Munich Marathon 2010 Training Log

Here is my training log from the start of my marathon training for Munich Marathon.

Oct 4-10

Mon: 9M easy

Tue: 8M including 4 x 1200m w/ 400m rec; 3:49, 3:50, 3:49, 3:46

Wed: 7M easy

Thu: 6M easy

Fri: DNR; rest and travel day

Sat: 4.3M including 1K at MP

Sun: Munich Marathon - 2:33:50, 9th Place Overall

Weekly Total:  61 miles

Bittersweet!!!  I'm not going to lie, I had a successful race, but I'm a little disappointed with my finishing time. I know I was fit to run a minute faster (2:32).  But what can you say, it's a marathon and anything can happen (that's the beauty of the distance). I wanted to go through the half in the low-1:16s (went thru in 1:16:46) - the slightly gradual incline of the English Garden caused me some seconds.  From 25K - 35K I really got going and was running km splits of 3:32-3:35 (5:41 - 5:46 pace), but most importantly, I was feeling good.  However, from 38K to 42K my legs refused to run any faster than 3:40-3:44/km (5:54 - 6:00 pace) and had to settle for a 2:33.  A lesson learned in this race, along with my previous two marathons (Rotterdam and Berlin) is that there's no doubt I have to work on finishing the last 5K of the marathon stronger.  I'm always losing valuable seconds in the late part of the race.

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Sep 27 - Oct 3

Mon: AM - 5.1M easy; PM - 7M easy (12.1 tot)

Tue: AM - 4M including 2M in 10:36 (5:18 pace) as part of Army Physical Fitness Test which included 116 Pushups and 95 Situps; 

      PM - 8M including 4 x 1K w/ 400m recovery; 3:14, 3:10, 3:12, 3:12   (12 tot)

Wed: 7M easy

Thu: 14.3M including 15K total at MP; 4K warm-up + 8K in 28:41 (5:46 pace or 3:35/km) + 1K easy + 7K in 25:00 (5:45 pace or 3:34/km) + 3K cool-down

Fri: 6.2M easy

Sat: DNR; giving legs a rest as I was feeling some pain on the right leg (shin area)

Sun: 13.4M steady medium long run; 6:46 pace

Weekly Total:  65 miles

Taper week. Did not run the planned 8 x 1K on Tuesday night because of a physical fitness test in the morning.  Felt good on my marathon pace run on Thursday; however, it was probably about 2-3 seconds per mile too fast for MP.  I took my first rest day on Saturday for this marathon training cycle.  My right leg (shin) was in pain. Been feeling a little tender in the area during the week, but the first time with a lot of pain. I'm not too much about it. 

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Sep 20-26

Mon: AM - 9M easy; PM - 6M easy (15 tot)
Tue: AM - 6.3M easy; PM - 6.1M (12.4 tot)
Wed: AM - 2M easy, core exercise; PM - 14M including 12-10-8-6-4-6 min. at 5:38 > 5:20 pace (3:30 > 3:20/km) w/ 3' easy (16 tot)
Thu: 19M long run; 6:53 pace
Fri: 6.6M easy
Sat: 14M including 15K tempo in 53:30 (5:44 pace / 3:34)
Sun: 15M steady medium long run; 6:47 pace

Weekly Total:  98 miles

After two easy days of running following last week's half-marathon race, I got in consecutive key workouts consisting of cruise intervals and a long run the following day. The 19-miler on Thu was my last "long" run. Fri was a recovery day and Sat's 15K tempo was a success.  I will now begin my taper/peak phase.

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Sep 13 - 19

Mon: AM - 8.7M easy; PM - 6.3M easy (15 tot)
Tue: AM - 6M easy; PM - 16M including 7 x 2K w/ 4' rec; 6:35, 6:34, 6:33, 6:31, 6:31, 6:30 (22 tot)
Wed: AM - 6.5M easy; PM - 6.5M easy (13 tot)
Thu: 10.3M easy
Fri: AM - 9M easy; PM - 5.6M easy (14.6 tot)
Sat: 8.7M including 1K @ tempo pace for race tune-up
Sun: Hoogland Half-Marathon - 1:14:08; 1st Overall, very windy (17 tot)

Weekly Total: 100 miles

Excellent week of training that concluded with a half-marathon win for me and my girlfriend. I was looking to PR at around 1:12 for the half, but strong winds from 8-13K ruled it out. The great thing is that I felt stronger as the race went on. Read the race report here. Also, it's a great feeling that I still ran a good race with 80+ miles in the legs prior to the race. Tuesday's 7x2K was a tough but very successful workout.  I've never done that many 2K's for training. I felt better in this workout than the one I did 2 wks ago, which was only 5 repeats of 2K.

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Sep 6 - 12

Mon: 10.6M easy 

Tue: AM - 6.6M easy; PM - 13.5M including 5 x 2K w/ 3' rec; 6:35, 6:34, 6:32, 6:33, 6:29 (20.1 tot)

Wed: 15M med long run

Thu: AM - 5.3M easy, PM - 12M including 20 x 100m Ins&Outs (17.3 tot)

Fri: AM - 11.8M easy; PM - 5.6M easy (17.4 tot)

Sat: 14.6M including 12K tempo in 42:32; 5:42 pace - 3:32/km

Sun: 22.5M long run; 6:42 pace

Weekly Total: 117 miles

Good week of quality and quantity. Surprisingly felt good on the 2:30 long run following a tempo run. Nice to have the mileage up after a down week.

