The Importance of Off-Season Rest

An article was recently published in the Wall Street Journal that discussed the importance of rest after a long racing season.  The article focused mainly on Bernard Lagat, but also featured U.S. Olympians Leo Manzano and Matt Centrowitz as well.  When people think of professional runners, they think they are always training hard, never lazy and don't ever really get out of shape.  This article shows that even world-class Olympic Medalists need a break.

In running, you can't always be in shape.  Well, technically, you can always be reasonably fit, but by taking breaks and periodizing your training, you will always run BETTER. Your lows may be lower, but your peaks will be much higher.  If you are also training hard and doing the same thing, your body stops adapting. What the body craves is variety and new types of stimulus. Not to mention, training hard is physically and mentally exhausting and by taking time off, you let your body repair itself, you can focus on other things in life, and you wipe away your mental slate so you can start hungry and chase new goals.

I like to get pretty out of shape in the off-season for all of the benefits listed above.  It's also more motivating because I get faster as the training season wears on, rather than trying to keep my ahead above the water year-round.  In a way, it relates to my teaching career.  I start the year off fresh, am in "peak shape" towards the end of the school year, and get a break before starting fresh again.  I much prefer that over sitting in a never-ending cubicle, doing the same thing over and over again. 

While I really enjoyed this article, I think you should realize the three athletes it wrote about are currently speed-based middle distance runners. Their body adapts to lower volume, higher intensity work and they supplement their running with a lot of other things as well.  I've also read where Lagat doesn't count his cool-downs or anything slower than 6:00 pace in his mileage total.  That could easily add an extra 10-20 miles for the week, which could place him at 80 or more miles in six days of running. 

Rest is how your body adapts to stress and lets your nervous system recover.  But you also must realize rest is NEEDED as a result of consistent, hard training. Rather than reading this article and coming away with the idea that it's great to take time off, I think you should come away realizing that you should train hard enough that rest is required.

May 7th-13th Training

Monday: 8.2 miles (7:31); 5.6 miles (7:24)

Tuesday: 8.5 miles bombed workout (6:43). My plan was 10x3:00 steady with 1:00 easy jog, starting at 5:00ish pace and working down to 4:50ish pace.  I ran the first one at 5:05 average and I felt really flat. Since this a session around half-marathon pace, I wanted to be able to hit my times, so I delayed it until tomorrow; 6.3 miles (7:19)

Wednesday: 5 miles (6:40ish); 11.6 miles with 10x1k at 3:05ish with 1:00 jog with seven 3:04s, a 3:05, a 3:03 and a 3:01. I ran this after the track meet with Connor Kamm, which made it a ton easier. We alternated running in lane 1 or 2 and even though I felt like crap at first, this was a really relaxing session and it felt like I could have been out there all day. Glad to have Conner out there.

Thursday: 8.5 miles (6:40); 6.5 miles (7:03)

Friday: 4 miles (6:57); 7.5 miles easy with 6xhill blasts.  I felt a lot stronger than last time on these sprints.

Saturday: 9.3 miles with 5k race in 15:01. My plan was to run just under 15:00, while keeping it around 10k effort. The race course wasn't ready, so we ran on the St. Jude's Row course, which is uphill for the first mile, equally up-and-down for the second and downhill for the third.  I was alone after a couple of hundred meters and ran splits of 5:05, 4:48 and 4:35. Effort felt good and I really enjoyed this course. I felt like I could have run under 14:30 here with some company and with a race effort.; 4.5 miles (7:36)

Sunday: 20.1 miles (6:18). Ran this later in the afternoon and felt really good. It rained the last seven miles, which made it easier because it was really humid before that. I figure I usually feel better on afternoon long runs, opposed to morning ones because I have a lot of carbohydrates in my body, while in the morning, I run on an empty stomach (not counting a cup of coffee).

Week Total= 105.6 miles. Solid week. With how I felt the first two days of the week, I was expecting to struggle but I got in two good sessions, as well as a good long run.  Next week will probably be another hard week.

A few months too late...

