As TCM draws closer, I’ve been trying to come up with a goal time. I’ve been thinking somewhere in the 3:06 – 3:10 range would be nice. That got me thinking about the last few marathons I’ve done. I looked back at my results and found that my best time since 2008 is 3:05:41. It sure would be nice to run my best time in 5 years.
Week 10 of this training cycle had me feeling confident about reaching that goal. After my solid 15K on Sunday I used a 7-mile trail race as a tempo workout. Then I closed out the week with a 22 mile run along the TCM course. Every time I run TCM I try to do this long run where I start at the St. Paul Cathedral and run the course in reverse to Minnehaha Falls and then turn around and come back. This allows me to run miles 15 to 26 of the course, including the hills, when I’m tried. This run went great. I ran the first half just a hair under 8-minute pace, before dropping to 7:40s until I got to the hills, where I dropped down to 7:30s.
WEEK #10
Sunday: 15K race – 1:01:31 (6:36 pace), 12 miles total
Monday: Day Off
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: 7 mile trail race at tempo effort (7:09 pace), 10.5 miles total
Thursday: 5.5 miles
Friday: 37 miles of bike commuting.
Saturday: 22 miles
Total: 55 miles, plus 37 miles on the bike
As I looked at the last 2 weeks of training or so, I knew I was cranking things up and that I needed to be careful. I still haven’t been running a ton of miles, but the intensity has kicked up a notch; 4 x 1K on the 7th, 15K race on the 11th, tempo run on the 14th and 22 miler on the 17th. In addition, after that 22 miler I ended up volunteering to help set up a local triathlon from 1-5, so I was on my feet for 4 more hours. And I was up the next morning at 4 AM in order to help with parking and a water stop.
It turns out, all that combined to be too much. By Tuesday afternoon I had caught a cold. Normally, when I get a cold, I feel the best when I can get out for a run. However, this week I was just exhausted. So I took a bunch of days off and didn’t worry about my mileage.
WEEK #11
Sunday: Day Off
Monday: 14 miles of biking at lunch, plus 2 miles with x-c kids
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: Day Off - COLD
Thursday: Day Off - COLD
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 11 miles
Total: 25 miles, plus 14 miles on the bike
The good news is I’m feeling a lot better. The bad news is that is supposed to be brutally hot and humid this week. I’ll get some runs in, but I don’t see anything being fast or long.
6 weeks from today!
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Monday, August 12, 2013
WEEKS 7-9
Dang, where does the time go? It seems like I can’t even keep this thing updated every two weeks. Anyway, things are still going well since my last update. Nothing overly exciting, but I did get in my first 20 miler and I’ve added in some speed, as well as another race to report.
WEEK #7
Sunday: Day Off
Monday: 5.5 miles
Tuesday: 7 miles with strides
Wednesday: 12 miles with Scott – back to the Hyland trails
Thursday: Day Off
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: Day Off
Total: 34.5 miles
WEEK #8
Sunday: 20 miles at Lebanon Hills, including 4 loops near the mt. bike loop
Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: 6 miles
Wednesday: 7 miles with strides
Thursday: 12 miles with Scott at Hyland Park
Friday: 37 miles commuting on the bike
Saturday: Day Off Total: 51 miles, plus 37 on the bike
WEEK #9
Sunday: 6.5 miles
Monday: 6.5 miles, including 5 @ MP (7:07 pace)
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: 9 miles, including 4 x 1K at Como Relays with Evan
Thursday: Day Off
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Total: 39 miles
Yesterday I ran the MDRA 15K, which was my first race since the Garry Bjorklund half. Since I averaged 6:37 pace at that race, I figured I should be able to run a little faster. I did, but just barely, having run 1:01:34 (6:36 pace). Interestingly, I looked up results for other people that ran both races and the majority of them were slower. Of the 13 people I found, 8 were slower – like 10 seconds per mile slower. And four of the five that were faster were only 1-2 seconds per mile faster. The best was 5 seconds per mile faster. I’m guessing the sticky weather and twisty course were the main reasons for the slowdown.
I guess the main take away is that I’m still feeling good about my training and I’m looking forward to the last 8 weeks. I haven’t been able to say that for a while.
WEEK #7
Sunday: Day Off
Monday: 5.5 miles
Tuesday: 7 miles with strides
Wednesday: 12 miles with Scott – back to the Hyland trails
Thursday: Day Off
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: Day Off
Total: 34.5 miles
WEEK #8
Sunday: 20 miles at Lebanon Hills, including 4 loops near the mt. bike loop
Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: 6 miles
Wednesday: 7 miles with strides
Thursday: 12 miles with Scott at Hyland Park
Friday: 37 miles commuting on the bike
Saturday: Day Off Total: 51 miles, plus 37 on the bike
WEEK #9
Sunday: 6.5 miles
Monday: 6.5 miles, including 5 @ MP (7:07 pace)
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: 9 miles, including 4 x 1K at Como Relays with Evan
Thursday: Day Off
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Total: 39 miles
Yesterday I ran the MDRA 15K, which was my first race since the Garry Bjorklund half. Since I averaged 6:37 pace at that race, I figured I should be able to run a little faster. I did, but just barely, having run 1:01:34 (6:36 pace). Interestingly, I looked up results for other people that ran both races and the majority of them were slower. Of the 13 people I found, 8 were slower – like 10 seconds per mile slower. And four of the five that were faster were only 1-2 seconds per mile faster. The best was 5 seconds per mile faster. I’m guessing the sticky weather and twisty course were the main reasons for the slowdown.
I guess the main take away is that I’m still feeling good about my training and I’m looking forward to the last 8 weeks. I haven’t been able to say that for a while.
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