Back to training

I did not experience any DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) following Sunday's 10K race. This is a good sign and shows that the legs are accustomed to the amount of stress exerted on the leg muscles.

This week will be a high mileage week with a key marathon pace run on Friday. Yesterday during lunch time I ran 10.7 miles with Jurgen. We averaged 6:53 pace, which felt fine but was probably a bit too fast the day after a 10K race. In the evening I did an easy 4-miler in 30 minutes. Today was another two-a-day with an easy 6.6 miles at lunch and 8 miles including 4 x 1200 tonight at the track. My Dutch friend Paul, who ran 32:49 on Sunday, and I ran the 1200s together but not too hard. We ran the repeats in 4:02, 4:01, 3:57, & 3:56. I was surprised that the pace felt quite comfortable.

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Last week's training:

Mon: 9.3M @ 7:00 pace
Tues: 11.2M @ 6:43 pace
Wed: 10.2M @ 6:42 pace including 2 x 3-2-1 + 3 x :30
Thur: 9.4M @ 6:56 pace
Fri: 7.7M @ 6:48 pace
Sat: 4.5M @ 7:29 pace
Sun: Parelloop Brunssum 10K Top Run - 33:54; 13.5M total

Weekly Total: 65.8 miles

10K PR

The Parelloop 10K Top Run was a successful event today as Kenyan Micah Kogo broke Haile Gebrselassie's 10K Road World Record by 1 second, 27:01. Amazing feat and incredible time, especially that he was running alone after 7Ks.

My race today went very well compared to last week's sub-par performance at the Venloop Half-Marathon, . I successfully dipped under 34 minutes running 33:54, a new 10K PR. If it wasn't for the few gradual inclines, then I think I could have been in the mid-33s.

The Race: When the gun went off I immediately tagged along to a small pack of about four female elites. We stayed together till about 2.5K when we ascended a small gradual incline. A couple females were dropped by the time we got to the top of the incline. At 3K, one of the two remaining females broke away like a slingshot. It was then just me and an Ethiopian female (I knew she was an Ethiopian only after I saw the results) running together from the early pack. We were running side by side for about one kilometer, then she decided to tuck right behind me. I tried to get her to do some of the pacing by moving right and left, but she would continue to follow my footsteps. After doing all the work for about 4 kilometers, she decided to move to the front and then picked up the pace. "Damn you!". I struggled a bit to stay with her, but always kept within 5 meters of her. At 9K, we caught the Kenyan female who broke away at 3K and managed to put a small gap on her. With about 400 meters to go, the Ethiopian female surged and tried to pull away from me. My thoughts at this point was that I was not going to let her beat me after doing almost all of the work. With about 100 meters to the finish I saw the clock read 33:41...42...43. I knew breaking 34 minutes was going to be very close, so I gave what I had left and crossed the finish in a gun time of 33:59 (net time: 33:54). I am happy not only about the time and PR, but the fact that it gives me confidence on my way to Hamburg.

5K splits: 16:48 / 17:06

10K Top Run on Sunday

Sunday is the Parelloop Brunssum, in which I'll take part in the 10K Top Run. The 10K Top Run is the main event and is an invite-only race consisting of elite runners. Of course I'm not an elite or even sub-elite runner, but I was invited to run in the event by the organizer, so I'm definitely not turning it down. This will be a perfect opportunity for me to update my 10K PR, which is incorrect on the runners' list. The course is somewhat fast but has a few gradual inclines, so acheiving a personal best will be some task. Also, the legs aren't feeling all that fresh after running 9, 11, 10 (including fartlek) & 9 miles following Sunday's half-marathon. I hope the next couple days of short and very easy running will freshen up the legs

Today: 9.4M @ 6:56 pace
Wed: 10.2M @ 6:42 pace including 2 x 3-2-1 + 3 x :30
Tues: 11.2M @ 6:43 pace
Mon: 9.3M @ 7:00 pace

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Last week's training summary:

Mon: 11.2M @ 6:48 pace
Tues: Noon - 6.2M @ 6:53 pace; PM - 6M @ 7:04 pace
Wed: Noon - 4.1M @ 7:12 pace; PM - 7.6M including 5 x 1K (3:16, 3:08, 3:13, 3:10, & 3:10)
Thur: 8.1M @ 6:52 pace
Fri: 9.3M @ 6:50 pace
Sat: 4.7 @ 6:56 pace
Sun: Venloop Half-Marathon - 1:14:30; 17.6M total

Weekly Total: 74.8 miles

Venloop Half-Marathon

Venloop Half-Marathon: 1:14:30, 52nd Place.

