83 Days to Go (I will run a sub-3 hour marathon and qualify for Boston!)
Date - Day - Scheduled Workout (Intervals within desired pace)
7/4/17 - T - 3 mile WU + 12x400 @ CV w/ 30 sec RI @ WU + 4 x 200m @ R w/ 200m RI + 3 mile CD (11/16)
7/5/17 - W - 7 miles @ 8:04-9:01 min/mile
7/6/17 - R - 2 mile WU + 8 miles @ 6:58 min/mile + 2 mile CD (7/8)
7/7/17 - F - 7 miles @ 8:04-9:01 min/mile
7/8/17 - Sat - 7 miles @ 8:04-9:01 min/mile
7/9/17 - Sun - 16 miles @ 7:35 min/mile (13/15)
7/10/17 - M - OFF
Total (training) mileage = 59.7 miles
Number of SOS intervals within pace = 31/39 (79%)
Monday was an off day and no tee-ball because of the holidays. I made a peanut butter sauce for our chicken tacos. It was chicken broth, Sriracha, honey, and peanut butter powder cooked in a sauce pan. It was delicious!
On Tuesday, I decided to launch my own fireworks for the 4th of July! The real Lakefront marathon training starts today. I decided to kick off the training with critical velocity training which is a newer concept to me. I learned it from Tim Schwartz. Essentially, it is a pace that lies between VO2max and Lactate Threshold (about 1-2% less than LT). The idea is that if done appropriately the pace can work both VO2max and LT simultaneously. If you'd like to figure out your CV pace then use the McMillan calculator, put in a recent race time, and it will give you vLT pace in red near the top of the chart. Then calculate 1-2% less than that pace. For some people this may be 5k pace, others 10k pace (like me), and others HM pace.
T+D of 117, minimal wind, partly sunny
CV Pace = 6:23 min/mile (95 seconds per 400m)
Window = +/- 1 seconds (94-96 seconds)
Mile Pace = 5:28 min/mile (41 seconds per 200m)
Window = +/- 1 second (40-42 seconds)
I was excited to give this new pacing (type of workout) a try. Initially I didn't think the 30 seconds would be so short, but it sure felt like as soon as I stopped it was time to go again.
CV Pace = 96, 94, 95, 94, 96, 93, 95, 96, 96, 94, 94, 95
Overall, the CV pace was comfortable. I had a hard time internalizing the new pace so it was a lot of clock checking and adjusting pace up and down. But overall, 11/12 intervals were within the pace window.
Mile Pace = 35, 38, 38, 38
WHAT?!?!?! I mean really???? 35 seconds?!?!? At that point I knew I must have mis-measured/mis-remembered the 200m intervals. I decided to extend the interval distance for the last couple to see if I got it closer. Looks like I was running 0.120 miles instead of 0.125 miles. Therefore, the paces were actually more like
Mile Pace = 36, 39, 39, 39
So.... umm.. yea... Even with the correction that first 200m was insanely fast. Like sub-5 minute fast (4:58 min/mile)! Yikes! The other intervals were closer to being in-line, but they were still too quick even with the distance correction (but close). So, 0/4 on the 200m intervals.
Unfortunately, during the cool-down I felt some tightness in my groin again. Thankfully, within a few hours, it had left, but it's definitely something to keep a tab on going forward.
Even with the +24 increase in T+D I was able to hold the line on the pacing. The HR does look like it is trending downwards on the same mile at similar paces.
Holding steady at a 7:02 min/mile average for all three Tempo runs thus far. That puts my projected finish time range at 2:59:49-3:05:24 based on historical marathon racing profiles. So so very close.
Wednesday was a T+D of 137. There was some severe weather on the way home and then a break came right when I was ready to start running. So I took advantage of the break and was able to squeeze the run in uninterrupted. Final pace of 8:49 min/mile and HR of 124. Seems like the HR is headed in the right direction. When I got home on Wednesday Steph and gotten a phone call from the appraiser. So instead of 2-3 weeks before he would be coming, he was coming on FRIDAY?!?! Freak out time! Quick super clean the house!!!
