So, I know we are 3+ weeks out, and the taper-madness includes self-doubts, but I am wondering if I ran enough, did enough LR, etc. So, I retrieved my data from the Pig training in 2008, and here is what I came up with.
1) Pig training was longer training cycle, so included 18 weeks, instead of 14, and more longer runs. Also, I think I did more speedwork in 2008.
2) Since I did a 12 week plan, and last two weeks will be a taper, I compared the 'meat' of the programs: the 10 weeks before the taper. Interestingly enough, the average mpw in 2008 was 40.1 and 2011 is 44 mpw. (in 2008 I did have an off week of just 26 miles while out West skiing)
So, then I compared LR averages over the same period and found them both to be 16 miles average LR distance. So, I am feeling a bit better about my preparation. I also have the Master's Swim program workouts which will end up being about 5 weeks of the training program, so that is good speedwork as well.
This week I am feeling pretty beat up: the renovation project is going well, but it is REALLY old having people in the house from 7:30-4:00 M-Friday. I also swam again this week (3000 yards) and that 2 hours of sleep always hits me on Wednesdays.
Onward and upward!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
4 weeks to go....
And training has been great. Here is what the past 3 weeks looked like:
9/19-9-25
M: 11M: 1M recovery, 6M progression (9:27) 4M@MP 8:38
T: recovery 4.9 M @ 10:12
W: LR: 15M in Mt. Lebanon @ 9:34
F: MLR: 11M @ 9:30
S: recovery 5.25 M # 10:17
mpw: 48
9/26-10/2 (Vegas M-T)
M: 10M w/3M @ MP MP@ 8:40, 7M @ 9:35
T: 7M easy @ 9:35
Th: LR: 18M North Park @ 9:48
F: 6M easy @ 9:30
S: 4M recovery 2 10:05
mpw: 45
10/3- 10/9
M: 9M w/6M @ tempo @ 8:04
T: recovery 5M @ 10:12
W: 11M w/2M @ MP @ 8:35, other 9 @ 9:30
F: LR: 20 miles downtown with J- awesome run! @ 9:43
S: recovery 5.1 M @ 10:12
mpw: 50.1
Everything is humming along nicely.
9/19-9-25
M: 11M: 1M recovery, 6M progression (9:27) 4M@MP 8:38
T: recovery 4.9 M @ 10:12
W: LR: 15M in Mt. Lebanon @ 9:34
F: MLR: 11M @ 9:30
S: recovery 5.25 M # 10:17
mpw: 48
9/26-10/2 (Vegas M-T)
M: 10M w/3M @ MP MP@ 8:40, 7M @ 9:35
T: 7M easy @ 9:35
Th: LR: 18M North Park @ 9:48
F: 6M easy @ 9:30
S: 4M recovery 2 10:05
mpw: 45
10/3- 10/9
M: 9M w/6M @ tempo @ 8:04
T: recovery 5M @ 10:12
W: 11M w/2M @ MP @ 8:35, other 9 @ 9:30
F: LR: 20 miles downtown with J- awesome run! @ 9:43
S: recovery 5.1 M @ 10:12
mpw: 50.1
Everything is humming along nicely.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Bib Numbers and Better Long Run
Bib Numbers and Start Times came out this week- making the marathon seem more like a reality. I am #19259, which puts me in Wave 1, Corral 19, Green. What this means is that J and I will start at different times, and I am on the bottom of the Varrazanos Bridge.
The separate start times gave me much pause, as although J and I were going for slightly different times (5 minutes), I had envisioned us starting together. After some thought and advice, I decided to take my earlier start time. It is a bit selfish of me, as I will have a shorter wait time on Staten Island, and 9,000 fewer runners in front of me, but I think it gives both of us the best chance to truly run our own races without worrying about the other person. I don't want to hold her back, and I also know that running the first 8 or so miles even 5-10 seconds faster than MP can hurt in the last miles.
