November 20- November 26 Training

Monday: 3 miles (9:38), 3 miles (10:14).  Two very easy short runs.
Tuesday: 5 miles (9:30).  Treadmill run, busy getting ready to travel tomorrow.
Wednesday: 4 miles (9:27).  Treadmill run at the Detroit Marriott.
Thursday: 1 mile (9:20), 6.3 miles (7:50).  Because it was 30 degrees outside, I did my warmup on the hotel treadmill, and then got ready for the 10K.  49:25 in the Detroit Turkey Trot 10K was a good race for me.  A slight negative split.  First time under 50 minutes on a 10K in over 2 years, so my comeback is continuing.

Friday: 7 miles (9:31).  One last treadmill run at the Detroit Marriott.  Legs feel pretty good the day after the 10K.
Saturday: 5 miles (8:38).  Felt really good when I got back home to Hendersonville and ended up going faster than easy.  This is my Rocket City marathon pace targeting sub 3:48.
Sunday: 5 miles (9:31), 10 miles (8:15).  The plan was for 2 miles with two 5 mile sections at 8:45 and sub 8:45.  Started on the treadmill with a warm-up progression, but I really wasn't feeling it on the treadmill, so drove to Station Camp.  It felt much better out there, nice temps in the upper 50's and the first two miles started at 8:37, 8:30, and then I started going faster.  I decided to just go with it at the faster pace and not go easy after 5.  I ended up stopping after 10 miles at an average pace of 8:15.  The 10 mile time was nearly 5 minutes faster than my recent Team Nashville 10 mile race.  The last 5 I was averaging 8:10 and felt I could have maintained that 8:10 for another 3.1 miles for a sub 1:48 half marathon.  Only 1 in my last 10 half marathons was below 1:48, so this is a good sign that I am making a comeback.  I was going to add miles back home on the treadmill, but my right hamstring felt sore when I got home, so stopped at 15 miles for the day.

Total Miles: 49.2 miles.  Low mileage week mainly due to traveling to Detroit where I don't run as many miles when traveling.  But with the Rocket City Marathon 13 days away, that is OK.  The race prediction calculators translate my 49:25 10K to a 3:47:xx marathon.  So that is the goal for Rocket City.  A sub 3:48 would be my 3rd fastest marathon on my 17th marathon.  That would make me extremely happy.

 

November 13 - November 19 Training

Monday: 4 miles (9:41), 4 miles (9:42).  Two very easy 4 mile runs.  Not feeling any marathon soreness, just a little tired is all.
Tuesday: 10 miles (9:06).  Recovered well from the marathon and ran 10 miles with 30 second pickups each mile.  Back to having fun with even splits: 9:06, 9:07, 9:07, 9:05, 9:05, 9:06, 9:05, 9:07, 9:05, 9:05.
Wednesday: 6 miles (10:08).  Felt some soreness in my right hamstring when I woke up.  So I skipped the second run since it was bothering me on my first run.
Thursday: 2 miles (9:08), 6 miles (8:44), 1 mile (9:21), 2 miles (9:53).  Right leg felt better today. 2 mile warmup, followed by 6 x (1/2 mile @ < 7:35 pace + 1/2 mile jog), 1 mile cooldown.  Added an easy two miler later.  The intervals felt pretty good.  I had to push it a bit on the first two to get under 7:35 pace, but felt much easier starting with the 3rd one and I was able to open it up on the 5th (7:20 pace).
Friday: 10 miles (9:16).  I felt physically tired when I went to run and could easily have taken a nap.  But then I started feeling energized on mile 4 and ended up with a faster second half.  First 5 miles 9:25 pace, second 5 miles 9:08 pace with mile 10 at 8:52.  80 miles the last 7 days!
Saturday: 7 miles (9:51).  Late morning very easy 7 miles on the Station Camp Greenway.
Sunday: 6 miles (9:15), 4 miles (9:20).  This was supposed to be a 3 mile warm-up followed by 10 x (1/2 @ 8:25 + 1/2 @ 8:45).  I was struggling to hit the pace and felt weak.  Not sure if it was the wind in the cold air, but I just didn't have the strength today.  So stopped after 6 miles.  Went back out in the afternoon to try again, but still wasn't feeling it today.  But that is going to happen every once in a while, so not going to let it bother me.  Just come back the next day.

Total Miles: 62 miles.  I was hoping for 70 miles, but not getting all the miles in on Sunday and skipping a run on Wednesday prevented me from reaching 70 miles.