My race didn't go as well as I had hoped for. I woke up Friday morning with a slight cold which I still have. Not exactly sure if it had affected my race though. I never felt good and ran the last 15k on my own. There was also a lot of wind and turns on the course. Overall, I'm satisfied with the performance. Splits below:

5k - 17:06 (17:06)
10k - 34:50 (17:44)
15k - 52:48 (17:58)
20k - 1:10:41 (17:53)
Finish - 1:14:33 / 1:14:30 (net)

Tuning up for Sunday

I'm running a half-marathon on Sunday, so I pushed my normal Tuesday track workout a day later and will skip out on Friday's key workout to give the legs a little taper. The workout tonight was 5 x 1K, which was supposed to be at cruise interval pace (5:15 pace or 3:16/km). The first repeat went as planned as I was dead on at 3:16. On the next one, I was way too fast hitting the first lap in 72 seconds. I slowed the pace on the 2nd lap but still finished faster than I should have, 2nd repeat was 3:08. The last three repeats were 3:13, 3:10, & 3:10. I was not too happy at the end of the workout because the plan was to be right around 3:15-3:16. The good thing though is that the pace felt comfortably hard. Maybe it's a sign of improved fitness. I'll see come Sunday.

Today: Noon - 4.1M @ 7:12 pace; PM - 7.6M including 5 x 1K (3:16, 3:08, 3:13, 3:10, & 3:10)
Tues: Noon - 6.2M @ 6:53 pace; PM - 6M @ 7:04 pace
Mon: 11.2M @ 6:49 pace

Training: 9-15 Mar

Steady 20.6 mile long run with my friends Jurgen and Marcus. We ran the first 10 easy in 1:10:20 (7:02 pace) as Jurgen had baby-jogger duties pushing Marcus' twins. At 10 miles, the baby-jogger was handed back to Marcus. Jurgen and I then went on for the remainder of the run finishing the last 10.6 miles in 1:08:37 (6:28 pace). Overall pace for the long run was 6:45 with an average HR of 142. A good run to end the week. The mileage for this coming week will be a bit lower as I'll do a short taper for Sunday's half-marathon.

9-15 Mar

Mon: Noon - 7.6M @ 6:59 pace; PM - 5.5M @ 7:27 pace
Tues: Noon - 11M @ 6:39 pace including 3 x 3-2-1 w/ -1' easy; PM - 4M very easy @ 8:10 pace
Wed: 9.1M @ 7:00 pace
Thur: 5M @ 7:25 pace; felt very fatigue
Fri: Noon - 5.1M @ 7:04 pace; PM - 12.2M including 8 miles @ goal MP (5:52, 5:52, 5:53, 5:49, 5:46, 5:52, 5:47, & 5:49 (46:40 - 5:50 pace))
Sat: 8M @ 7:01 pace
Sun: 20.6M @ 6:45 pace

Weekly Total: 88.1 miles

Marathon Pace Workout

Thursday was probably the worst my body has felt in a while, aside from when I was injured. When I went for a short easy 5-mile run yesterday morning the body and legs just felt totally fatigued. The planned training for that day was an easy 5 in the morning and then an easy 5-7 miles in the evening. I decided to skip the evening run to get in some well-needed rest. It was a good decision on my part because I felt much better in today's workout.

During lunch hour I went for an easy 5.1 miles and then did some core exercises immediately after. Four hours later I was back in my running shoes for the planned workout of the day, 12 miles with the middle 6-8 miles at goal marathon pace. I chose to do 8 miles at MP. Time was 46:40 with mile splits at 5:52, 5:52, 5:53, 5:49, 5:46, 5:52, 5:47, & 5:49. The overall average pace was 5:50, which is about 2-4 seconds faster than what I'm considering goal MP. Below is a comparison of today's workout with the same one I did last year on September 19. I was 1 second faster per mile today with 5 miles already in the legs a few hours earlier. A step in the right direction.

13 MAR 09: 5:52, 5:52, 5:53, 5:49, 5:46, 5:52, 5:47, & 5:49 (46:40 - 5:50 pace)
19 SEP 08: 5:52, 5:53, 5:53, 5:49, 5:54, 5:51, 5:48, & 5:45 (46:45 - 5:51 pace)

Miles and Miles

You know that you're in marathon training when the legs never seem to feel fresh. Yesterday was 13.1 miles easy on two runs and today was 15, also on two runs, which included a fartlek workout of 3 x 3-2-1. The next couple days will be easy running to get in the miles and Friday will be a marathon pace workout of 6-8 miles at goal pace.

