Marathon Trainers - Week of September 6

Runninlaw · Sep 13, 2010

Morning everyone! <img alt="" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/wave.gif" style="width:25px;height:15px;" title="">
 
Tim is up this weekend! Good luck!!
 
Bhearn had an awesome marathon last weekend - hopefully he'll fill us in on the details! But in the meantime, congrats Bob!
 
I got to meet up with zrun and his DS this weekend - a great treat!
 
The careful observer of our lineup will notice an omission - I am out for Chicago. Officially. As you all know, my training has been rocky. It was improving and I was really hoping for a good race (or at least decent) to take me into Chicago with a decent mind set. Well, that did not happen. I had a horrible race. And I just can't bring myself to undertake a horrible marathon. So, I'm out. Planning on resting, racing short races, and just finding my love for running again. That said, someone should probably take over management of this list. I'll still check in because I want to see how all of your races go, but it seems weird for me to manage it if I am not actually marathon training!

Cheers!
 
June 5 Another Dam 50K
<blockquote>
Mailbox Head: Finish strong and healthy / 5:19:55 <a href="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67289" target="_blank">Race Report</a>
</blockquote>
 
June 12 R.U.T.S [Run Under The Stars]
<blockquote>
Tim1: 50 miles (10 hour endurance run) /
</blockquote>
34 miles
 
Lake Merritt Half Day, Oakland, CA
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bhearn: goal: not sure yet, but would like to run at least 100K. 65 or 70 miles would be better! It's a flat, 3.1M loop. Could be warm, though /
</blockquote>
62.9 miles; 2nd o/a; 1st a/g <a href="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67614" target="_blank">long report</a>
 
June 19 Grandma's
<blockquote>
Trent: TBD
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June 20 Mohican 50 Miler
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Sportigirl: sub-10 hour /
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a win!!
 
July 4 Foot Traffic Flat marathon (Portland, OR)
<blockquote>
bhearn: 3:15
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July 25 San Francisco Marathon
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bhearn: 3:20
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September 18 USAF Marathon (Dayton, OH )
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Tim: 3:10
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October 3 Twin Cities
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BigGahoona: sub-4:37 (PR)
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October 10 Chicago
<blockquote>
zrun: 3:20
</blockquote>
 
Mohawk Hudson River Marathon
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JenSparks: TBA
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November 6 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
<blockquote>
swallen1: 3:45
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November 7 New York
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Hawk: TBA 
RunningINnyc: TBA
</blockquote>
 
November 13 Chicamauga
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Jebba: sub-3:45
 
December 5 CIM
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JohnnyB: 3:10
 
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December 19 Jacksonville
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Florida Boiler: sub-4:00
</blockquote>
</blockquote>

CMJHawk86 · Sep 13, 2010

Mindi, sorry to hear the news...I had to bail from a marathon back in '07 when my training just didn't come together. It was a painful admission but I knew in my heart it was the right decision. And hey, you know what, if you keep plugging along you just find yourself in top form for a winter one such as Disney or Miami.
 
Good luck Tim!
 
I'm actually racing as well this weekend -- Wilson Bridge Half Marathon on Sunday morning. It's a point-to-point race from Mt. Vernon in VA, through Alexandria, over the Potomac and into MD for the finish at National Harbor. While it's not the goal race for the season I'm still treating it with the proper respect -- tapering rather than training through it. And that means light weeks both last week and the week ahead.
 
The past week was a good one and I'm feeling much more confident than a week ago when a bad long run had me really down. It seems every training cycle features one bad LR, so hopefully that means it's out of my system and now I'm ready to kick butt.

Week in review:
 
M 9/6 - rest day, brisk 2.5 mile walk w/ DW
Tu 9/7 - 7.6 was supposed to be easy progression run, more like steady MP run. Oh well.
W 9/8 - intervals w/ club, 4 x 5:00, kicked them out at just over 6:00/mile pace
Th 9/9 - nice & easy 7
F 9/10 - brick, 12.3 miles cycling, 2.5 mile easy jog
Sa 9/11 - cycling 31 mile road ride
Su 9/12 - 5 mile recovery run, 30 min core workout
 
29.4 miles running, 43.3 miles cycling

runningINnyc · Sep 13, 2010

Helloooo all! Did not manage to check in last week mostly b/c I was down in the dumps about my running. Boooo! I really bottomed out in New Haven last Monday and started questioning all planned races for the fall. Ugh. So last week was about hitting the reset button, spending time in the yoga studio, talking to coach and just running. I ended up taking more days off than I normally do but felt great with the runs I did log. Undoubtedly the change in our weather helped tremendously! I'm going to spend the rest of September renewing and rebuilding and then decide what to do with the rest of the year. May end up still running NYC but as a training run and finding something in December or maybe January - we'll see.
 
