It's the Big One ... 22 Miles

OBJECTIVE
22 mi.@ 7:46-8:36

ACHIEVED
22.0 mi.@ 8:39/mi.

5:09 AM 75° 88% 3 mph

Good run today. Randy scheduled a multi-loop route that allowed those wanting more mileage to start early before coming back to the starting point 90 minutes later to pick up others who were going shorter. After our run, we met from breakfast at Buffalo Grill.

Since St. George is a week before the Chicago marathon which many of the others are doing, my 22-miler comes a week before there's. So I was the "high mileage guy" for today. The total mileage of the run was +18. Since I needed 22, I got to Memorial Park early for a 3-mile loop before the 5:30 am start.

The first loop was 8 miles. Along for that run was Augie, Stacey, Josh, Randy, and me. We went down Allen Parkway to Sabine Bridge then back to the park. We were a bit worried about mud from yesterday's rain but it turned out that it wasn't a problem.

Back at Memorial Park swimming pool, we met Laurie, her cousin, Duane, Jon, William, and Aaron. John Colleti had also joined the early group about a mile before we got back to the park. So the second loop group was large, rested and full of energy. It made the back half of my total run pretty fun.

I felt fine throughout. I pushed the pace a little bit over my solo 3-miler then the pace was easy from the outset with the early group. This was fine for me. We were running a bit late in meeting the group so picked it up over the last mile back to the park. The pace bounced around with the second group. Over the last three miles I went 7:59, 7:53, and 7:53. I felt pretty good doing it. I think taking the day off yesterday helped me feel pretty good bringing it home today.

Yesterday's off day wasn't planned but I had a 7:30 am meeting in the office and only gotten home the office at 11:30 pm the night before. I needed rest. I thought I would get the run in during the day but ended up tied up throughout with meetings - both scheduled and impromptu - and the filing of the federal tax return. Thankfully .... Having this pressure-filled workweek during the same week as my peak marathon training wasn't that nice. But the load at work should taper off just as I'm now starting my marathon taper.

PRE RUN
weight=161.5
oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk

POST RUN
SlimFast
water, grapefruit juice & 3-egg omelet w/Canadian bacon, Swiss cheese, tomatoes & onions
Later, strawberry-banana smoothie

Unstable

OBJECTIVE
2 mi. warm-up @ 8:37-9:47
8 mi. @ 6:59/mi.
2 mi. cool-down @ 8:37-9:47

ACHIEVED
2 mi. WU
8 mi. tempo @ 7:12/
2 mi. CD

5:50 AM 75° 97% 1 mph

The tempo run is always my toughest run of the week and now that they are stretching out farther and farther in distance ... they're tough on me mentally and physically.

I ran from the Y this morning. Once again I miscalculated the route needed for my distance (I think I just want these tempo runs to be shorter ... like last week when I cut it a mile short "inadvertently".) However, I had the sense to just keep adding on to the route until I had the distance I needed. This messed with me a bit mentally though. I like to "segment" my runs into digestible little pieces. It seems to make it somehow easier for me mentally and helps regulate my overall pace. With today's miscalculation, my segments became longer and greater in number. Not good for the all-you-eat smorgasbord!

My splits ended up being:

7:14/7:03/7:10/7:17/7:14/7:15/7:12/7:02

These are obviously a bit slower than my 6:59 goal and a bit more erratic than I would like for a tempo run. Let's see what are today's excuses. Well, I already cited my distance miscalculation. On top of that, how about the humidity? It rained yesterday causing this morning's humidity to be very high. Tough to run in. It must have slowed me down ....

I'm not sure when I'll get tomorrow's run in. I've got an early morning meeting in the office. Maybe I'll slip away at lunch for a run ... but then where to shower ... ??? Jonathan are you reading this? Is the Bennett Public Bath open midday tomorrow?