On a happy note, my shipment of shoes arrived in the mail. A pair of Saucony Grid Tangent 3 and Brook Axiom 3. The funny thing is that I found a new pair of Axiom 3 stored away in the closet today.

Long Run

A good steady long run in poor weather conditions - cold, rainy and windy. Ran the 20-miler in 2:11:10 (6:34 pace). The legs felt sluggish early on, but better as the run progressed. Settled into a nice rhythm about 45 minutes into the run, running 6:20ish-30ish pace for the last 13 miles, which averaged out at 6:24 pace.

2-8 Mar

Mon: AM - 6.5M @ 7:06 pace; PM - 7.5M @ 7:00 pace
Tues: AM - 5.5 @ 7:14 pace; PM - 7.5M including 5 x 1K (3:10, 3:08, 3:11, 3:14, & 3:10)
Wed: 11.1M @ 6:57 pace
Thur: Noon - 8M @ 7:02 pace; PM - 5.5M @ 7:20 pace
Fri: 12M including 3 x 2M tempos 11:06 (5:33, 5:33), 11:01 (5:30, 5:31), & 11:26 (5:38, 5:48)
Sat: 7.7M @ 7:02 pace
Sun: 20M @ 6:34 pace

Weekly Total: 91.3 miles

Bricks

Lately, the legs have been feeling like bricks. I'm not too concern though because it's expected when doing marathon training. Yesterday, I ran 12 which included 3 x 2 mile tempos at half-marathon pace. The first two were good with an 11:06 (5:33, 5:33) and 11:01 (5:30, 5:31); however, when it came to the last one the legs were pretty much finished. Ran the last one in 11:26 (5:38, 5:48). I thought about calling it quits after a 5:38 mile, but decided to just roll with it regardless of the time. Today was an easy 7+ miles discovering some new running routes from my house to Germany for tomorrow's 20-miler. I just hope the legs are up for it.

Training: 2-4 Mar.

Did a track workout last night consisting of 5 x 1000m with goal splits at 3:08-10 (5:03-06 pace). Splits ended up at 3:10, 3:08, 3:11, 3:14, & 3:10. I'd say the workout went okay. The legs were flat even before I started the workout, probably from the 20-miler on Sunday, 14 on Monday and 5+ that morning. I'm not sure what to think of this workout when comparing it to a similar workout I did back in August during Amsterdam marathon training. Hard to believe that I ran much faster and the workout was 1200, 1k, 1200, 1k, 1200.

Today: 11.1M @ 6:57 pace
Tues: AM: 5.5 @ 7:14 pace; PM - 7.5M including 5 x 1K (3:10, 3:08, 3:11, 3:14, & 3:10)
Mon: AM - 6.5M @ 7:06 pace; PM - 7.5M @ 7:00 pace

Hamburg in 8 Weeks

Did 20 miles averaging 6:36 pace to cap off a good week of training. Ran the first 10 miles at 6:49 pace feeling very comfortable. I then did 6 x 2 minutes at approximately marathon pace minus 5-10 seconds (5:45 - 5:52 pace), which brought me right at 14 miles. I then finished off the remaining 6 miles steady at 6:28 pace.

So, why a 20-miler and 90+ miles for the week when I mentioned two Sundays ago that I won't be running a marathon? Well, on Friday evening, I unexpectedly registered for the Hamburg Marathon in Germany on April 26. Was looking back at last year's training log and realized that I only did a 12-week marathon training schedule when I set PRs in the half-marathon (Rotterdam) and marathon (Amsterdam). I figured that with the last 4 weeks of training, which went considerably well, and the next 8 weeks till April 26, it will also put me at a 12-week marathon training. With Hamburg Marathon being a flat and fast course, it will be an opportunity to run faster than 2:35. I'll see what the marathon fitness is like when I run my next race in 3 weeks, the Venlo Half-Marathon.

23 Feb - 1 Mar

Mon: AM - 9.6M @ 6:58 pace; PM - 4.5M easy @ 7:12 pace
Tues: Noon - 10M @ 6:43 pace including 12 x 1' hard/easy; PM - 5.1 very easy @ 7:28 pace
Wed: 10M @ 6:55 pace
Thur: Noon - 8.6M @ 6:51 pace; PM - 5.5M @ 7:18 pace
Fri: 11.2M including 2 x 3-mile tempo 16:43 (5:37, 5:32, 5:34), 1635 (5:33, 5:32, 5:30)
Sat: 7.1M @ 6:58 pace
Sun: 20M @ 6:36 pace including 6 x 2' @ MP minus 5-10 sec w/ 2' easy

Weekly Total: 91.6 miles