Good luck Tim!!!! Don’t spend too much time hitting the expo and hitting it again and again and again <img alt="" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif" title="">
 
And more luck out to CMJHawk! What’s the course like, it sounds like it could be quite scenic.
 
M - 10 mi (almost 8 in the New Haven 20K before I dropped out)
T - 90 mins. yoga
W - 90 mins. yoga
T - 6 mi
F - 8.4 mi
S - 14 mi
S - rest
 
Total - 38.4 miles
 
Exciting stuff - I do still have Reach the Beach on tap for this weekend and CANNOT WAIT!!! I'll be part of our team's van 2 this year which means all new legs for me and a nice chunks of miles (about 27 mi total).

CMJHawk86 · Sep 13, 2010

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by runningINnyc <a href="/forum/thread/70091/marathon-trainers-week-of-september-6#post_1944806"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> 
And more luck out to CMJHawk! What’s the course like, it sounds like it could be quite scenic.
 
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Thanks! And great question. Here's a link to the <a href="http://www.wilsonbridgehalf.com/images/2010_wwbhm_map.pdf" target="_blank">course map</a>. It starts at Mt. Vernon which of course is the estate where George Washington lived. From there up the GW Parkway through scenic countryside with the Potomac on your right - there are some tough hills to go over though - and eventually into Old Town Alexandria before you cross the bridge into Maryland. This is the first time they've ever held a race over the new Wilson Bridge, which was opened a couple of years ago. The Potomac is pretty wide at that point and the initial climb up the bridge looks like a real bear. To be honest, thinking about NYC and all those bridges, that's a big reason I picked this race. Anyway, the last 2 miles look like a serious downhill gallop to the finish. I'm thinking this one may be tailor-made for a negative split strategy.
 
BTW, you had a pretty good "down" week there, still getting 38 miles.

runningINnyc · Sep 13, 2010

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">
Originally Posted by CMJHawk86 <a href="/forum/thread/70091/marathon-trainers-week-of-september-6#post_1944832"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a>
 
Thanks! And great question. Here's a link to the <a href="http://www.wilsonbridgehalf.com/images/2010_wwbhm_map.pdf" target="_blank">course map</a>. It starts at Mt. Vernon which of course is the estate where George Washington lived. From there up the GW Parkway through scenic countryside with the Potomac on your right - there are some tough hills to go over though - and eventually into Old Town Alexandria before you cross the bridge into Maryland. This is the first time they've ever held a race over the new Wilson Bridge, which was opened a couple of years ago. The Potomac is pretty wide at that point and the initial climb up the bridge looks like a real bear. To be honest, thinking about NYC and all those bridges, that's a big reason I picked this race. Anyway, the last 2 miles look like a serious downhill gallop to the finish. I'm thinking this one may be tailor-made for a negative split strategy.
 
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OOooo, sounds fun and fast! Have a great time!
 
I forgot to give out some extra hugs to Mindi... so sorry to hear about Chicago but I totally understand. Come on out here in December for a visit with DH and the kiddos and we'll jump into a race in Central Park

BigGahoona · Sep 13, 2010

(((((Mindi)))) 
 
Good Luck Timr!
 
yay Maria for renewed mojo!
 
I skipped a couple runs last week.

Mon - slacker
Tue - 10 mile
Wed - 5 easy
Thu - life got in the way

Fri - Rest
Sat - 10m pace
Sun - 20 mile LR
 
Total 45 miles
 
And now it's taper time! 20 days until race day. This week: 5-8-5-hills-rest-4-12. Can DO!

JohnnyB · Sep 13, 2010

Congrats to BHearn. Looking forward to the report. 
 
ALso looking forward to hearing the post-race report from Tim and Hawk this weekend.
 
Runninlaw and RunninginNYC, sorry about the bad training. I've had a bit of a setback myself this week. As you know last Saturday I hurt my left calf mid-race in a 12K. I didn't run all week as it felt tight and sore still. Saturday I went for an easy group run but 1.5 miles in, it started to tighten up on me and I eased off even more to about 9:20 pace. After 7 miles I was hobbling around the house most of the day...very discouraging. There was a bright spot to the weekend though as I got to drive the lead vehicle with the D&C reporter for the Rochester Marathon on Sunday. Perfect cool cloudy day for racing. Was nice to see my friends finishing. And fun to see the race leaders in my rear view. Winner finished in 2:29, a course record. 
 