Other than that, being in Green means a lower level start, and less-scenic route the first 4 or so miles, but oh well. That is the trade-off.
Training went much better this week. I forgot to add last week that I started back to swimming, only 1 day a week, and not pushing my paces. I made a promise to myself to keep it between 2500-3000 yards, and am going to try and stay around 2700-2800 for a workout.
Here are the runs for the week:
M: 11M @ 9:29 pace on the trail. Nice day, nice run.
T: swam 2700 yards. Recovery with TK. 5M @ 9:58 pace
W: was a cluster. Had to sit through PTA meeting, so workout was broke up. 2M @ 9:30, 5M tempo at 7:57 on TM, then at 8 pm that night, 2M @ 9:45. got it done!
F: MUCH BETTER LONG RUN-- kept pace 9:35 or so, then let J go the last 3 miles. My mile 17 was 8:20. 18M, 9:33 ave. pace. got the confidence back a bit
S: 5M recovery on trail 10:10 pace
48 miles for the week on 5 days. Next week is cut-back in terms of LR, but not mileage.
The separate start times gave me much pause, as although J and I were going for slightly different times (5 minutes), I had envisioned us starting together. After some thought and advice, I decided to take my earlier start time. It is a bit selfish of me, as I will have a shorter wait time on Staten Island, and 9,000 fewer runners in front of me, but I think it gives both of us the best chance to truly run our own races without worrying about the other person. I don't want to hold her back, and I also know that running the first 8 or so miles even 5-10 seconds faster than MP can hurt in the last miles.
Other than that, being in Green means a lower level start, and less-scenic route the first 4 or so miles, but oh well. That is the trade-off.
Training went much better this week. I forgot to add last week that I started back to swimming, only 1 day a week, and not pushing my paces. I made a promise to myself to keep it between 2500-3000 yards, and am going to try and stay around 2700-2800 for a workout.
Here are the runs for the week:
M: 11M @ 9:29 pace on the trail. Nice day, nice run.
T: swam 2700 yards. Recovery with TK. 5M @ 9:58 pace
W: was a cluster. Had to sit through PTA meeting, so workout was broke up. 2M @ 9:30, 5M tempo at 7:57 on TM, then at 8 pm that night, 2M @ 9:45. got it done!
F: MUCH BETTER LONG RUN-- kept pace 9:35 or so, then let J go the last 3 miles. My mile 17 was 8:20. 18M, 9:33 ave. pace. got the confidence back a bit
S: 5M recovery on trail 10:10 pace
48 miles for the week on 5 days. Next week is cut-back in terms of LR, but not mileage.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Stupid Is as Stupid Does
Ok- so I learned a good lesson this week, and possibly avoided a critical training error. I have been so afraid for so many years to push my paces and training, and then this time around things have been going so well that I made a few bad decisions this week. I call it the 'superman dilemma'. Everything was coasting along so well- I was adding on a few miles each week, hitting all my paces easily and feeling great. Then, this week I added in swimming on Tuesday (why not? I apparently am awesome), and a 75 minute Hot Yoga class (why not? I apparently am invincible). WRONG.
I hit the wall at mile 14 of our 17-mile LR on Friday in a way that I have not done in YEARS. Repeat. YEARS. Not even in my craptastic marathons: (NYC, 2006 and Boston, 2009) did this happen-- those were knee-related issues. J and I were cruising along at a 9:20 or so pace for the first 14 miles, then I just could not keep the pace. The last 3 miles were between 9:45 and 10:30 pace or so. Felt like crap in so many ways. I let J go on ahead and she finished the last 3 miles almost 2 minutes before me. UGH.
Immediately I needed to place the blame on something specific I did that week; and the hot yoga was my first choice. Having not been in months, and the combination of sweat, stretching beyond the normal and not re-hydrating was the culprit (crossing fingers). I asked on RWOL and was given many good reasons why that happened. STUPID.
