The Veterans Day 10k and final training for Philly

Since I haven’t posted here for a while, I’ll briefly describe my final few weeks of training for the Philadelphia Marathon, which included a 10k race:

October 12 – 18

Mo: 30 min. easy

Tu: 7 easy

We: 9 easy

Th: 23 steady @ 7:48 avg.

Fr: 8 easy

Sa: 7 easy

Su: 2 x 4 miles @ 6:47 avg. w/ 2 min. rest in between

Week total: 70 miles

October 19 – 25

Mo: 8 easy

Tu: 8 easy, plus 8 strides

We: 10 easy

Th: 2.5 easy, 3 x 2k @ 6:26/mi., 5 easy, 3 x 2k @ 6:19/mi., 2.5 easy (2 min. rests)

Fr: 9 easy

Sa: 7 easy

Su: Fast fartlek: 3 x (4, 3, 2 min.) w/ equal recoveries

Week total: 75 miles

October 26 – November 1

Mo: 6 easy

Tu: 7 easy

We: 9 easy

Th: 10 miles @ 6:49 avg. (aimed to do 16 miles)

Fr: off

Sa: off (migraine)

Su: 5.5 easy

Week total: 42 miles

November 2 – 8

Mo: 7 easy

Tu: 8 easy

We: 9 easy

Th: 18 @ 7:25 avg. w/ miles 13-16 @ 6:45-50 (no water!)

Fr: 5 easy

Sa: off

Su: Veterans Day 10k in 37:41

Week total: 57.5 miles

November 9 – 15

Mo: off

Tu: off (sick)

We: 6 easy (but sick)

Th: off (sick)

Fr: 6 easy

Sa: 8 easy

Su: 12 @ 7:15 avg. w/ miles 9-11 @ 6:44, 40, 43

Week total: 32 miles

November 16 – 22

Mo: 7 easy

Tu: off

We: 5 x 1k @ 3:58 avg. w/ 1 min. rests

Th: 5 easy

Fr: 30 min., plus 4 strides

Sa: off

Su: Philadelphia Marathon

Basically this entire marathon training cycle went really well. After Boston this past Spring, I asked my coach what he thought I could generally do better in training. He replied that, at least since he’s been coaching me, consistency has been my biggest weakness. My training for Pisa last Fall and for Boston this past Spring went well at times but was also somewhat inconsistent due to illness, injury, or bad weather. Sometimes you can’t control that sort of thing, but this time around I decided to focus on getting more sleep each night in order to help avoid getting sick or injured (because sleep enhances recovery).

Maybe it was just a coincidence that this turned out to be my most consistent training block probably ever, but I don’t think so. I did get sick twice – immediately after each of my tune up races – but neither cold derailed my training in any significant way. After the Cherry Blossom race (during the first week listed above) I had a mild cold that didn’t prevent me from putting in a lot of easy recovery miles. After the Veterans Day 10k I got a worse cold, but by then all the real training was done, and the extra days I took off probably helped me rest up for the marathon.

Really the only hiccup that affected my training during this entire build-up was a migraine that coincided with what was supposed to be a kind of the peak workout for the whole cycle: a 16 mile marathon pace run on October 29. Sometimes when I get migraines, I’ll be lethargic and generally out of sorts for a couple days before and/or after the actual migraine itself, which is like the tip of an iceberg that is much bigger under the surface. When I struggled even to run 10 miles at my goal marathon pace on October 29 before finally stopping, initially I worried that the training was wearing me down more than I had realized. But two days later, when the migraine finally surfaced, I realized that it had probably been responsible for my weakness that day. This was a relief, since I don’t get migraines very often anymore and recover fully from them within 2-3 days. In hindsight I don’t think the training was wearing me down too much, although it could be argued that it triggered the migraine.

A week after the migraine, I came within 18 seconds of my 10k PR in spite of the fact that I was in the middle of marathon training. My PR was set in 2013 at Pike’s Peek, which is a point-to-point net downhill course and the weather was perfect that day. By contrast, while the Veterans Day course is fast, it’s a flat loop course in Potomac Park, where wind coming off the Potomac River is almost always an issue. This year we had a moderate tailwind in miles 1, 2, and 4; and a moderate headwind in miles 3, 5, and 6. Here are my Garmin splits:

Mile 1 – 5:54

Mile 2 – 6:00

Mile 3 – 6:02

Mile 4 – 5:58

Mile 5 – 6:09

Mile 6 – 6:03

Finish – 37:41 (official)

My plan was to run 6:00 pace for the first half and either pick it up from there or just hold on in the second half. I got out a bit fast with the tailwind but then fell back to my goal pace. In mile 4 I passed a few people but then found myself leading a train of drafters once we hit the headwind in mile 5. I took considerable pleasure in listening to the sound of them huffing and puffing behind me even though I was the one bearing the brunt of the wind, but soon I started getting tired and drifted off the pace a little. When we passed the 5 mile mark, one guy on the train who had come up from behind (that is, I hadn’t passed him earlier) bolted ahead and tried to gap the rest of us. I was very tired at that point but somehow found a secret vault of energy and managed to stay with him, leaving the rest of the train behind. Now I was drafting him as we passed a couple other runners in the final mile. His kick was better than mine, but if he hadn’t surged right when and where he did I probably would have run that final mile much more slowly.

My Garmin had me running 6.3 miles at 6:02 pace, versus 6:01 pace at Pike’s Peek for my PR. But I think this race was a superior performance, not just because of the wind, but also because I raced better and paced evenly. There’s no question that I can go faster when not in marathon mode. But two weeks before Philly this was a very positive sign of good things to come.

Me finishing the Veteran's Day 10k