With two big races that weekend, I went back and forth between running the Country Music Marathon or the Derby miniMarathon in Louisville. The Country Music Marathon is always a gamble with the weather and it's not a very fast course. In the back of mind, I debated running it as a steady long run and hopefully picking up some money.  But after weighing all of the pros-and-cons, I decided to go with the Derby miniMarathon because the course was fast, which could result in some more travel money for the USA Half-Marathon Championships, and the competition would be a bit better.  Not to mention, I can recover more quickly from an all-out half-marathon compared to a moderate marathon.


Because this was my first "key" race of the season, I wanted to be a little more fresh.  I only ran once the day before the race and tried to get a litlte bit more sleep the week of the race.  As usual, I got moving a little slower than expected and with Louisville being an hour ahead of us, I got there a little bit late.  I'm terrible with directions and ended up going to the wrong place before Chris Herren's brother saved the day and told me how to get to the right location.

After finding a parking space nine blocks away, I was finally on my way to the packet pick-up.  I'm not much of a running expo guy, so I got my stuff and got out of there as quickly as I could.  Chris Herren's grandparents live in Louisville, so I was crashing at their place, along with Chris, his wife and brother.

I woke up at 5am and saw that race time temperatures were going to be nearly ideal despite a 10mph wind: low 50s and overcast.  After a quick breakfast, we were on our way.  I wasn't sure how quickly the starting line would fill up and because I didn't get an elite bib, I didn't want to be stuck behind too many people.  I shortened my pre-race warm-up by a few minutes so I could snag a good spot.  While on the line, I ran into the two guys who beat me at the Knoxville Half-Marathon last month, and saw there were about a dozen Africans in attendance. Even though I was hoping to make a little bit of prize money, I was happy so many good guys were there because my main goal was to run fast and it appeared the conditions and competition were going to give me the oppurtunity to do so.

When the gun went off, a lot of guys went to the front and I stuck to the back of the pack.  I knew I wouldn't be able to fight for the win, but I was hoping they would drag me too a fast time. I was hoping to run between 5:00-5:05 a mile and we went through the mile in 5:00.  Shortly after that, the leaders picked up the pace for a few minutes before backing off again.  I stayed at the tail end of the pack and we knocked out the next two miles in 4:57 and 4:52.  I wasn't expecting to run this fast, and I debated asking a guy beside me if he wanted to work together and shoot for sub 66:00 but I decided to just go with the field.

We continued to roll and every once in a while, the pack would surge and leave me and shortly afterward, I'd catch back up.  I was surprised how smooth and relaxed I felt, despite running much faster than my goal pace.  After training almost entirely alone, I welcomed the oppurtunity to have a pack to try and stick with and instead of completely focusing on my individual race, was just going along for the ride.

In the sixth mile, they surged again, this time, leaving me for good.  I went through the 10k alone in 30:25, which was a new PR and I gave a little chuckle because it felt so easy.  At this point, I knew I had sub 66:00 sealed and I was thinking I could make a run at breaking 65:30.  In the 7th mile, the guys ahead of me REALLY started rolling and they put 10 more seconds on me even though I ran a 4:42 mile.

At this point, I was totally alone and the effects showed with a 5:08 next mile. In the distance, a guy was falling off the main pack, so I was able to run him down and then catch another guy shortly after.  Once we got to the race track, I caught up to Joseph Maina, who appeared to have gone the wrong way and probably lost 10 seconds or so.  In that area there were no course guides or anything pointing us the right in the right directcion, which was stressful, but fortunately, I didn't take any wrong turns.  Once we got back into the streets, we hung together.  I had another slower mile, with a 5:07 split, and did want to start to stringing more of those together.  I was feeling pretty strong, so I decided to try and push a little bit harder.

