I narrowly
missed my 10-mile PR today at the Army 10-Miler after a month of solid marathon
training. Here’s how the last four weeks went:
September 14
– 20
Mo: 5 easy
Tu: 8 easy
We: 9 easy
Th: 18 @ 7:34
avg. with miles 13-16 in 6:47, 46, 47, 37
Fr: off
(traveling to Vienna)
Sa: 5 easy
Su: fartlek: 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 min. with equal recoveries
Week total: 57.5
miles
September 21
– 27
Mo: 8 easy
Tu: 7 easy, plus
8 strides
We: 8 easy
Th: 19 with
miles 3-6 and 15-17 @ 6:29 avg., and 7:28 avg. on the rest
Fr: 5 easy (then
flew back to MD)
Sa: 6 easy
Su: 12 x 1k @
3:57 avg. with 90 second rests
Week total: 65 miles
September 28
– October 4
Mo: 6 easy
Tu: 6 easy, then
8 x 40 second hills with jog down recoveries
We: 8 easy
Th: 20 @ 7:33
avg. with miles 15-18 in 6:44, 47, 37, 36
Fr: off
Sa: 7 easy
Su: 5 easy, and
8 x 40 second hills with jog down recoveries
Week total: 56.5
miles
October 5 – 11
Mo: 8 easy
Tu: 7 easy
We: light
fartlek: 6 x 2 min. on/off
Th: 7 easy
Fr: 6 easy, plus
6 strides
Sa: off
Su: Army
10-Miler in 63:02
Week total: 52.5
miles
Near the
beginning of this stretch I spent a week in Vienna for a conference and was
pleasantly surprised to get in some great running while I was there. Vienna is
a fantastic running city! The weather is perfect at this time of year, there
are great trails and parks, and lots of people are out running at all hours.
Though I got my first good long run in the day before flying to Vienna, the
trip seemed to jumpstart me into serious marathon training mode. All the sudden
I was feeling as strong as or stronger than ever, maybe just because I was
having an all-around good time there.
Recovering from
jetlag after my trip was more difficult, though. I was tired the following
week, so we decided to do a mini-taper before the Army 10-miler and to hit that
race pretty hard. I had been nailing my long runs and also feeling fast on
fartleks, so I initially approached the race expecting to run under 62 minutes.
But my coach talked me down to “just” aiming for a PR – my best 10 mile time is
62:49 in this same race two years ago. So the plan was to go out at PR pace
(6:15-20) and to speed up later in the race if I felt good. Here are my splits:
Mile 1 – 6:14
Mile 2 – 6:17
Mile 3 – 6:20
Mile 4 – 6:19
Mile 5 – 6:11
(halfway in 31:18)
Mile 6 – 6:16
(10k in 39:02)
Mile 7 – 6:12
Mile 8 – 6:19
Mile 9 – 6:22
Mile 10 – 6:20
Finish – 63:02
My first mile
was a hair fast, but basically I executed the plan perfectly through the first
half. My halfway split put me on pace to run 13 seconds under my PR. But I
ended up finishing 13 second over my PR because I slowed down in the last few
miles. The reason is probably that I didn’t take in any calories during the
race. I had a gel in my pocket, and there was water and Gatorade on the course
every two miles. In hindsight, I probably should have taken in something at the
mile 4 fueling station, but that didn’t even occur to me. At the mile 6 station
I tried to but only managed to knock the cup out of the guy’s hand and spill it
everywhere. After 10k I started feeling low on energy. At the mile 8 station,
by which time I was slowing down, I did manage to grab a cup successfully but ended
up with water instead of Gatorade (as I intended) and stupidly didn’t take my
gel with it. So those last few miles I was fighting to avoid slowing down too
much, instead of speeding up as I had hoped to do. But I think I hung on pretty
well, actually, and having to fight low energy was probably good for marathon
training anyway. It wasn’t a PR but also wasn’t a bad race, and running through
downtown Washington with thousands of people is always a blast.
Now it’s time to recover
from this race and get back to hard marathon training. It’s so much easier and
more enjoyable in this fantastic Fall weather!
