Well, its over, and I did it. When I started this fall's adventure, I was looking for a 3:25 marathon time. My target pace was 7:50 per mile or 4:52 per kilometre, which would bring me across the finish line in 3:25:14 or 3:25:22 depending on which measure you used. But I would have been happy with anything faster than my previous best of 3:29:01 achieved in Virginia Beach over 2 years ago.
Everything went according to plan. I was relatively relaxed going into the run. Coach Brian and I had split a litre of wine with our spaghetti dinner on Saturday night, and had a couple of other beers during the day, so we each got a good night's sleep. Jenny, who was battling a bit of a cold, unfortunately didn't sleep so well, but was able to support us both in spite of not feeling 100%.
Brian was battling some knee pain in previous long runs, so we decided that he'd run with me for the first 3 miles, just to keep my speed in check, and then join me for the last 8 miles. While we were targeting 7:50/mile, we started off with the first three miles looking for 8:00 per mile which we achieved easily. We met Jenny at a corner in the route and he left me on my own. By the time I saw them again at the halfway mark, I was pretty much bang-on my target time -- just ahead of target by about 20 seconds or just 1 second per kilometre!
While the Road2Hope Marathon is a significant net downhill, the first 13 miles had lots of gradual ups and downs. So I was happy to see the top of the Red Hill Parkway where I knew it would be a significant downhill for 6 or 7 kilometres.
During the time on the Parkway, I let my speed increase a bit, from 4:52/k target to no faster than 4:30 per kilometre. So by the time I found Jenny and Brian at the 29K mark, I was about 2 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of schedule -- yet my quads weren't too beat up from the downhill running. But I knew that the worst was certainly yet to come.
Brian and I kept a very consistent pace for the next 6 kilometres. At the 35K mark, with just 7.2K to go, I was starting to fade -- and that is where Brian kicked into gear to keep me focused -- head up and concentrating on my stride, not my watch. I kept struggling and with about 4 kilometres to go told him just to not let me walk. And if the wind was causing me issues, I'd just shout "wind!" and he'd work to get in a position to block it for me.
The toughest part was the last kilometre. We had to pass by the finish line and go around the water slide in Centennial Park and then return to the finish. I was really struggling and really, really, really wanted to walk. But with Brian's encouragement, I kept going. With 200m to go he told me to give it a final kick and I started to pass a couple of other runners. But one runner wasn't going to give up without a fight, so we ended up racing across the finish in a full-out sprint.
Chip time: 3:25:41. Personal Best. Boston Qualifier by over 5 minutes. I'm now a '3:25 guy'!
Very happy!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
"The hay is in the barn..."
...and I don't think it has gone mouldy.
Metaphorically speaking, "the hay was in the barn" after I did my longest training run 3 weeks ago. There is little, if any, muscle that is going to be built while tapering. The goal is to "keep the hay from going mouldy" by doing gradually shorter runs and let the muscle damage heal.
So today's tempo run wasn't about speed or endurance -- it was just about keeping me from going stale.
It went very well. Coach Brian said 5 to 6 miles, so I chose 5. And he said no more than 2 at 'tempo pace' (7:30/mile), and so that is what I did. Here are my splits:
8:15
8:14
8:14
7:29
7:29
At all target paces, I had to slow myself down. The first three miles I simply couldn't seem to go as slow as the 8:20/mile pace I was targeting.
Sooooo... I'm ready. We'll see how it all goes on race day!
Metaphorically speaking, "the hay was in the barn" after I did my longest training run 3 weeks ago. There is little, if any, muscle that is going to be built while tapering. The goal is to "keep the hay from going mouldy" by doing gradually shorter runs and let the muscle damage heal.
So today's tempo run wasn't about speed or endurance -- it was just about keeping me from going stale.
It went very well. Coach Brian said 5 to 6 miles, so I chose 5. And he said no more than 2 at 'tempo pace' (7:30/mile), and so that is what I did. Here are my splits:
8:15
8:14
8:14
7:29
7:29
At all target paces, I had to slow myself down. The first three miles I simply couldn't seem to go as slow as the 8:20/mile pace I was targeting.
Sooooo... I'm ready. We'll see how it all goes on race day!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Last 'Speed Work' - 2 x 2 Miles...
I didn't get a chance to talk with Coach Brian since I returned from Florida, so Jenny suggested I should be doing 'speed work' of 2 repeats x 2 miles each, at marathon pace (7:50/mile). So I went out today in the 6 degree C. temperature -- and had a great run. I took a 2 minute break between repeats, but I certainly didn't need it. My splits were:
7:36
7:47
7:47
7:48
for an average of 7:44. It took a while to find the rhythm, but once I found it, I was able to cruise along with little varation in pace. If anything, I had to get myself to slow down as a couple of times I found myself creeping up to the 7:30/mile range. The cool weather was definitely nice.
