46F and overcast and a bit of wind today Today's run 11 miles AHR=146/154 Nice solid run, to lazy to mark my splits but the AHR was only 3 beats higher from mile 3 to mile 11 with no loss of pace to speak of . I'm retiring my Mizuno Wave Rider 10's , they were causing me some discomfort in the later miles . It's a shame since they only have 300 miles on them but it's not worth the risk. For the data deprived: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5148603 Greg

After my mini taper/St. Patty's day weekend I decided to do my long run today as the next few days are supposed to be a washout . 38F and cloudy 20.01 miles , 2:58:18 AHR=159 Max 174 Pace=8:55 I realized I was a few minutes off the 3 hour mark at 15 and went for it. ( Not very bright ,I know. ) My legs had a hard time with this decision , protesting loudly at about 19 & 1/4 . Nothing like pushing your pace at the end to expose your weaknesses .Mostly hip or groin muscles tightened up big time.Could this have been the start of a BonK ? Glad to report no knee pain at all throughout the run. If I think things are sore now wait till tomorrow! CFkid - I'll be in the same shape as you for the next few days. Ace : Hope the comeback works out for you. Yours sorely, Greg http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5191090

After my mini taper/St. Patty's day weekend I decided to do my long run today as the next few days are supposed to be a washout . 38F and cloudy 20.01 miles , 2:58:18 AHR=159 Max 174 Pace=8:55 I realized I was a few minutes off the 3 hour mark at 15 and went for it. ( Not very bright ,I know. ) My legs had a hard time with this decision , protesting loudly at about 19 & 1/4 . Nothing like pushing your pace at the end to expose your weaknesses .Mostly hip or groin muscles tightened up big time.Could this have been the start of a BonK ? Glad to report no knee pain at all throughout the run. If I think things are sore now wait till tomorrow! CFkid - I'll be in the same shape as you for the next few days. Ace : Hope the comeback works out for you. Yours sorely, Greg http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5191090

Wow, nice run. I'm not sure if the Jersey Marathon will be your first or not, but if it is, the way you felt the last five miles will be how it feels in the last 2-4 miles, depending. Your body will protest. And it will take focus to maintain pace. If your fat-burning is good, and you haven't eaten closer than 3 hours before the race, then slowing down will be a choice (even though it's hard, you can maintain pace), and not the wall taking over. Good training run, Greg. The mental training you received will pay dividends in the race. 6 1/2 weeks left to go for you. Your fitness is just about what it's going to be for the race--you might be able to eek a little more out of training, but not much in 3 weeks before the taper. Have you determined a race pace yet? Are you making a pace plan, or are you using a HRM and HR plan to guide your race? Keep going, Greg. Get some rest! --Jimmy Tonight's affirmation: I will not let Greg sucker me into doing my 21 miler on Friday in less than 3 hours, I will remain non-competitive in my training, and save the glory for the marathon. I will not let Greg sucker me into doing my 21 miler on Friday in less than 3 hours, I will remain non-competitive in my training, and save the glory for the marathon. I will not let Greg sucker me into doing my 21 miler on Friday in less than 3 hours, I will remain non-competitive in my training, and save the glory for the marathon......

Dragged myself outside for a recovery run today. 45F Steady rain 4.55 miles AHR= 132(Maf-5) Max=140 Pace=11:32 Quite uncomfortable,yet somehow satisfying ,as none of the pains I was experiencing were what I would call serious.Knees are achy but not painful .Any slight rise in the road sent the HR up right away.I'm fairly fatigued & sore today and I believe part of my problems were caused by insufficient hydration. I only stopped at water fountains yesterday,I should have stashed water bottles.Live & learn. I think I'll plead guilty to overreaching and take my punishment. Jimmy , My extreme goal is to run a 3:40 which is a 8:23 pace , starting off with a 1:50 at the half and running negative splits.I don't believe I am there yet . This being my first marathon I 'm unsure as to go by HR or not . I plan to do a run next week of 12 miles with 8 at marathon pace .I have to see what the HR does. If it stays under 165 then I'll probably go for it , if not I may have to get more conservative. I 'm fairly sure I can do under 4 hrs but you never know. If I learned anything from yesterday it was to respect that distance ! I think if I had run 21 miles yesterday the 21st would have been at 10:00 pace. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated , Greg MTA : Ace , You know your body better than anyone else so I hope you are right. Hope to see more of your runs posted !

Jimmy , My extreme goal is to run a 3:40 which is a 8:23 pace , starting off with a 1:50 at the half and running negative splits.I don't believe I am there yet . This being my first marathon I 'm unsure as to go by HR or not . I plan to do a run next week of 12 miles with 8 at marathon pace .I have to see what the HR does. If it stays under 165 then I'll probably go for it , if not I may have to get more conservative. I 'm fairly sure I can do under 4 hrs but you never know. If I learned anything from yesterday it was to respect that distance ! I think if I had run 21 miles yesterday the 21st would have been at 10:00 pace. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated , Greg

Do you know your MHR? If so, I suggest you go to Team Oregon Pace Wizard and pop in any race time (race time isn't important, just checking for a marathon HR) and your MaxHR. The wizard will give you an ave. HR for a marathon. Let's say the number is 165. Subtract 5 beats for a 160. When you do your marathon pace run. use a zone of 155-165. The firet mile should average a bit below 155, try to average 155 for the second mile, let the HR drift up to 164-166 by the last mile. Ultimately, you are trying to average 160. This would give you a better indication of what your MRP is going to be. More than if you choose a pace and hope that it averages some number. The number the WIzard gives is for an entire marathon. You are only doing 8 miles, and I find an adjustment down by 5 beats gives me a good idea. Also, to go with that indicator, you can do a 30 minute run between 76-88% HRR. Take the average pace and see what marathon time the pace matches up with. (it should fall between 15k and half-marathon pace). Also, do an MAF test and see what MRP that matches on the magic chart I made up. Last advice: rest or run very, very lightly the day before your MRP run. Keep going, Greg. I agree with Steve, you 'll beat 4 hours, and are capable of a near 3:30. Best to check all the indicators, then create a pace plan that's starts out slower than goal pace as you stated. Keep going!!! --Jimmy

Sounds good, Greg. I'm sure that calculation will give you a good idea for a MRP. TODAY'S RUNS 3/19/08 AM 2 hours 11.25 miles Highest Ave HR per mile 141bpm (MAF) ave pace: 10:33 PM 50 minutes 4.35 miles Highest Ave HR per mile 122bpm (MAF -19) ave pace: 11:31 --Jimmy

Hey all Just after some advice. I finish my 12 week base building phase Sunday week with a 14km fun run. My aim is to do 5min kilometres/8:00 miles. In Maffetone training, which has generally been at MAF -5, I have got my times down on average to approx. 5:45p/km (9:16p/mile) with a couple of runs quicker than this. My question is come the race, a) should I just run it as hard as I can or should I not push it to hard considering I have had no speed work in the last 3 months and b) is it realistic to expect I can get down to my goal race pace? Cheers Hank