September 21st-27th Training

Monday: 5 miles (7:27); 5 miles (8:17); 5.5 miles (7:17)

Tuesday: 12.4 miles (6:58)

Wednesday: 9.4 miles with 10xhill blasts (7:24); 5.6 miles (7:21)

Thursday: 10 miles with bombed workout.  The plan was 3k at 4:50-4:55, 2k at 4:40-4:45 and 5x1k, working from 4:40 to 4:30.  My legs were really heavy from the start and I was slowing down with each lap.  After 2200m into the 3k, I was currently running about 5:10 pace, so I called it a morning; 6.1 miles (6:53)

Friday: 10 miles with 4 miles of 30s fast/2:30 moderate. To make up for yesterday and to not be too beat up for Sunday, I was allowed to run up to 10 variations, so I decided on this workout.  Averaged 5:24 for the four miles, with a little over 4:20 pace for the fast part...felt nice and smooth; 3.7 miles (7:47)

Saturday: 10.6 miles (6:48).  Legs felt like complete crap the last couple of miles...felt like walking; 4.4 miles (7:16)

Sunday: 16.5 miles with shortened workout. The plan if I felt like a million bucks with perfect weather was to run a 25km with 5ks at 5:20 pace, 5:15, 5:10, 5:05, 5:00.  But the big goal was to get in some work and not pushing too hard.  Since it was really muggy (69 with 67 DP), I figured the conditions would slow things down about 5-7s a mile. I went through the first 5k at 5:23 pace, feeling really smooth.  My plan was to do at least 20k of progressive running and if I felt good, run two complete down-and-backs on my speedwork road, which would be about 13.1 miles and push the last 1k+ at a hard effort.

Second 5k also felt smooth at 5:20 pace, and the third was mostly ok at 5:14.  As soon as I started running the fourth one with a goal of 5:10 pace, my legs started to struggle and it got progressively worse, so I called it at just under a mile in (was at 5:07 pace) to finish 10.2 miles in 5:18 pace.

Obviously I would have liked to run further and faster but I had a huge workout last week and I don't need to put too much stress on legs.

On a bright side, my girls and boys finished first in their cross country meet today.  And props to the kid who ran so hard to get the victory in the boys race, that he threw up the last 15m.

Week Total:104.2 miles. The plan was closer to 110 with two solid workouts.  Even though it felt good at the time, I think last Sunday beat me up a good bit.  Since that went so well, I'm not too worried.  This week the volume will be around 90ish with one track workout and a little bit of MP running in a much shortened long run.

I'm really looking forward to the mileage reduction and racing everyone at Chicago in a couple of weeks even though I'm still not on the entry list for some reason.

September 14th-20th Training

Monday: 6.1 miles (7:12); 4.7 miles (8:16) at cross country and then 5.5 miles (7:14)

Tuesday: 11 miles (6:35); 6.1 miles with 6xhill blasts(7:14)

Wednesday: 12.6 miles with 4x2k 2:00 jog, 1k, 3:00 jog. The fastest I was allowed to run was 72-73 per lap on the 2ks and 70-71 on the 1ks.  I ended up running (6:00, 2:55), (6:00, 2:55), (5:59, 2:56), (5:59, 2:55). These weren't too bad at all and they all felt about the same, effort-wise.  After the first two sets, the high school cheerleaders came out for what appears to be their daily 6am two-mile time-trial while their coach walked around the track yelling at them to go faster.  I had to run in lane 2-3 sometimes, so that cost me a little bit of time.  Not a bad workout; 6.8 miles (7:22)

Thursday: 12 miles (6:34);  5 miles (7:12)

Friday: 5.4 miles (7:22); 2 miles (8:29)

Saturday: 9.8 miles (6:49); 5.2 miles with 10xstrides (7:24)

Sunday: 22.7 miles with 5x5k with 1k jog recovery.  I was nervous for this one, especially coming off about 5.5 hours of sleep.  The plan was to work from 5:10-5:05 pace on the 5ks and run 5:50-6:00 pace on the 1ks.  I ended up running: 15:58, 3:32, 15:53, 3:32, 15:51, 3:39, 15:44, 3:40, 15:42, 3:32 to average 5:12 pace for the 30k, 5:05 pace on the 5ks and 5:46 pace on the 1ks.

