Marathon Training, Once Again, Begins

Eight weeks from race day means six weeks of what I think of as “true” marathon training (the last two weeks is the taper).  Granted I’ve already done lots of training - some of it pretty marathon specific - but now is when everything else gets thrown out the window so I can focus solely on running 26.2 miles as fast as possible.

Wednesday was my first workout in this cycle.  It was on the shorter end of the spectrum (no 20 mile tempo runs yet), but it’s good to kick things off with something a little more manageable.  The workout was 3 by 3 miles fast with 1 mile recoveries at a quick pace, plus an extra fast mile at the end, which I usually make 1.1 miles so I can get a nice even half marathon.  So 3 miles hard, 1 mile medium, 3 miles hard, 1 mile medium, 3 miles hard, 1 mile medium, then 1 mile hard.

When I start focusing on a particular marathon training cycle, I’m looking to dial in on a certain pace.  You can’t always know ahead of time what’s reasonable to shoot for in the race, but by repeatedly trying to sense how different paces feel, you can hopefully prevent an outright disaster.  So going into the workout I was trying to get a handle on how fast 5:30 felt, with an eye towards having 5:35 or so be my goal pace this fall.

But this time I ran 16:14, 16:05, and 15:59 for the 3 mile segments.  The recoveries were 6:06, 5:56, and 6:00, and the final fast mile was 5:09.  In the end I covered a half marathon in 1:12:05.  So what did I learn?  Well, I’m faster than I’ve ever been before - usually it’s a struggle to keep the repeats in the 16:35-16:45 range.  And averaging 5:30 pace for the whole workout makes me think that soon that pace will be achievable for a marathon - which would be 2:24, or three and a half minutes faster than my PR.

But whether that day will arrive by November 11th remains to be seen.  For now, the workouts will get longer, and harder, and with any luck I’ll continue feeling as good as I’ve felt thus far.  

Next on tap is a hilly 24 mile progressive long run on Sunday.  I don’t have a specific goal for this workout, other than to run the last ten miles at sub 6 minute pace and get the overall pace to low 6:00s as well.  Happy running everyone.

With Apologies to Mr. Tergat

Although the long deceased Mr. Prefontaine probably still holds a strong lead in running quotes remembered by the American populace, my favorite saying comes from the former world record holder Paul Tergat: “Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'."

I ran a 10k on Saturday. It was the fastest I’ve ever run for 10k on the roads. I ran 31:42, or 5:06 per mile. I'm pretty pleased with it. Back in the day, I was only the 5th best runner on my high school team - if I’m being honest with myself, it’s great that I’ve gone from a 10:15 high schooler two miler to running 10k road races that average faster than that - more than 3 times the distance, at a faster pace, in a row.

I don’t really know how much more improvement I have in store. Quite a bit still, for sure. I know that I am already working hard. Quite a bit harder than a lot of runners - not all, but most, probably. Many athletes have gotten to where I am currently without ever running ONE 120 mile week, let alone as many as I've done.

But I also know that if I ask myself, “can I give more”, the answer IS “yes.”

Yep, more than this

That doesn’t necessarily mean running more mileage than I am currently. At least not THAT much more. A lot of what I can do better is little stuff: resting more, stretching more, doing more speedwork It can be accomplished without adding more volume. But more than anything, it’s about a better mindset. I can focus more. I can give more. And for the next 8 weeks, until I line up at the start of the San Antonio Marathon, I'm going to.

Just Grinding Away

Some weeks of training are boring - nothing notable, nothing exciting. This was not one of those weeks! This was pure excitement. Let’s take a look back:

Sunday I ran a marathon in 2:40:38. Not in a race or anything, just up and down one of my old workout routes from college. Two miles down one street, two miles back. Two miles down another street, two miles back. Two miles down the first street again...You get the idea. Here’s a very rough map:

First annual Contour/La Jara Marathon

So that was fun. Or at least satisfying once it was done. I blew up a bit the last couple miles when dehydration really set in - the pace climbed up from 6:05 for the first 22 miles to 6:20-6:30 for the last four, but the total comes out to 6:07 per mile.

