Are we there, yet?
Another new month. They seem to come rather frequently, every 30 days or so.
Had a good April, a solid 160.1 miles, but had hoped for a few more. Less than 4 weeks to my marathon. What's on the calendar for others?
RW May Team Thread
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
No races planned in May, but if I get the itch to race there are plenty of 5K's available.
For the rest of this week I am going to just run easy as my legs allow. Yesterday I thought my legs were feeling pretty good after my half on Sunday, but when I went out for an easy run to aid recovery I found I was more sore than I knew. I ran 3.5 miles so slowly that I thought my GPS was malfunctioning.
This evening I opted for a bike ride into Doylestown to check the clearance rack at the LRS. I found a nice Nike jacket for winter running at 50% off, then rode back for a total of 10 miles.
My plan for the next couple of months is to keep the mileage at ~30 miles/week, but start doing different kinds of speedwork. I've dabbled with fartleks and short tempo portions of easy runs but I haven't been consistent. I'm going to try the weekly track workouts that the LRS hosts, starting next week if I feel fully recovered.
George, will you have a traditional taper for your upcoming marathon? You had written before about treating it like a supported training run.
Depends on which tradition you mean. A two week taper was pretty standard when I started running marathons in the 70s. It's only with the advent of all these programs that emphasize the long run to accomodate lower mileage runners that the taper has stretched to three weeks. But no, I'm not taking a traditional taper. I have 21 mile LRs scheduled for the next two Saturdays. The week before the marathon it will be shorter (I haven't seen my schedule that far out yet) but I anticipate something around a 15 mile LR. We're treating it as a supoorted long run as far as training but I will be putting in a race effort. In my case that may mean just keep moving forward until I finish. The time is likely to be a PW by anywhere from a hour and a half to two hours since I don't think I'm ready to crack 5 hours yet.
I don't have any races on the near horizon. I was hoping to maybe do a fall half, but that will depend recovery from my PE. I'm still taking it slow, and have been building mileage over the last 4-5 weeks. I'm back up to 15 mpw now and was making steady progress, but I have had pretty bad allergies (with possibly a cold) this week so my running has suffered a bit. I'm not able to push it like I was prior to my PE, but I can feel it coming back slowly. That said I think I am ready to come off the IR and re-join the miles game! I won't be one of the anchor men, but I can promise to post my miles every week regardless.
George, best of luck to you in your marathon. I hope to do the same one day.
Talk to you all soon.
Mr Pink - glad to hear you're ready to come off IR. I'll message Bob and Susan to get that done. I think your timing is superb. It looks like all the cold and snow are behind us finally.
Aplodder (Susan) has taken you off IR so you can post your miles this week.
Thank you, George. Glad to be back posting miles again.
Welcome back Mr. Pink. Glad to see you back on the road.
Talk about being slow. On last Saturday's long run I was so slow that all the end-of-run refreshments had been packed up and everyone had left by the time I got back. Of course I was the only one running 21 miles. I'm trying to find other club members who are equally slow who would be willing to run at least part of my long runs with me. I have someone to accompany me for miles 6.5 - 13 this week, but I'll still have to run the last 9 solo. Then it's a 2 week mini-taper to my marathon.
With the way other teams had been racking up 500+ mile weeks, I'm surprised we were second this week with 486.37 miles. Once again congrats to Greg for being #2 individually for the week.
These long runs are killing me. I came up short by two miles again, running only 20 instead of 22 miles. Ian thinks it may be a combination of inadequate hydration and insufficient fueling. I;m still working on ways to carry food or swing by my starting point and somehow avoid the temptation to stop because I'm tired and I'm at my car.
Now today's progression run was a killer too, but that I can handle:
7 miles as a progression 11:35, 11:15, 10:46, 10:34, 10:18, 10:08, 10:09
though the last two felt like the last two miles of a 10K race.
George, I hear you regarding the temptation of stopping if you pass the car. I find it hard to run past home towards the end of my run. If I'm on the tail end of my run but coming up a little short of my target distance, I've learned to throw an extra loop in before I can see home. Once I am headed home I am like a horse returning to the stable.
Do you have a Spibelt? I've had good luck using one to carry small things like my cell phone and/or little bits of food. I was skeptical at first because of the resemblance to a fanny pack, but the Spiblelt stays small and fits much more snuggly than a fanny pack. There is no bouncing and I don't even notice it. (In fact, I recently spent five minutes after a run looking all over the house to find where I set down my Spibelt, only to look down and find it still around my waist.)
Margo, I've never had need of one before. My prior marathons were before any of that type of equipment were available. My earliest ones often didn't even have waterstops. And I've never gone over 18 miles in training before. Used to be my longest runs weren't more than about 2:00-2:15, not the 4:30 or more these last two have taken. Yes, I once was fast enough that an 18 mile run would only take me 2:15-2:30 though it wasn't always at an easy pace. I'm in the process of shopping around now and looking at both belts and handheld bottles.
Finally settled on an Amphipod belt with two bottles and a pouch. I didn't need the water bottles today because I had aid stations about every 2 miles. I just got back from my first marathon finish in over 30 years. While the time was a personal worst by almost 2 hours, I'd say the race was an unqualified success. I think Ian will be pleased with the results, too. And my middle distance speed played a huge role toward the end. More when I write a full report.
Congratulations on your marathon, George. I read your race report. Sounds like it was a successful event for you in your quest towards North Coast 24 in September.
Today marks my 4 month mark since I had my pulmonary embolism(s). I ran just under 60 miles for the month of May, and must say I enjoyed each and every mile. My recovery has had its share of challenges, both physical and emotional, but it is getting better day by day. I'm just thankful I've been given the opportunity to spend some more time here on this rock.
Have a great June everyone!