2021 Sub 3:00 Marathon Thread (Read 453 times)

 

I’m genuinely curious, what do you think is good about it?

Mikkey be trollin, don't bite!

As some of you saw, one of my niggles is now an injury. I have no idea exactly what it is, but I think it's either part of the hip flexor, upper sartorious (a muscle I just learned today!), or adductor.

I knew it probably wasn't going to be good yesterday when it bothered me my entire recovery run and I had to alter my stride. However, the fact that I couldn't exactly pinpoint the pain usually is a good sign. If this was June, I wouldn't even have completed that recovery run.

I did tape it all up this morning and then tried to run on it today and it was really bad. I kept going hoping today would be different, but the pain was probably worse, so I shut it down after 3.5 miles. The pain in the first quarter mile told me it wasn't going to happen, but I went into a bit of denial mode until I realized it was dumb to try to complete all 11 miles as usual.

My first injury this cycle with 10 days to go before the taper. I'm surprisingly calm about it. I'll be much more upset if I'm still not running by Friday, as then it starts going into territory that will impact my fitness. For now, it's all about rest and massage. My bet is that it's some weird trigger point issue or just odd muscle imbalance that I can work out. Here's to hoping it will be fixed by massage. I just need to be careful not to overdo it.

 Too much concrete surface...

I can't tell if this is a joke or serious. I've never really understood this comment. I've asked before, but not sure I got a real response. Do you think in a race that too much concrete would have any kind of impact? I could see the argument that training on too much concrete over asphalt is detrimental (even though I'm not convinced), I just don't see how it has any real negative effect in a race. Add in the amount of cushioning every new shoe has, and I really doubt there's anything to this.

And yes, during normal times there are four flights a day to London from Houston. Right now there are two daily flights. I'd be shocked if they ever had a vaccine requirement.

JMac - rest up. Hoping for the best.

Marathon training is higher risk and all about getting the balance just right...pushing it to your limit without getting injured.

 

You've got the right attitude and hope it clears up soon as we want to see a sub 2:35 on page 1. 👍

Ain't that the truth. Felt like I wasn't flying too close to the sun as I decided to just hold mileage these last few weeks instead of pressing, but running a half marathon in the middle of a marathon cycle always presents risks.

I too am interested in this "concrete" discussion for Houston just in case I need to bail on CIM. Looks like I'm just missing the "elite" cutoff of 2:35, what a shame! Would have liked a free registration as a backup option 

 

I’m genuinely curious, what do you think is good about it?

My comment was in relation to the entertainment I plan on getting from seeing/hearing discussions on how ridiculous or justified people think this measure is. I wasn't making any statement at all as to my personal thoughts/feelings on the matter.

ETA: RP totally nailed my perspective on this while I was typing out my response.

RE: Houston. My biggest issue with this would be that it's on the coast, which to me screams "humid". Humidity near the coast (or on an island) is why I nixed several flat races and settled on Tucson as my backup to CIM, despite Tucson being a good bit more downhill than I'd like.

JMac - My first thought when I saw just 3.5 miles with that weird stopping point was that something had happened. It does seem good to me that it's non-specific - any plans for treatment other than massage and some rest/taking it easy?
Good that you're calm about it, too. It's certainly not ideal, but at this point we can only incrementally add anything to fitness before the race, anyway. Surely it'll mend soon as you've caught it early and have a good plan to address it.

Well since you're down from training for a few days how about an honest assessment of MY training?

Currently I've struggled with my Thursday Marathon paced runs. I bailed on one. Possibly due to it being 68F during the whole run. I pulled the plug because it just sucked and I knew it was going to get worse. I thought the workout was 8 miles, but it was actually 9 in the plan. Weather says 10 mph winds and I think this had something to do with it.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7695154966

One week before I was able to finish. This was technically an "extra" mile because the workout called for 8 miles. I remember this sucking, and feeling confident I was able to finish with the extra mile. Weather was 55-57 degrees. 4-7 mph wind.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7658329981

Both runs I'm pushing a 173+ heart rate which isn't really sustainable for long. Probably a max of 3 miles. I know it's easy to say "well it was hot and windy when you blew up." I just didn't feel like I had it last week, and the thought of trying for 10 miles QUICKLY faded. I straight up WALKED as soon as the 9th mile was done.

Oddly, the 2x3 mile and 3x2 mile (rest 3:20 between repeats) seemed to go better. The Hansons plan says to do them 10 seconds faster than Goal Marathon Pace, and I'm doing them consistently 15 seconds faster.

The Jack Daniels Table spreadsheet from Lets Run says my LT pace is 6:35. I'm using the 10k PACE from my October race (6:22/mi approximately 39:40) because even though the race was short, I felt confident in my ability to carry it another 200m if the race required it. Not like I was sprinting with everything I had and collapsed at the finish line.

Thursday runs at goal pace are the ones I seem to put the most stock into for marathon training. I looked over 2019 and it seemed like I was doing 6:48-6:50/mi consistently and I don't recall it being as much of a struggle. Am I ruining Thursday runs by going too fast on Tuesdays? I just have this giant mental issue with thinking about carrying 6:50/mi pace, or faster, for 26 miles when I'm having a problme holding it for 9 miles, and yes I've done this plan before with success, and probably had the same issues back then.

Oh and November 11 I'll have to move a workout because daddy daycare. Thanksgiving, we shall see what the weather holds to determine a workout or not. I see no need to race another 10k. Yes I'm aware CIM is about 4,200 feet lower elevation than where I'm training. I'm just wondering/thinking I'm training for where I want to be, not where I'm at and the Tuesday workouts are easier to run faster because they're shorter than Thursday's marathon pace.

RP - What about a Strava link, or easing the restrictions on the Garmin links? GC is telling me I don't have access.

I've brought this up regarding some of you runs before, but I'm curious as to whether or not anyone else thinks the same - good portions of some of you workouts look like your watch is more reporting cadence than HR - HR stays quite close to cadence especially for workout portions and also drops VERY quickly after those, even when you're still moving through recovery portions.

RP - good distraction from my anxiety . Before I comment further, can you provide some workouts you did in 2019 so I get an idea of what it looked like before you broke 3?

Let me know if you need something else. Hopefully the privacy unlocks are correct, and hopefully I linked the correct activity.

Garmin Connect

9m in 2019 after deciding to go sub 3.

Same loop, a week later. No comment on the weather, but Garmin says 68F with a 5mph wind.

Garmin Connect

2x3 mile at 6:40/mi pace 2019. This was a full 1 mile (9 minute) recovery between 3 mile runs. I did this exact same workout yesterday, at a slightly faster pace, with a 1/2 mile jog (3:20, 50% of 1 mile run time) and finished it, with the last mile of the second 3 mile run requiring LOTS of effort and a final sprint to the finish to hit 6:40/mi pace.

Garmin Connect

3x2 mile at 6:40/mi. Apparently it was cold this day.

Garmin Connect

10 @ Goal Marathon Pace 2019. Weather undergrounds says it WAS 70F this day.

Garmin Connect

Keen updated the privacy. It would be easier if you just followed me on Garmin connect. Unsure about the cadence lock though. Sometimes it matches, and other times the cadence is reported as different than heart rate. I know it FEEL like it sucks.

Edit:

Mikkey I'll give it an honesty shot. He has some old man strength and some recent marathon racing experience I don't.

also, I was doing TRX more consistently in 2019. twice a week on the days I did workouts. This year.....yeah not so much even with working from home.