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Aug 30 - Sep 05

Mon: AM - 6.2M easy; PM - 6.2M easy (12.4 tot)

Tue: AM - 10M easy; PM - 7M easy (17 tot)

Wed: 15.5M including 12-10-8-6-4-6 min marathon specific at 5:38 > 5:20 pace (3:30 > 3:20/km) w/ 3' easy

Thu: 13M easy

Fri: 7.5M easy

Sat: AM - 3.7M shakeout run; PM - Jesolo RUN 10K - 33:15 PR (16:55, 16:20), 6th Overall (12.4 tot)

Sun: 21M long run; 7:00 pace

Weekly Total: 98.8 miles

A down week as I'm on vacation in Venice with Lisa. It was my first week under 100 miles, as well as my first race since Rotterdam marathon. Felt great to finally race again. I definitely knew I would run a PR, but I think I was a bit too conservative in the 1st half of the race, probably from a lack of racing. 

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Aug 23 - 29

Mon: AM - 5.6M easy; PM - 10.4M easy (16 tot)8

Tue: AM - 2.5M very easy; PM - 11.5M including 15 x 400m w/ 200m rec; (72, 72, 72, 72, 72, 73, 72, 72, 72, 71, 72, 71, 72, 71, 70, 69 (14 tot)

Wed: 15M medium long run

Thu: AM - 4.3M easy; PM - 14.5M including 4 x 3K w/ 4' rec; (10:08, 10:14, 10:11: 10:09)

Fri: AM - 5.4M easy; PM - 10.8M easy

Sat: 15.6M including 15K tempo in 53:31; 5:44 pace - 3:34;km

Sun: 26.4M (3 hrs) long run; 6:48 pace

Weekly Total: 122 miles

What a week!!! probably my best training week, both quality and quantity. felt tired on Mon, but good on all the other days. Tue's track session was excellent, 3K cruise intervals on Thu went well, Sat's 15K tempo felt great, and Sun I was really shocked at how good the legs and body felt in the 3 hour long run (covered the marathon in 2:58:34  :) 

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Aug 23 - 29

Mon: AM - 6.9M easy; PM - 10.6M easy (17.5 tot)

Tue: AM - 8.5M easy; PM - 8.7M easy (17.2 tot)

Wed: AM - 4.5M easy; PM - 15.5M including 12-10-8-6-4-6 min. marathon specific at 5:38 > 5:20 pace (3:30 > 3:20/km) w/ 3' easy (20 tot)

Thu: 14.3M medium long run 

Fri: AM - 5.3M easy; PM - 13M including 4 x 1K, 3 x 2K alternating w/ 3' rec; (3:16, 6:54, 3:17, 6:52, 3:26, 6:56, 3:18); tough workout  (18.3 tot)

Sat: AM - 8.8M easy; PM - 5.2M easy (14 tot)

Sun: 20M long run; 6:45 pace

Weekly Total: 121 miles

I questioned my friend Jurgen, who did up my marathon training program, about this week being a recovery week with the high mileage. He stated that it is a recovery week quality wise.  It was a good week nonetheless and the legs are handling the high mileage very well. 

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Aug 9 - 15

Mon: AM - 10M easy; PM - 5.6M easy (15.6 tot)

Tue: AM - 5M easy; PM - 12M including 20 x 400m w/ 200m rec; 73, 73, 73, 74, 73, 73, 72, 73, 72, 73, 72, 72, 72, 73, 71, 71, 70, 72, 71, 68 (17 tot)

Wed: 14M easy

Thu: AM - 5.4M; PM - 14.3M including 15 x 1K alternating 3:20 / 3:50 per km (5:22 / 6:10 pace); splits: 3:55, 3:24, 4:00, 3:20, 4:06, 3:18, 4:03, 3:16, 4:06, 3:12, 4:11, 3:15, 4:05, 3:14, 3:52;  (19.7 tot)

Fri: AM - 5.5M easy; PM - 11.3M  (16.8 tot)

Sat: 15.5M including 15K tempo in 53:59; 5:48 pace - 3:36 /km)

Sun: 17.4M long run; 6:56 pace

Weekly Total: 116 miles

Could not believe I did 20 repeats of 400s.  Felt better and stronger than last Tue's workout when I did only 15 repeats. Thursday workout of alternating 1Ks at 3:20 / 3:50 (5:22 / 6:10 pace) was tough. Never really hit the slower/recovery part of the 1Ks, I was always slower.  Good 15K tempo run on Sat.

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Aug 2 - 8

Mon: AM - 6.1M easy; PM - 6.1M easy (12.2 tot)

Tue: 11.8M including 15 x 400m w/ 200m rec; 72, 73, 74, 75, 75, 73, 75, 74, 73, 73, 73, 73, 73, 73, 73 

Wed: 13.7M medium long run

Thu: AM - 4.5M; PM - 13.5M including 10 x 1K w/ 400 rec (3:14, 3:18, 3:18, 3:15, 3:14, 3:16, 3:14, 3:14, 3:13, 3:11  (18 tot)

Fri: AM - 11M easy; PM - 6.1M  (17.1 tot)

Sat: AM - 12M progression run;  started at 6:58 pace and progressed to 5:38 pace; decreased the pace by 16 seconds every 3K (~1.9 miles); PM - 5M easy  (17 tot)

Sun: 19.5M long run; 7:01 pace

Weekly Total: 109 miles

First week of marathon focus training for Munich marathon on 10 Oct.   Training under my German friend's marathon training program. Highest weekly mileage. Both Tue and Thu's workout were mentally and physically tough. Never did that many 400s and 1K repeats.