March 9-15
Mo: off
Tu: 7
We: fartlek: 12 x 1:30 moderate effort with equal recoveries
Th: 7
Fr: 5
Sa: Rock n' Roll DC half marathon in 1:28:07
Su: off
Week total: 42.5
March 16-22
Mo: 5
Tu: 8 plus 8 strides
We: 8
Th: fartlek: 10 x 1:00 light effort with equal recoveries
Fr: off (sick)
Sa: off (sick)
Su: off (sick)
Week total: 29
March 23-29
Mo: 6
Tu: 9 plus 8 strides
We: 7
Th: fartlek: 3 x (3, 2, 1 min.) hard effort with equal recoveries
Fr: 6
Sa: off
Su: Aborted marathon pace run after 3 miles (felt off)
Week total: 42
March 30 - April 5
Mo: 6
Tu: 9 miles at 6:57/mi. over rolling hills
We: 5
Th: 6
Fr: fartlek: (5, 4, 3), (4, 3, 2), (3, 2, 1 min.) hard effort with equal recoveries
Sa: off
Su: 16 at 7:42/mi.
Week total: 55
April 6-12
Mo: off
Tu: 7
We: 6
Th: 4 x 2 miles at 6:34, 30, 32, 26/mi. with 2 min. rests
Fr: 4
Sa: off
Su: 90 min. at 7:37/mi. (11.8 miles)
Week total: 42 miles
These last five weeks of training for Boston did not go as well as I'd hoped when I wrote my previous entry. Initially the weather and my body did not cooperate, and by late March this seemed to be affecting my mind as well. The first week above was my Spring break, and my body has a tendency to fall apart when I relax after a period of stress. Given my line of work, these low points typically correspond with breaks in the academic calendar. So my planned tempo run that first week was scaled back to a moderate fartlek, and this ended up being the pattern for the next few weeks as well: instead of progressively longer tempos, I did progressively harder fartleks over rolling hills each week. The weather was cold and rainy for the Rock n' Roll DC half marathon on March 14. Given the conditions (and the course seemed hillier than I remembered), I just ran by feel and tried to maintain a slightly harder than marathon effort. My time is nothing special, but I still felt strong at the end and could have continued at that pace for some time. So that was encouraging enough. But the effort in the cold rain left me fighting a losing battle against the latest germs that my son had brought home from school. By the end of the week I was down for the count with flu symptoms, from which I was recovering for much of the following week as well. That doesn't fully explain whatever was wrong with me on March 29, though, when I aborted a planned 15-16 mile marathon pace run after just getting started. Whatever the deal was physically, clearly my mind wasn't in the right place that day. I tried again two days later but, in a fit of what my coach called excessive zeal, elected to run over the rolling hills in my neighborhood where I do fartleks. The hills chewed me up and spit me out after 9 miles or so. It was still a good training run but left me without a long tempo beyond the half marathon a couple weeks earlier. That ended up being my highest volume week of this entire cycle: 55 miles! My longest run was 20 miles on March 3, and my overall low volume has left me a tad heavier than my standard racing weight for the past few years. Nevertheless, I'm very excited for Boston and remain optimistic about running well. I'm confident about my hill training and felt strong on my 4 x 2 mile tempo this past week. My overall low volume and shortage of long runs (although I at least felt strong on my 16 miler last weekend) will incline me to run conservatively during the first half in order to remain strong for the Newton hills in miles 16-21 and then take advantage of the downhills to the finish, which is precisely the strategy recommended by most people with experience on the Boston course. Given my suboptimal training, I won't be disappointed by a slower time and will enjoy soaking up the experience of running the Boston marathon in any case. But I'm far from ruling out a good time. I'll simply put in the best effort I'm capable of that day all the way to the finish line and see what happens.
Mo: off
Tu: 7
We: fartlek: 12 x 1:30 moderate effort with equal recoveries
Th: 7
Fr: 5
Sa: Rock n' Roll DC half marathon in 1:28:07
Su: off
Week total: 42.5
March 16-22
Mo: 5
Tu: 8 plus 8 strides
We: 8
Th: fartlek: 10 x 1:00 light effort with equal recoveries
Fr: off (sick)
Sa: off (sick)
Su: off (sick)
Week total: 29
March 23-29
Mo: 6
Tu: 9 plus 8 strides
We: 7
Th: fartlek: 3 x (3, 2, 1 min.) hard effort with equal recoveries
Fr: 6
Sa: off
Su: Aborted marathon pace run after 3 miles (felt off)
Week total: 42
March 30 - April 5
Mo: 6
Tu: 9 miles at 6:57/mi. over rolling hills
We: 5
Th: 6
Fr: fartlek: (5, 4, 3), (4, 3, 2), (3, 2, 1 min.) hard effort with equal recoveries
Sa: off
Su: 16 at 7:42/mi.
Week total: 55
April 6-12
Mo: off
Tu: 7
We: 6
Th: 4 x 2 miles at 6:34, 30, 32, 26/mi. with 2 min. rests
Fr: 4
Sa: off
Su: 90 min. at 7:37/mi. (11.8 miles)
Week total: 42 miles
These last five weeks of training for Boston did not go as well as I'd hoped when I wrote my previous entry. Initially the weather and my body did not cooperate, and by late March this seemed to be affecting my mind as well. The first week above was my Spring break, and my body has a tendency to fall apart when I relax after a period of stress. Given my line of work, these low points typically correspond with breaks in the academic calendar. So my planned tempo run that first week was scaled back to a moderate fartlek, and this ended up being the pattern for the next few weeks as well: instead of progressively longer tempos, I did progressively harder fartleks over rolling hills each week. The weather was cold and rainy for the Rock n' Roll DC half marathon on March 14. Given the conditions (and the course seemed hillier than I remembered), I just ran by feel and tried to maintain a slightly harder than marathon effort. My time is nothing special, but I still felt strong at the end and could have continued at that pace for some time. So that was encouraging enough. But the effort in the cold rain left me fighting a losing battle against the latest germs that my son had brought home from school. By the end of the week I was down for the count with flu symptoms, from which I was recovering for much of the following week as well. That doesn't fully explain whatever was wrong with me on March 29, though, when I aborted a planned 15-16 mile marathon pace run after just getting started. Whatever the deal was physically, clearly my mind wasn't in the right place that day. I tried again two days later but, in a fit of what my coach called excessive zeal, elected to run over the rolling hills in my neighborhood where I do fartleks. The hills chewed me up and spit me out after 9 miles or so. It was still a good training run but left me without a long tempo beyond the half marathon a couple weeks earlier. That ended up being my highest volume week of this entire cycle: 55 miles! My longest run was 20 miles on March 3, and my overall low volume has left me a tad heavier than my standard racing weight for the past few years. Nevertheless, I'm very excited for Boston and remain optimistic about running well. I'm confident about my hill training and felt strong on my 4 x 2 mile tempo this past week. My overall low volume and shortage of long runs (although I at least felt strong on my 16 miler last weekend) will incline me to run conservatively during the first half in order to remain strong for the Newton hills in miles 16-21 and then take advantage of the downhills to the finish, which is precisely the strategy recommended by most people with experience on the Boston course. Given my suboptimal training, I won't be disappointed by a slower time and will enjoy soaking up the experience of running the Boston marathon in any case. But I'm far from ruling out a good time. I'll simply put in the best effort I'm capable of that day all the way to the finish line and see what happens.
