308TSS on 4.5hrs
Opted for some recovery, post marathon, but swam for the first time in forever. Also convinced myself that cycling is cross-training.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
EndurRun stage 7, Marathon, plus week 47 summary
548TSS on 9.1 hours
A big week, 90+km.
The marathon today was going to be slow, intentionally and deliberately slow. Mission accomplished! I finished in 3:57:21, my slowest marathon ever. However, considering that my longest two training runs were 28 and 25km and done two weeks and one week ago, this was a good volume bump.
Started out very slow at the back of the small group, for the first 4km, I ran at their pace, skipped my first walk break, then took the second, and fell to the rear a little. They were running about 5:45, which was too slow for my walk/run strategy of 5:30 for 10min, walk 1 min. When my run resumed, I passed up through them and was off the front (of that group, the field had already stretched out quite a bit). They almost caught up on the next walk, but after that, I never saw them again.
The race was two laps of a 21.1km course, the first lap was very relaxed, the sun wasn't up fully, and there was lots of shade, I was feeling fresh. I thought "don't screw up what's already working", so I didn't increase my pace at all. After 25km or so, I was having problems keeping my HR in zone 2 where it had been in the first part of the race, often climbing to high 3 or low 4. There were a lot of rolling hills, so that was part of it, it was also getting hot, and cardiac drift. I switched from pace to just keeping my HR in zone 3 until the last 5km, when I just started to run based on feel.
Sean cheered me on at the end, convincing me to sprint the last 200m. Hope I don't look too goofy in the pics.
I think Monday is going to be a rest day.
A big week, 90+km.
The marathon today was going to be slow, intentionally and deliberately slow. Mission accomplished! I finished in 3:57:21, my slowest marathon ever. However, considering that my longest two training runs were 28 and 25km and done two weeks and one week ago, this was a good volume bump.
Started out very slow at the back of the small group, for the first 4km, I ran at their pace, skipped my first walk break, then took the second, and fell to the rear a little. They were running about 5:45, which was too slow for my walk/run strategy of 5:30 for 10min, walk 1 min. When my run resumed, I passed up through them and was off the front (of that group, the field had already stretched out quite a bit). They almost caught up on the next walk, but after that, I never saw them again.
The race was two laps of a 21.1km course, the first lap was very relaxed, the sun wasn't up fully, and there was lots of shade, I was feeling fresh. I thought "don't screw up what's already working", so I didn't increase my pace at all. After 25km or so, I was having problems keeping my HR in zone 2 where it had been in the first part of the race, often climbing to high 3 or low 4. There were a lot of rolling hills, so that was part of it, it was also getting hot, and cardiac drift. I switched from pace to just keeping my HR in zone 3 until the last 5km, when I just started to run based on feel.
Sean cheered me on at the end, convincing me to sprint the last 200m. Hope I don't look too goofy in the pics.
I think Monday is going to be a rest day.
EndurRun Stage 6 - 10k TT
This went pretty well. I think I left a fait amount in the tank, was aiming for at 45 even, ended up 43.something. Drilled the last couple kms. Minimal pain from the climbing before. Didn't take any water or gatorade, did a mouth rinse with Gatorade at the last aid station though. Seemed to help, or at least didn't hurt.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Stage 5 Summary, EndurRun
Just a mini-update for this morning's race: 25.something km, 720m of vertical -> ran 3:04:27 (7:07 min/km)
Started the race thinking, "hmm, well, I did 2:25 for 30km at Around the Bay, and this is pretty hilly, but shorter, so maybe 2:45-ish is reasonable?" Had I been predicting my lap 4 (of 5) split, that would have been accurate.
Lap 1: 31:51 (13:13 + 18:38)
Lap 2: 33:27 (13:31 + 19:56)
Lap 3: 36:48 (14:42 + 22:06)
Lap 4: 39:03 (15:57 + 23:06)
Lap 5: 43:15 (17:17 + 25:58)
Running some numbers, it looks like I was 5-10% slower each lap than the previous, the last being the worst. I heard more than one person say "man, I thought I had paced this properly." Last lap was 35% slower than the first.
Better thought would be "your slow is not slow enough". I will need to remember this at the start on Sunday.
Post-recovery food was awesome. Every race needs a dedicated smoothie table.
Started the race thinking, "hmm, well, I did 2:25 for 30km at Around the Bay, and this is pretty hilly, but shorter, so maybe 2:45-ish is reasonable?" Had I been predicting my lap 4 (of 5) split, that would have been accurate.
Lap 1: 31:51 (13:13 + 18:38)
Lap 2: 33:27 (13:31 + 19:56)
Lap 3: 36:48 (14:42 + 22:06)
Lap 4: 39:03 (15:57 + 23:06)
Lap 5: 43:15 (17:17 + 25:58)
Running some numbers, it looks like I was 5-10% slower each lap than the previous, the last being the worst. I heard more than one person say "man, I thought I had paced this properly." Last lap was 35% slower than the first.
Better thought would be "your slow is not slow enough". I will need to remember this at the start on Sunday.
Post-recovery food was awesome. Every race needs a dedicated smoothie table.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Week 46 Summary
420TSS on 6.25 hours. An hour of extra time, but higher intensity in general.
So EndurRun is next week, 25k + 10k + 42.2k as I run stages 5, 6, 7.
Plans:
The goal/mantra this weekend is "Finish Strong", so the plans should fall out of that.
Stage 5 is very hilly (a-ski-slope hilly), so I expect to do a significant amount of walking up the hills in the first loop, run down as fast a caution will allow, then see if I can figure out a plan for running a little more aggressively on the second lap.
Stage 6 is the point-to-point TT, which I ran last year. It is very flat, I'm going to seed myself at a conservative 45 minutes, mainly to avoid what happened last year when I ran 16 seconds of my predicted time (40 minutes), but was in no-man's land the most of the race, and was passed by the guy behind me. At 4:30 min/km, I can keep a good number of competitors around me, and aim to work up through the field (I'm better at chasing than being chased).
Stage 7 is going to be a put-up or shut-up moment. I've thought for the last several years that if I pace myself properly, I can keep going as long as I keep dumping fuel into my body. This marathon will be the test of that belief. I'm aiming for ~4 hours, which means running at 5:30-5:45 min/km pace with 1min quick walk every 10 minutes. My 28km run went well using a gel every 45 minutes, and a sip of sports drink every walk break. I may have to carry a water bottle, not sure what the aid station situation is.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Week 43, 44, 45 Summary
Back from the UK! Largely very casual running where ever time/opportunity allowed. Got a fun speed session in with the Bellahouston Harriers. Good to know that 6 x 800 hurts just as much in Scotland as it does here.
Picked up the distance training more or less where I left off, getting back into a solid series of BP:E runs (now at 7.5k), and a 28k long run on Saturday. Only minor aches and pains from that, so I think the 10:1 walk/run and aiming for Z2 heart rate worked. Took three gels in a flask, plus a fairly strong sports drink bottle (maybe a bit too strong), drank a sip every 10 minutes, gels at 45/1:30/2:15, I think that'll work for the Endurrun marathon.
Picked up the distance training more or less where I left off, getting back into a solid series of BP:E runs (now at 7.5k), and a 28k long run on Saturday. Only minor aches and pains from that, so I think the 10:1 walk/run and aiming for Z2 heart rate worked. Took three gels in a flask, plus a fairly strong sports drink bottle (maybe a bit too strong), drank a sip every 10 minutes, gels at 45/1:30/2:15, I think that'll work for the Endurrun marathon.
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