Well, the training has hit its halfway mark. This week, I have a stepback/recovery week. I'm headed to San Francisco for six days with R. and two friends for some R&R. I'll be surprised if I get in 50 miles in this week, but the aim is to keep fitness up by going for a mid-week 10+ miler, and try for a daily run of 5 miles which should only take 40 minutes of time. If I can get out of San Fran with 30 miles in me, i'll be very pleased and will make up the mileage when I'm back in Toronto.
July's been a big running month. I still have four potential runs left and I've already hit a monthly high mileage of 256 miles, up from last month's 249. Consider that the top running months I've ever had was 228 miles this past March. In the past six weeks of training, i've topped 60 miles five times, peaking at 71.
In any case, after the recovery week, I have another 5 weeks of heavy training before the taper starts.
Week past:
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday: 15 miles
Wednesday: 6 miles recovery
Thursday: 13 miles
Friday: 3.1K
Saturday: 15 miles with 12 at 7:13 mile pace
Weekly total: 63 miles (101K)
Year to date: 1385 miles (2229K)
Week to come:
In San Francisco
Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: 3 miles
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 10 miles
Sunday: 15-18 miles
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Confidence
Well, that was quite a good exercise. My schedule closes off the week (I took no rest days this week since I'm flying out tomorrow) with a 15 mile run with 12 miles at marathon pace. It really is a pace I've proven I can run in various conditions: during half marathon and a 30K race. In fact, by the time I toe the line on marathon day, this pace should really feel like the running forever and slightly faster pace.
But in the midst of this training, I'm going into every run a little tired. As I wrote a few days ago, I had done 81 miles (130K) in seven days. Part of me wanted to take yesterday off for rest but I just felt like putting in a few miles. So I did a 5K (3.1 miles) run around my parents' neighbourhood. The route features a long hill at the last mile, which rises about 140 feet or more. I did the last mile at 7:39 pace and was feeling it.
I started today's run feeling great. The three miles the day before was just enough for me to get in some speedwork but not enough to drain me. Fran had suggested that I use one of the features in my Garmin that allows you to see average pace (as opposed to current page). That way, I could look at my watch to make sure my average was on or off target. It worked really well but it was disconcerting to see the difference between average and current. Garmins are really bad about giving you live pace feedback. When you set it to lap at kilometres and miles, it's pretty much dead on, but don't try to look at it for 'how fast am I running RIGHT NOW'
The target was 4:30 kilometres or 7:15 miles. I really fought through the first three miles to stay on pace. I can only describe the pace to me as measured aggression. It's not my LT or tempo pace, but it's a lot faster than my every day runs. The trick is to not hit the bad point where you're reaching LT. For me, lactate threshold is around 6:55 to 7 minutes so the trick was not to get too close to it. By the fourth, I was comfortable and it felt good. By the halfway mark, I was feeling the effort but felt I could keep the pace. By the 10th mile, I knew I could make the run. I was a little concerned near the end that I was ramping up the effort too much... this shouldn't feel too hard.
Final result is one I can be pleased with. 12 miles done in 1:26:38 with an average pace of 7:13 miles or 4:29 kilometres. Here are the splits
1. 7:14
2. 7:19
3. 7:09
4. 7:09
5. 7:18
6. 7:16
7. 7:08
8. 7:08
9. 7:10
10. 7:12
11. 7:13
12. 7:15
Finished off the workout with a warmdown for three miles.
But in the midst of this training, I'm going into every run a little tired. As I wrote a few days ago, I had done 81 miles (130K) in seven days. Part of me wanted to take yesterday off for rest but I just felt like putting in a few miles. So I did a 5K (3.1 miles) run around my parents' neighbourhood. The route features a long hill at the last mile, which rises about 140 feet or more. I did the last mile at 7:39 pace and was feeling it.