Joseph and I hung together a little bit longer before he started to fade. WAY in the distance, I could see Daniel and the other guy who beat me in Knoxville. It appeared they had well over a minute on me, so I did my best to focus on seeing how much I could close the gap.  I was running under 5:00 pace again and at 10 miles, I did some rough math in my head because I didn't want to look at my overall time and be intimidated by how fast I had to run if I wanted to break 65. The 4:42 banked me 15 seconds and with several miles under 4:55, I figured if I could keep on running sub 5:00 pace, I'd break 65 minutes.  That time would have qualified me for the Olympic Marathon Trials, held this past January. Qualifying for the Olympic Marathon Trials consumed last winter, so "qualifying" today would be some bittersweet redemption.

I was slowly reeling in Daniel and with a mile to go, he was probably less than thirty seconds ahead of me.  I had to fight a headwind the entire last mile and I did not want to run a 65:00 or 65:01, so I kept on pressing down and tried to stay focused minute-by-minute.  After making the final turn, I could see a low 64 on the clock, and almost got a little bit emotional. I worked so hard this past fall to prepare myself for a shot at the Olympic Trials and I didn't get to even toe the line.  I wasn't any more fit at this race than I was this past fall, so I knew I could have run that time.

I crossed the line smiling in 64:39 to finish in 7th place. I was really pumped after the finish because I have not been training like a sub 65 guy.  I'm not expecting to be in my peak fitness for nearly two more months and outside races, have only done a couple of hard workouts.  I feel like this time takes me from a good regional type runner to a more competitive one. Some guys who run that fast are working 20-30 hours a week, training with good runners, have access to good facilities and can get as much sleep as they need.  They aren't sleeping 6.5 hours a night, without a coach, training mainly by themselves and working two jobs while cramming in runs when they can.  Then you have the wife and baby factor! With some more focus and some changes in my life schedule, I feel like I can knock off a good bit more time and take it to the next level in the next 1-2 years.

The journey continues and with over about a month until my next bigger race, I'm going to step it up in training so I can be ready to roll for the National Championships.


Mile Splits: 5:00, 4:57, 4:53, 4:53, 4:53, 4:52, 4:42, 5:08, 5:07, 4:58, 4:58, 4:58, 5:19 (1.1)

April 16-22 Training

Monday: 8 miles (7:01); 4.2 miles very easy

Tuesday: 10 miles medium progression with 4-3-3 mile segments in 24:40 (6:10), 17:15 (5:45) and 16:00 (5:20).  Times were: 24:38 (6:09, 6:05, 6:12, 6:12), 17:09 (5:47, 5:40, 5:42) and 15:41 (5:12, 5:17, 5:12). Happy with this workout because about a month ago, I was struggling to run this workout 10s a mile slower but this time, it was really easy; 6.8 miles (7:16)

Wednesday: 5.1 miles (6:24); 8.9 miles. I was at a track meet, so I had to run this in three different runs. It's not ideal, but it's reality.

Thursday: 8 miles (6:53); 3.4 miles (7:33). I will never run with the baby jogger again!

Friday: 3 miles (7:16); 8.6 miles with 5k track race in 14:26.  This was my first track race in over seven years and my first 5k in quite some time. I've only done a couple "fast" workouts, so I knew I wouldn't be very sharp, but still felt I would at least break 14:40. My plan was to keep all my 1600m splits under 4:40 and I ran: 4:35, 4:36, 4:41. I led from the gun and felt good through 3k, but struggled that last 1k and just wanted to be finished. I think going from feeling strong to feeling like crap so quickly shows that I'm not very fit yet, so hopefully I have a good bit of room to improve. Maybe if the weather would have been 10 degrees cooler and if I would have had a pack to run with, I could have run 14:10-14:15, but who knows. I do know I won't eat fried chicken and several pieces of pie the day of a race because you will feel like throwing up that entire last 1600m. Lesson learned.

Saturday: 9 miles (7:13); 4.5 miles (7:40)

Sunday: 10.4 miles (6:24). The plan was a 20 mile run with a moderate fartlek the second half, but I was feeling a little bit off and could tell that workout would have been too much for today.  Maybe I'm still a little worn out from the 5k and with a big race next weekend, I didn't want to take any chances.

Week Total=89.9 miles.  The volume was a little bit lower than I would have liked but you can't always chase numbers.  I'm pleased with how the 5k went and hopefully the weather will be good next weekend so I can make a run at sub 66:00 at the Derby Half in Louisville.

