2018 Sub-3. No rules. Run. (Read 792 times)

Rovatti - you need to buy Vaporfly 4% like Mikey did - I heard they are very comfortable and soft. And expensive.. But brits can afford them after all the donations from US...

Indy 2018 - week 15/18
M       00 34 30     3.67 pretty tight quads/peroneals otherwise ok
T        00 42 59     5.21 easy
W       01 00 17     6.93 easy
Th      01 03 06     7.56 easy
F       01 10 31      8.42 w/ 4x strides
S      01 59 25       16.53 tm w/ 2wu + 3x5k/800m@(6:27/8:30) + 2x1k/250m(@-->5:27/9:20) + 2cd, 0.5%
S      01 39 25       12.19
                              ====
                               60.51

Decent week for me. I was pretty tight post marathon but felt good and was able to get back to a quasi-normal schedule by Thursday. I am happy with the Sat session as the 3x5k felt much more comfortable than a couple of weeks back. I was even able to knock out a couple of km at I pace afterwards. I was a little afraid of how my pf foot would react to this, but it appears that I am on the road to recovery with continued day to day improvement, albeit slow. The main thing has been to scratch all further doubles and a healthy dose of foot/calf rolling and heel/achilles drops.

Weather: Imho the gold standard is 3x3 at LT 3-4 weeks out (I'd favor 3 and I'm sure 5x2 would give similar stimulus). A proper hard workout, but if you intend running a HM at a little slower than LT you should be able to execute this if your fitness is in the right place. You seem in great shape and have been putting in a huge cycle in rotten conditions.

Subdood: Sorry to hear about your condition. Sucks given how fit we supposedly are relative to the general populace. That girl ran an amazing time. I just hope she is left alone to development and doesn't get buried under pressure and expectations. She must be in with a shot at the 2024 Oly

Sling: I would say stick with a 2 week taper but maybe a little less off the first week before dropping your mileage proper race week.

JT: Awesome race and congrats on posting a great PR. Looking fwd to hearing about your suffering those last few miles. Great job keeping it under control. Hope you are feeling fat and sore tonight! Regarding sub2:50, more running at LT pace i the way to proceed not necessarily longer runs. Sign up for a HM in the spring and you'll have the excuse to keep mileage up and hammer your LT & I paces.

JMac: Great run today. I hope you didn't have to dig too deep with the cough etc. Heal up and it looks like you are good to go. Regarding taper, as long as you don't bury yourself, I think that a final long run at the 2 week mark should be fine. I'm in a somewhat similar boat and I'll be doing something 18-20ish next weekend.

Cal: Very impressive run today. Many differing ways to tame the marathon. Getting to your absolute maximum will require dedicated hard workouts, but I think your strategy is spot on given the time constraints and your current ability.

Mikey: Cheers for keeping up the tracking duties. I guess you do that to make up for all the 4% assisted cheating you'll be doing

Per caffeine, the research I did online (I spent several hours looking into this) suggests 5 to 6 mg per kilogram of body weight for maximum effect, which can be quite substantial.  Some studies showed significantly smaller doses have no effect on performance.  At my current weight of 125lb, that comes out to about 300 grams.  By the time of my marathon, I'll have had at least 2 more times to do some experimenting.  I'm not 100% sure I want to go out with the 3 hr. pacer, and the danger will be that if I strike out on my own I have to be careful to not go 1:25 or something likely unsustainable for the first half.  I'm running a 10K in 2 weeks that I've run before, so that should give me great data.

Congrats again to JT on a huge 5 min PR!  Mikkey - thanks for tracking for us!

Kram:  Thanks for the info on a potential HM workout indicator.  Both of those workouts sounds incredibly challenging right now, but I'm already fairly confident I'd be able to hit a 4 X 2 at LT once the heat breaks a bit since I've already done two 3 X 2's and a staight up 4 @ LT in the last 3-4 weeks.  Might be worth trying a 5 X 2 about 3 weeks out as a peak workout though assuming good weather.  BTW - solid looking week and glad the foot is behaving.

