You must be swift as the coursing river (as long as it's the Lazy River) - comments welcome

[WillRunForPizza]

I’m giggling because I came back from vacation and was so happy about a 135 T+D after four solid months at 150+.

Perspective is everything!

 

[AprilsZoo]

@WillRunForPizza — I tried googling the term, but what exactly is a “catered long run”? I’m guessing it’s not what I’m imagining…

I asked my used-to-be-runner dh, and he said “Never heard of that… maybe a marathon with a catered awards banquet? Doesn’t make much sense though…so idk”

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[nancipants]

Perspective is everything!

So true. My perspective has changed since becoming a runner, and I no longer think 60 is cold… while running. Anything else, that’s still pants and long sleeve weather to me.

 

[NYC_MW]

View attachment 805884
ID: Pace analysis chart from Strava. So pretty

Agreed! Both aesthetically and satisfaction of you hitting the progression so spot-on.

 

[Scootin'By]

Seems like the perfect dress rehearsal, right down to sizing the hat right for hair.

But damn, that is HOT. DC was bad yesterday, but not that bad. This weather is not nice. It's like no one told the world it was almost November!

 

[azrivest]

Wouldn't it be nice if Garmin allowed us to restart a workout?! I fully get the Groot gif, represents the mindset perfectly

 

[WillRunForPizza]

@WillRunForPizza — I tried googling the term, but what exactly is a “catered long run”? I’m guessing it’s not what I’m imagining…

It's a race that you're not racing. It's catered because unlike in a regular long run, someone is providing you with water and snacks. I don't know how common the term is, but I learned it from a podcast, so it's out there.

 

[avondale]

It's a race that you're not racing. It's catered because unlike in a regular long run, someone is providing you with water and snacks. I don't know how common the term is, but I learned it from a podcast, so it's out there.

I'm not sure I've called it a "catered long run", but probably because I used a less concise description of it, like your long run where "someone is providing you with water and snacks". Your term is definitely better.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Interlude: Food & Wine Festival, part 1
In which I am full

Yesterday I took a slightly impromptu day off to go to Disney for the first time since I got back to Orlando a week and a half ago! I figured I'd share some of the highlights for anyone who's in town for Wine & Dine and wants to hit up the festival while they're here.

First, though, we headed to MK, since I hadn't been on Tron yet. It was a pretty fun ride, but I think the seats could have used some work. Specifically, I wanted padding for my shins, a narrower seat that didn't press into my thighs, and a chest rest that didn't crush my belly. (That's where I keep my organs, you know!) Then we did Buzz Lightyear since we were there, and for once I beat my mom, mostly because I was controlling the steering joystick.

Then we headed to Epcot for Food & Wine. Looking through the little booklet, I was thinking there was a lot of new stuff! But then I realized I'm usually still in DC during W&D - I'm only here this early because of the wedding. So I think a lot of it is actually the same, but I got to enjoy it being new to me! Thanks to cloudy, breezy, and cooler-than-average weather, it wasn't too crowded, so none of the booth lines were all that long. I didn't love the weather for a park day, but if the weather gods provided me with those conditions on November 26 I would not complain at all.

After GOTG, our first festival stop was Connections Eatery for the Remy Liege waffle and Yucatan sunset margarita. The waffle was pretty blah. If I'd known it came in a cellophane wrapper, I probably would have skipped it - that's never a good sign. 1/5. The margarita wasn't bad - tasted mostly like a tequila sunrise. 3/5.


Mediocre waffle with a Remy chocolate on top and decent tropical margarita

Next we headed to World Discovery and picked up a lump crab cake from Coastal Eats and a fry flight (I kept wanting to say fly fright, which would have been seasonally appropriate but not correct) from The Fry Basket. I thought the crab cake was pretty good - salty, but I like salty. 3.5/5. The fry basket included salt & vinegar fries, bbq bacon fries, and sweet potato casserole fries. The salt & vinegar ones were okay. I liked the bbq ones, which had bbq chip seasoning and a smoked aioli that was really good. The sweet potato fries were basically dessert, as you might expect. Overall, 3.5/5.


