Phase 5: week 2 of 4

Last week was a pretty good week. I was able to recover from my half and keep up the intensity. The workout on Wednesday wasn't as fast as some of the workouts we've done, but it was on a deceivingly rolling trail around BWI airport. It was also a 22 mile day on a work day, four days after a hard half-marathon.

One way to gauge my fitness is that I was actually looking forward to the run today. Arjun, Ryan, Zero, Kris and myself started at Druid Hill Park - one of the oldest planned parks in the US (1860). The hills in the park are rough - but, it gets even worse as you run north on Greenspring Avenue, near Pimlico race track and into Baltimore County. The total distance (22 miles) & hills were tough - but, we added 8 X 5.5 minutes @ tempo with 1 minute rest for good measure. This workout came straight from Jack Daniel's book - probably the most important purchase I've made in my marathon preparation.

The idea was to run hills so big that anything on the Boston course would feel like "love bumps". From the looks of bitterness on the faces of my friends today - I think the mission was accomplished. Although Ryan had some cramping issues - everybody ran well.

So, what now? The number of miles and intensity drop a little this week. I've got another 2X3 mile workout that I'll probably do at the airport again. Next Saturday is a "dress rehearsal" of sorts. The goal is to run 15 miles at marathon pace. After that day I'll only have one more run over 10 miles before Boston. I feel very lucky to have made it this far without injuries (knock on wood) or just feeling overwhelmed by the training.

Last Week

Monday: 6 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday evening: 18 mi 2X(5 mi easy 3 mi T pace) 1st 3 miler: 5:30+5:36+5:30=16:36 2nd 3 miler: 5:37+5:35+5:29=16:42 2 mi easy
Thursday: 14 miles
Friday: 9 miles 7X100
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: 22 mi 2mi easy 4X5.5 min T pace 1 min rest 10 mi easy 4X5.5 min T pace 1 min rest 2mi easy

Total: 88 miles

This week:

Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 14 mi 2X(3 mi easy 3 mi T pace) 2 mi easy
Wednesday: 14 mi
Thursday: 8 miles 8X100m
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 19 miles 2 mi easy 15 mi @ 5:42 pace 2 mi easy
Sunday: 8 miles

Total: 80 miles

The packet arrives!

Get ready for over three weeks of minutiae that you may or may not care about :) With that warning - my race packet for Boston came this week!

The packet includes race bib pick-up card with my bib number (1143) and other information. Most importantly, it includes the 22 page program book with schedule of events, expo info, race start area info, "course amenities", finish area info, and beautiful maps to every important geographic area related to the marathon. There is also a booklet on "proper hydration" and of course, another booklet with overpriced (though, i'm sure i'll buy something) merchandise.

Over the next three weeks I'll review every detail - not that it will necessarily help on race day - but, it will somehow make me feel better. Although my first quick read did raise a few questions - 1) how am I getting to the start? - the program book makes it seem like the start line is blocked off for a five mile radius - unles you take the shuttle. But, you're supposed to be on the shuttle by 7am, which wouldn't be so bad, except that it's a 10am race. This is one of the many details that I'll rely on others who have run the race to help me decide.
2) It looks like I have to be at my corral by 9:10 (50 minutes before the race) - how crowded will it be? Is there room to jog around like there was at New York? Are there porta-johns at the corrals?
3)They have water stops every mile - i don't think i should take water every mile - but, how often should I? I guess it depends on the weather - but, i should put together some kind of plan.

to be continued . . .

The day after a hard workout

One of the more significant additions that I've made to my training for Boston is what I do the day after a hard workout.

Nine of the last 12 weeks I've run a 13-15 miles the day after a hard workout. I've never done this before - it seems to help both physically & mentally. Physically, my body is having to adapt to a relatively long run when it's already depleted. But, I think the most positive effect is psychological. Even though the pace isn't too fast - it feels like I've accomplished something when I look at my watch and see that I've run 90+ minutes in the middle of the week.

Although I haven't been posting it on my blog - I've been lifting weights on most of these days as well. It's nice to have a different physical activity to mix things up a little - and my wife thanks me for not wasting away completely.

An Anniversary

Early Saturday morning I woke up with a start - I looked over at the clock, it was 3:15am. I still had over an hour to sleep before my alarm went off to make the drive down to RFK for the half-marathon. My nerves, however, wouldn't let me get those extra z's - but, it was a good nervousness. I was feeling confident in my training - I knew I was ready for a fast one that day. My confidence also reminded me that an anniversary of sorts was around the corner.

I started thinking about my senior year of college, there was about a six-week period starting in February until the end of March of that year when everything seemed to go right where my running was concerned. I won the 3k & 5k at indoor conference (MCC - now Horizon League) - and then on March 25th, I ran the 10k at the Alabama Relays.

It's not that this was really an important meet - I don't remember being especially nervous about it. I do remember starting out with the lead pack - feeling very relaxed. I remember my assistant coach on the back stretch calling out my splits every lap. I remember that my first 5k split was ~15:15 - which was on pace for a big PR. I then remember feeling stronger as I went through the second 5k - soon I was running on my own - the laps falling away - not that there wasn't effort - but, it wasn't a forced effort - it felt natural.

As I came down the the final laps my coach seemed to be getting excited - I don't quite remember when he started telling me I had a shot at it - but, I remember him yelling with 600 meters to go that I needed a 65 last lap for a sub 30 min 10k. It sounds ridiculous now - but, somehow I found a little something extra - sprinting that last lap as hard as I could. As I crossed the finish line I looked over at my coach -who was running towards me along with a half dozen teammates. He was yelling "you were under!" - soon my teammates were piling on me - like I had made the last second shot in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Although I had some chances to run faster that year - including Penn - I never got within 40 seconds of that time. I guess that in some ways I keep running to recreate that "one shining moment." I'll never come close to that time again - but, the great thing about running is that I can find new goals - and feel just as good about meeting the new goals as I did on that cool March evening 10 years ago today.