Subdood:  Hope you feel better very soon.

Rovatti:  Nice looking week.  Hope the knee is okay.

JMAC:  Agree with Madison that you should still be able to get a solid indicator workout with just over 2 weeks to go.  If feeling better this week certainly think it is ok to up the mileage just a bit (perhaps even slightly higher than your original plan before you got sick) and then just go into the rest of the 2 week taper.  Although, even if you don't get that high still think based on your HM time from yesterday all systems should be good in a few weeks time.  NIce race!

Cal:  Looking stronger on your way back!  NIce marathon there!

Sling:  Wow - that sounds like alot of caffeine!  BTW, I normally do about 2-3 cups per day.  Not sure if that impacts my running or not, but I just love the stuff so much anyways.  I do usually take in gels with some caffeiene content, but only during a marathon and usually nothing for shorter events or even most training runs.

BGS: Very solid looking week.  Nice LR on Sun!

Me: Right around my recent volume with  just over 80 miles with 2Q days.  Had to drop back from some planned 1200's to just 12 X 400's (still very painful) on Wed due to a very warm and humid (tropical airmass) night where our low only dropped to 82, which was at the same time Hurricane Michael was making landfall well to my northwest.  Got a bit of relief on Saturday where I ran 3 X 2 miles at somewhere near threshold pace in the middle of a 14 mile day.  Felt pretty strong on this one and it helped that temperatures actually cooled down into the low 70's.   Looking like one more week of all time record heat before we get some relief (hopefully) early next week.

Weekly Summary
Monday, Oct 08, 2018 thru Sunday, Oct 14, 2018

Hartford marathon 2018 race report (apologies in advance for the length).

Training cycle: Average weekly mileage for first 16 weeks: 62.4 mi. Final 2 taper weeks: 48.4 mi, 13.4 mi. Highest mileage week was 80. I usually ran 6 days per week, all singles in the morning, with Mondays off (day after my long run). I stuck to my usual format: 1 hard workout per week, usually consisting of lactate threshold or slightly faster running. Often this was 3 or 4 x 2 mi repeats, sometimes time-based intervals like 8-10 x 3 min on, 2 min off, and sometimes a longer continuous threshold run of 4-5 mi. The other key workout was the long run every Sunday. This cycle had 6 x 20 mi, 4 x 22 mi and 1 x 23 mi. For a few of the LRs I put in some fast segments in the latter part, like 6-8 mi @ around 6:30 pace. I occasionally did some runs with a couple of reps going up a steep 1 mile long hill. Everything else was easy mileage, usually in the 8:00-9:00 pace range. Most of the easy day runs were around 8-10 mi. I also did one strength session per week on Mondays (my off day from running) consisting of squats, deadlift, and hip abductor/adductor band exercises.

Seeing how many I follow on strava do multiple hard workouts each week made me worry I was not doing enough quality, but I’ve come to accept that I just take a lot longer to recover than most and one hard run per week is what my body can handle; more than that and I will become exhausted and the quality of those runs will suffer.

Tune-up race: I had planned to run a half on Labor Day (5 weeks out from the marathon) but the weather was so hot and humid that day I decided to skip it. In place of it I did a 10 mile time trial on the track a week later in 61:57. That translated to a 2:52:45 in Daniels VDot calculator, so it was a decent estimate of where I ended up in my marathon.

Shoes: I wore Asics DS Racer 11s for the marathon. I had worn them for my spring marathon and they worked out well. I wore these for most of my hard workouts and any of the long runs with quality. They are lighter than my training shoes (Saucony Guides) but still have a decent amount of support.

Taper week: I did my usual taper week routine: Monday off (and no strength routine), 8 miles easy on Tuesday, 5 miles easy on Wednesday with 1 fast mile (5:56), then off Thursday and Friday. I had been getting over a cold the prior two weeks and still had some residual congestion, but overall was feeling pretty good by Friday. Thursday and Friday I ate a lot of carbohydrates, culminating in a big spaghetti dinner Friday evening.