PRE RUN
weight=162
FRS & ginger snaps

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin & frosted mini wheats w/skim milk

Insights from the World Record Holder

OBJECTIVE
2-6 mi.@ 8:37-9:47

ACHIEVED
6.16 mi.@ 9:15/

5:25 AM 76° 92% 0 mph

Yesterday I watched an interview with women's marathon world record holder, Paula Radcliffe. I noted a couple interesting insights. When asked how she knows she's ready for a marathon, Radcliffe noted two components of readiness. Her 10-mile tempo runs and her 22-23 mile long runs. When she's "feeling good" on BOTH of them, she's marathon ready.

Radcliffe was also asked what she's thinking about while she's racing. She said she usually counts to 100. Once she's done it 5 times, she's run a mile. (Small club that runs 5-minute miles over the course of a marathon!)

Today's run was okay. It was good to stretch out at an easy pace.

PRE RUN
weight=162
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, vitamin & oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk

Mixed Intervals

OBJECTIVE
Dynamic stretching warm-up
1 mi. warm-up @ 8:37-9:47
1x3K @ 6:59/, 2-minute active recovery
1x2K @ 6:39/, 2-minute active recovery
1x1K @ 6:25/, 2-minute active recovery
1x800m @ 6:11/
1 mi. cool-down @ 8:37-9:47

ACHIEVED
dynamic stretch
1 mi. WU
1x3K @ 6:53/, 2-min. active recovery
1x2K @ 6:34/, 2-min. active recovery
1x1K @ 6:21/, 2-min. active recovery
1x800m @ 6:13/
1.28 mi. CD

total time = 55:13
total distance = 6.97

5:38 AM 73° 93% 0 mph

I hit all of my times except that last stinkin' 800! I missed it by 2 seconds. I just couldn't seem to get my legs to turnover fast enough. I probably gave a little too much on the earlier intervals too since I was -6, -5, and -5 seconds faster than scheduled pace. It doesn't seem like that slight variation should matter but by the time I'm at the end of the series, it makes a big difference.

PRE RUN
weight=162
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

Tight

OBJECTIVE
10 mi.@ 7:46-8:36
Stiff-Legged Run 2x20 seconds
Running No Arms 2x20 seconds

ACHIEVED
10.34 mi.@ 8:28/

7:22 AM 74° 91% 1 mph

It took a while to get going this morning. I was slow out of bed and slow-of-foot on the road. My legs were pretty tight from Saturday especially my calves and IT bands (hips and feet to a lesser degree).

However, I finally managed to get it in gear after about 3 miles.

I forgot about the drills on today's schedule until just now! Oops!

PRE RUN
weight=162
water & ginger snaps

POST RUN
weight=158
water, multivitamin, frosted mini wheats w/1% milk & low-fat vanilla yogurt w/blueberries & low-fat granola

Training Schedule: September 6 - 12

Proprioceptive Cue: Butt Squeeze

SUNDAY - Rest

MONDAY - Base Run + Drills
10 mi.@ base pace
Stiff-Legged Run 2x20 seconds
Running No Arms 2x20 seconds

TUESDAY - Mixed Intervals
Dynamic stretching warm-up
1 mi. warm-up @ recovery pace
1x3K @ half marathon pace, 2-minute active recovery
1x2K @ 10K pace, 2-minute active recovery
1x1K @ 5K pace, 2-minute active recovery
1x800m @ 3K pace
1 mi. cool-down @ recovery pace

WEDNESDAY - Recovery Run
2-6 mi.@ recovery pace

THURSDAY - Tempo Run @ Half-Marathon Pace
2 mi. warm-up @ recovery pace
8 mi. @ half marathon pace
2 mi. cool-down @ recovery pace

FRIDAY - Recovery Run
2-6 mi.@ recovery pace

SATURDAY - Endurance Run
22 mi.@ base pace


3K pace = 6:11/mi.
5K pace = 6:25/mi.
10K pace = 6:39/mi.
half marathon pace = 6:59/mi.
base pace = 7:46-8:36/mi.
recovery pace = 8:37-9:47/mi.