I did some easy running on Monday, some more easy running on Tuesday, and then - after an easy ten miler in the morning, I went to the track for some fast repeats on Wednesday night. The workouts was 2x(600, 400, 300, 200) with equal jogging recovery after each, plus an extra 400 jog between sets. I got a little optimistic on the first set (1:40, 64, 46, 30), which is to say I did all of the repeats way faster than I should’ve. Consequently , I blew up awesomely in the 2nd set (1:43, 65, 49, 30). They don’t look THAT much slower, but each one featured an all-out death-grimaced final sprint just to hit those times. And the recoveries turned into awkward, painful crawls. Truth be told, it was kind of fun.

Friday morning I went out for a long tempo at a relatively relaxed pace - the goal was 14 miles at 5:50/mile. My legs were tired from the track workout Wednesday, but the pace was pretty easy to hit, and I got through it with nothing more than some mild boredom and the annoyance that comes from running almost 30 miles on a 2 mile stretch of Contour Road in a single week. Final result: 14 miles at 5:46/mile.

I rounded out the week with some more easy running on Saturday, and hit my new highest mileage ever: 135. Woo.

I took it really easy yesterday - less than 14 miles in two runs - and today I did the SARR Labor Day 5 Mile Whine Run. I’ve done it the last two years, with times of 26:17 and 26:30, respectively. There were some solid local guys at the race today (something that wasn’t true in the past), but I was able to run away with the win by a pretty good margin, with a new course record of 25:38. The course is very hilly, including a first mile that is basically 100% uphill, so I’m really pleased with the time. It’s nice to be able to run the same course in multiple years and compare times. Last year did have some nasty winds that slowed times down a good amount, but this year featured much more usual Texas September weather, and regardless the wind wasn’t so bad that I would expect to run 52 seconds faster without being in MUCH better shape. Which is encouraging. 

 

During the first mile of the race

Right after the finish. Jeremy tired.

 Now back to training! Happy running everyone.

Dog Days of Summer

It’s been a while since I put anything up here. In fact, if I recall correctly, the last thing I wrote was something about sucking in a road 5k, battling severe depression, and contemplating trading in my flats for a nice badminton racquet.

Well, turns out most badminton racquets run at least $20, which is likely more than I could get for a pair of reeking, worn-down racing shoes. So I got back to training. And training has been going really, really well.

It didn’t at first though. After Grandma’s, I gave myself 3 easy weeks, culminating in the aforementioned 5k race, after which I entered a phase I think of as “serious training”. Most running books will warn of the dangers of increasing mileage too quickly, but I went ahead and jumped from 65 miles (during the last recovery week) to 100 miles the next week. I knocked out a few light workouts with one of the Trinity runners that was in town, which was fun, but any workouts that I did on my own were...difficult.

Cruisin' at 5:38 pace

5:40 pace felt incredibly fast, given that I had less than a month earlier gone 5:38 pace for 26.2 miles. I would finish tempo runs feeling like I could MAYBE go one more mile, and then only if someone held a gun to my head.

Then, about two and a half weeks ago, something flipped. Around this time I was competing with some coworkers in a 4x400m vs 1600m race, during which I ran the 1600 in 4:32. Maybe this is what caused the shift, or maybe it was just good timing, but since that day, I’ve felt like a million bucks. That week was 120 miles. The next was 126. This past week I took a few days much easier, but still hit 123 miles.

And the workout...oh the workouts. I did 11 miles alternating fast and slow with Rob at an average of 5:52 per mile just 2 days after the 1600m race. The next workout was 5k @ 16:25, followed by 4x200 (granted, with very, very long recovery) at 29 apiece. Three days later I did a tempo on our bread and butter Hill Country Village route, covering 10 rolling, hilly miles in 54:54, my best time on that course by over a minute.

One 24 mile long run later and a few easy runs later, I was doing 8x1600m on the track at an average of 5:13 each, but with the 400m recoveries done so fast that I came through 16k in under 55 minutes. That workout, done 20 seconds faster than I did it in March of this year, sandwiched between setting my 5k and 10k PRs, showed that I’m in terrific shape for races in the 5k to half marathon range. But what about that pesky marathon I’m supposed to be training for?