1st one: tried to not think about anything and just run.  Felt really smooth and didn't even feel like I needed a break (other than the fast pee break on the recovery jog).

2nd one: still easy and slowly started focusing on the pace.  Took a gel and about 8 oz. of water during the break.

3rd one: I caught myself running close to 5:05 pace a few times, so I tried to slow it down since 5x5k is a lot of running.

4th one: started to get a little bit tired and while I wanted to run 5:05ish, I didn't want to be dead for the last one.  The wind started picking up some, which resulted in my running about 10s a mile faster with the tailwind than the headwind.  Took gel #2.

5th one: started getting more tired and had to focus the last 1k to stay at a 5:05 average. I debated running the recovery jog faster since it was the end of my workout but I didn't want to be a chump and kept the normal recovery pace, even though it was still pretty tough.

Solid all around workout and it made me finally believe I have a shot at sub 2:15.  I ran slightly slower than two weeks before Houston in 2014  but it was perfect weather and I ran with Connor Kamm, opposed to being solo and 65/55 dp (which wasn't bad at all).; 5 miles (7:35)

Week Total: 119.9 miles. So close to 120 but this was a very productive week overall, with nearly 28 miles on Sunday.  I'm really looking forward to taper time and I have one more big marathon workout this weekend, which is going to be tough. September 14-20

September 7th-13th Training

Monday: 18.5 miles with 20k in 63:27. Bad race but I'll write an extensive recap by the end of the week.  I thought I could run 5:00s the first half and then chase people down.  I ran 5:00s the first half, as planned but struggled the last 5k and never chased anyone down.  Legs had nothing and would not go.  Frustrating race since it's bad race #3 in a row.

Tuesday: 10.5 miles (7:45). Quads completely trashed.

Wednesday: 9 miles (7:37). Same as yesterday

Thursday: 10.1 miles (6:37); 6.8 miles (7:18)

Friday: 9.2 miles with 9xhill blasts (7:20); 5.9 miles (7:24)

Saturday: 23.6 miles with 21.45 miles at 5:34 average. If things went well, the plan was a mile warm-up and then a 26.2 mile progression run.  The first 20 was divided into five mile segments and dropping 5s a mile per segment, starting at 5:40-5:45.  I had Chris Duncan run with me for the first 10 and Spencer Cole for the first five.  The first ten went really smoothly.  I then met Ben Li for the next ten and took a Double-Latte Powergel, which I'm planning on using in Chicago.  After 13, I hit a really rough patch and felt really light-headed and weak, which I was hoping wasn't due to the gel.  I felt better a few miles later but we were running on the slow end.  After dropping Ben off at 20, I had up to 6.2 miles at 5:15 pace. My hamstrings were really worn out when I stopped for a gel and water and after running almost 1.5 miles at just under 5:30 pace I knew I should call it.

The weather was really good, but my hamstrings felt really heavy and I could not go.  They were beat up on the hills yesterday, so hopefully it's just lingering fatigue from the race since my legs were really jacked up earlier in the week.

Sunday: 6.8 miles (6:54); 7.2 miles (7:17). Long day but my legs felt like a million bucks. Go figure.  We also had our first elementary cross country meet and my boys scored a narrow victory over my school from last year, and my girls scored just 16 points with second place scoring 81.  Not bad for a bunch of newbies.

Week Total: 107.6 miles. Not a great week.  While I put in a hard effort, I had a rough race and then came back with a rough long run. I'm hoping it's just cumulative fatigue and I'm one good marathon workout away from being confident.  I have four weeks now and wish I had a little more time to train in the cooler weather, but I think I'll be ready.