April 9th-15th Training

Monday: 6.9 miles (7:19); 6.2 miles (7:08)

Tuesday: 10.2 miles with 20x60s fast/easy. Started out somewhat controlled and gradually worked into it. Averaged about 4:25 pace on the fast portions and upper-mid 5:30s for the entire 40 minutes. I'm happy with the session because this was my first extended speed workout in quite some time. It was also quite a bit faster than when I ran this workout in September; 5.8 miles (7:09)

Wednesday: 4.5 miles (6:31); 9.5 miles (7:03)

Thursday: 10.1 miles medium. Nice and smooth. (5:48); 5 miles (7:20)

Friday: 8 miles (6:53); 4 miles (7:27)

Saturday: 11 miles with 10k race in 30:50. I ran one of my favorite races, the Purity Moosic City Dairy Dash. My plan was to run it as a tempo run around 5:00 pace, so. First few miles were really easy and I feel like I'm in sub 30 10k shape. Splits were 4:52, 4:59, 5:01, 5:02, 5:03, 4:52. ; 3 miles (7:22)

Sunday: 20.1 miles (6:18). Legs felt great and never got my "end of the long run" fatigue that I normally get.

Week Total= 104.3 miles. Great week or workouts. I'm still a couple of weeks away from being really fit but I'm getting really close. Most likely will race a 5k this week.

April 2nd- 8th Training

Monday: 8 miles (7:18); 5 miles easy

Tuesday: 10 miles medium (5:51); 8 miles with 9x45s strides every half mile. Felt super drained at the start but got a little bit better towards the end. Had less than three hours rest before the first run. My schedule doesn't allow another hard workout until Friday, so I made this day a little harder than usual, to force myself to need extra recovery.

Wednesday: 5 miles (6:41); 8.7 miles (7:21). Ran this run in about 4 separate runs at a track meet. Frustrated that I had to get the mileage that way but life is how you adapt to your circumstances, rather than make excuses and give up.

Thursday: 8 miles (6:51); 6.5 miles with strides (7:12)

Friday: 4.5 miles (7:19); 10.8 miles with 5x1k with 400m jog and 4x400m with 400m jog. Ran 2:50, 2:54, 2:49, 2:50, 2:49; 63, 63, 63, 63. Had some walkers who wouldn't get out of the first lane, so I had to run around them. I felt really smooth on the 1ks and could have done several more without a problem. Motivating first speed workout and this shows me I still have some wheels.

Saturday: 8 miles (7:01); 4.2 miles (7:29)

Sunday: 20 miles with first 15 at 6:28 pace, 4 fast at 5:27, 1 cool-down. I was hoping to get in 5 miles at 5:25, but was running against a headwind and was really tired, so I changed it to four miles. I was pretty drained after this run but was able to refuel with copious amounts of Easter candy.

Week Total= 106.7 miles. First 100 mile week in nearly four months. I feel like my fitness is really progressing but my recovery is still a bit slow. However, I feel things will really be clicking in just a couple more weeks.

March 26th-April 1st Training

Monday: 5.9 miles (6:56); 7.2 miles (7:06)