Crab cake with coleslaw and a charred lemon (r) and fry flight (l)

Then we were right by the Odyssey and the Brew-Wing Lab, where they had the pickle milkshake. It sounded gross, so I really wanted to try it It was actually not bad. There was a hint of dill pickle flavor, but mostly it just tasted like vanilla. Looking at who's responsible, I guess we should just be thankful it doesn't explode:


Pickle milkshake with whipped cream on top in front of a picture of Beaker and Honeydew using a Science Machine

Worth getting just so you can say you had a pickle milkshake.

I convinced my mom to try a sip of the pickle shake, but she hates pickles so we needed a chaser option. We stopped at Mexico for a tostada de carnitas and a taco de costilla along with the trouble in paradise margarita and the fly away margarita. The tostada and the taco were both yummy. 4/5. The trouble in paradise margarita was a little fruity for me, and the fly away was good but heavy on the alcohol. 2.5/5 for both. I forgot to take a picture though.

Next we headed to China for all the foods they had. No drinks because we were still working on the margaritas (and the pickle shake). The pan-fried chicken dumplings were pretty good. Would have loved some chili crisp on top, but they didn't have condiments that I saw. 3/5. The crispy duck bao bun was pretty bland. 2/5. My favorite there was the dandan noodles. Again, I thought they would have been even better with some heat, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. 4/5.


Clockwise from left: dumplings, dandan noodles, bao bun

At that point we were very full, so we headed over to America to see Voices of Liberty, which was great as always. We also hit up Soarin for the California version, which is seriously lacking in transitions. I like the international one better - it makes you blink every time you're changing locations.

And that was pretty much it! We will be back soon for more festival I'm sure, but for now, back to real life.

 

[kps7795]

Interlude: Food & Wine Festival, part 1
In which I am full

Yesterday I took a slightly impromptu day off to go to Disney for the first time since I got back to Orlando a week and a half ago! I figured I'd share some of the highlights for anyone who's in town for Wine & Dine and wants to hit up the festival while they're here.

First, though, we headed to MK, since I hadn't been on Tron yet. It was a pretty fun ride, but I think the seats could have used some work. Specifically, I wanted padding for my shins, a narrower seat that didn't press into my thighs, and a chest rest that didn't crush my belly. (That's where I keep my organs, you know!) Then we did Buzz Lightyear since we were there, and for once I beat my mom, mostly because I was controlling the steering joystick.

Then we headed to Epcot for Food & Wine. Looking through the little booklet, I was thinking there was a lot of new stuff! But then I realized I'm usually still in DC during W&D - I'm only here this early because of the wedding. So I think a lot of it is actually the same, but I got to enjoy it being new to me! Thanks to cloudy, breezy, and cooler-than-average weather, it wasn't too crowded, so none of the booth lines were all that long. I didn't love the weather for a park day, but if the weather gods provided me with those conditions on November 26 I would not complain at all.

After GOTG, our first festival stop was Connections Eatery for the Remy Liege waffle and Yucatan sunset margarita. The waffle was pretty blah. If I'd known it came in a cellophane wrapper, I probably would have skipped it - that's never a good sign. 1/5. The margarita wasn't bad - tasted mostly like a tequila sunrise. 3/5.

View attachment 806977
Mediocre waffle with a Remy chocolate on top and decent tropical margarita

Next we headed to World Discovery and picked up a lump crab cake from Coastal Eats and a fry flight (I kept wanting to say fly fright, which would have been seasonally appropriate but not correct) from The Fry Basket. I thought the crab cake was pretty good - salty, but I like salty. 3.5/5. The fry basket included salt & vinegar fries, bbq bacon fries, and sweet potato casserole fries. The salt & vinegar ones were okay. I liked the bbq ones, which had bbq chip seasoning and a smoked aioli that was really good. The sweet potato fries were basically dessert, as you might expect. Overall, 3.5/5.

View attachment 806986View attachment 806987
Crab cake with coleslaw and a charred lemon (r) and fry flight (l)

Then we were right by the Odyssey and the Brew-Wing Lab, where they had the pickle milkshake. It sounded gross, so I really wanted to try it It was actually not bad. There was a hint of dill pickle flavor, but mostly it just tasted like vanilla. Looking at who's responsible, I guess we should just be thankful it doesn't explode:

View attachment 806988
Pickle milkshake with whipped cream on top in front of a picture of Beaker and Honeydew using a Science Machine

Worth getting just so you can say you had a pickle milkshake.

