Week 13 Long Run.

I did 22 miles today in 3 hours and 33 minutes, which is roughly a 9:30 pace. I deliberately went out slow - and it seemed to work. I felt tired at 2 hours, but told myself to keep a pace and think positive - it seemed to work - real fatigue didn't set in until the 3:10 point - which was the time of my previous long run. It did hurt after that - but I'm guessing that's normal. Taking the rest of the day off.

Earlier this week was tough. I did the requisite 5 on Monday with Larry and Dave [albeit too fast], and paid for the pace on Tuesday - I did the slowest TwTR run of the year: 1:15 - taking frequent walking breaks. Wednesday was mercifully raining [hard], and I decided I'd rather miss my weekely mileage total than feel like ass during my long run, so I took Thursday off as well. It seemed to pay off - today was hard but doable. Now I can hit Tarzan Brown hard then start the taper.

Week 13: The Peak Begins!

First - I finished off week 12 with my last set of Yasso 800s - although they were at night/in the dark/off track - so they may or may not have been 3:30 half-miles. They felt great while I was running and I even got to say hello up close and personal to a large family of deer. About 9 miles total.

Today was another matter. Wonderful fall weather and both Larry and Dave T made it out - but I wasn't feeling it. A very slugging 5 miles to kick off week 13. The big run is Friday - 22 miles - although I think our family is on the brink of a flu/cold disaster - so we'll see how I can navigate that and train for a marathon.

Something cool floating around last week. Link to the musicians is here [for those that, like me, are digging the song].

Last Minute Marathon Tips: shot with Nikon D90 from Mike Kobal on Vimeo.

Ugh. Long Run.

The run itself actually felt great, I'm just paying for it now. I decided to try this workout from a few years back in RW. I did the half-marathon version a few years ago: 2x3mile tempos - and thought it was a pretty nice workout then. The marathon version is a 2x6 mile tempos - which I did at a almost-tempo-like 7:50 pace (23:30 per 3-mile lap - 47 minutes for each 6 mile 'interval'). It certainly made the 15 miler more interesting - although I'm not certain the pace was necessarily fast enough to qualify as a good tempo work. These are suppose to increase your 'lactate threshold' - which I'm guessing is the searing pain you feel during a fast 3 mile tempo run. I really didn't experience that today. The pace was probably about correct though (7:30 for a hilly 10K + 20 seconds). Still, it felt more like an endurance building 15 miler than any tempo run I've ever done. Anyway - 1 week + 1 workout - and I'll finally be in 'taper land' (if a 40 mile week is considered tapering). Overall the workout was 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down and 1 mile in-between 2 6 mile tempo intervals - good for 15 miles.

Week 11 Done; Week 12 Underway

I finished up last week with a 7 miler on Sunday night. Sunday was miserable, but Sunday night actually had a beautiful feel to eat: low clowds, not too wet, great views down by Beebe Cove and Groton Long Point.

Week 12 started the next day with 4x1 mile intervals down around the Jupiter loop and Tyler Ave. They felt pretty good and I did most around the 7:10-7:20 min/mile pace. Yesterday I did the Twilight Trail Run course again - this time I picked up the pace a little compared to my last few 'easy' runs and did it in 1:04:30 - good for a 8:43 pace. That's exactly where I need to be for the marathon - so that's good.

Long Run Week 11.

I did my long run a day early. Now I've done 16, 18 and 2 20's - they all hurt. I was worried that I'd be running tomorrow in a driving/heavy rain - although it now looks like it may not be so bad. I managed what I think is at least 20 miles by doing 6 - yes 6 - of the Jupiter loops from work. The first loop I did the Avery point loop as well. The advantage of the loops is that I didn't have to carry my water bottle the whole way - I could just take a swig every ~1/2 hour or so. Mentally - it felt just as hard as the running home thing. The legs felt good - until the 2 hour point - then I started to feel it (again). I'm hoping part of it is the lack of rest the day before.