August 31st-September 1st Training

Monday: 6.3 miles (7:22); 4.2 miles (8:30); 6.3 miles (6:54)

Tuesday: 8 miles (6:46); 7 miles with 8xhill blasts (7:16)

Wednesday: 10.3 miles with 2x200m, 1600m, 3200m, 4x400m with 800 jog after the 1600 and 3200 and 1:00 jog after the fours. The goals were 31, 4:25-4:30, 9:50 and 67.  I ended up running 31, 32, 4:32, 9:45 and 66, 64, 64, 65.  I was a little slow on the 1600m but man, it's hard to get moving in the early morning.  First lap was a 68 and it felt like a sprint.  The 3200m was easy, as were the 400s.  5.7 miles (7:18)

Thursday: 12 miles (6:28)

Friday: 8.2 miles with 8x30s fast, 2:30 easy. Goal was to get rolling a bit while staying smooth.  Averaged 4:12 pace on the pick-ups; 2 miles (8:16); 4.2 miles (7:31)

Saturday: 7 miles (7:18)

Sunday: 7.7 miles with strides (7:20)

Week Total: 88.9 miles. Planned down week and it felt good to mentally relax a little bit and freshen up the legs.  I have some sinus issues going on so hopefully it doesn't effect me in the morning at New Haven.  The weather is looking a little hot and humid, which should be better suited towards a guy like me, opposed to the altitude guys.  So the plan is to go out patiently and move up throughout the race…sort of like the Chicago Half, except I don't drop out.

August 24th-30th Training

Monday: 5.4 miles (7:41); 3.7 miles (8:21); 5.7 miles (7:20)

Tuesday: 11 miles (6:49); 6 miles (7:39)

Wednesday: 10.4 miles (6:43); 6.7 miles with 8xhill blasts (7:21). Finally starting to feel strong on these.

Thursday: 13.7 miles with 6x2k with 2:00 jog.  The plan was to start just under 6:15 and work down to 5:55ish.  With the temperature in the low 60s and the dew point in the 50s, I was looking forward to this.  I ended up running: 6:12, 6:06, 6:02, 6:00, 5:51, 5:49. The first one was the hardest because I have to run track work really early in the morning and it takes me a while to loosen up. After that, I felt better and better and I decided to run in the 5:50 range for the last two, which felt pretty smooth. I may have run a couple of seconds faster but theirs always football benches in lane one of each straightaway and on the last two intervals, the high school cheerleading team with their rap playing ipods were taking up lane one and two. Good workout session and finally had a chance to see my "real" fitness by running in good weather; 5.8 miles (7:41)

Friday: 10.3 miles (7:18); 1.5 miles (8:13); 4.6 miles (7:31); 126.3 miles in seven days...biggest seven day period in a long time.

Saturday: 6.1 miles (7:29); 5.7 miles with 10x100m relaxed (7:22)

Sunday: 24 mile mixed pace run. The plan called for a nine mile warm-up, 4 miles of 60s on/off at 5:15-5:20 overall average, 6 miles at 5:10, 1 mile jog, 3 miles at 5:00, 1 mile jog.  Needless to say, I was really intimidated by this one.  With the weather at 71 and a 67 dew point, I would be happy to get within five seconds of the correct pace.

I ran the first nine with Spencer at a relaxed 6:44 average.  I didn't do any strides before the fartlek and it took me almost 45s to get under 5:20 pace on the first minute interval.  But I got rolling pretty quickly after that and was around 5:10 average.  I decided to put on the brakes on the jog and keep the intensity high to get in better quality and burn through more carbs and by the end, I slowed down to a 5:17 average.

I ran my six miles on the track and since I had to run in lane two on the straights, I figured the zig-zagging would result in the four laps making up the extra 9.3 meters, so I called it a mile.  First 2-3 miles were really easy and then it felt like my legs were sinking into the track despite the slower pace, which usually only happens in those extensive marathon workouts. Anyway, averaged 5:11 on that and was dreading the three mile.  But the three mile felt better than expected and I averaged 5:03 on that part.  Great workout overall and with the humidity, this was easily one of my most impressive marathon workouts.

Week Total: 120.6 miles. Four solid weeks in a row, with this last one being my biggest and most impressive one yet.  While I felt like a zombie two weeks ago, I'm now starting to adapt to my workouts and am becoming more marathon fit.  I'm also starting to get my marathoner's mindset. While a few weeks ago, I mentally struggled with the patience and volume of the long workouts, now they are not am issue and I'm able to stay focused on each individual interval.

This next week is a down week, which is good timing because I've put in a lot of heavy work and have the New Haven 20k on Labor Day.