I convinced my mom to try a sip of the pickle shake, but she hates pickles so we needed a chaser option. We stopped at Mexico for a tostada de carnitas and a taco de costilla along with the trouble in paradise margarita and the fly away margarita. The tostada and the taco were both yummy. 4/5. The trouble in paradise margarita was a little fruity for me, and the fly away was good but heavy on the alcohol. 2.5/5 for both. I forgot to take a picture though.

Next we headed to China for all the foods they had. No drinks because we were still working on the margaritas (and the pickle shake). The pan-fried chicken dumplings were pretty good. Would have loved some chili crisp on top, but they didn't have condiments that I saw. 3/5. The crispy duck bao bun was pretty bland. 2/5. My favorite there was the dandan noodles. Again, I thought they would have been even better with some heat, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. 4/5.

View attachment 807155
Clockwise from left: dumplings, dandan noodles, bao bun

At that point we were very full, so we headed over to America to see Voices of Liberty, which was great as always. We also hit up Soarin for the California version, which is seriously lacking in transitions. I like the international one better - it makes you blink every time you're changing locations.

And that was pretty much it! We will be back soon for more festival I'm sure, but for now, back to real life.

That sounds like a nice full day at the parks.

 

[nancipants]

Sounds like a fun day!

If you’re ever in the parks on the weekend, let me know. It’s getting to be “Disney every weekend” weather for me.

 

[Scootin'By]

Then we were right by the Odyssey and the Brew-Wing Lab, where they had the pickle milkshake. It sounded gross, so I really wanted to try it It was actually not bad. There was a hint of dill pickle flavor, but mostly it just tasted like vanilla. Looking at who's responsible, I guess we should just be thankful it doesn't explode:

View attachment 806988
Pickle milkshake with whipped cream on top in front of a picture of Beaker and Honeydew using a Science Machine

Worth getting just so you can say you had a pickle milkshake.

I'm so jealous. This looks so gross and yet so tempting. And I love the keepsake mug.

I'm also a BIG fan of dill pickle chips, so I can really see enjoying this

 

[WillRunForPizza]

October 30 - November 5, 2023
Marathon training week 13 | 21 days until Space Coast Marathon
In which...wait, it's November already??

Scheduled

This week's schedule

Actual
Monday
Easy: 4 miles, 46:54 (11:35), max HR 140, avg. 130, 100% Z1-2

This was a test to see how much damage Sunday did. Answer: some, but nothing long-term. I can tell because my pace was way slower than usual, but my HR was way lower too. By the end, I felt almost 60% normal again

Pilates

My very tired hip muscles were NOT happy

Tuesday
LT + 5K intervals: 2 mile WU + 2 x 10 min @ LTP/3 min RI + 3 x 3 min @ 5KP/2 min RI + 1 mile CD
Starting T+D ~137 | Adjusted goal paces: 8:00, 7:34
Interval split paces: 7:54, 7:52; 7:24, 7:24, 7:24
Totals: 7.82 miles, 1:13:10, max HR 192, avg. 161


Strava workout analysis chart

I was a bit apprehensive about doing this workout two days after an 18-mile workout. Things were a little bumpy at first but eventually loosened up. By the second LT interval, I was actually feeling pretty good. By the second 5K interval, I was thinking it was tough but okay. By the third 5K interval, I was definitely struggling. But luckily, then I was done.

I got home and hopped in the pool again - still great, 10/10 would recommend. I was thinking I should have a pool in DC, but then I remembered that I live in a one-bedroom apartment.

lower body strength

So, so drenched. Did 10 reps each instead of 8. Super wobbly on the single leg squats/deadlifts.

mini upper body strength

Happy Howl-o-ween!


My dog in front of the pool, smiling while wearing a Halloween bow tie. Because bow ties are cool.

Wednesday
off

Went to WDW!

