12 Days to Go (Almost 100%...)
The taper really couldn't have come at a better time. I can really tell I was on the threshold of my capabilities. But this last week has let me feel a bit more refreshed with the somewhat reduced mileage. Let's see how the week went.
Date - Day - Scheduled Workout (Intervals within desired pace, Strength +/- 5 sec, everything else +/- 10 sec)
9/14/16 - W - Medicine Ball Workout (MBW)
9/15/16 - R - 1.5 miles @ 9:10 min/mile + 11 miles @ 7:33 min/mile + 1.5 miles @ 9:20 min/mile (5/9) **Cut short by 2 tempo miles
9/16/16 - F - 10 miles @ 9:11 min/mile (3/9) **Cut short by 1 mile
9/17/16 - Sat - 11 miles @ 8:33 min/mile (9/11) **Missed MBW
9/18/16 - Sun - 11 miles @ 8:13 min/mile (5/11)
9/19/16 - M - 9 miles @ 9:11 min/mile (6/9)
9/20/16 - T - 1.5 miles @ 9:26 min/mile + 6 x 1 mile @ 7:23 min/mile with 400m RI @ 9:36 min/mile + 1.5 miles @ 10:12 min/mile (5/6)
Total mileage = 62.25 miles
Number of intervals within pace = 33/55 (60%)
Thursday wasn't as good as I had hoped. But looking back at the last two marathon training sessions it appears this is always a tough workout for me. This 14 miler alone has 11 miles at my current HM PR which again speaks to the toughness of it. However, the caveat is that HM PR is from December 2015 so I'm sure if I had run a HM since then the PR wouldn't still be standing. So when the Jelly Legs started to make a return appearance I decided it was best to shut it down. Not willing to push through them and risk injury this close to race day. If I lose some fitness or ability because of that decision, then so be it. But for this day, I felt it was more important to reach race day as close to 100%, then risk injury on a Thursday training run. I'll save that extra effort when it counts. Normally, I would have been upset with this decision, but I was calmly confident in my choice. But why is this second 11 mile Tempo run so tough? Because after all it occurs during the "taper". I mean the 1st 11 mile Tempo occurs during a week of 71 miles and the 2nd 11 mile Tempo during a week of 64 miles. Shouldn't the 1st tempo be tougher than the second. Well not quite. Think of it not as the whole week, but how about the 7 days proceeding the Tempo run. Because the future run doesn't have any impact on the current one's fatigue level so it's more appropriate to judge the fatigue level based on only the proceeding days. And that's where we see it: 1st Tempo has 64 miles proceeding the 14 miler and the 2nd Tempo has 70.5 miles proceeding it. And wa-laa our explanation for why the 2nd tempo at peak tempo mileage is actually tougher than the 1st one. And likely the reason I always have so much trouble with it.
So I decided to take Friday super easy. I wanted to give my body the opportunity to get some rest. So my pace slipped a bit at the end. But it felt like EA effort, so I went with it. Because the pace slipped I ran out of time to complete the mileage of the run, but the duration was fairly close to desired. My wife closed so I had to go pick her up from work.
Saturday was an unusual evening weekend run. Because my wife opened Saturday morning (early morning Badger game), I had to either run at 4am or 6pm (when she got home). I opted to sleep in and wait to run until the evening. The pacing was very good and showed that my body appreciated the extra rest time between Friday evening and Saturday evening (plus sleep!). The concern though was how this would effect the LAST LONG run prior to the marathon (<----- EEEK, that's true?!?!?!) (<----- Well "technically" it's true, it's the last run at "long run" pace, but there's still a 14 miler on tap for Thursday with 11 miles at Tempo).
Edit to add: I skipped the MBW because I was concerned with doing it in the morning and running in the evening. Never done that before and wasn't willing some weird injury because of it. Didn't do it Sunday evening though for no good reason. Just lost track of time.
Sunday was the *LAST LONG run (Yep, added an asterisk this time!
) Feeling ready and feeling confident. Not ready to push on hills (either up or down), but willing to give full "long run" effort everywhere else. Overall the run went well. With the first mile (8:43) not included the other 10 miles averaged a 8:04 min/mile. This has seemed to be around where I end up on this type of run. I was pretty happy with this because 1) wasn't willing to push on hills and 2) had Saturday's run end about 13 hours prior. Say goodbye, Zealot Iso as you're retired for now until mid-November. I'd have to say I have come to really love this shoe and have considered running in them for my Tempo runs starting next cycle. I'm partially concerned the Tempo runs haven't been going as well because I haven't felt comfortable in the new Ride 8s I've been using the last few weeks. No matter though as the race day shoe is the Kinvara 6.
Monday was a solid day. But most noteworthy was the following. Hip feeling good - check. Right calf feeling good - check. Breathing clearing up - mostly check. At this point it's just that last 3-5% of healthiness that I'm striving for, but overall I'm feeling pretty healthy coming down this last stretch. Just two SOS days left...
Tuesday was the LAST STRENGTH run. It was a long day at work. In fact, it's been a long week of work going back to last Wednesday. So I wasn't quite sure what my body was willing to give me. Thankfully it was a solid run. 5/6 intervals within pace and the average was just one second off goal pace. But taper madness is real. Just the tiniest slight twinge in my right knee. I'm chalking it up to mental injury and nothing real at this point. But I'll keep an eye on it.
And here we are. ONE workout left. Just a 14 miler on Thursday and we're down to just "easy" runs for the last few runs. I can see the proverbial training finish line. It's in sight. If all the training I've done this year (1856 miles) were a marathon on it's own, then I'm at mile 25.3 of training. Less than a mile to go! Ok, maybe I can't see it just yet. Maybe it's a hairpin finish line...
Here's one to ponder:
Current HM race PR - 1:38:49 (12/6/15)
Current HM Garmin PR - 1:38:32 (5/7/16 during WI Marathon)
Current M Training Goal - 3:17:49
Even split for M Training Goal - 1:38:54
So, I need to run just 5 seconds slower than my current HM race PR (or 22 seconds slower than my Garmin PR) TWICE to reach my training goal time. Yea, I can say I could do it and it's been awhile since the last HM I've done. But still in my life I have never run a 13.1 mile race faster than 1:38:49 and I am trying to run 1:38:54 in back-to-back 13.1 mile races (i.e. 26.2 miles). Am I nuts? Is there precedence for such a feat? Actually, yes there is something similar. The 2015 Lakefront Marathon (1st half 1:52 (4th fastest ever HM) and 2nd half 1:46 (fastest ever HM)). That's why I know it's possible. Not easy, but possible.
I don't recall reading about any recovery routines for your off days. What do you typically do on your rest days? Do you foam roll at all(I've heard mixed things)? Do you employee any fasting (I read that it can improve recovery if done right)? Also, is it still worth reading the Hanson's marathon book or have you covered the majority of the info already? Lastly, since I live in FL and every day is hot and humid, do I lose benefits from easy runs when my heart rate crosses into zone 3?