I also had to give myself a little come-to-pacing speech. What are MY goals for this race? I can't let myself get caught up in J's BQ attempt. It is not easy to swallow one's pride to realize that while I have been running for over 20 years, that she is able to train at faster paces, and most likely would smoke me in head-to-head competition. Helping her reach her goals has been great for me on a personal level, and our friendship has grown over the past year or so that we've been running together. It has all in all been a great experience.
That being said, what are MY goals for this training cycle and race? Training has been going great (last week's LR aside), so I think I started to get ahead of myself and was thinking 3:45 (8:35 pace). After last week, I am going to go for a more conservative 3:50 goal. 8:45 pace, and that is a big 10 seconds for me. While I realize this is a full minute slower than my 1/2 marathon time from last spring, I also am only peaking at 50 mpw, and average will probably be closer to 42-45 mpw. I do NOT want to feel like crap at the end of the race, and am so happy to be running strong again. Gotta keep building on that.
The recovery run on Saturday actually made my legs feel much better. Here is the week:
M: 10M @ 9:24 on TM (rained all day)
T: 4M @ 10:09, swam 2850 yards
w: 11M w/5 tempo (7:52) other miles easy
T: Hot yoga-- bad choice
F: 17M @ 9:25
S: 5M @ 10:21 (with Danny on the trail and really recovering from Friday)
47 miles for the week- most of them good.
I hit the wall at mile 14 of our 17-mile LR on Friday in a way that I have not done in YEARS. Repeat. YEARS. Not even in my craptastic marathons: (NYC, 2006 and Boston, 2009) did this happen-- those were knee-related issues. J and I were cruising along at a 9:20 or so pace for the first 14 miles, then I just could not keep the pace. The last 3 miles were between 9:45 and 10:30 pace or so. Felt like crap in so many ways. I let J go on ahead and she finished the last 3 miles almost 2 minutes before me. UGH.
Immediately I needed to place the blame on something specific I did that week; and the hot yoga was my first choice. Having not been in months, and the combination of sweat, stretching beyond the normal and not re-hydrating was the culprit (crossing fingers). I asked on RWOL and was given many good reasons why that happened. STUPID.
I also had to give myself a little come-to-pacing speech. What are MY goals for this race? I can't let myself get caught up in J's BQ attempt. It is not easy to swallow one's pride to realize that while I have been running for over 20 years, that she is able to train at faster paces, and most likely would smoke me in head-to-head competition. Helping her reach her goals has been great for me on a personal level, and our friendship has grown over the past year or so that we've been running together. It has all in all been a great experience.
That being said, what are MY goals for this training cycle and race? Training has been going great (last week's LR aside), so I think I started to get ahead of myself and was thinking 3:45 (8:35 pace). After last week, I am going to go for a more conservative 3:50 goal. 8:45 pace, and that is a big 10 seconds for me. While I realize this is a full minute slower than my 1/2 marathon time from last spring, I also am only peaking at 50 mpw, and average will probably be closer to 42-45 mpw. I do NOT want to feel like crap at the end of the race, and am so happy to be running strong again. Gotta keep building on that.
The recovery run on Saturday actually made my legs feel much better. Here is the week:
M: 10M @ 9:24 on TM (rained all day)
T: 4M @ 10:09, swam 2850 yards
w: 11M w/5 tempo (7:52) other miles easy
T: Hot yoga-- bad choice
F: 17M @ 9:25
S: 5M @ 10:21 (with Danny on the trail and really recovering from Friday)
47 miles for the week- most of them good.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
NYC training: week 3
So, not only was this week 3 for NYC marathon training- it was also the first week of school for the boys. Here they are at the bus stop about to set off for 4th and 5th grade. Both seem really happy with their teachers and classmates. DS#1 is at new school; Middle School, and seems very happy with the new opportunities he is going to have this year.