Thursday
Easy/strides: 5.3 miles, 57:23 (10:04), max HR 171, avg. 144, 96% Z1-2

The weather was still relatively cool, which was nice. Since I had an extra day to recover, I decided to do drills and strides.

core

I expected this routine to be pretty easy because of the shorter intervals, but I was wrong

Friday
Michigan: 2 mile WU + (1 mile @ 10KP + 1 mile @ HMP + 0.75 mile @ 10KP + 1 mile @ HMP + 0.5 mile @ 5KP + 1 mile @ HMP + 0.25 mile @ 5KP) w/ 2.5 min easy between reps + 2 mile CD
10K split paces (7:38): 7:35, 7:39 | HM (8:04): 8:04, 7:52, 7:53 | 5K (7:21): 7:14, 7:27*
Totals: 11.07 miles, 1:39:13, max HR 187, avg. 158


Strava workout analysis chart

I felt a bit sluggish going out, but overall I think this went pretty well. The Michigan looks hard, but the 2.5 min recovery intervals mean that it's never that big of a challenge. (My legs were feeling pretty tired by the end though.)

I forgot to check the T+D adjustments before I left, but the weather wasn't bad, so I think I was fine just aiming for the unadjusted paces. I even did decently, although Strava and Apple disagree about my paces for the 5K intervals - I put Strava's above, but Apple has me at 7:20 for both, which is basically spot on for my 7:21 estimated equivalent pace. I just want credit for the few times I actually get the pacing sort of right

I brought some Skratch and water and had a UCAN gel about halfway through.

mini lower body strength

Saturday
Easy: 6.07 miles, 1:03:13 (10:24), max HR 160, avg. 147, 100% Z1-2

A little stiff at first but loosened up after the first couple of miles. I also didn't get HR data for the first couple of miles.

upper body strength

Sunday
Long: 11.36 miles, 1:50:05 (9:41), max HR 162, avg. 149, 100% Z1-2

The first mile I felt really off, but fortunately it went away after that. I wouldn't say I ever felt really great, but no real issues. I did run a little farther than 5.5 miles before turning around so I could include the one small hill that I have anywhere near my parents' house. My main goal with this run was to keep it under two hours, so I just stopped when I got to 1:50 and walked the last little bit back.

Since it was less than two hours, I just brought Skratch in my handheld, which was fine.

Totals
Running: 7h 26m | 45.69 miles
Strength/mobility: 1h 36m
Total: 9h 2m


Strava weekly training log

I don't know, my legs feel pretty tired for a down week.

That could be the 12 preceding weeks of M training too, though

Coming up

Next week's schedule

One last big week before the taper. Those could be some tough workouts

 

[Herding_Cats]

"Coach Ben's favorite"

 

[WillRunForPizza]

"Coach Ben's favorite"

Lol, that's what it was called in Run Like a Pro where I got it from, and I didn't have a better name

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Interlude: Food & Wine Festival, part 2
In which birds are jerks

Monday afternoon my mom and I made another pilgrimage to the International Food & Wine Festival. I'm the one who really wants to Try All The Things; she's mostly just along for the ride because why not, which is good both because I have someone to hang out and split dishes with and because I don't have to drive.

The weather was much warmer and sunnier than last week, and the park was commensurately more crowded. We just skipped rides and focused on the food. This time we started off with India. The curry-spiced crispy cheese wasn't bad, but they were basically like mozzarella sticks with fancy ketchup. And like mozzarella sticks, the quality decreased exponentially as it cooled. 2.5/5. I did enjoy the potato and pea samosas - not spicy at all, but nicely fried. 3.5/5. The chicken tikka masala was similarly not the best I've ever had but surprisingly good for Disney (I still have not forgotten the hockey puck arepas). 3/5. We also tried the Sula Chenin Blanc and the mango lassi with cream liqueur. I've never had Indian wine before, but the Chenin was pretty good, especially on a warm day. 4/5. The mango lassi was delicious. 5/5 no complaints.


Spread from India (minus one cheese stick that I ate before remembering to take a photo). Apparently my lens was a little grimy, oops.

Then we headed for Kenya (by which I mean my mom picked up the food and brought it back to our table in the shade). The coffee barbecued beef and peri-peri skewered shrimp were both yummy, although I could take or leave the pap and couscous, which didn't have a lot of flavor on their own. 4/5 for both although who knows how authentic they actually were.


Kenyan foods with the Food & Wine booklet. Lens is still messy.

We skipped the Alps, which didn't look all that exciting, and made our way to Germany for the Schinkennudeln and beer flight. Germany was popular and there weren't any tables available nearby, so we sat on the curb in front of the stage. Unfortunately, the second we put our Schinkennudeln down, a bird walked right up and stole it! It dragged it out of the basket but didn't get very far because it was too heavy. So nobody got the Schinkennudeln.