I am going to see if I can run some easy miles tomorrow. To make matters worse I did some ice and then heat and elevation last night, but the heat pack was too hot and I actually blistered my skin....DUMB DUMB! Anyway, 7 miles in 8 days is not encouraging. Still a long way to December 5th but 3:10 is probably going to be a stretch. I may scratch if things don't improve this week. I have not made my flight arrangements yet so not much to lose but the entry fee. We'll see how it goes. Going to pick up some calf sleeves and keep icing and see what happens.

Runninlaw · Sep 14, 2010

Oh no, Johnny! I hope that calf heals up quickly!
 
Yay for taper time BigG!
 
Nice mileage Maria!
 
Good luck Hawk!! Sounds like a great race!

zrun · Sep 15, 2010

Hey all, just one more 20 miler to go for me, and as things turn out I'll be doing it before work friday morning! I had a great week, with meeting up with runninlaw being the highlight, of course <img alt="

" class="bbcode_smiley" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies//smile.gif" title="

">
 
Running-wise, it was an okay week, I caught a mild cold Tuesday afternoon and just ran through:
 
M - 0.75 miles w/ my 8-year old. OK, it was was a local mile race that I'm guessing we walked about 1/4 of.
T - 9 miles mostly easy with a few random faster miles thrown in
W - 8 miles easy
T - 13 miles easy - medium long run
F - 4.1 miles very easy
S - 16 miles - had to switch with Sunday
S - 4 miles easy - plus lots of walking at PGA golf tournament
 
Total - 54.9 miles
 
Congrats to bhearn, I can't even keep track anymore, what did he do last weekend? Nice runs all and good luck Tim in Dayton this weekend and Hawk at his half!

Timr1 · Sep 15, 2010

congrats to Bhearn!
 
Johnny - so sorry to hear that. You might want to get it checked out. Wade has something similar and he was diagnosed with a torn achilles. He was off of it for about a month to get it to heal. But the good news is that he just ran 3:12 at Tupelo two weeks ago. So, you can come back from it. 
 
Good luck to Hawk and Maria on your races.
 
RIL - sorry to hear about it, but I know what it's like to struggle with training. And slogging through a race when you're under trained or not confident is no fun at all. 
 
I'm having the typical crummy taperific runs. We'll see what that means. I think I'll either be presently surprised at the race or it will be a death march struggle. I'm not very confident in my training. I did a pretty good job of logging the miles, but I did pretty much nothing in the way of speedwork and tempo (LT) work. It was all I could do to slogg through the miles in the heat that we had this summer. However, this is the best summer of training that I've ever had. So I hope that I've set myself up for a solid fall season. I just don't know if I have a sub 3:15 in me right now. I may have it in 3 more weeks. If not, I'm waiting until the 2nd week of December to go for it again. Along the way I hope to set new PRs at the 5K, 10K, and HM distance. We'll see.
 
Thanks everyone for your support.

bhearn · Sep 15, 2010

Wow, I don't show up for a while, and look what happens. I haven't been around much because, well, I'm not really training for anything, and, I'll be honest, I just can't get used to the new look & feel -- it pushes me away. Maybe I'd get used to it if I were here more, but it's a chicken & egg thing.
 
First, Mindi, really sorry to hear you are out for Chicago. <img alt=":-(" class="bbcode_smiley" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies//sad.gif" title=":-("> If you've made the decision, then I guess that's that, but really you shouldn't let one bad race get you down. Focusing on short races sounds like torture to me! Marathons are so much easier.
 
 
Johnny, sorry to hear about your calf, but as you say, Dec. 5th is still a ways off. And CIM is a very fast course (their inexplicable switch to a carb-free "sports drink" on the course notwithstanding!). 
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
About my "awesome marathon" -- well gee. I ran another 3:19, at Skagit Flats in WA. And it was a perfectly flat course (there was a sign at about mile two, "last hill", which evidently was a 3-foot rise), perfect temps, just a bit wet & windy. But not bad at all, much better than the heat that is usual at this race. I had a comped entry from pacing it two years ago, which was nice. Also nice was that when I showed up without a hat, the RD offered me the hat off his head for the race! 
 
Really the only thing awesome about my performance is that I was coming back from a tender Achilles, not sure how it would hold out, and it wasn't a problem. Given the conditions, I did have to work a bit harder than I am accustomed to to run a 3:20. But then I'd gone 7 weeks between marathons, for the first time in a couple of years, and I'd also had low miles due to the Achilles, so I'll definitely take it. I've gotten to where running 3:20 is really wired into my brain now. Always, it's 7:40 pace first half, 7:35 second half, push it a bit the last couple of miles if I have anything left, generally finish a minute or two under. Used to be it meant something, because it was my BQ time, and was harder than easy training pace. But for 2011 my BQ time is 3:30, which is about easy training pace. I need a new metric for non-goal races.
 