I started today's run feeling great. The three miles the day before was just enough for me to get in some speedwork but not enough to drain me. Fran had suggested that I use one of the features in my Garmin that allows you to see average pace (as opposed to current page). That way, I could look at my watch to make sure my average was on or off target. It worked really well but it was disconcerting to see the difference between average and current. Garmins are really bad about giving you live pace feedback. When you set it to lap at kilometres and miles, it's pretty much dead on, but don't try to look at it for 'how fast am I running RIGHT NOW'
The target was 4:30 kilometres or 7:15 miles. I really fought through the first three miles to stay on pace. I can only describe the pace to me as measured aggression. It's not my LT or tempo pace, but it's a lot faster than my every day runs. The trick is to not hit the bad point where you're reaching LT. For me, lactate threshold is around 6:55 to 7 minutes so the trick was not to get too close to it. By the fourth, I was comfortable and it felt good. By the halfway mark, I was feeling the effort but felt I could keep the pace. By the 10th mile, I knew I could make the run. I was a little concerned near the end that I was ramping up the effort too much... this shouldn't feel too hard.
Final result is one I can be pleased with. 12 miles done in 1:26:38 with an average pace of 7:13 miles or 4:29 kilometres. Here are the splits
1. 7:14
2. 7:19
3. 7:09
4. 7:09
5. 7:18
6. 7:16
7. 7:08
8. 7:08
9. 7:10
10. 7:12
11. 7:13
12. 7:15
Finished off the workout with a warmdown for three miles.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
81 miles
When I'm tired in the middle of a run, I like to do math. At what point do I reach the half way mark? I run in miles but my Garmin is set to show me kilometre markers. So I do the conversion... 7 miles is ... well, 6 miles is 9.6K, add 1.6K and that's 11.2K. I find it's a good distraction.
So in the middle of my run, somewhere after the two-mile mark, I was passed by another runner. I wasn't going particularly fast, a 8:22 mile pace, because I was trying to take it easy. I took away my rest day at the beginning of the week so I could finish this week's runs before I take off for San Francisco on Sunday morning.
And then I started doing some math. From Monday to today, I put in 44 miles (10 + 15 + 6 + 13). I ran Friday (10 miles), Saturday (20 miles) and Sunday (6 miles), for a total of 37. You'd be surprised how you do math when you're trying to keep concentration on your pace but I finally figured out that in the past seven days, I'd run 81 miles. Do some more math and that comes in at 130K.
My jaw literally dropped... I had to slow down at mile 5 to pick it up. I don't think i've ever racked up this much mileage in a seven-day period. And even though this is a 70-mile a week peak program I'm doing, I didn't really think about how my mid-week runs are actually pretty high mileage..
So there you go, I'm piling on the miles. I have a key 12 mile pace run on Sunday and I've been taking it easy the past two days so I'm well rested for the effort. I have a 7 miler scheduled tomorrow but I very well make knock that down to four. I've earned this vacation...
So in the middle of my run, somewhere after the two-mile mark, I was passed by another runner. I wasn't going particularly fast, a 8:22 mile pace, because I was trying to take it easy. I took away my rest day at the beginning of the week so I could finish this week's runs before I take off for San Francisco on Sunday morning.
And then I started doing some math. From Monday to today, I put in 44 miles (10 + 15 + 6 + 13). I ran Friday (10 miles), Saturday (20 miles) and Sunday (6 miles), for a total of 37. You'd be surprised how you do math when you're trying to keep concentration on your pace but I finally figured out that in the past seven days, I'd run 81 miles. Do some more math and that comes in at 130K.
My jaw literally dropped... I had to slow down at mile 5 to pick it up. I don't think i've ever racked up this much mileage in a seven-day period. And even though this is a 70-mile a week peak program I'm doing, I didn't really think about how my mid-week runs are actually pretty high mileage..
So there you go, I'm piling on the miles. I have a key 12 mile pace run on Sunday and I've been taking it easy the past two days so I'm well rested for the effort. I have a 7 miler scheduled tomorrow but I very well make knock that down to four. I've earned this vacation...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Recovery....