Luckily for us, if not for the avian criminal, we were right by the festival booth and the CM there came over with a replacement. That was good because it turned out to be delicious - basically a really rich mac 'n' cheese with little bits of ham and onion. 5/5. The beers were okay - I don't love lagers so while the Kölsch and Festbier were nice beers, they weren't really my style. And I found the prickly pear Hefeweizen too fruity, but my mom, who is not a beer fan, actually liked it. 2/5 for me, but if you like lagers and/or fruity beers, you would like these.


Germany: Schinkennudeln and beers. My mom is holding the Schinkennudeln because this was our second one and we were afraid to set it down.

After our harrowing German adventures, we took a break in the rotunda to see Voices of Liberty. They actually remembered us from last week I guess we did sit right in front both times. Also we are both constantly crying at VOL performances I'm pretty sure we weren't the only ones tearing up at You'll Never Walk Alone, though!

I was trying to prioritize and not just stop for every single booth, so our next stop was several booths farther on at Greece. The plant-based moussaka was very good - I was more worried about the fake cheese/bechamel than the Impossible ground lamb, but it didn't taste weird. 4/5. We got the wine flight as well, which was a nice selection. I would have guessed the Xinomarvo would be the best pairing for the moussaka, but I actually liked it better with the rosé! Go figure. 4/5 for the flight.


Moussaka and wine flight featuring Assyrtiko (white), rosé of unknown grape(s), and Xinomarvo (red). As you might guess from the table pattern, we sat in the back of Morocco.

By this point, we were pretty much done, but we (I) wanted to finish with something sweet. So our last stop was Belguim for a waffle and another beer flight. We got the waffle with just chocolate ganache - no whipped cream - and it hit the spot. 4/5. I'm not a Belgian beer connoisseur by any means, but I really liked the beers as well. They were all quite different styles but really good - even the fruity one (Delirium Red Fruit Belgian Ale) tasted really well balanced. And the tripel in particular went great with the chocolate-covered waffle. 5/5.


Belgian waffle (drenched in chocolate sauce) and beer flight (chouffe IPA, fruit ale, and tripel)

And that was it for the day! I think one more trip will take care of the rest of the booths I really want to visit, and we should be able to make it over there sometime next week before the festival ends. And then...another festival! Lol.

 

[azrivest]

the avian criminal

 

[Scootin'By]

Luckily for us, if not for the avian criminal, we were right by the festival booth and the CM there came over with a replacement. That was good because it turned out to be delicious - basically a really rich mac 'n' cheese with little bits of ham and onion. 5/5.

This is why Disney CMs are the best!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

November 6 - 12, 2023
Marathon training week 14 | 14 days until Space Coast Marathon
In which the humidity strikes back

Scheduled

This week's schedule

Actual
Monday
Easy/strides: 6.03 miles, 58:05 (9:38), max HR 172, avg. 151, 95% Z1-2

I was a little faster than usual this morning, fueled mostly by having only run 11 miles on Sunday (but also by anger at the numerous people I passed walking their dogs off-leash)

Pilates

I had lots to do (including Disney!) so ended up doing this one shortly before bed.

Tuesday
MP: 1 mile WU + 10 miles @ MP (8:28) + 1 mile CD
Splits: 8:27, 8:12, 8:13, 8:18, 8:26, 8:08, 8:07, 8:12, 8:15, 8:11
Total: 12.07 miles, 1:14:46, max HR 179, avg. 166


Strava workout analysis (GAP/splits) chart

Soooo, remember how at the beginning of marathon training, I said one of my goals was to not overrun everything?

About that.

I actually started the warmup feeling kind of crappy. I don't know why I keep feeling slightly ill during my warmups. I thought maybe it was related to Food & Wine part 2 the previous afternoon, but literally as soon as I left my parents' neighborhood, I felt fine. Maybe it was psychosomatic

Anyway, the first MP mile I was yo-yoing back and forth around my 8:28 target pace, which was really annoying. Sometimes instantaneous pace is more trouble than it's worth. So eventually I switched to running mostly by feel in lieu of constantly checking my watch. And I was actually pretty consistent! Just...consistently 10-15 seconds per mile faster than I was supposed to be

Fun fact, Strava says (probably accurately) that this was my 3rd-fastest 10-miler - it was only about 40 seconds slower than my official PR from April. But while it did feel like work, it never really felt hard. In fact, I didn't feel significantly more tired after 9.5 miles at MP than I did after like 6. Does it count as overrunning the workout if you feel pretty much fine at the end?