I posted on Facebook, somewhat jokingly, that I was first in M40-44 -- but the AG was M40-49, in which I was 4th! I just thought it was funny, inasmuch as I'm moving into the 45-40 AG next month, and I'd been assuming it would be an easier group. Well, not this time.
 
Other news for me is that after a year in California, we're back in Vancouver. The movers arrived Saturday, with our cars, just in time for me to drive down Sunday AM for the marathon. It's great to be running on my home trails again, except for the owl attacks. I'm hoping to start ramping my mileage back up, and potentially pick another goal race. Training hurts, but I don't like getting out of shape! Also 2010 will be my first year without any PRs (unless you count new distances!), which is pretty motivating.

Runninlaw · Sep 15, 2010

Haha. Bob - I can't help but think a 3:19 is pretty awesome when you can seemingly toss them out at will (especially after being injured). 
 
I am not dropping Chicago because of one bad performance. I really am because I haven't had a good race in a year. I think I need to take some time to regroup and recharge. I don't mind (well, I do mind, but I can live with) a crap half marathon. But I don't want to go to Chicago and have a long death march because I am not in shape. And I don't think I can mentally decide just to run a 4 hour marathon. I am just not wired like that (right now anyway). Maybe if I had someone to pace I could. But I don't. So I am going to chill out, do shorter races, and rethink this 26.2 thing in the spring. I also would REALLY like to qualify for NYCM with a 1:36 half. That is super close to my PR, so I'd like to give it a shot.... Not sure when or where, but these are the things I am refocusing on.

Floridaboiler · Sep 17, 2010

Last week:
 
 Planned 
M - 6
T - 5
W - 8
Th - 6
F - 10
Total: 35
 
 
Actual:
M - 6.06
T - 8.12
W - 5.23
Th - 10.23
F - 5.23
 
 
Planned for this week:
M - 7.5
T - 10
W - 6 
Th - 6
F - 10
 
 
Sorry I haven't been around much. I was having serious problems with posting here due to lag issues. They changed something and now i am back!

zrun · Sep 17, 2010

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by bhearn <a href="/forum/thread/70091/marathon-trainers-week-of-september-6#post_1945282"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border-right:0px solid;border-top:0px solid;border-left:0px solid;border-bottom:0px solid;"></a> Really the only thing awesome about my performance is that I was coming back from a tender Achilles, not sure how it would hold out, and it wasn't a problem. Given the conditions, I did have to work a bit harder than I am accustomed to to run a 3:20. But then I'd gone 7 weeks between marathons, for the first time in a couple of years, and I'd also had low miles due to the Achilles, so I'll definitely take it. I've gotten to where running 3:20 is really wired into my brain now. Always, it's 7:40 pace first half, 7:35 second half, push it a bit the last couple of miles if I have anything left, generally finish a minute or two under. Used to be it meant something, because it was my BQ time, and was harder than easy training pace. But for 2011 my BQ time is 3:30, which is about easy training pace. I need a new metric for non-goal races.
</div>
</div>
 
Nice job, that pacing would be great for me for Chicago. I get the extra 10 minutes to 3:30 in 2013 if they don't change it by then. Good luck in Vancouver and picking a fall race, looking forward to see what you do. 

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by Runninlaw <a href="/forum/thread/70091/marathon-trainers-week-of-september-6#post_1945348"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border-right:0px solid;border-top:0px solid;border-left:0px solid;border-bottom:0px solid;"></a> I also would REALLY like to qualify for NYCM with a 1:36 half. That is super close to my PR, so I'd like to give it a shot.... Not sure when or where, but these are the things I am refocusing on.
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Good luck, I am a big fan of getting away from the midwest for a winter half marathon, having done Carlsbad in 2008 and Tallahassee this year, both fast courses and fun. 
Also, Good luck tomorrow Tim!

bhearn · Sep 19, 2010

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by Runninlaw <a href="/forum/thread/70091/marathon-trainers-week-of-september-6#post_1945348"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> I also would REALLY like to qualify for NYCM with a 1:36 half. That is super close to my PR, so I'd like to give it a shot.... Not sure when or where, but these are the things I am refocusing on.
</div>
</div>
 
Well that makes sense to me. Good luck!
 
And Tim, I hope it went well for you today!

Marathon Trainers - Week of September 6

Runninlaw

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CMJHawk86

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runningINnyc

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CMJHawk86

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runningINnyc

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BigGahoona

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Runninlaw

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zrun

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Timr1

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bhearn

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Runninlaw

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Floridaboiler

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