Training went well this week, even with a little physical hiccup. Last Sunday when I was at the rink watching DS#2 practice, one of the siblings of a skater was playing with these huge buckets they use to help kids learn how to skate. They were piled on top of each other- about 3 feet high, and they came toppling down, and cut my ankle. I did not see them falling, so was not able to prepare or get out of the way. I have a big cut on my ankle, but (thankfully) that is all. It has been a bit of discomfort this week, but no pain.
Runs this week:
Monday- a great day to run- it was cooler. On the schedule was 10M, but I ended up with
1M recovery, 7M @ 9:10 and then 3M somewhere between MP and tempo: 8:06.
Tuesday: 4M recovery w/K on the trail: 9:52 pace
Wednesday: 7M hilly in my 'hood. 1stM @ 9:50, then 6M @ 9:09
Friday: 16M on Peters Trail w/J @ 9:23. Last few miles were definitely too fast, but an ok average pace. It was really hot/humid and we were both shot by the end.
Saturday: 5M recovery on TM @ 10:02
43 miles for the week.
All is good.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Pfitz for NYC: Weeks 1 and 2
I have been remiss in recording racing and training. So, rather than wait until I have time to catch up on everything, I am just going to jump in to last week's training.
Am running NYC Marathon on 11/6 with JB. I qualified with a Half-Marathon time from the spring (1:41:56), and she is running for a charity that helps provide running opportunities for kids in the NYC area.
So, I took my time building up my mileage since the "Two half marathons in 3 weekends" that was my spring. Mileage headed into the 'training' was: 29, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 25 (Colorado). Got up to 5x a week on nice, easy running.
Decided to do Pfitz 12/55 for a few reasons. 1) Pftiz gets it done- no doubt about that. 2) 12 weeks is much better mentally and with the school schedule, and 3) that is what worked for JB timing-wise also.
Week 1: 8, 4, 8, 5, 13. Was only going to run 4 days, but was in Deep Creek, so added an extra day with a friend.
Week 2: 10, 7 (3 @ MP), 6, 15.
The 15 was solo, started at 3 pm on the Peters Trail. Very hot and humid, but got it done. Ave. pace was 9:32, so I was happy with that.
This week we take it back up to 5x a week. Today I had an easy 10 on the books, but felt great, so ended up doing 11, with last 3M: 8:27, 8:13 and 7:40, all on the slight downhill, but felt good.
Boys started school today-- I am hoping they both get off to good starts.
Am running NYC Marathon on 11/6 with JB. I qualified with a Half-Marathon time from the spring (1:41:56), and she is running for a charity that helps provide running opportunities for kids in the NYC area.
So, I took my time building up my mileage since the "Two half marathons in 3 weekends" that was my spring. Mileage headed into the 'training' was: 29, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 25 (Colorado). Got up to 5x a week on nice, easy running.
Decided to do Pfitz 12/55 for a few reasons. 1) Pftiz gets it done- no doubt about that. 2) 12 weeks is much better mentally and with the school schedule, and 3) that is what worked for JB timing-wise also.
Week 1: 8, 4, 8, 5, 13. Was only going to run 4 days, but was in Deep Creek, so added an extra day with a friend.
Week 2: 10, 7 (3 @ MP), 6, 15.
The 15 was solo, started at 3 pm on the Peters Trail. Very hot and humid, but got it done. Ave. pace was 9:32, so I was happy with that.
This week we take it back up to 5x a week. Today I had an easy 10 on the books, but felt great, so ended up doing 11, with last 3M: 8:27, 8:13 and 7:40, all on the slight downhill, but felt good.
Boys started school today-- I am hoping they both get off to good starts.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Buffalo Creek Half Marathon
The Buffalo Creek Half Marathon is a great race: I have run it 4 out of the 5 years it has been held- the only reason I didn't run last year was b/c I was out of town. It is a point-to-point on a flat soft trail near (wait for it) Buffalo Creek. The weather has always been great, and this year was no exception. My training was going well, but I didn't do much speedwork, so my goal was 1:42 which is a 7:47 pace
I drove up to the start with my good friend J, and another gal who I have run with a bit. Car ride went well, and we got to the start with time to spare. Ended up bagging the porta-potty line for the bushes, but heck- we're all runners, right? It was low 40s to start, so I wore shorts, my compression socks, a short sleeved shirt, throw away arm warmers (socks) and throw away shirt.