IIRC, this is around the point last year where I had a moment of panic because my workouts felt super easy and I thought I was doing something wrong, so maybe that's just what happens when you're 3/4 of the way through marathon training. (Related, my watch said my VO2max was up to 45.4 after this workout.) But at some point in the not-so-distant future, I'm going to have to make a decision about what pace I want to try to run in the actual marathon, and right now I truly have no idea. (Not 8:18, obviously, but beyond that? ) Nor do I really know what I learned from this workout (except that I could totally PR a 10-miler any time). Overall, color me pleased but uncertain.

lower body strength

I'm sure I've done this one before, but I did not remember the inside leg raises at all - they were weird. For the calf raises, I did single leg on a stair (though I did use the railing for balance). And for the burnout I did 40 jumping lunges (20 per side) and then I think another 30 or so not jumping but with 20 lbs per hand (15-ish per side). I kind of lost count by the end

Wednesday
Easy: 6.22 miles, 1:03:32 (10:12), max HR 165, avg. 148, 99% Z1-2

I could feel Tuesday's workout/strength training in my legs, but it didn't seem to have much impact on my run. I tried to take it easy, especially since I didn't go out until around 9 (trying to avoid bad dog owners) and it was warm and sunny, and was somewhat successful.

core
mini upper body strength

I particularly like coming back to this core routine because it's one that I've been doing fairly regularly for a while - probably since it first came out which was apparently 9 years ago. So now that I'm doing more core work, I can really tell that my movements are becoming more controlled and less flail-y, because I've done it so many times.

I still think I could benefit from more core, but at least there's progress! And my mini upper body strength was pretty core-intensive too.

Thursday
off

I did a very gentle yoga. And in the afternoon we headed up to the beach! My puppy was so excited he was vibrating


A very excited Rottweiler sitting on a tile floor, slightly blurry because of the vibrating

Friday
Medium-long: 9.27 miles, 1:31:33 (9:52), max HR 169, avg. 158, 92(ish)% Z1-2

I was getting a bit tired of the two routes at my parents' house, so it was good to be in a new place. Well, except that it was way more humid at the beach on Friday than it had been in Orlando for a while, so this run felt harder than it probably should have. Still, I got to run on some nice trails, and it was just good to be somewhere different for a change. I did kind of forget which way I was supposed to go a few times, but it was all fine.

mini lower body strength

12 each of deadlifts, squats, curtsy lunges, sumo squats, single leg calf raises, Bulgarian split lunges (very wobbly on the right side), single leg squats, jump squats (x20). No video since I did this in the gym.

We got to the beach too late for doggy beach time on Thursday, but he got to go play on Friday! He had so much fun


The dog clambering over the rocks with the ocean just behind him (left) and lying on the sand with a very sandy muzzle and an (also sandy) orange ball between his paws (right)

Saturday
Easy/strides: 6.29 miles, 1:05:17 (10:22), max HR174, avg. 152, 95% Z1-2

Still mostly cloudy but even more humid than Friday. Yuck.

upper body strength

In the gym again. 3x10: chest fly, reverse fly, shoulder press, lat pulldown, bicep curl, tricep extension.

And more beach time! For a dog who hates baths and is afraid of the pool, he's quite comfortable with the ocean


The dog trying to escape to sea, wading through the waves at the very end of a long leash

Sunday
Coach Ben's marathon workout: 1 mile WU + 60 min @ (steady + 1 min/mile) (8:57/8:50 GAP | 6.7 miles) + 60 min @ steady (8:04/7:59 | 7.44 miles) + 1 (or 2) mile CD
Steady+1 splits (target 9:07): 8:58, 8:56, 8:58, 8:58, 8:49, 8:48, 8:44 (0.7)
Steady splits (target 8:07): 8:44 (0.3), 8:05, 7:59, 8:00, 8:12, 8:08, 7:51
Total: 17.28 miles, 2:33:22, max HR 184, avg. 166


Strava workout analysis (GAP/splits) chart

This was a journey.