Tuesday: 7.3 miles with goal session of 8x 1/4 mile on the White House Greenway at sub 65 with 90s jog rest. I accidentally packed two pairs of "right" shoes, but luckily my work shoes are Nike Free Runs, so those weren't too bad. I ended up averaging 65.08 and only managed six before dying completely. A little frustrated that my speed is so poor, when it used to be my bread and butter. However, I felt that it shows that I still have a lot of room to improve this season and also that endurance is so much more important than speed; 6.8 miles very easy
Wed: 4.6 miles (6:37); 9.6 miles (7:18)
Thu: 2 miles easy, 8 miles medium at 5:54 pace; 5.2 miles with 4.2 miles running a fast 45s stride every half mile.
Fri: 5 miles (6:41); 9 miles (7:27)
Sat: 4.4 miles (7:44); 5.6 miles (7:23)
Sun: 15.5 miles with Knoxville Half Marathon in 67:21 or 67:09 to finish in 3rd place. I'm not sure if my watch or the official time is right. I thought I stopped my watch when I crossed the line but maybe I forgot. The course was really hilly and I would have been really happy with anything sub 68, since I ran 68:34 on the flat Tom King course three weeks ago. I ran in a pack for the first few miles and after 5 miles, it was just me and two other guys. The pace felt good but after two killer hills back-to-back, I suddenly was 10s back. I rallied back a little bit over the next two miles and narrowed the gap to about 5s but with a couple of miles to go, the guys took off and I wasn't able to go. Effort wise, this felt much easier than two weeks ago, I just wasn't able to find that extra gear that would let me dig deep. It felt like I could have run that pace for several more miles, I just wasn't able to run any faster. It was frustrating because they had a 5k as well and I had to zig-zag around walkers for the last 1/4 mile, which cost some time. Splits were: 5:19, 10:05, 5:01, 5:20, 5:04, 5:03, 5:28 (got dropped), 4:56, 5:01, 5:20, 5:24, 5:32 or 5:20 (1.1 miles); 3 miles (7:41)

Week Total= 99.1 miles. I wasn't happy with the crappy workout on Tuesday but I was really pleased with how the race went. I know feel my body is ready for consistent harder workouts, and if the weather is good, I think I can run close to 65:30 at the Louisville Half-Marathon in four weeks.

March 19th-25th

Monday: 8 miles (6:42); 5.4 miles easy with 4x10-12s hill sprints. I got completely smoked by Joe on these, when I could beat him last year. I need to get my power and speed back!

Tuesday: 9.1 miles medium progression with 3 miles each at: 6:20, 5:55, 5:30. Splits were: (6:15, 6:04, 6:13), (5:55, 5:52, 6:01), 5:28, 5:31, 5:26. The heat, hills and headwind on the way back made the last three miles pretty difficult. I wanted to end the workout after the 5:28 mile because I was struggling but you have to be stubborn during both the hard and easy times, so I made myself cowboy up and get through it; 6.1 miles (7:20)

Wednesday: 8.3 miles (7:08); 4.6 miles (6:29)

Thursday: 10 miles medium (5:50); 5.3 miles (7:20)

Friday: 4.6 miles (6:56); 5.5 miles easy

Saturday: 8.5 miles with 5k race in 15:44. Mile splits were 4:50, 4:57 and 5:47 for the next 1.1 miles. First mile was pretty tough but then I was able to back off some. We ran an extra loop in the last mile which added about 10 seconds or so. My goal was to keep it honest but relaxed, with a time goal of 15:30-45, so I was glad to knock that out.; 3.4 miles (7:25)

Sunday: 20.1 miles (6:25)

Week Total= 98.9 miles. I was glad to get in just under 100 miles. I feel like I'm rapidly improving my fitness and am hoping for a good race next weekend.

March 12th-18th Training

I decided to add my weekly training on here to make an easier to read format for me to analyze and go back and review later. Hopefully some people will steal some ideas as well. I'll still keep my more extensive log on runningahead.com.


Monday: 8 miles (7:15); 5.6 miles (7:11)

Tuesday: 9.8 miles. Ran 6x1/2 mile on/off at 2:52 avg for the fast portion. Ran this with Boomer to get him ready to break 3:00 at Boston; 4.5 miles (7:48)

Wednesday: 9.8 miles (7:07); 3.4 miles (7:22)

Thursday: 10.6 miles with 8x3:00 on/1:00 off at 5:20 average and 4x30s on/off at sub 4:30 pace. I was shooting for 10x3:00 at 5:15 pace, but it was over 80 degrees and I was slowing down throughout the workout, while I usually run these faster as the workout goes on. That was enough of a sign to bag it early. I added the 30 second surges to help with muscle fiber recruitment. Frustrated with the average pace but you have to take the whole picture into consideration: hot, hilly and still a little flat from Tom King; 3.4 miles (7:36)

Friday: 8.5 miles (7:18); 3.4 miles (7:19)

Saturday: 18.9 miles Striders long run at Stone Rivers Greenway. Ran with Boomer for the first 15.7, but my GPS was dead. Boomer and I probably ran right at 7:00 pace and then I headed over to Shelby Bottoms for two miles fast at 5:05-5:10ish. I thought I'd struggle on the fast miles but it felt really smooth.