Well, this morning I took advantage of the (cough, cough) wonderful weather we’re having this weekend to knock out a new standard workout for me in a marathon buildup: 1x marathon at roughly 10% slower than goal pace. Since my goal pace is somewhere in the 5:30-5:35 range, that means doing 26.2 miles at 6:03 to 6:09 per mile, which, given the weather (overnight low of 78, dew point of 73-75), I would have been happy with anything 6:15 and below. But, true to form, I went out at 6:05 pace for the first 18-20 miles, suffered for the last 10k, and ended up covering a marathon in 2:40:38 (6:07/mile), my 5th fastest marathon ever. That is a long way to go by yourself, but I’m glad that I was able to stay focused long enough and not wimp out 24 miles in, when it’s all too easy to say “oh, I’ve already done enough”. As of today, I have 11 weeks to prepare for the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon, so it’s just a matter of keeping the hot streak going, and not pushing myself too hard too soon.

Me circa 2011 Whine Run

Next up for me is the Labor Day Whine Run 5 Miler, next Monday, which I’ve done the last 2 years. I’m really excited to get out and race again, as it feels like forever since I’ve lined up and put myself out there.

Jeremy’s Recap of Emily’s Experience at the US Half Marathon Championships

Em's Race Bib for the US Half Marathon Championships

These days Emily is more than a little busy with [other things], but don’t worry: I’ve got spare time out the wazoo. 

In the weeks before the US Half, Emily was looking like a million bucks. Maybe more than a million. Here are some quick workout rundowns:

May 10th: 4x2 miles with 3 minute jog recovery in 11:27, 11:40, 11:45, 11:35, with the total workout adding up to 9.1 miles at 6:06 pace.

May 17th: Fartlek totalling up to 9.15 miles at 6:05 pace.

May 20th: 17 mile long run at 7:22 pace

May 22nd (25 days before race): 8x400 w/ 200 recovery, averaging 77 for the 400s and 49 for the 200s. Total of 17:36 for 5k.

But Emily has a stunning, glaring weakness. She SUCKS at running while she can’t breathe. You see, Emily has had various asthma-esque issues for as long as I’ve known her, but we thought we had the right medications to keep it under control. But the root cause of these problems is that Emily is allergic to EVERYTHING in the world. Pine trees? Yep. Grass? Of course. Air? Maybe, honestly I lose track.

And when Emily’s allergies act up, she can’t breathe. Not that she gets what you’d traditionally think of in an asthma attack - it’s more like she has to do all of her runs while breathing through a straw. So the workouts go from 6 minute pace to 6:40 pace. And every run feels terrible. And she starts to think, why in the HELL am I going to go run a race against a bunch of elite runners and make a fool of myself? So Emily went up to Minnesota with me with every intention of just cheering for me while I ran Grandma’s Marathon.

But once we were there, the atmosphere was too much for her. The excitement, the energy, the fast runners everywhere you turn - by Friday afternoon, Emily was telling me, “well, I’ll do the race, I’ll just play it safe and start nice and slow”. As a test, she did a mile on the track Friday morning, in 6:03, and said it felt “horrible”.

So Saturday morning rolls around, and of course I have NO idea what’s going on, since I’m getting ready to run a marathon an hour later. But little do I know, while Em is talking about “just running 1:21 or so” (roughly 6:11 per mile), her first mile is 6:03. And her 2nd is 6:09. Her 3rd is 5:57, and already thoughts of “playing it safe” are out the window. Slow 4th and 5th miles are the last attempts at conservatism, but every mile after that is sub-6. There’s something magical about running within yourself and then catching TONS of people the last half of a race, and Emily was right in that moment. 5:54, 5:59, 5:54, 5:52, and 5:57 took her through 10 miles in a new PR of 60:04.

A few more people passed, and three more miles in the 5:50 range, brought her home in 1:18:14, a new PR by nearly 3 minutes. Her last 10k was roughly 36:26, and her last 10 miles were under 59:30. Was that the outcome we were hoping for a few weeks earlier? Not really. Was it awesome given the circumstances? Absolutely. She finished 36th place, right at half way through the field, when she was hoping "not to get last".

Sometimes things just go to hell, and there’s not much you can do about it. But you have to soldier on and see what you’ve got, and every once in awhile it turns out okay. And now, please wish the lovely lady some luck as she gets allergy shots for her allergies to EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD.

Thanks you, and good evening.

Em's view right before the start of her race

Jer Presents: Five Lessons from a Spectacular Beatdown or, Free-da’s 5k Race Recap

Today I ran a 5k, and man, did I get crushed. Here’s me at the start:

Look, I'm winning! Surely this lead will hold up...