So, this workout came from the plan that I used for WDW, and basically it is a marathon simulator. You run the first 1-hour interval a bit slower than marathon pace to mimic how the first half of the race should feel pretty easy, and then you pick up the pace to slightly faster than M pace for the second hour to simulate the fatigue building up in the second half of the marathon. It works remarkably well

After a couple of VERY humid days here at the beach, I was a little nervous about how this one would go. But on Sunday, while the humidity was still high, there was also a pretty significant breeze that kept things feeling relatively cool. And it wasn't exactly raining, but it was misty, which also helped cool things off. So that worked out better than I anticipated.

As you have probably come to expect at this point, I was a little fast for most of the first half. I was really trying to slow myself down! But I kept being at like 8:45 instead of about 9:07-9:15 like I wanted. That's going to have to be something I'm REALLY conscious of in the marathon: in the beginning, SLOW DOWN It did feel pretty easy, though.

Then I sped up. At this point I had somehow looped around the same little bit of trail like three times, so I had gone off in a different direction and was running along a road (on a sidewalk), which was not as fun but okay. I had a nice tailwind for the first 25 minutes or so, and then, of course, I had to turn around and things became a bit more challenging. For the next couple of miles, I was pushing but still more or less comfortable. But in the last 15-20 minutes, it started to feel really hard.

Sometimes this is when you just kind of give up and jog it in. But today I went, NO, my last really serious workout is NOT going to end like in quitting. I struggled through it. And because I was trying SO hard, that last mile was actually the fastest of the run

Unfortunately for me, I hadn't mathed right after all the looping around, so I still had at least 2 miles to go before I got back. I had to stop and walk for a minute right after I finished the hard part, but after that I was sort of okay. I actually felt better after mile 17 than after mile 16, so it all worked out I guess.

Boring logistical stuff: I had 0.5 L of Skratch and 0.5 L of water, which wasn't quite enough but I survived. I took 2 UCAN gels and one GU. And I wore my old Endorphin Pro 3s, less because I wanted the extra boost during the run and more because I was hoping that would help me recover faster. We'll see if it works!

Also according to Strava this was my second fastest HM (Still 5 minutes slower than September's PR, though)

Totals
Running: 57.29 miles | 8h 55m
Strength/mobility: 1h 51m
Total: 10h 46m


Strava weekly training log

Another weekly mileage PR, but actually not even in the top 3 for (running) time.

And that's pretty much it for peak training...

Coming up

Next week's schedule

Hello, taper! I know it's a little unusual to do a two-week taper for a marathon, but if you think about it another way, 3 of my last 4 weeks are cutting back from peak mileage, just like normal people - it's just that I put a really hard week in the middle of them

I think I read somewhere (here or in a book) that it takes about 10 days to see benefits from any one workout, so I might make some small gains from Wednesday's workout, but after that, it's just about maintaining the fitness I've built over the past 14 weeks (and also the past 20 or so months since I started taking training seriously) until marathon day. It's kind of a scary thought - this is as good as it gets for this race - but I feel like my training has gone really well overall, so I'm also excited to see what happens. It's gonna be a weird and nerve-wracking couple of weeks, though!

 

[avondale]

I'm sure I'll say it again, but good luck for Space Coast! That weekend can have hot weather just pop up out of nowhere, so keep your fingers crossed. At least you seem to do ok in the heat.

(but also by anger at the numerous people I passed walking their dogs off-leash)

I know you weren't in the DC area when you observed this, but on the natural trails in Rock Creek Park, Northwest Branch, etc., SO MANY people just walk right along with their dogs off leash. To be fair, the vast majority of these dogs just go right by me, but some don't. I grew up with dogs, but I still don't like to be jumped on or charged by dogs I don't know - or the possibility of them tripping me. I'm glad you set a good example.

There was a guy last weekend who had his dog following him on the trail. The dog was on-leash, but the guy wasn't holding it and just let it drag behind the dog - and it was a super-long leash of like 15 feet!

Sometimes instantaneous pace is more trouble than it's worth.

Yeah, I tried this a few times but found it too annoying. I use lap pace - with a lap of 1 mile (unless I hit the lap button) - and it's good enough. When you start a new mile, it's a good indicator of your pace, almost instantaneous, and then you have it average out in the end so that you don't worry too much about constantly trying to adjust your pace.