28- 12 miles w/Mont and Skip (7:15 pc)
29- AM 7 miles w/Mont (6:46 pc) / PM 4 miles treadmill (7:04 pc)
30- 8 miles solo (7:00 pc)
31- 9 miles w/track workout - 8x400 w/full rest (71,73,73,73,72,75,74,72)
1- 8 miles solo (6:30 pc)
2- 8 miles solo (6:45 pc)
3- AM 9 miles w/Mont (6:42 pc) / PM 5 miles w/Rusty (7:05 pc)
Total- 70 miles
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Baystate Marathon
My training over the last few months has been so much different than the last three years. Specifically, it lacked much of the mental stress that usually comes along with marathon training. I didn't worry about specific workouts or adhering to a strict training plan. I didn't chase huge mileage either. Rather, I committed to running 70-75 miles per week and doing some different, non-conventional workouts for this marathon. I decided that very long, hilly runs were going to be a staple of this "plan" and that I would try to run several of the miles close to marathon pace. I didn't get to the track that much, and I didn't do a whole lot of miles at tempo pace. It was about running more miles around 6:30ish pace and feeling comfortable.
Until Sunday I had never run a marathon and walked away from it feeling good about my performance. I have always blown up very badly and been reduced to a shuffle over the last 5-6 miles. All I wanted from Baystate was to finish the race hard, to improve my confidence over the marathon distance, and to set the stage for a good winter of training. My race strategy was to run the first half at about 6:40-6:45 pace (just under 90:00) and then run the back half between 6:30-6:40 pace with the last few miles under 6:30. I figured this would put me somewhere in the 2:54 range. I would have walked away with a new PR and full of confidence that the marathon no longer owned me.
When the race went out I immediately settled into a very comfortable rhythm and found myself in about 20th place. The first three miles that clicked off were 6:22, 6:24, 6:26 but I felt like I was jogging and I was completely comfortable. I made a quick decision, based on how I felt, to just let things happen and I kept the miles in the mid 6:20s for a long time after that. I had a couple miles that were slower, but those were because I didn't push the hills hard and I had to take a pit stop to get rid of some excess water.
Justin linked up with me at 13 miles and he helped me all the way home. When we reached 17 miles people started coming back to us in droves, and I knew that I was closing in on the top 10. Shortly before 20 miles Justin and I were joined by Chris and Heather Mahoney. Heather ran with us until about 23 miles and Chris went all the way in with us. My only problem in the race came around 22 miles when I took a drink and it immediately set my stomach into a rage. I then battled with an upset stomach for the final 4+ miles and it hurt my ability to push hard because I felt like I was going to be sick everytime I did.
Chris and Justin were such a big help and provided a tremendous amount of encouragement at that point in the race when I wanted to just slow down and jog it in. For that I am greatly appreciative. When I rounded the final corner and came into the finishing shute I saw that the clock was 2:49:30. I knew I was going under 2:50 and I was incredibly psyched. I ended up placing 9th overall and I won my age group! Each of my goals for this race were met and my motivation right now is at an all-time high. Enough of my rant, here are the splits:
6:22
6:24
6:26
6:33
6:25
6:31
6:48 (pit stop)
6:24
6:17
6:20 (10 in 64:33)
6:24
6:22
6:09 (half in 84:15)
6:36
6:23
6:29
6:25
6:20
6:26
6:15 (20 in 2:08:28)
6:25
6:38
6:51 (long???)
6:35
6:39
6:51
0.2 in 1:13
Time: 2:49:41!!!
Now, back to the roads!
Until Sunday I had never run a marathon and walked away from it feeling good about my performance. I have always blown up very badly and been reduced to a shuffle over the last 5-6 miles. All I wanted from Baystate was to finish the race hard, to improve my confidence over the marathon distance, and to set the stage for a good winter of training. My race strategy was to run the first half at about 6:40-6:45 pace (just under 90:00) and then run the back half between 6:30-6:40 pace with the last few miles under 6:30. I figured this would put me somewhere in the 2:54 range. I would have walked away with a new PR and full of confidence that the marathon no longer owned me.
When the race went out I immediately settled into a very comfortable rhythm and found myself in about 20th place. The first three miles that clicked off were 6:22, 6:24, 6:26 but I felt like I was jogging and I was completely comfortable. I made a quick decision, based on how I felt, to just let things happen and I kept the miles in the mid 6:20s for a long time after that. I had a couple miles that were slower, but those were because I didn't push the hills hard and I had to take a pit stop to get rid of some excess water.
Justin linked up with me at 13 miles and he helped me all the way home. When we reached 17 miles people started coming back to us in droves, and I knew that I was closing in on the top 10. Shortly before 20 miles Justin and I were joined by Chris and Heather Mahoney. Heather ran with us until about 23 miles and Chris went all the way in with us. My only problem in the race came around 22 miles when I took a drink and it immediately set my stomach into a rage. I then battled with an upset stomach for the final 4+ miles and it hurt my ability to push hard because I felt like I was going to be sick everytime I did.
Chris and Justin were such a big help and provided a tremendous amount of encouragement at that point in the race when I wanted to just slow down and jog it in. For that I am greatly appreciative. When I rounded the final corner and came into the finishing shute I saw that the clock was 2:49:30. I knew I was going under 2:50 and I was incredibly psyched. I ended up placing 9th overall and I won my age group! Each of my goals for this race were met and my motivation right now is at an all-time high. Enough of my rant, here are the splits:
6:22
6:24
6:26
6:33
6:25
6:31
6:48 (pit stop)
6:24
6:17
6:20 (10 in 64:33)
6:24
6:22
6:09 (half in 84:15)
6:36
6:23
6:29
6:25
6:20
6:26
6:15 (20 in 2:08:28)
6:25
6:38
6:51 (long???)
6:35
6:39
6:51
0.2 in 1:13
Time: 2:49:41!!!
Now, back to the roads!
Week of 10/21 - 10/27
21- 27 miles w/Baystate Marathon (2:49:41)
22- 0
23- 0
24- 4 miles solo (7:20 pc)
25- 5 miles solo (6:46 pc) Legs feel incredible!
26- 7 miles solo (6:46 pc)
27- 9 miles w/Mont (7:00 pc)
Total- 52 miles
22- 0
23- 0
24- 4 miles solo (7:20 pc)
25- 5 miles solo (6:46 pc) Legs feel incredible!
26- 7 miles solo (6:46 pc)
27- 9 miles w/Mont (7:00 pc)
Total- 52 miles
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
10/8/2012 Track Workout
Met up with Skip early for a track workout in Newport. We did a couple miles easy and then started to work. The plan was to do 10 x 800m at Yasso pace. I was hoping to be somewhere around 2:45-2:50. I did the first in 2:47 and the second in 2:49. From there I decided to switch to mile repeats. I still took the 400m jog recovery between the intervals: My splits were 5:44, 5:49, 5:46, 5:46. Pretty consistent, and I am happy with how it worked out. Overall, it was a good day. A couple more workouts left before Baystate.
Week of 10/7 - 10/13
7- 0 (tried running with Mont, but he has an ankle injury so we shut it down)
8- 10 miles w/track workout in Newport with Skip
9- 8 miles solo on River Road (6:47 pc)
10- 16 miles solo on Rail Trail (6:55 pc)
Total- 34 miles
8- 10 miles w/track workout in Newport with Skip
9- 8 miles solo on River Road (6:47 pc)
10- 16 miles solo on Rail Trail (6:55 pc)
Total- 34 miles
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