Gotta love the taper!
7:36
7:47
7:47
7:48
for an average of 7:44. It took a while to find the rhythm, but once I found it, I was able to cruise along with little varation in pace. If anything, I had to get myself to slow down as a couple of times I found myself creeping up to the 7:30/mile range. The cool weather was definitely nice.
Gotta love the taper!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Very good last 'long run' -- on the treadmill...
Today was an 'at sea' day on the cruise, so after a light breakfast, Jenny and I went to the on-board gym, which included 8 treadmills.
The goal today was 10 to 12 miles at long run pace. I chose 10 miles since we were already going way over the 20 minute limit they had on the treadmills. Once we figured out how the things worked, we ramped up my speed to 8:20 per mile and off I 'ran'.
I had no problem keeping the pace although it definitely seemed easier after mile 3. Depite the gym being air conditioned, I was sweating profusely, getting sweat droplets all over the machine. And one side benefit was that I could put my hand on a bar near the console to get my pulse -- 172 or 173 -- which sounded about right.
For miles 9 and 10, I ramped the pace to slightly faster than marathon pace: 7:47 per mile. And I felt fine! And my heart rate actually fell a tiny bit -- to 171-ish BPM.
No breaks, and I was able to carry on a conversation with Jenny, who ran beside me, the whole way. Definitely a confidence booster!
The goal today was 10 to 12 miles at long run pace. I chose 10 miles since we were already going way over the 20 minute limit they had on the treadmills. Once we figured out how the things worked, we ramped up my speed to 8:20 per mile and off I 'ran'.
I had no problem keeping the pace although it definitely seemed easier after mile 3. Depite the gym being air conditioned, I was sweating profusely, getting sweat droplets all over the machine. And one side benefit was that I could put my hand on a bar near the console to get my pulse -- 172 or 173 -- which sounded about right.
For miles 9 and 10, I ramped the pace to slightly faster than marathon pace: 7:47 per mile. And I felt fine! And my heart rate actually fell a tiny bit -- to 171-ish BPM.
No breaks, and I was able to carry on a conversation with Jenny, who ran beside me, the whole way. Definitely a confidence booster!
Friday, October 29, 2010
2nd Last Tempo Run -- this time in Florida!
Jenny and I were in Key West, Florida today -- the first port of call in our 5 day cruise in the Caribbean. I was up relatively early and on the road to get in my scheduled 9 mile tempo run. The plan was to do the first 4.5 miles at long run pace and the last half at tempo pace.
The run out was uneventful. The route was flat and my pace was right on the money. It was starting to get warm though as the sun rose, and when I stopped at the turnaround point, my face became flushed with heat. The towel that I was using to wipe the sweat from my face was already drenched. So I took about a 5 minute break -- certainly enough time to give me the best chance of success at getting back to the ship at tempo pace.
But that pace was not to be. Despite my resolve to keep pushing through the pain, the muscles simply were not getting enough oxygen from the thick air, and I could feel myself overheating. I took two rest breaks during the 4.5 mile run back. Pathetic, really.
Also, I don't know my pace during those fast miles since my GPS ran out of battery power. The first 1.5 miles were on track, as was likely the last mile, since once I got into the town, the shade of the buildings cooled me down. But those middle 2 miles were likely at 'long run' pace or worse.
So, not a great 2nd last tempo run.
The run out was uneventful. The route was flat and my pace was right on the money. It was starting to get warm though as the sun rose, and when I stopped at the turnaround point, my face became flushed with heat. The towel that I was using to wipe the sweat from my face was already drenched. So I took about a 5 minute break -- certainly enough time to give me the best chance of success at getting back to the ship at tempo pace.
But that pace was not to be. Despite my resolve to keep pushing through the pain, the muscles simply were not getting enough oxygen from the thick air, and I could feel myself overheating. I took two rest breaks during the 4.5 mile run back. Pathetic, really.
Also, I don't know my pace during those fast miles since my GPS ran out of battery power. The first 1.5 miles were on track, as was likely the last mile, since once I got into the town, the shade of the buildings cooled me down. But those middle 2 miles were likely at 'long run' pace or worse.
So, not a great 2nd last tempo run.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Toughest Speed Work Session Yet...
I was supposed to do 9 x 1 mile repeats tonight. I did 7. And the last two were at well below speedwork pace. So that frames how the night went.