This is hard. I've been looking at this website which outlines the benefits of the long run: provides endurance, strengthens heart, increased mitochondria and myoglobin, strengthens leg muscles and ligaments, recruits fast twitch muscles [not sure I have many of those], teaches the body to burn fat as fuel, develops mental toughness - this I believe - the long run feels mentally and physically difficult.

Week 11.

I've already blasted through the first 3 runs of week 11. Monday I started out with a tough 5.3 miler by myself. It was the first run of the year that felt cold and windy and I hated it. It took me 47:30 to finish. Yesterday wasn't much better - I headed to Bluff Point after work and did the 7.4 mile Twilight Trail Run course. I finished the Haley Farm loop just as some local high school teams were gathering for a meet. Total time: 1:06. Today was much nicer - I was thinking miserable cold again and bundled up, but I had the 2 Dave's running with me and the sun was out and everything was good - total of 5.2 miles in 45:30.

Nothing to intense. Tomorrow I get a much needed rest day after 7/8 run days totaling 55 miles. Then it's my second and last 20 miler Friday - once again in rain and wind - what's up with all the rainy long runs? Hopefully it won't be too bad.

In other news - I received my new Brooks Adrenlines. They feel pretty good out of the box and I'll probably try them for 20 on Friday.

Week 10 Update.

Week 10's been hard. I started off Monday with a 4.8 mile run (almost 5 dammit) - I took this one real easy - just the normal route around work with both loops. I took Tuesday off and then went pretty hard Wednesday - Larry and I did the "Sneakers Mile" and the "Bitch" - in addition to both loops at what passes for a brisk - probably 7:50ish pace over 6 miles (faster at times). Since I was supposed to run 9 on Wednesday - I went out with Dave T. for an easy 3.8 miler just down around Avery Point and back up on Thursday. In retrospect - I should've just done the 9 and taken Thursday off.

Which bring me to today's run from hell. Turns out - 20 miles in 3 hours and 8 minutes of running is really, really hard. I did this one after dropping the kids off at school/daycare - and left my house at ~8:50. The first hour and 20 minutes felt great. I took a gel at about then and around the 1:40 mark was thinking "when's that gel going to kick in?". By the time I hit the 2 hour mark I wanted to walk - a waited to the 2:10 mark and did another gel and short ~20 second walk before getting the legs going again. The last hour felt really hard. It was like last week - but 18 minutes longer! I guess that's why we train for marathons - it puts the "hard" in "hard work".

The nice thing about the morning run/afternoon work (half-day) is that I can sit on my ass at my desk and not have to get up every 3 minutes to do some kid-related task. Hopefully my body will feel better - just about everything hurts right now: feet, calvs, knees, quads, lower-back, upper-back - wicked chafing in areas that I really do not want wicked chafing. Only 2 more runs like that, then I can begin my long, glorious taper. (I'm assuming marathon tapers are just about the best thing in the world - so don't tell me otherwise.)

Week 9 Finale.

I finished off week 9 - the first of the "monster month" with the easiest 9 mile run I've ever done. It took me over 1 hour and 17 minutes to complete. I decided to skip the Brooke St Hill and run a loop at Groton Long Point instead. The loop turned out to be a lot longer than I'd hoped - but that's ok as it gives me 41 miles for the week - by far my longest ever. Most of the marathon training is centered on the weekend now - so this weeks runs should be pretty easy until Friday's 20 miler.

I should also mention that the Asics 2140s feel great on my feet now. I'm thinking about trying the long run in them.

That Was Difficult

I did my first ever 18 mile run today. My legs still hurt. It took my 2 hours and 52 minutes - over 9:30 min/mile. Although I now know I can do the 20 and 22 milers - I also am now aware just how difficult it is to run for such a long time. For some reason - that felt much harder than the 16 I did earlier or the 15 last Sunday. After the run I made it a point to get some gels and a decent water bottle. Tonight I feel like I'm training for a marathon.