Did my recovery run today of 6 miles. Really tried to keep it down, with my heart rate at around 140 bpm or lower. Even with the slower running, still felt a little tired.
I ran 10 miles on Monday with a pretty good pace of 4:44 Ks, then did 15 miles yesterday at around 5:03Ks (around 8 minute miles). Tomorrow's a 13 miler that I may do in two chunks, then I may do a short recovery run on Friday. That's because the key run is a 15 miler with 12 at marathon pace. This will be a true test of my ability to handle that pace.
The big recovery week can't come fast enough. I plan to run in San Francisco, but won't do the big mileage i've been doing. Between Sunday and Friday, I expect to hopefully log up to 30 miles. I'll be happy with one 10 miler and a few short ones. We'll be walking alot. I'll be back in Toronto for Saturday and Sunday when i'll ramp it up again to finish off the week with a longish run.
I ran 10 miles on Monday with a pretty good pace of 4:44 Ks, then did 15 miles yesterday at around 5:03Ks (around 8 minute miles). Tomorrow's a 13 miler that I may do in two chunks, then I may do a short recovery run on Friday. That's because the key run is a 15 miler with 12 at marathon pace. This will be a true test of my ability to handle that pace.
The big recovery week can't come fast enough. I plan to run in San Francisco, but won't do the big mileage i've been doing. Between Sunday and Friday, I expect to hopefully log up to 30 miles. I'll be happy with one 10 miler and a few short ones. We'll be walking alot. I'll be back in Toronto for Saturday and Sunday when i'll ramp it up again to finish off the week with a longish run.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon: 10 weeks to go
I watched it rain for most of the day. I had a lot of family stuff to do. I also had to work a bit at home tonight but I finally found a window to sneak in 6 miles tonight. So I'm finished yet another week.
The week past
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday: 14 miles
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 5 miles recovery
Friday: 11 miles
Saturday: 20 miles
Sunday: 6 miles
Weekly total: 66 miles (106K)
Year to date: 1322 miles (2127.5K)
Uh, yeah, so I've already topped 2000 kilometres for the year. I did the math recently and it looks like by marathon day, i'll be at around 1900 miles. Unbelievable. The last two years, I've run about 1600 miles each year. This will be massive.
Week to come will be interesting. Partly because I'm gonna be on a plane on Sunday morning starting my vacation! So the miles are going to have to come in before I leave. Next week while I'm on vacation will be a recovery week. I'm going to get some miles in but not all of them. I'm going to be on my feet all day when we're in San Francisco. Looking forward to discovering some running trails. Anyways, here's this week's sked
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday: 15 miles
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 13 miles
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 15 miles with 12 at marathon pace
I may cut Friday's run all together. Also may trim Monday so I can focus on the 15, 13, 15 milers. Fifteen miles on a weekday. That's going to be two solid hours of running time I'm going to have to find.
Looking forward to earning that vacation week.
The week past
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday: 14 miles
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 5 miles recovery
Friday: 11 miles
Saturday: 20 miles
Sunday: 6 miles
Weekly total: 66 miles (106K)
Year to date: 1322 miles (2127.5K)
Uh, yeah, so I've already topped 2000 kilometres for the year. I did the math recently and it looks like by marathon day, i'll be at around 1900 miles. Unbelievable. The last two years, I've run about 1600 miles each year. This will be massive.
Week to come will be interesting. Partly because I'm gonna be on a plane on Sunday morning starting my vacation! So the miles are going to have to come in before I leave. Next week while I'm on vacation will be a recovery week. I'm going to get some miles in but not all of them. I'm going to be on my feet all day when we're in San Francisco. Looking forward to discovering some running trails. Anyways, here's this week's sked
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday: 15 miles
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 13 miles
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 15 miles with 12 at marathon pace
I may cut Friday's run all together. Also may trim Monday so I can focus on the 15, 13, 15 milers. Fifteen miles on a weekday. That's going to be two solid hours of running time I'm going to have to find.
Looking forward to earning that vacation week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)