My goal was 9 repeats at a 7 minute pace. But the weather was crappy -- heavy winds and a bit of rain coming from the south. And yesterday, I ran 16 miles, rode a horse for an hour and played hockey in the evening. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't put the run off until tomorrow because I've got a jam-packed day before we head off for a mini-vacation. Here are my splits:
6:57
7:00
6:50
7:00
6:57
7:19
7:19
After my first 7:19 mile, I was just about ready to walk home. My calves, hamstrings and quads were already quite sore. But I started running the 7th repeat away from home and the first 2/10's of a mile actually felt pretty good. But then the soreness returned quite rapidly, so I turned around and continued running towards home. The last half mile I actually had a fairly stiff wind behind me -- but, even still, the best I could do is get back up to a 7 minute pace. With that last mile at 7:19, that tells you how slow the first half mile was. But it was all my legs had in them.
If I had to find a reason, it would be 'everything'. Not resting enough after 3 different physical activities yesterday, crappy weather, heavy rain soaked shoes, relatively warm -- I'm sure I could come up with a couple of other things.
But if the goal was to work the muscles as hard as I could for a short period of time, you could definitely call the workout successful. I'll take what I can out of it. A couple of days rest and I'll hope to have a better tempo run in the heat of the Florida Keys!
My goal was 9 repeats at a 7 minute pace. But the weather was crappy -- heavy winds and a bit of rain coming from the south. And yesterday, I ran 16 miles, rode a horse for an hour and played hockey in the evening. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't put the run off until tomorrow because I've got a jam-packed day before we head off for a mini-vacation. Here are my splits:
6:57
7:00
6:50
7:00
6:57
7:19
7:19
After my first 7:19 mile, I was just about ready to walk home. My calves, hamstrings and quads were already quite sore. But I started running the 7th repeat away from home and the first 2/10's of a mile actually felt pretty good. But then the soreness returned quite rapidly, so I turned around and continued running towards home. The last half mile I actually had a fairly stiff wind behind me -- but, even still, the best I could do is get back up to a 7 minute pace. With that last mile at 7:19, that tells you how slow the first half mile was. But it was all my legs had in them.
If I had to find a reason, it would be 'everything'. Not resting enough after 3 different physical activities yesterday, crappy weather, heavy rain soaked shoes, relatively warm -- I'm sure I could come up with a couple of other things.
But if the goal was to work the muscles as hard as I could for a short period of time, you could definitely call the workout successful. I'll take what I can out of it. A couple of days rest and I'll hope to have a better tempo run in the heat of the Florida Keys!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Crappy long run with less than 2 weeks to go...
Coach Brian wanted me to do between 16 and 18 miles as my long run this weekend. But because of other stuff I wanted to get done, I pushed off the long run until this morning (Monday). I chose 16 miles because I'll be riding and playing hockey later today, so the muscles will definitely have an '18 mile' workout today, even if I just do the shorter distance. And my plan from the start -- really, really -- was to do 10 miles at long run pace (8:20/mile), 5 miles at marathon pace (7:50/mile), and a 'cool down' mile at long run pace again. Here are my splits:
8:34
8:15
8:13
8:15
8:13
8:09
8:13
8:13
8:15
8:14
7:50
7:48
7:44
7:48
7:47
8:18
So, on paper it looks okay, right? But I was dying out there. The weather was much warmer than it has been recently -- between 15 and 17 degrees C -- and quite muggy. The last 6 miles I did with no shirt, which I haven't done since the summer. And when I stopped, I felt like I was going to puke (at general sign of overheating for me).
And I felt tired the way through the 'marathon pace' miles.
So here come the doubts: I can't do this for 26.2 miles! But, having been there before, I know that it will all come together. A couple of weeks of reduced mileage and a bit cooler weather and I'll be ready to go. Just sucks when you have a run that causes these doubts so close to the marathon date!
8:34
8:15
8:13
8:15
8:13
8:09
8:13
8:13
8:15
8:14
7:50
7:48
7:44
7:48
7:47
8:18
So, on paper it looks okay, right? But I was dying out there. The weather was much warmer than it has been recently -- between 15 and 17 degrees C -- and quite muggy. The last 6 miles I did with no shirt, which I haven't done since the summer. And when I stopped, I felt like I was going to puke (at general sign of overheating for me).
And I felt tired the way through the 'marathon pace' miles.
So here come the doubts: I can't do this for 26.2 miles! But, having been there before, I know that it will all come together. A couple of weeks of reduced mileage and a bit cooler weather and I'll be ready to go. Just sucks when you have a run that causes these doubts so close to the marathon date!
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