finally entering the final phase of my training for Boston. During these final four weeks (have I written "final" enough in last two sentances?) I'm going to try to post more frequently than I have recently - focusing on the history and uniqueness of the Boston Marathon. I'll also have a lot to say about what has worked in my training and where I've struggled.
Whatever happens four weeks from tomorrow - I know that my training has improved my fitness to a level I haven't seen for awhile. How do I know that? Yesterday was my first real test since my training started in November. I ran the National Half-Marathon in DC - although it was cold (~30 @ the start) and an early morning (7am) - the wind was pretty much non-existent. I started out with the lead group of marathoners - our first mile was 5:29 - which was about what I planned to average over the 13.1 miles. As we descended down E. Capital Ave to The Mall the group picked up the pace a little - our second mile was ~5:20.
Although I missed the 3rd & 4th mile markers - I could tell that they were picking the pace up even faster - and I didn't quite feel comfortable running 5:15's. So, I backed off the pace a little around 3.5 miles. Around the 5 mile mark we started to ascend gradually - through these hills my mile splits slowed to between 5:30-5:40. After the 7 mile mark the course started downhill again - I knew that the significant hills were pretty much over - and I started to push the pace. My splits went back down ~5:20 - with my 10th mile at a 5:06 (the marker certainly could have been off). I was 53:45 through 10 miles - I usually fall a part in 1/2 marathons after the 10 mile mark - but, I felt strong. I was able to average a little over 5:20 in the last 3 miles - coming through at 1:10:36.
A week ago I said I'd be happy with a 1:12:00. Then I had a confidence boosting workout on Tuesday that made me think that a sub-1:11:00 was reasonable. This is really the best that I imagined myself running when I started this crazy trip back in November. There are so many things that can go wrong in marathon training. So far, knock on wood, the training seems to be working out perfectly - pushing me to my highest level of fitness without leaving me stale or injured.
Next is the "easy" part. I have two more weeks of decent training (although lower mileage than my fourth phase) and then the wonderful taper.
More evidence that this training plan is good preperation for the marathon is the performance of Brennan Feldhausen yesterday. He ran a very strong 2:42 for his first marathon at the National Marathon. Brennan and I've been runing a lot of our training together - and I think we have a similar philosophy. He not only ran a good time - he looked very strong doing it. Hopefully next month, I can execute as well as he did yesterday. Great job Brennan!
This week is a little step up in mileage. The first few days will be pretty easy as I recover from yesterday. I'm planning a massage on Tuesday to get the kinks worked out. Then it's back to business on Wednesday with a long tempo workout - and my last 20+ miler this weekend.
Last Week
Monday: 8.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 17 mi total 9 mi easy 6X1mi (5:24;5:20;5:27;5:13;5:19;5:10) 1 min rest 2 mi easy
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday: 9.5 miles 5X100m
Friday: 4 mi
Saturday: 15 miles National Half-marathon 1:10:36
Sunday: 10 miles
Total: 76.5 miles
This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday evening: 18 mi 2X(5 mi easy 3 mi T pace) 2 mi easy
Thursday: 10 miles
Friday morning: 4 miles
Friday evening: 9 miles 6X100
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 22 mi 2mi easy 4X1mi <5:30 10 mi easy 4X1mi <5:30 2mi easy
Total: 88 miles
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
1) Awesome job yesterday, we're all really psyched on how psyched you are.
2) Glad to see Monday and Tuesday are pretty easy days for you. Are you going to come to FHR? I was thinking about doing the Shady 7, to stay off the bricks. I'm really having trouble with them lately.
3) Your workout Wednesday is INSANE.
4) Let's chat about this weekend's run. I'd very much like to join. I figure for the first 4xMile section I can just run a fairly normal pace and catch back up while you have recovery, and then for the other 4 mile tempo I'll give it a go, and the worst case is that I'm 2 minutes behind or something. Where you thinking about going? I wonder if there's somewhere in DC we could accomplish this, so you could have miles marked if you wanted them and then go for 10 easy somewhere else. Or if there's any parks you'd think of. Let me know.
actually i'm not coming to FHR - i have an appointment with Willy.
yea - let's get as many people as possible for this weekend. I'm thinking that at this point I don't care too much about having mile markers - I don't mind just running by feel and time - but, I do want to run on some hills. Maybe something north of druid hills park? I would be willing to go down to DC as well.
Also, you mentioned there might be someone who signed up for cherry blossom, but can't run? Maybe I will do my 15 mile marathon pace run down there. I was thinking I could run the race and then run the first five again.
I think the only dude who had signed up and is not planning on doing it currently is Patrick Baur, and I know he may have offered his slot up online to someone prior to the transfer entry deadline. I haven't spoken to him in a while though, so I don't know what the outcome was. I'll check.
If I hear of anyone else, I'll also be sure to let you know.
Ben - you should check out the Boston Marathon PodCasts on the Running Times website...they are a few years old, so try googling them. They detail the history of the course, how to run it and other fun things...they def "pump" you up.
Post a Comment