Race morning: I got up at 4:30 and had a bagel w/ cream cheese, coffee, and water + Gatorade for breakfast. On the way to the race (~1 hour drive) I had more Gatorade. It began raining on the drive to the race and never let up until the drive home. When we arrived it was about 40 min before the start. I had some more Gatorade, stripped down to my race outfit (racing singlet, shorts, hat to keep the rain out of my eyes, and gloves), said goodbye to my wife and son, and headed to the porta-potty for a final deposit. I got to the start with about 15 min till the gun. There is a seeded corral at Hartford which is nice, you can slip in right before the start and don’t have to deal with weaving through tons of runners. Waiting for the start I was pleasantly chilly. I felt like I had to pee again even though I had just gone but fortunately after starting I no longer noticed this.

Gels and fluids: For the race I used GU gels. I had tried SIS “gels”, the ones with water in them, and they tasted/worked fine, but decided against them for the marathon just because of the bigger size (they are 60 mL). I carried my gels in my shorts, 2 in each side pocket during the race. I had one gel right before the start, then the remaining 4 at 5, 10, 15, and 20 miles. I tried to take a bit of water or Gatorade at an aid station before or after each gel. Two of the four gels had caffeine (40 mg). I took the caffeinated ones at 10 and 20 miles. As usual for me, drinking during the race was a complete disaster. I have no coordination for it and most of the liquid ends up on the ground or on me. So I got very little out of each cup. Fortunately it was not critical since it was cool and raining. My first pee post-race was nearly colorless, so I obviously was not very dehydrated.

The race: My plan was to try to keep the pace around 6:30 and ride it till the wheels fell off. I held back a bit for the first quarter mile and then started to settle in to what I thought was 6:30 pace. When the first mile clicked off at 6:22 I was a bit surprised, and for a few seconds tried to slow down a bit, but this felt foolish and I decided to just run continue running what felt like a comfortable pace. If it was 6:20’s then so be it. I knew I would probably pay for this at the end but it was a price I was willing to pay. Those first 13 miles felt great! It was raining steadily, but nothing that was bothersome. The pace was generally between 6:25-6:30, with one oddball fast mile of 6:12 for mile 7 (not sure what happened there). I settled in with 2 other runners for most of the first half; a female and a guy running barefoot. The half passed in 1:24:30. Right around this point you start on a 4 mile out and back segment. I just focused on sustaining the pace over the next 4 miles to the turnaround. The pace started to slow a bit on this stretch; miles 14-17 were 6:22, 6:30, 6:32, 6:35. The turnaround at 17 miles gives a bit of a mental boost as you know you are heading back towards the finish. You also get to see all the runners heading towards the turnaround on the other side of the road, and encourage them as they encourage you. The next 3 miles (18-20) I tried to hold the pace (6:32, 6:28, 6:39) but during the 20^th mile the fatigue really set in to my legs. They started to feel really heavy. By this point the rain had fully soaked my shoes and socks which only added to the heaviness. I tried to focus on maintaining my cadence but the pace was still slowing. Miles 21-23 were increasingly difficult (6:41, 6:41, 6:46), made worse by the fact that this part of the race was through a kind of dreary neighborhood with nobody out cheering. I was pretty isolated at this point; just a female runner ahead of me about 20-30 meters. The final 3 miles were pure misery. My legs felt like lead, and while for the first part of the race my footstrike made almost no noise, it now seemed to make a loud clomp with each stride. Miles 24-26 were 6:52, 6:55, 7:23 (!). The 26^th mile has a long hill from an overpass, and though it is not that steep, at that point in the race it is not a welcome sight. I really slowed on this. After I crested the top, I looked at my watch and saw my pace was over 9 min!  Looking back I am annoyed that I allowed myself to slow this much; I think I could have managed a bit faster on the first half of that mile. Anyway, seeing that pace shocked me into speeding up and I somehow managed to run the last bit fairly fast: last 0.29 mi was at 6:05 pace. The finish line seemed to take eons to appear; I went around one corner and thought I should see it, only to find another long straightaway with another corner. Finally it appeared and I could see the clock just turned to 2:52:00! For some reason I thought all my slowing down in the last miles would lead to about a 2:53-2:54, so seeing 2:52 lifted my spirits. I ran hard through the finish (2:52:14), then staggered to the side and dry heaved a few times. I felt awful; nauseous and freezing cold, shivering uncontrollably. I saw my wife and son and after stumbling through the finishing chute, with a few more stops to dry heave, I made it to their open arms. I put on a change of dry clothes and shoes with massive help from my wife and son. I looked pretty pathetic, barely able to move my legs. I originally planned to stick around to meet up with some of my local strava buddies, but it was raining fairly hard, I was hypothermic, shaking like crazy, still nauseous, and decided we should just get to the car and head home. The heated carseat never felt better! I finally started to feel better once I warmed up.