And here’s the finish. In this picture, I am not visible, because I am 30 seconds behind:

Maybe I'm a speck back there?  Let's get the CSI people to blow this
sucker up, I'm sure I'm in there somewhere

Since nothing really went right for me today, I’ve decided to search for the mythical silver lining in the cloud that is my apparent inability to run a 5k within a minute of my PR. So here we go. Also, it should be noted that I arbitrarily decided this list would have five items before I started writing, so if it looks like I either stretched some material thin to get to five (or smashed eight different thoughts together to limit the number) I apologize. But I’m sure as hell not going back and changing the title or editing anything. Psh, that's for quitters.

1. Never being afraid to race is a good thing. But it doesn’t make you invincible.

There are some runners out there who have a deep-seated fear of putting up a sub-par performance with their name next to it. And maybe that’s not a terrible thing, but it often leads to a crippling inability to race well when things haven’t gone EXACTLY perfect. These are the people who, when asked what they’re training for, will say the 2015 Boston Marathon, or the 2020 Olympic Trials. Anything sooner would require a frightening commitment to actually racing, which inherently means exposing yourself to judgement, shame, and the pitiless numbers on the clock when you cross the finish line.

I take pride in not being one of those people. I make a conscious effort to occasionally race on a whim, to just throw down and see what happens. And I always have this voice, deep in my brain, telling me “you never know, you could do something AWESOME!” Well that’s all fine and good, but today was most definitely NOT that day. I raced like a guy who ran a marathon three weeks ago and has been doing waaaaaay more beer drinking than training since then. And honestly, that’s okay with me. I like resting and relaxing for a few weeks. If you accept that sometimes you’ll surprise yourself with an unexpectedly great performance, you also have to accept that sometimes basic logic will prevail and you’ll race crappy. Because you’re woefully unprepared. Which brings me to item #2:

2. Marathon training is excellent for your long-term development. But specificity of training is, well, kind of important.

Quick, pop quiz, when was the last time I run under 5 minute mile pace for more than a minute at a time? I genuinely don’t know, but I’m going to look it up. And the verdict is.... the Rice 10k on March 23rd, 2012. Three and a half months. And that’s fine, in that stretch I ran a couple of 10k’s in the 32-33 minute range and a 2:27 marathon. I owned 5:30-5:40 pace. But 20 mile tempos do not a good 5k runner make. Two distances that are that far apart stress entirely different energy systems, and I am now wonderful empirical evidence of this fact.

3. Maybe it’s better to start the next training cycle feeling humble and hungry.

It seems stupid considering I got my butt kicked by a whopping 23 guys at Grandma’s Marathon, but with that many people ahead of you it doesn’t really hit home as much. And I achieved my time goal, which was always the main reason to seek out a cooler weather marathon rather than gambling with San Antonio’s awesomely fickle November temps. Now I don’t think I’m a super badass by any stretch, but maybe that 2:27 did get my head a little larger than it should be. Well now it’s back down to normal size, and I know that I’m going to have to pull out all the stops to keep moving that time down.

4. It is inspiring to see people doing something really, really well. Enthusiasm is awesome.

I’ve now done two races this year put on by IAAP’s Ceci Iniguez. Both have been almost comically well thought out - hand carved wooden statues for awards, themed shirts, costumed volunteers at water stops, complicated courses that somehow manage to be easy to follow, live music, personalized race bibs, and on and on and on. Today, there was even prize money for the winners of the race (pretty cool), paid with an oversized novelty check (beyond cool). I think, in a sense well outside of the narrow scope of running, that it’s just nice to see someone in their zone, excelling at something they obviously have a talent for. Even after my crappy race, I ended up having a GREAT time hanging out at the race, watching the Frida lookalike contest, and having more than a couple free Alamo beers. I have, over the years, been to too many horribly organized races to count, so seeing it done right makes me happy.

5. Yep, ran out of things. So let’s talk beer.

I’m going to start buying some Alamo beer when I go to the grocery store. The only time I ever have it is after races, and I always think, “hey, this is pretty good”, but I never buy any. While I admit I don’t know much about the economics of putting on a race, I assume that since I almost always see Alamo beer out at local races, they’re really going out of their way to be a part of these events. And the guys they have handing out the beer are always really cool when I talk to them. So it’s time to reward them. Thanks for the roughly 10,000 free beers you’ve given me over the last 5 years Alamo beer! I will now actually give you some revenue instead of just freeloading at races.

