2017 Sub 3 Marathons...and beyond! (Read 403 times)

Me - This was my last week of training before tapering. I ran a half marathon on Saturday. My goal was to run it at MP after a 4 mile warm up, but my pace kept creeping higher even as I tried to hold back. I decided to just go with it instead of really forcing myself to hold slower than 6:40, and actually decided to just run the last mile closer to threshold pace with a 5:53 final mile. My time was 1:25:04. This was a big confidence boost that 2:55-3:00 is the right range for my full.

Good morning everyone. I am coming over from the sub 2:45 rw thread that was abandoned. Thanks for taking some of us refugees in. For those that don't know me, I ran a 2:39 marathon last December to finish in 2nd place in the St Jude marathon. After taking some time off I am back and trying to crack to 2:35 barrier this year at the same race. My training has gone pretty well so far and I am excited for my race in 7 weeks.

This was one of my best training weeks ever. It was my first time ever cracking the 100 mile barrier, and I believe my first time ever running more than IAM. That is a success all on it's own. I had a solid Mile Repeat workout on Monday, I slightly increased my tempo run pace for 8 miles, and finished off the week with a solid 22 mile long run. This week was everything that I needed it to be.

Monday, Oct 09, 2017 thru Sunday, Oct 15, 2017

flashinthepan: Yes, I'm glad you showed up here! That week is amazing, and it's been super-impressive to see how well you've adapted to higher mileage. Are you going to attempt to hang out around 100mpw for a while before tapering?

IAM-  Yes, that is the game plan. Last year I only averaged about 64 miles a week, so I when I got to 90 this year I tried to hover there for a bit. But now that I have hit 100, I would definitely like to stay there. Obviously that is all dependent on how my wife and 3 kids react to the extra mileage. I've actually been surprised at how well my legs have handled the mileage. If anything, they feel far better than they have in the past. Knock on wood that it all continues.

Mikkey - way to get it done when you're far from your ideal spot (in terms of training and the shape you've been in recently).  Did it turn out as hot as they feared?

ThreeDB - I like the goal.  After breaking 3, I'm not nearly as motivated to try and crack another time barrier. And I'm very hesitant to set an ambitious goal that will cause me to burn out in training.  Setting a 1/1 corral placement goal is much more likely to cause me to push it in training than getting under 2:50 or something like that. 

JMac - I'm excited to see how you do in NYC.  I think your training style of having a lot of runs at 10mi or over will do you well.  Definitely run a smart race, but try to figure out when and where will be best to push it a little.

Flash - 22 at 6:12 at under 80% HR?  That's nutso.

Weatherboy - We just got some coolness come through here today.  Woke up to 62F and about 60%RH.  Hopefully that heads your way.  Great week, by the way.

Kram - so you did 1 or 2x 10min@5:49? I hear you on the stamina lacking right now.  That was the big takeaway from my half last week.  I'm off on the pace that I want, sure.  But I feel confident I have time to get that down.  More important is being able to hold the intensity over the full 13.1 miles.  I still have plenty of time before January to work on that though.

IAM - If that coach says take two rest days, take two rest days.  He's managed to have you running a ton more quality than before, faster, and has kept you in one piece.  Listen to him!

My week was nothing exciting.  I didn't really do much running until Thursday when I finally woke up in Houston after my quick trip to London then Mexico City.  I'm hoping for the cooler weather to start sticking around more consistently.  Saturday was still horrendous with a morning at about 78F and 95%RH.  I'll get back to the 60s for my weekly mileage and stay in that area for a while.

Weekly Summary
Monday, Oct 09, 2017 thru Sunday, Oct 15, 2017

IAM:  With our weather that is the reason I picked a Jan marathon for my goal race as the bulk of the heavy training load wouldn't start until mid Oct.  We are just behind on our typical dry season start.  It will be here eventually.

JMAC: So far so good with the Daniels Q2 type stuff.  I have had to cut a few miles here and there and adjust my T pace a bit to account for the heat, but I think the key is that you get 2-3 days easy or recovery in between.  Hopefully that continues through the cycle.  I'm excited to see what I can do in the 1/2 right now if the weather breaks.  The first HM will come Nov 5, but if it looks warm/humid I may fall back to a solid MP effort since I have another 1/2 scheduled around Thanksgiving, which "should" be cooler.  BTW, nice looking week and MP race effort.

Andres:  No real sign for a really pattern change just yet.  With the high pressure ridge sitting to our north we have been stuck with onshore flow here in central FL.  With water temps in the mid 80's our evenings simply don't cool down any and we are stuck with high humidity.

Some really nice stuff going on.

Flash nice  to see you on here.  This guys an animal.  I grind pretty well but your a like a Ferrari out there.

For anyone one that cares the altitude conversions about 20 secs per mile up here.  As for what it’s like at sea level after being up here the most noticeable thing is just how much harder you can push without feeling fatigued.  Whereas up here it’s like driving with the parking break on and if you go out to aggressively in a workout you will fail it.  Which has led to 3 WO s that I’ve had to cut short.  It’s taken some getting used to.

IAM I’m completely on board with you running an easy 3 miles on a SRD the blood flow alone speeds up the recovery process.  My coach has me shakeout pretty much 5 times a week In afternoons  and it helps a ton.

I love when I see guys take on a lot of Dr Jack s stuff. He will get you fit fit fit.  I ran some really good TLT s over previous cycles.  Gives you a ton of confidence when your hammering fast threshold stuff 22 miles Into a run.  So good luck to you guys the blended workouts are a monster later in the cycle. So enjoy those