December 26 - January 1 Training

Mon: AM - 8.3 miles with 6x20s pick-ups (6:54); PM - 4.7 miles easy (7:37)

Tue: AM - 11.3 miles including 5x1 mile with 300m jog; Started the mile repeats at tempo effort and then work down to 10k effort and then a bit faster towards the end.  It was the first time on the track since before Indy, so the workout was a good rust buster.  Splits were 5:27, 5:24, 5:19, 5:15 and 5:10.  PM - 5.1 miles easy (7:29)

Wed: AM - 8 miles easy (7:13); PM - 5.1 mile easy (8:17); jogging with lunch group.

Thu: AM - 9.3 miles including fartlek of 8x.15 miles fast, .35 miles moderate. Ran the fast segments at sub 5:00 pace and the moderate recovery at 6:15ish pace.  On these fartlek workouts, the moderate recoveries always seem tougher than the fast segments.  The goal of the workout was to run the fast segments slow enough that allows me to recover at the prescribed pace (6:15ish).  I ran all the fast segments at sub 5:00, but on the recoveries I was a little slower than 6:15ish pace for the 2nd and 3rd rep.  Not an excuse, but this was mainly due to the recoveries being on a slight incline.  Ended up running the 4 mile farlek in 23:15, 5:49 pace, and averaged 4:58 / 6:10 pace for the fast / moderate segments.  PM - 6.2 miles easy (7:11)

Fri: AM - 8 miles easy (7:13); PM - 4 miles easy (7:33)

Sat: 20 miles long run with the last 5 miles at sub 5:50 (6:30 overall avg pace). The first 10 miles were rolling hills and the last 10 mostly flat.  Ran comfortably easy for the first 15 miles averaging 6:45 pace.  The last couple miles of the run felt tough, because at that point I was running on fatigue legs.   .7 miles cooldown

Long run splits

Sun: AM: 1.4 easy (10:34); family run to start off the New Year.  6 miles easy (7:30); PM - 3 miles easy (7:44)

Weekly Total: 101.2 miles on 13 runs/7 days

I ended last week at 99.2 miles, and if you combine that with this week's mileage, I averaged 100 miles for the last two weeks.  Not bad considering there's still 15 weeks till Boston.  

October 20-26 Training

Mon: AM - 6.8 miles with 6x30s pick-ups (7:12); PM - 4.2 miles easy (7:25)

Tue: AM - 14 miles with 10mile (61:15) MP workout. Goal was to start out at 6:15 pace and work my way down to 6:00.  This was my first marathon specific workout in this training cycle and I wasn't sure how it'll feel at altitude.  Workout turned out great. Splits were 6:14, 6:14, 6:12, 6:12, 6:08, 6:07, 6:04, 6:04, 6:01, 5:59. PM - 3.5 miles easy (7:28)

Wed: AM - 10 miles easy (6:59); PM - 4.2 miles (7:20)

Thu: 8.3 miles easy (7:07)

Fri: 8.5 miles including 3x1mile with 3:00 rec. Plan was to run the mile repeats alternating between 75 and 80 second laps.  Didn't have access to a track so I ran the workout on a 1/4 mile loop on the roads.  It was tough to feel the switching of gears because it all felt fast.  Splits were: 5:04 (73, 77, 74, 80), 5:06 (74, 78, 75, 79), and 5:06 (75, 80, 73, 78). Very pleased with this workout at altitude.  PM - 4.2 miles easy (7:25)

Sat: 21 miles long run (6:53). First 6 miles were nice and easy around 7:00ish and then 6:45-6:50ish for the remaining 15 miles.  Glycogen-depleting long run. Ran the entire 21 miles without taking in any fuel or fluids.  I also didn't stop at all during the run, even at intersections (could only be acheived when running at 3:30am).   

Sun: AM - 5 miles easy (7:24); PM - 4.2 miles easy (7:16)

Weekly Total: 94 miles on 12 runs/7 days.

It was the first week of incorporating marathon-specific workouts in preparation for CIM.  I actually enjoy marathon-specific workouts because it not only gives me confidence, but it also gives me a good idea of where I'm at in my marathon fitness.  So far, the fitness is looking good and I expect good things to happen in 6 weeks.  

Feb 21-27

Mon: AM - 5.3M easy; PM - 8.8M easy (14.1M tot)
Tue: AM - 5M easy; PM - 15.3M easy (20.3M tot)
Wed: AM - 4.4M easy; PM - 13.3M easy (17.7M tot)
Thu: AM - 5M easy; PM - 10.3M easy (15.3M tot)
Fri: 15M including aerobic capacity intervals: 7 x 1600m (5:11, 5:15, 5:16, 5:15, 5:15, 5:14, 5:14) w/ 400 rec + 3 x 200 (32, 33, 33) w/ 200 rec;
Sat: 9M easy
Sun: 20M Fast Finish Long Run; 12M @ 6:42 pace then last 8M @ 5:42 pace; (20.8 tot)

Weekly Total: 112 miles on 11 runs/ 7 days
The first half of the week was all easy running. However, saying the runs were easy would be an understatement, because the duration of the runs were at least 70 minutes or more and the pace between 6:40-6:55. On Tuesday, instead of the normal quality speed session, I ran a medium long run of 1hr 44min.  Friday was a good session of mile repeats at aerobic capacity.  The legs were certainly done after 7 repeats.  The highlight of this week's training was today's long run, a 20 mile fast finish long run.  I ran the first 12 miles averaging 6:42 pace and then finished off the last 8 miles (13K to be exact) at 5:42.  I was amazed that the pace felt manageable.