That's all I've got. Happy trails, SA, and if you're looking for a hot June 5k next year, this is a good one.

Room for Improvement

The post-marathon period has nearly come and gone. I’ve rested, relaxed, and gained some weight, and now I’m feeling ready to embark on yet another block of training.

Since I’ve had some spare time, I’ve been pondering my future in the great sport of distance running. That sounds a little overly dramatic. And I guess it is. For me, at least, hobbies are way more fun if I take them really, really seriously. Like too seriously. Consciously I may know that my times will never qualify me for a national team, or win a major race, but I get a ton of enjoyment out of training as if they someday will. Even if they won’t.

And overall my goal is just to continue improving. I had a really rough couple of years running-wise right out of college, but now that I’ve sorted everything out, the last two years have seen steady (if unspectacular at times) drops in my bests at most distances. I’m now fast enough to win most local races as long as no one studly shows up. It’s fun.

Look! I won a 5k in 16:37! YAY!

But as I said, the most fun I have is in treating my training like it’s obnoxiously important. So while I’m sure I could continue to knock out 15ish minute 5ks and high 2:20s marathons for a few more years, I feel a deep, compelling need to come up with an aggressive, borderline crazy scheme to reach “the next level”.

What does that mean? I don’t know. The fact of the matter is, no matter how much we might wish it weren’t so, every person has a limit to their potential. And I get incredibly annoyed when I hear someone talking about how they’re “training for the Olympic Trials” when they have yet to come within 10 minutes of the qualifying time. External goals are nice, and no, I would never bite someone’s head off for having a (borderline delusional) dream that they’re working towards, but the fact of the matter is that I sincerely doubt I could EVER run a 2:19 marathon. That’s 5:18 per mile. This year marks the first time in my life that I legitimately thought I could run a half marathon at that pace. And I have yet to actually do it. And even then, that puts me about as close to the Trials as Ryan Hall is to a sub 2 hour marathon. Which is to say, roughly a bajillion miles away.

This is me running a 32:14 10k.  But guess what? That's
only 2:16 marathon pace. Yikes!

So no, I will not declare my intention to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Trials Marathon. But, I do find myself wondering, if I wanted to continue dropping 2-3 minutes from my marathon PR each time out, what would I have to do? So I made a list.

1. Supplemental work. Yep, all that stuff I always intend to do each season but then totally forget about once I start running more. There are pictures of me at Grandma’s, and while I’m running pretty fast (5:30-5:40 pace), I’ve got limbs splaying out in all different directions, and I’m just generally conveying a sense of wild inefficiency. Like someone dropped a nice fuel efficient turbo diesel into an Amish horse drawn buggy. It looks like a wheel is going to fall off. Running is primarily governed by metabolic performance, but at some point, mechanical efficiency can limit your ability to run a certain time. Which brings me to my next point...

2. More speed. I am, by nature, slow as balls. That’s a technical term, but in layman’s terms it means that my 5k pace, for example, is frighteningly close to my max speed. In order to PR in the 5k, I now have to run around 71 seconds per 400. Right now, I could maybe do a single 400 in 60-61 seconds. In spikes. If I can regain some speed, then all slower paces should require less effort. If I’m going to eventually run a marathon at under 5:30 pace, that’s going to be a necessity.

This guy looks mighty efficient.  I wonder if he
can run under 60 for 400?

3. But not as necessary as... More mileage. Longer workouts. The same stuff I’ve been doing, but MORE. And FASTER. That may seem antithetical to #2, but as a great coach once said, the key in training is always to add, never to replace. At the end of the day, my endurance is still nothing to write home about. I would likely consistently beat someone like Desiree Davila in a 5k or a 10k, but thus far she would annihilate me in a marathon. No reason that should be the case, other than me not working hard enough yet. So rather than sticking more to my comfort zone of 110-115 miles per week, I’ll make a conscious effort to maintain mileage in the 120-130 range for at least 4-5 weeks of the fall. This may be item #3, but it’s the most important one. I have to keep up the 14-16 mile long workouts, and maybe extend them farther. Anything else I do, without also doing this, would be completely pointless.

Without enough fitness, this is what 5:50 pace
looks like at mile 24.   Ouch.

So here we go. Official training kicks off on Sunday. Time to get serious. Obnoxiously serious.