Time's up

I'm done. 3 weeks at 90+ miles each. Time to recover for a few days.

It was a good stretch. I crammed quality plus quantity the whole way, and so far I'm passing the test. I (definitely) didn't over do it going into this plateau and I'm not busted coming out of it. I'm not sure if it'll be enough to blow out Rotterdam, but I'm guessing that I'm in better shape than I was 1 year ago, heading into London... I cranked a 2:39 there, so that should be worth something.

I'm finally feeling like I'm back in shape. A few more good workouts will help. For now, a big feeling of relief has come as I can finally cut back. I've plugged nearly 300 solid miles in the last 22 days and I still have fuel in the tank. Taking tomorrow off, and dropping the mileage this week. Rotterdam's in 14 days.

2011 Cary March Madness Half Marathon

Cary was amusing. I claimed that I would be happy to produce something sub-5:50 pace. Well, I did just that: 1:16:26 = 5:49.8 pace. That's 2 seconds faster than I was 2 years ago... but 2 years ago wasn't on the heels of 106 miles and had slightly better conditions.

I can say I'm happy with the race, though I'm a little disappointed in how I achieved it. I went out too fast, and didn't come close to a negative split. I'll blame that on some tailwinds after the first few miles, which turned into headwinds during the meat of the race.

The first 2.5 miles were straight into some head winds and I was forced to jockey for positioning to help fight those winds. Hence, the first 3 were a blow out. Then I had mostly down hill, and tail winds from 2.5 through 6.5. Clearly the easiest miles of the race.

After 4 miles, I was all alone for the rest of the race. Even though I wasn't far off the back of Verdo and Jason, that made things significantly more difficult for me as I had to cope with really nasty headwinds and hills in 7, 8, and 10. I eventually lost sight of them after 10, as I held my pace and they pulled the trigger. I eventually picked off 1 runner that they dropped in their move.

We finished 6th, 7th, and 8th places in what was a fairly competitive race.

SO, I am very pleased with my time and how I felt throughout the race. Given the weather/winds, I have to accept how I ran my splits... it was probably an even effort aside from blowing out the first few miles. A few days of taper and I definitely could've gone faster.

Since the race, I'm hanging in there. Still on track for 90 miles this final week, though I'm having to juggle taking Monday off with a couple doubles. I resume speed tonight.

Split Recap:
1- 5:35.3
2- 5:41.1
3- 5:37.1
4- 5:51.6
5- 5:45.3
6- 5:50.8
7- 6:05.2
8- 6:02.1
9- 5:34.4
10- 6:05.2
11- 5:58.9
12- 5:55.7
13- 5:49.7
.1- 0:33.8
Total: 1:16:26
Avg: 5:49.8

Unintended PR

Hit 106 miles in 7 days.

It's the result of cramming in order to give me one recovery day in between my long and the Cary 1/2 Marathon. The week included 2 long runs of 22 miles each. I also had 1 double giving me 14 miles, and 2 other days of 14 miles. It wasn't all just big miles either... I had 7 miles of tempo, and 20x 400's.

I actually handled it all pretty well. No major aches or pains as of now.

Weather for tomorrow's race will be 10-15 mph winds, 40 degrees, and probable showers. On the heels of 106 miles, I'm not expecting much other than a long tempo run. I'll be happy to produce something sub-5:50 pace, though that might even be optimistic.

I still have one final big week of training next week. Getting through 90 more miles uninjured is far more important.

Building a Plateau

After 2 months of basing in the 50-60 range, I've jumped to 90 miles. My goal is to plateau up here for 3 weeks. While doing so, I'm focusing on quantity AND quality. This is my last ditch effort to cram for Rotterdam.

When I attempted something similar for NYC back in the fall (minus the cram), it didn't go so well. I wound up breaking myself. In hindsight, that move was unnecessary as I already had plenty of speed and endurance under my belt. I could've peaked with far fewer miles and been far better off.

This time around, I'm going off a smaller base with less speed, but I am attempting to plateau from a more healthy standpoint. As of now, I have no major aches or pains that are slowing me down. I'm nearly 2/3rd through the peak, and so far so good.

Assuming all things remain equal, after tomorrow, I'll have about 104-105 miles in the last 7 days. Cary is Sunday. That'll be my next test. I'm essentially running through it, so I'm not expecting to come remotely close to a PR, but I'd like to get a solid long tempo from it.

My success in Rotterdam hinges upon me getting through these 3 weeks rather unscathed and healthy. Is my base (short term and longer term) big enough to hammer on the gas for 21 days without over doing it?

Two notable workouts this week:

Monday night's tempo was a confidence booster. 7 miles, and stayed plenty strong all through the run. The first 1/2 was into wind, followed by wind at my back.

Split recap:
1- 6:07
2- 5:55
3- 5:48
4- 5:46
5- 5:41
6- 5:41
7- 5:27
Avg: 46.4

Wednesday night's BITCH of an interval workout: 20x 400's w/ 60sec recovery. It was in the zoo parking lot, which made it even less entertaining. Odd repeats were going into a slight wind. I averaged a full second faster when that slight wind was at my back.

Split Recap:
1- 75.8
2- 73.3
3- 73.5
4- 73.4
5- 74
6- 73.1
7- 75
8- 74
9- 73.9
10- 74.4
11- 74.1
12- 74.4
13- 74.6
14- 72.9
15- 73.6
16- 72.5
17- 74.7
18- 73.8
19- 74.8
20- 71.4
Avg: 73.86

Running out of time

Rotterdam coming up quickly and my race is at risk, unless I can seriously pull myself together in the next 3 weeks. I have 1 month until I toe the line.

I had a very regrettable mistake last week: I skipped my Friday night run. I was tired, I had an insane week at work, I've been very stressed lately... blah blah blah... Cry me a river. I finished the week 10 miles short, and only at 63. I would've been 73 for the week (and 2 weeks in a row >70), which is still pathetic... but certainly better than a measly 63.

Mistakes like this leave me running out of time and under-training. I really should in the mid-80's right now and making a push for mid-90's. Instead I'm essentially at 70 and making a push for mid-80's.

Yes, I've gotten myself back into a nice little base of let's say 60 miles, but that won't cut a sub-2:40 marathon. I need peak miles. I need aggressive running (via tempos and intervals), and I need mid-week long runs. I'm missing the latter two, and hence missing a quality build towards my peak.

I ran 6 tempo last night. It wasn't even tempo, since my overall pace was still slower than my half-marathon pace. It definitely didn't feel easy. Furthermore, I should be running 8 mile tempos right now, not 6's.

The Cary Half Marathon is next weekend, and I can't even fathom running a half marathon right now. That pace makes my stomach churn.

The only thing I have going for me is the fact that I'm not injured (knock on wood!)... I'm not feeling totally fresh or in incredible shape, but at least I'm not running in pain.

Whatever. There's always Chicago!