November 6 - November 12 Training

Monday: 5 miles (10:20). The body just didn't feel like running today and it was lazy, slow.
Tuesday: 3 miles (9:30), 4.77 miles (8:23), 1 mile (9:40).  Treadmill day starting with a 3 mile warmup followed by 10 x (1:00 @ 7.6 mph + 1:00 @ 6.7 mph), 1 mile cooldown.  Felt pretty good.
Wednesday: 10 miles (9:11).  Felt great out there with temperature at 54 degrees.
Thursday: 8 miles (8:41).  I had a pop in my step right from the start with an 8:50 first mile.  That hasn't happened in a long time.  Ran faster than I should, but it was feeling easy and good.
Friday: 3 miles (9:39).  Easy run at lunch time on the Station Camp Greenway.
Saturday: 26.57 miles (10:19).  I ran the Nashville Marathon as a training run.  I ran the first 20 miles (2:57:27, pace 8:52) and then mainly walked the last 6.57 miles to the finish to complete Marathon #16.  I did drop a 7:58 on mile 20, knowing that I was going to start walking after that point.  Solid long run 4 weeks before Rocket City Marathon.
Sunday: 5 miles (9:34), 4 miles (9:50).  I ended up adding a second run today to reach 70 miles for the week.  I'm not feeling very much marathon soreness, which is good.

Total Miles: 70.45 miles.  A solid week of training with a marathon to get over 70 miles for the week. Weather is starting to be very good for running.  Hopefully I can make some fitness gains the next few weeks and target a good race at the Rocket City Marathon in early December.

October 30 - November 5 Training

Monday: 4 miles (9:32), 4 miles (9:13).  Afternoon run on the Station Camp Greenway followed by a Brixx Run a couple hours later.  Feeling sore from yesterday's long run.
Tuesday: 4 miles (9:57), 5.6 miles (8:37), 4 miles (9:51).  Long warmup of 4 miles.  I really never felt good on the warmup.  Then 8 x (4:00 on + 2:00 off).  The goal was to start the fast intervals around 8:15 and work down to mid 7's.  Actual paces were 8:08, 8:06, 8:08, 7:55, 7:50, 7:34, 7:32, 7:30. Long 4 mile cooldown.  I was still sore from Sunday, so 13.6 miles was a tough day for me today.
Wednesday: 7 miles (9:52), 3 miles (9:48).   Afternoon run on the Station Camp Greenway followed by an evening run on Saundersville Road.  Ran very easy today.  Still a little sore from the last few days.
Thursday: 5 miles (9:34), 3 miles (9:31).  First run with pickups on the Station Camp Greenway followed up with a short treadmill run in the evening.
Friday: 5 miles (9:57).  70 and humid is not what you expect in November.  Come on Winter, please hurry to get here.
Saturday: 1 mile (9:26), 10.09 miles (8:37), 3 miles (9:43).  I ran the Team Nashville 10 Miler today in 1:27:02.  Good enough for 2nd Place Age Group. Maybe not as fast as I used to be, but this was a solid effort.  Negative split on the second half of around 1:30.  Once I got to the top of the big hill around 5.35 miles, then I was able to open it up and start running 8:15-8:25 until the last mile where you go back up some hills.  I kept good race focus the entire way and never giving up and settling for easy running.  So this is a good start on my journey to return to my old racing focus.  It's good to get sick again at the finish line 8-).  Added a 3 mile shake out run late in the afternoon.
Sunday: 6.22 miles (9:36).  This ended up being a progression, which wasn't the intent.  After a 10:15 first mile, I just kept getting faster with mile 6 in 9:06.  Legs feel pretty good after yesterday's race.

Total Miles: 65 miles.  I continue to get more confident and I'm really starting to enjoy running  again after a long time where I was just going through the motions.  I'm looking forward to running the Nashville Marathon next Saturday as a long training run.  Weather is looking good.  4 more solid weeks to train for Rocket City.

October 23 - October 29 Training

Monday: 3 miles (9:31), 4 miles (9:38), 1 mile (9:48).  Lunch run on the treadmill and then ran 5 miles at Brixx.  Ran 4 before the group started and then added an extra mile.
Tuesday: 3 miles (9:31), 4 miles (8:16), 1 mile (9:50).  3 mile warmup followed by a 4 mile tempo run from 8:27 to 8:06.  Kept tough and got through the tempo run without stopping.
Wednesday: 6 miles (9:31), 3.1 miles (9:43).  Afternoon 6 miles on the treadmill followed by an early Fleet Feet Run Sum 5K.
Thursday: 10 miles (9:33).  Nice, easy 10 mile run on the Station Camp Greenway.  After 7 miles, I started feeling stronger and the last 3 miles were the fastest.  Just a 3 second stop for a car.
Friday: 8 miles (9:26). Easy miles with 8x20s pickups.  Wanted to keep running and just like yesterday, I was getting faster at the end.
Saturday: 8 miles (9:25).  Same route as yesterday, without the pickups, but I was 7 seconds faster.  Throwing in an 8:41 to end the easy run.  It felt great out there.
Sunday: 18 miles (8:54), 1 mile (9:36).  Started the long run with a 4 mile warm-up followed by 4 x (3:00@ sub 8:50 + 1/2 @ jog).  The key was to have as little as stop time as possible.  After the warm-up, I went straight into the intervals without stopping and only took one 25 second water stop after 15.25 miles.  I was amazed I didn't need water for over 15 miles and probably could have ran the entire 19 miles without water.  Averaged 8:36 on the 12 faster miles.