Results: 2:52:14, 24^th overall out of 1568, 4^th in M40-44 age group. First half 1:24:30, second half 1:27:44.

What’s next: In the immediate future, I will be having surgery for a double hernia. I scheduled it for the Friday after the marathon, since at this time I would be not running much anyway. I have been putting this off for over a year now, so it’s time to get it over with. It turns out I have had one of them (left side) for over 2 years, and the other (right side) I think for almost a year and a half. They weren’t diagnosed until last fall. They are likely the source of what I thought was a strained iliopsoas muscle in the front of either hip, and they give me pain in that area on and off, usually triggered by hard runs. So hopefully by getting these corrected I won’t have that hip pain anymore. I will need to take 1-2 weeks off running after the surgery, but the surgeon said I can probably walk on the treadmill with high incline, which I find is a good aerobic workout and should help me maintain some fitness.

The target for my next marathon is sub 2:50. I will likely not run a spring marathon, but instead focus on shorter distances and building speed & strength. I am thinking to target Erie in September 2019, since this is the flattest course I think there is, and is a nice size and has good reviews. In case the weather is too warm for Erie, I could skip it and do Hartford 4 weeks later.

Here is a table with the 6 marathons I’ve run. My 4 races at Hartford have all been PRs. The break in PRs came with two bad weather races: Boston 2017 (hot) and Martian 2018 (cold, wet, windy). Those were also the only two spring marathons I’ve done. Maybe this means I should just stick to Hartford and/or fall races!

Thanks JT.  Enjoyed reading your race report.   Way to hang tough when things got tough. Can't imagine that guy running anything long barefoot though!  Enjoy that marathon recovery and best of luck for your surgery as well.

Thinking I'm certainly fairly well adapted to the heat as far as workouts go, probably even more so than the heat graded Daniels (or others) fitness tables would suggest.  The big downside with the heat is that I can't get in the specific leg or race specific velocity that I would be able to in a cooler climate.  Although I really don't race that much in cooler weather either.  Was hoping to get in a trip up north this fall, but so far that hasn't materialized.  That said 60 would certainly feel downright chilly to me right now.

JT - Ace racing and good report. Surely if you can get some long term consistency sub 2:50 is on the cards. Being in your early 40 is your marathoning prime if you can stay consistent and avoid the niggles (that's what I'm telling myself too).

JMac - I kind-of like your idea of one more workout, doubt it will add much to the body but might put it in your mind that you're back on track. You didn't miss much and the half was still a decent run out.

Cal - +1 for enjoying seeing your training and hearing your perspective, it definitely broadens the outlook here and shows there's a bunch of ways to get to the same place. I quite fancy trying multiple MLR's but would miss the feeling of totally rinsing myself out in a hard workout you're like a tantric marathoner.

I only ran a few times last week and aim for even less this week, been at the kettlebells a bit and may even do some spin this week before getting back to the fun stuff next week.