Another Thursday morning Tempo day. I'm super glad I'm doing this because this evening is a T+D of 155. Nope, nope, nope....
T+D of 144, minimal wind, and sunny.
M Tempo = 6:58 min/mile
Window = +/- 10 seconds (6:48-7:08 min/mile)
Only got 7 hours of sleep before this one (unusually low for me) because we got word that the home appraiser was suppose to come in 2 weeks but instead he's coming TOMORROW! ACK! SCRAMBLE! So, I spent a lot of time last night cleaning and getting ready. I still felt relatively confident coming in to this morning's run.
M Tempo = 7:08, 7:02, 7:00, 7:08, 6:58, 7:07, 7:12, 6:52
Felt reasonably comfortable throughout. There were periods of time where I felt locked in and was holding steady. Felt confident it was a pace I could maintain for a while. But sometimes those hills act as reality checks. Mile 7 was tough with the uphill. When I hit the bottom of the hill I was at a 7:07 lap pace and knew it was going to be tough to hit the interval with the remainder of the mile uphill. I'm pretty happy with a 7:12 all considered. I made up for it with the downhill 6:53. Overall average pace was 7:03 min/mile with 7/8 intervals within window and an average HR of 152. Solid all around. I spent the rest of Thursday frantically cleaning everything inside and outside the house. Mowing, power washing, painting, etc. We also had appointments with the cabinetry and flooring places. Decisions.... decisions....
Friday was a T+D of 138 and cloudy. The final pace was an 8:52 min/mile with a HR of 125. The appraiser visited in the morning but gave no indications. More waiting...
Saturday was a T+D of 118 and cloudy. The final pace was an 8:42 min/mile with a HR of 124. Afterwards, we headed back to the flooring place. We spent a good time hemming and hawing over the choices. I'm excited for the choices and can't wait to see if they come to fruition.
Sunday was a long run day. For someone who loves endurance running, it's been a long time since I've done a run of 16 miles or more (or 120 min or more). The last time it's happened was the Disney marathon back in January. And the last time in training was December 19th. So almost, 7 months. Welcome back endurance!
Long Run pace = 7:35 min/mile
Window = +/- 10 seconds (7:25-7:45)
T+D of 128, with minimal wind, and a mostly sunny sky. After yesterday's volleyball, badminton, and water balloon fun at a high school graduation party, I was ready to attack the long today. Unfortunately, it was an early morning to avoid the beast of temps. So I only got 7 hours of sleep instead of my normal 8-9 hours. So how did it go?
Before loop - 8:37, 7:44, 7:39,
Beg loop (double uphill and downhill) - 7:34, 7:34, 7:33, 7:30
Mid loop (flat, uphill) - 7:42, 7:33, 7:32, 7:35
End loop (downhill, flat) - 7:32, 7:27, 7:22, 7:24,
After loop - 7:34
3.1 mile loop - 25:00, 24:06, 24:36, 24:06
Solid all around! The beginning was a bit stiff (not including the first mile included lugging water to the "aid station"). After a few miles things loosened up and I fell into the groove. Unfortunately that groove was a bit too deep because I fell below the pace window twice. I tried to pull back, but it was too late by the time I noticed. Overall hit 13/15 intervals, average pace of 7:33 min/mile with an average HR of 142 (just on the top end of long run historical of 138-142). The first real training week is in the books and next week brings another new adventure with a 10 mile progression run ending with MP, HMP, and 10kP. Exciting! Not so much the upcoming temps though...
Seems like the resting HR is reacting to the endurance work I've been putting in...
Average weekly resting HR over time. The red bars are from Disney in January (and sickness). Then you can see the ebb and flow of Daniels training. Then when I pulled back and did 2 hard per week, and now just getting back into the swing of things the last couple weeks.
I can also tell I'm finally acclimating to the temperatures because runs at 8:40-8:50 min/mile at 138-142 T+D used to be HRs of 129-130 and this week were 124-125. Moving in the right direction!
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