Good morning everyone.
For those of you who haven’t checked out the hurdles over the past few weeks, you may have missed it, but I’ve started documenting training for my next marathon (April 4th). My goal is to beat my personal best and see how close I can get to a 3 hour marathon (I think it’s pretty close).
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The whole purpose of this was to pretty much document my anxiety during all of these workouts. Running a marathon is a big commitment. It’s really difficult in the cold and dark winter months, and aiming for a new personal best is no small feat.
Still, I kept going—one foot after the other, actually. One day at a time. One week at a time. Let’s see where things are.
(Recap of Weeks 9 and 10 here)
Week 11:
I’m about to enter my final weeks of serious training. After my latest long run on Sunday (later), I have three more Sunday runs left before the taper process begins. The focus now is on preventing fatigue and not letting yourself get off track.
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The weather didn’t get better until Sunday, and then I walked out in an uncomfortable position in the cold and rain. Now, I’m waiting for the next snowfall in Washington, D.C. on Sunday night, and I’m not looking forward to seeing how that will affect my running route.
It’s been difficult to run at pace this winter due to the weather, or not have the confidence to hit a certain pace goal, so I may have to adjust accordingly on race day. I still have a few weeks to figure out my situation.
I’m looking at my training calendar now and see that I started as early as December 14th – last year actually! But I’m pretty close now.
Sunday: 20 miles (first 10 miles easy, second 10 miles moderate pace)
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This is my third 20 mile workout. Like the other two, conditions were less than ideal. I walked out in the cold rain and wind. A lot of water got into my left shoe and in the last two miles I could feel blisters under my toes as the freezing rain and wind picked up again.
I broke it into two parts: the first 10 miles at easy pace, and the second 10 miles at full pace. The rain kind of ruined that feeling for me, but when we got to mile 10, I wanted to push myself a little bit. So I picked up the pace and ran around 6:45-6:55. I also felt like my watch was going too fast at one point, so I added an extra 0.3 miles at the end and ran 20 miles (or 20.3 miles) in 2:23.36, an average of 7:05 per mile.
I wish I felt more comfortable in this matter. My legs didn’t feel great from the start and I was glad they finally came back to normal around mile 7, but it wasn’t the confidence-building run I had hoped for.
That being said, I still did 3 20 milers during this training session in addition to the 3 16 milers and 2 18 milers I did, so I’ve definitely shortened the distance. I felt pretty comfortable until around mile 18 when the wind and rain came back and I really felt the blisters. I can’t dictate what the conditions will be like on race day, but I can at least feel good knowing that I’ve been through some difficult weather conditions.
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Monday: rest day
And it’s well deserved. Since last week was a US federal holiday, I was excited to sleep in until 9am. Not so this time. I have to catch the subway at about 7am.
Tuesday: 6-8 mile recovery run
Nowadays, it’s rare for me to run for less than an hour. The situation may come back again on Tuesday and I may choose 8 miles instead of 6 miles.
Wednesday: Treadmill interview TBA
It all depends on when I get home. Did you know? I ran pretty hard on Sunday, so today I’m willing to be a little more flexible and do shorter runs if I feel like my legs can’t handle the intervals. Maybe I’ll even take a day off (but I’d rather not).
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Thursday: Easy 10-12 miles
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been upping my Thursday mileage again. The question is should I run 10 miles three Thursdays in a row or start running 12 miles. If it’s the former, then I’ll do 3 12 mile runs over the next three weeks. If the latter, Thursday will be a four-week 12-mile run.
This is my least favorite run of the week because it takes up so much time and I usually don’t realize enough until I’m home (or close to home) to realize I still need to cook. The days are getting longer again, but I still get things done in the dark.
Friday: Gym
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Considering my run next Sunday is a little lighter (14 miles), I’ll probably do a slightly harder workout that focuses more on the legs than I have this past week. Still, I had no intention of lifting anything too heavy.
Saturday: 9 miles easy
Just like I increased my mileage on Thursday, I also increased my mileage on Saturday. I accidentally ran 9 miles last Saturday due to a counting error. It must have been intentional this time.
Estimated total weekly mileage: 50-55
Fitzie Track of the Day: “All That You Dream” by Linda Ronstadt
Now for you the link:
Alasdair Gold: “Luka Vuskovic summer statement, rare Mickey Moore moment and Jamie Donley’s return”
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Jay Harris($$): “Tudors’ nightmare first game paints a clearer picture: Spurs are in serious trouble”
British Broadcasting Corporation: “Benfica’s Prestiani has been provisionally suspended for one game”
ESPN: “Why Manchester United fans’ viral hair challenge may not be ending anytime soon”