Sunday: 3.4 miles very easy; 6.4 miles (7:18)

Week Total= 95.7 miles. My legs were in the crapper the first few days of the week due to the half marathon. I feel like I'm about four weeks away from "real training" and about six weeks away from being fit.

Marathon Cycle

It's now time to get serious. With eight weeks to go, it's time to transition to my marathon-specific cycle. The key during this phase is to get as efficient as possible at marathon pace, as well as teach my body to burn fats quicker and be able to respond in a low-glycogen state. The more efficient you are at burning fats, the longer you delay the dreaded wall. To run an event well, you have to replicate the stress your body goes through in the event during your training. For the marathon, that means that both my long runs and my weekend marathon paced workouts will be on an empty stomach, without taking anything in during the run, in order to get in a low carbohydrate state.

With my last cycle, I ran a variety of paces and intensities. Some days, I would run insanely fast and other days would be longer, steadier workouts The goal was to be more of a "complete" distance runner and be fit from the 5k through the half-marathon. One of the main goals of the marathon-specific cycle, is to extend the distance you are able to run at marathon pace. For example, for my first hard workout, I may run 6x3k, then move on to 4x5k, then something like 3x7k. Other than a sporadic race, I won't run anything much faster than marathon pace at all. I have already built up my motor in the last phase, so I need to now make it as efficient as possible.

I'm a little nervous going into this cycle because I don't feel very fit. I haven't had any great races or workouts, and have barely had any long runs. My plan was to get in around 2:22 marathon shape when I started this cycle, so I could slowly make my assault at 2:19. In order to get in 2:22 shape, I knew I would need to have a very good speed cycle, and that just didn't happen. My earlier plan was to run Chicago and after about 5-6 weeks of my speed cycle, I knew I wouldn't have a chance at sub 2:19, so I bagged my training, took a few easier weeks and started a shortened speed cycle. That went ok for a couple weeks, before I got sick and lost 1-1.5 weeks of solid training. You hear everyone say that two wrongs don't make a right but I'm hoping my two shortened cycles will somehow get me where I need to be on December 10th.

Based on my life schedule and what I need to work on, my training will be a hybrid of how I trained for the past two marathons (Country Music was more speed-focused, while Rocket City was a pure marathon focus.) Because I don't have the time to get in my longer, marathon paced workouts until cross country season is over, I'll work a little more on my half-marathon speed with things such as progression runs, tempos, etc. Once cross country is over, I'll have five weeks to train exactly how I need to, which should give me a good fitness boost. During that time, I'm hoping to get in at least a couple of weeks in the 120-125 mile range.

After the Country Music Marathon, I thought I would have a 60-70% chance of getting in 2:19 shape (getting in shape and then executing it on marathon day is an entirely different thing) but right now, I think the odds are just under 50%. But to be honest, I'm not huge on goals. All you can do is train to your maximum ability and see where that takes you. Hopefully my training will look something like this:

Monday: Two recovery runs
Tuesday: Recovery run; Easy run with 10x10-12s all-out hill sprints
Wednesday: Easy recovery run; Marathon-specific workout
Thursday: Two easy recovery runs
Friday: Medium run or medium progression run; Recovery run
Saturday: Easy run; Recovery run
Sunday: Marathon-specific workout or long run


It's pretty simple training but with running, there are no complicated formulas or secret workouts. The only "secret" is getting out on the roads and wearing out your running shoes as much as you can.

Speed Phase

With my base phase in the bag, it's time for my most grueling phase of all, the speed phase. My base phase went ok, but it could have gone better. I finished with a week just over 100 miles and got to the point where I could be pretty relaxed at sub 6:00 pace. However, I had trouble finishing up my medium progression runs at the pace I wanted. I debated extending it another week but I felt I met most of my objectives, so I decided to move on.

