September 30 - October 20: Weird weeks

Daily details:
Mo: 7
Tu: 14 on hills (last 4 miles 6:44, 6:42, 6:42, 6:42)
We: 7
Th: 4 x 1k in 3:46, 3:41, 3:38, 3:46 (10 total)
Fr: off (tight hamstring)
Sa: 7
Su: DNF at the Annapolis Striders Metric Marathon (but ran 18 miles)
Week total: 63

Mo: 7
Tu: 14
We: 7.5, 5.5
Th: 8
Fr: 7.5, 5.5
Sa: 8
Su: 6 x 1k in 3:51, 3:47, 3:48, 3:49, 3:47, 3:47 (12 miles total), 5 (pm)
Week total: 80

Mo: 5
Tu: 2 (felt burnt out)
We: off (back hurt)
Th: 8
Fr: 7
Sa: 5 plus 6 strides
Su: Army 10-miler in 1:02:49 (13 total)
Week total: 40

These three weeks did not go so well. I'm not sure exactly what has been going on, whether it's just plain burn-out or some more specific problem(s). Looking back over my training log, the problems seem to have started with not allowing my body to recover adequately from the Clarendon Day 10k on September 28. I didn't run well in that race and, as I typically do in such cases, I acted as if I therefore didn't need as much recovery as usual. So three days later I did a hard medium-long run, attacking up steep hills and (after getting kicked out of Rock Creek Park because of the federal government shutdown) running under marathon pace for the last four miles. My legs were still sore from pounding down the hills in the Clarendon Day race. Two days after that, I attempted to do a 6 x 1k track workout at the same pace (roughly 5:48-9/mi.) that I had run 6 x 800 two weeks earlier. Feeling weak, I couldn't handle the pace for more than a couple intervals and stopped early. Afterwards, my right hamstring hurt in the same way that it did at the end of August, again forcing me to take a day off. A couple days after that was the Annapolis Striders Metric Marathon (16+ miles), which I planned to run at around 6:45/mi. as a marathon pace training run. It was sunny and unseasonably warm that day, and humid way out in rural Maryland. My hamstring didn't bother me, and the pace felt easier than last year, especially for the first 10 miles or so. But after that, when the course started getting hillier and the heat began taking its toll, my strength deserted me. I averaged 6:46 pace for 12 miles but then fell off that pace precipitously. Shortly after the half marathon mark, I decided simply to stop instead of running myself into the ground on what was supposed to be a training run. So I walked and jogged back to my car without crossing the finish line. It was still a good enough workout, but my low energy all week was a sign that I needed to back off or burn out. For the next week, which happened to be quite rainy, I did easy and mostly short runs but still got in 80 miles by doing three doubles. At the end of the week, I figured I was ready for another workout and this time completed 6 x 1k at a slower pace (in the rain). But it was alarming that I simply could not run under 6-minute pace. Two days later I stopped two miles into an easy run and walked back home because I felt weak and burnt out. I just did not want to run, which is very unusual for me. (I almost always want to be running). The next day my lower back was a mess, probably from doing the track workout when my body remained in a weakened state. So I took another day off. By then it was clear that my 80 mile weeks are over for this training cycle. It's time for me to start resting more and get back to feeling strong again. I was worried that I may have blown it, since I've read that once you dig yourself too deeply into a hole there is no way to recover without taking significant time off. So I'm relieved to have run strongly in the Army 10-miler. I can't keep running only 40 mile weeks like I did this past week, but I think maybe I'll do a couple weeks in the 60's without any doubles and only very limited hard efforts the week after next (none this coming week). I suspect that one reason I've never run a marathon time that befits my times at all other distances is that I haven't let myself recover adequately from months of heavy training before a marathon. This time around I hope to feel fresh on race day.

Army 10-miler (race report)

The Army 10-miler is HUGE with some 26,000 people listed in the results, and the announcer at the start line was talking about 35,000 registrants. Its course shares some features with the Marine Corps Marathon, including a start/finish area by the Pentagon and the Bridge of Horror near the end of the course. This was my first time running it because for the past three years, since I got serious about running, I have done the MCM the following weekend instead. The only other 10-miler I've done recently (twice) is Cherry Blossom in the Spring. The Cherry Blossom course is flat and fast, though wind can be a factor by the Potomac river. By comparison, the Army course is slower because it is nearly as exposed to wind but hillier, and its size makes the course more congested near the start. Even though I was one of only 500 runners wearing a yellow bib, which was supposed to get me a place just behind invited runners at the start line, in fact I was surrounded by runners whose bibs were every other color (including colors that meant they were supposed to start in the second wave). Several minutes after the start I was still passing women wearing trash bags and groups of people running four across at well over 7 minute pace, and for at least the first mile I had little control over my pace. I ran about as fast as I could without expending way too much energy weaving between people. But just as I was about to conclude that this race is a poorly organized joke, like the RnR USA half, the runners on the course started thinning out so that I could pass more easily; and by the time I had finished climbing the most significant hill of the course on Virginia Avenue, I was ahead of pretty much everyone who had either started too far up or way too fast for their ability level. I had no real plan going into this race, not knowing what to expect after my DNF at the metric marathon two weeks ago and very uneven training since then. So in a way it was a good thing to be forced into starting slowly to see how I felt. I felt strong - not particularly fast, but not slow either. So after a few miles I decided not to push the pace hard but to run a moderate pace that I could hold steadily the entire way in order to make the race into a test of strength. As my splits below show, I passed that test. I did not quite run all out. When some turns and wind slowed my pace slightly in miles 7 and 8, I was especially pleased to find plenty of strength remaining to get back down to my original pace over the Bridge of Horror and through to the finish. Here are my splits this past April at Cherry Blossom side-by-side with my Army splits today:

               Cherry
Mile       Blossom       Army
1       -       6:11           6:21
2       -       6:11           6:14
3       -       6:05           6:13
4       -       6:04           6:15
5       -       6:17           5:58 (not right)
6       -       6:22           6:14
(10k split  38:52         39:02)
7       -       6:26           6:23
8       -       6:23           6:18
9       -       6:18           6:15
10     -       6:21           6:14
Finish       1:03:01      1:02:49

(Note that these may not add up exactly because the mile paces are from my Garmin, while the 10k split and finishing times are the official ones. Both courses measured 10.07 miles on my Garmin, which gives me average paces of 6:16 for Cherry Blossom and 6:15 for Army). Basically, I ran a little faster today, on a slightly harder course, with I think a more measured effort, by starting a bit slower and holding my pace almost steady the entire way. Unlike at Cherry Blossom, I negative split the Army course today: at the 5 mile marker my watch read 31:27, which means that I ran the second half in 31:22. The next time I run the MCM, I'll have to remember zipping over the Bridge of Horror today, where I passed dozens of people who were slowing down. After my DNF two weeks ago, I'm relieved that this race turned out to be a good sign for my prospects in the marathon four weeks from now. Though I'd like to run 10 miles faster than this, I don't need to be able to do it right now in order to run a 2:59 marathon in four weeks. What I need is strength, a lot of miles in my legs, and the right balance of rest and sharpening. I'm working on that last thing.