Man, I'm getting old.

Well, do ya punk?

Staring down a .44 in the hands of Dirty Harry - and not being quite sure about how many shots he's fired - that's about how I feel planning on going sub-2:30 at Boston. But, given my half-marathon time this last weekend, I think it's time to seriously consider it.

There is a race split calculator that's specifically designed for the Boston course - which I've been planning on using once I had run my half-marathon. They ask for your goal time, age, gender, and recent race time - and they give you approx mile splits given the infamous hills of the course. It also gives you a "predicted" time - based on the recent race time. Here is what it spit out for me.

GOAL PREDICTED
MILES TIME SPLIT TIME SPLIT
1.0 0:05:32 5:32 0:05:26 5:26
2.0 0:11:11 5:39 0:10:59 5:33
3.0 0:16:48 5:36 0:16:31 5:31
4.0 0:22:21 5:32 0:21:58 5:27
5.0 0:28:10 5:49 0:27:42 5:43
6.0 0:33:52 5:41 0:33:18 5:35
7.0 0:39:33 5:41 0:38:53 5:35
8.0 0:45:23 5:49 0:44:37 5:43
9.0 0:51:04 5:40 0:50:12 5:34
10.0 0:56:52 5:48 0:55:55 5:42
11.0 1:02:41 5:48 1:01:37 5:42
12.0 1:08:23 5:41 1:07:13 5:35
13.0 1:14:05 5:42 1:12:50 5:36
14.0 1:19:48 5:42 1:18:27 5:37
15.0 1:25:38 5:50 1:24:11 5:44
16.0 1:31:09 5:31 1:29:37 5:25
17.0 1:37:04 5:55 1:35:26 5:49
18.0 1:42:57 5:52 1:41:12 5:46
19.0 1:48:39 5:42 1:46:49 5:37
20.0 1:54:30 5:50 1:52:34 5:44
21.0 2:00:34 6:03 1:58:31 5:57
22.0 2:06:08 5:34 2:04:00 5:28
23.0 2:11:46 5:38 2:09:33 5:32
24.0 2:17:26 5:39 2:15:07 5:34
25.0 2:23:04 5:38 2:20:39 5:32
26.0 2:28:49 5:44 2:26:18 5:38
26.2 2:29:59 1:10 2:27:28 1:09

So, should I?

Phase 5: week 1 of 4

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

The race cometh

Well - the big one is exactly one month away. But, I have my hardest planned effort to-date tomorrow morning (The National Half-marathon in DC). I thought it would be a good chance to go over some of the race advice in Lore of Running, by Tim Noakes. I'll go over some of the advice in the other books that I've been using for my training as I get closer to Boston.

The Day Before Competition:

Drive over the course for a final time, paying special attention to the last section of the race.

Well, these days you don't need to drive because most races have a youtube of the course online. I've watched the National course about 3-4 times - including once today. It's flat at the beginning - a steady hill from 5-8 miles and generally downhill after that. So, I'm not looking for even splits.

Eat Wisely

The main message here is to not have the any GI issues. I made sure to include some protein tonight - but, not much sugar. I had a small steak, broccoli, wheat french bread, crackers, and toast with peanut butter and honey for "dessert".

Assemble your running gear the night before and ensure that you have everything

Complete - except that I just remembered I need to attach my chip to my shoe.

Get adequate rest

Right after I'm done typing I'm going to bed. Of course it's going to be difficult with a 7am race that's 40 miles away. I'm planning on heading out the door at 5am

The Day of the Race

Wake up correctly

There is nothing correct about a 4:45am wake up call. The author talks about finding a way to wake up "gradually" - I fear if I don't heed my watch alarm right away I'm not going to make it up.

Dress appropriately for race conditions

This will be tricky tomorrow. It's supposed to be 32 degrees at 7am. If you're going to check your warm-up clothing you pretty much have to only have on your racing gear for at least 15 minute before the race (the last call to the line) - so, I went to Walmart and bought some cheap sweats that I can throw away at the start. Most races know people will do this - so, they'll collect the sweats and give them to the poor. As for the actual race, I'm going to go with just my singlet and, as my wife calls them, "man panties". However, I'm going to wear gloves and a winter hat to start out. I'll abandon those within the first few miles.

Make your prerace meal a winner

It's the same basic idea as the meal the day before the race. Don't eat anything that will put your stomach in knots - or worse . . . Also, coffee is a good idea. I started drinking coffee before races in college - it seems to work pretty well for longer races.

I'm planning on eating a Dunkin Donuts egg-white flat bread breakfast sandwich tomorrow morning. I know that sounds odd - but, it's pretty light on the stomach. That - and of course a cup of joe.

Allow yourself ample warm-up time

I plan on being there at least an hour before the race. I'll probably jog easily for about 10 minute 40-50 minutes before the race. Do some good stretching - more dynamic rather than static (I'll have to write a post on this "controversy later"). I also have another pre-race habit I learned in college - I lay still - close my eyes and imagine a red liquid filling my body from my feet to my head. Then I imagine the liquid turning blue - again starting from my feet to my head. The effect is that I'm relaxing every muscle in my body. I may run a few strides as well - to get my muscles ready to run fast. I'll also try to have a cup of water that I can take small sips from - the nerves can lead to a little cotton mouth sometimes.

That's it! Time to get some rest.