The first mile is downhill, so I was ready for that;
1-7:15
2-7:50
By the end of the second mile we are on the trail, and I was trying to get into a good pace. I wore my watch, but not my Garmin. I was pacing off a woman ahead of me, but realized by the end of mile 4 I needed to pass her.
3-7:42
4-7:50
5-7:36
I ditched my LS shirt around mile 3, and was taking water at the water stops. I did not start with my own bottle of water, which I will do next time. Miles were ticking off nicely, at this point.
6-7:46
7-7:40
After mile 7 I slowed down a bit on the next mile, but a little too much:
8- 7:58
9-7:43
10-7:53
Sometime during the 10th mile I passed another woman, and only saw men ahead of me for the rest of the race. I had been running with a guy who was also shooting for a 1:42 for a couple of miles, but he fell back around mile 11.
Miles 11 and 12 were mis-marked, which was really annoying. I actually called out at one point to the runner ahead of me b/c it seemed very unlikely that the 4 runners that were all running around the same pace had fallen off. I had mile 11 at 8:45. My friend with her Garmin told me it was actually 1.3 miles
11/12 16:15 Mile 12 has the only hill, but it wasn't too bad this year.
13.1 8:32
1:42:09 2nd AG, PW on this course.
I am content with this time. I did slow down the last few miles, which was not due to endurance (I think) b/c I ran a lot of long runs over 10 miles for this race. I think it was due to lack of speedwork, and knowing what my goal HMP should feel like.
Even though it was a PW for this course, I am happy to be running injury-free again, and am pleased with the time.
Next up: winter running with Kristin and maybe a 10k. Who knows?
I drove up to the start with my good friend J, and another gal who I have run with a bit. Car ride went well, and we got to the start with time to spare. Ended up bagging the porta-potty line for the bushes, but heck- we're all runners, right? It was low 40s to start, so I wore shorts, my compression socks, a short sleeved shirt, throw away arm warmers (socks) and throw away shirt.
The first mile is downhill, so I was ready for that;
1-7:15
2-7:50
By the end of the second mile we are on the trail, and I was trying to get into a good pace. I wore my watch, but not my Garmin. I was pacing off a woman ahead of me, but realized by the end of mile 4 I needed to pass her.
3-7:42
4-7:50
5-7:36
I ditched my LS shirt around mile 3, and was taking water at the water stops. I did not start with my own bottle of water, which I will do next time. Miles were ticking off nicely, at this point.
6-7:46
7-7:40
After mile 7 I slowed down a bit on the next mile, but a little too much:
8- 7:58
9-7:43
10-7:53
Sometime during the 10th mile I passed another woman, and only saw men ahead of me for the rest of the race. I had been running with a guy who was also shooting for a 1:42 for a couple of miles, but he fell back around mile 11.
Miles 11 and 12 were mis-marked, which was really annoying. I actually called out at one point to the runner ahead of me b/c it seemed very unlikely that the 4 runners that were all running around the same pace had fallen off. I had mile 11 at 8:45. My friend with her Garmin told me it was actually 1.3 miles
11/12 16:15 Mile 12 has the only hill, but it wasn't too bad this year.
13.1 8:32
1:42:09 2nd AG, PW on this course.
I am content with this time. I did slow down the last few miles, which was not due to endurance (I think) b/c I ran a lot of long runs over 10 miles for this race. I think it was due to lack of speedwork, and knowing what my goal HMP should feel like.
Even though it was a PW for this course, I am happy to be running injury-free again, and am pleased with the time.
Next up: winter running with Kristin and maybe a 10k. Who knows?
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