Total Miles: 70.2.  I believe this is the turning point in my training.  I've started to learn to run without any stops.  I felt like I had my old marathon focus on the long run and look forward to continuing this approach to my training.  I must drink way to much water during marathons, because I had maybe 4 ounces of water during the 19 miles.  When it is cool out, you just don't need much water.

October 16 - October 22 Training

Monday: 5 miles (9:31).  Easy 5 on the treadmill.  A new presonal record, 5 miles on the treadmill without stopping.
Tuesday: 7 miles (9:29).  7 miles with pickups.  A new personal record, 7 miles on the treadmill without stopping.  More record breaking runs to come!
Wednesday: 10 miles (9:10).  Another new record, 10 miles on the treadmill without stopping!  Started a 9 mile progression at 6.2 mph (9:40) and ending at 7.0 mph (8:34) with a 1 mile cooldown.
Thursday: 4 miles (9:36), 4 miles (9:36).  Two easy 4 mile runs.
Friday: 3 miles (9:31).  My cold was feeling worse today, so after a 3 mile warmup, I deferred today's workout until Saturday.
Saturday: 2 miles (9:31), 6.61 miles (8:28).  After a 2 mile workout, 8 x (5:00 on + 2:00 off).  Started the fast intervals at 7.3 mph (8:13) and worked them down to 7.7 mph (7:47).  It felt pretty smooth.
Sunday: 8 miles (9:27).  Wanted to do a long run, but been run down with a cold all week and just managed 8 miles.

Total Miles: 49.6 miles.  Not bad considering I woke up sick Monday morning and never felt well the entire week.  I did get a couple good workouts in.

Past 2 Weeks - Changing My Training Execution

October 2 - 8

Monday: 3 miles (9:41).  Easy start to the Chicago taper week.
Tuesday: 7 miles (8:53).  2@easy, 2@8:40, 2@8:20, 1@easy.  All easy running until Chicago now.
Wednesday: 5 miles (9:31).  Nice, easy miles.
Thursday: 5 miles (9:33).
Friday: 3 miles (9:31).  Off to Chicago on Friday afternoon.
Saturday: 2 miles (9:31).  Two miles on the hotel treadmill.
Sunday: 26.2 miles (10:10).  The Chicago Marathon. 

Total Miles: 51.2.

October 9 - 16

Monday: 2 miles (10:10). Hotel treadmill in Chicago.
Tuesday: 3 miles (9:49). Another easy treadmill recovery run.
Wednesday: 3 miles (9:28), 3.1 miles (9:28).   The running streak finally reached 1000 days today and I added a second run at the Fleet Feet Run Sum.

Thursday: 6.22 miles (9:21).  I ran a nice and easy 10K and it was actually 29 seconds faster than my recent 10K Franklin Classic Race, because I was stopping at the water stops during the race.
Friday: 5 miles (9:42).  Easy run from the Library to DCP.
Saturday: 4 miles (9:36), 5 miles (9:12).  Easy morning run around Station Camp and then an late afternoon run on the Station Camp Greenway.
Sunday: 5 miles (9:31).  Easy treadmill miles while watching football.

Total Miles: 36.3 miles.

My analysis of my recent training and the Chicago Marathon.

My recent Chicago Marathon was my second slowest of all time at 4:24:18.  But it was actually my lowest point for marathon running.  When I ran the slower race at New York City last fall, I was injured most of the way, where I really had no excuses in Chicago.

I took a look at my training and I know exactly what happened.  I simply just started taking too many breaks and stops during ALL my runs.  Not just workouts, even short 3 mile easy runs were never done continuously.

I saw that one of my 17 mile outdoor long runs had 40 minutes of down time.  So what looked like a solid 8:45 paced long run in reality was closer to 11 minutes per mile elapsed time.

I ran 3 long runs on the treadmill with distances of 19, 20, and 21 miles.  By the second half of the run, I am getting off the treadmill every mile to wipe off with a towel and drinking water or using the bathroom.  Easily 2-3 minutes of down time per mile.  So even the 19 mile run which looked like a great progression down to 7:35 per mile wasn't as effective due to the stops between each mile.

You really can't expect to get to the start line of the marathon and think you are going to have race day magic and run a good pace for 26.2 mile without stopping when you didn't train that way.  As my coach has said, there is no such thing as "race day magic".  The race is just an extension of what took place in training.  That was never so true as in Chicago. 

So I have to change how I train.  And this past week, I never stopped once during any run.  They weren't long runs and were just easy runs, so I haven't really tested myself.  But I feel like I was more focused on the run rather than wondering where I was going to stop next.  After an easy recovery week, this week will be more focused and longer runs with some workouts.

My strategy will be to carry water on me when the workout or length of the run cannot easily be executed without taking any water during the run. So my plan is to start wearing my Camelbak with water and being able to get a drink while on the run and not having to stop.

This won't be easy, especially when I get to the tough workouts and longer runs.  But if I can execute and keep focused and limit any stops to the very minimal, then I will regain that mental toughness, start to get faster on the long runs, and then race day won't be such a shock to the body.

The improved results won't happen over night, but if I can stay focused and execute, some good things are going to happen in 2018.

So stay tuned to see how many training moves forward in the following weeks and months ahead.