In the speed phase, I try to build up my engine as much as I can and get in very good 10k-half marathon shape. At the end of the phase, I hope to be in sub 67 half marathon shape and have the speed to run close to 30:00 for 10k. Joe Rubio said it best when he said the point of this phase is to turn into a Porsche, while in the marathon specific phase, you take that Porsche and turn it into a hybrid. While I'd prefer it to last 8-10 weeks, I think I'll only have time for eight weeks.

I'll run a variety of speeds in my workouts, race a good bit and also increase my mileage. The key is to attack the body with a variety of stimuli to help it develop in different areas. While I can't yet know how my body will respond to the training, I'd like to be over 100 miles for most of the weeks in this phase and get in a couple 110-115 mile weeks. While in the marathon specific phase, it's very important to be fresh enough to hit your workout times and I'll delay a workout if it's not going well, in this phase, I'll run my harder workouts tired and will stick with them, even if I'm running too slowly or am running slower than planned. I expect to hit some rough training patches and have many days where I feel like a zombie.

During my Rocket City speed phase, the focus was more-so on building half-marathon fitness. I did a lot of long intervals, 6-7 mile tempo runs, finished up some of my long runs with some hard running and did a weekly run at 90% of my marathon pace. I only raced a couple of times and placed most of my emphasis on workouts that would give me a good gas tank.

During my Country Music speed phase, I focused more on speed. I raced about every two weeks, did a lot of fartleks, and really didn't get in any longer tempos or long, steady runs. It really wasn't the best training for the marathon but I wanted to have some fun and get in some fast running and workouts, which I hadn't done in years. I also needed to get used to running under 5:00 pace, which will help my efficiency for this fall.

This go-around, I'll probably do a combination of the two. I'm racing 3-4 times in July, with a race or two in August. Every other long run, I'll include some fast running or run most of it at 90% of marathon pace. These long, fast runs will be something new for me, but as a result, it will hopefully help me breakthrough to the next level. My body wasn't strong enough to do those kinds of runs so frequently last year, but with a year of solid training under my belt, I feel that I am ready. And as boring as it sounds, I'm going to do the majority of my tempo runs and all of my intervals on the track. It will help me regulate my speed and work on more efficient pacing. A two week period might look something like this:

Monday: Easy running
Tuesday: 10x10 second hill sprints with 2:00 jog recovery
Wednesday: Workout around half-marathon race pace
Thursday: Easy running
Friday: Workout at around 3k-10k race pace or a controlled long progression over hills (if I'm racing on the weekend, I'll make this another day of easy running)
Saturday: Easy running
Sunday: Easy long run with every other long run including most of it at 90% at current marathon race pace

I'm both looking forward to and dreading this phase. Luckily, I can knock out six weeks of it during summer break, which gives me enough time to get in some good sessions (rather than having them be rushed during my lunch break) and also give me a chance to get enough sleep.

Back in Training (sort of)

With Kate now in the world, the move complete and Country Music Marathon a few weeks in the past, it's time to start slowly training for the Chicago Marathon on October 9th. After CMM, I took eight days completely off and got in a little over 30 miles last week. I would have preferred to take off at least two weeks and have a longer build-up but life is about dealing with the cards you're dealt.

I divide my marathon training into three phases: the base phase, the speed phase and the marathon specific phase. For the Rocket City Marathon, I had nearly an eight month build-up. That enabled me to take my time with each phase and slowly transition to the next one, while allowing time for some down weeks. This past spring, I didn't worry so much about my marathon but spent more time building up my "engine" and becoming more relaxed at 5:00ish mile pace. I didn't take much rest after Rocket City, jumped right into progression runs and tempos and raced a ton, while I barely raced at all during my Rocket City Training. That training wasn't ideal for racing a marathon but if I want to be able to have a shot at running 26.2 miles at 5:18 a mile, I needed to get a little more speed in my legs.

My base phase this time will last about six weeks. It will mainly include a lot of easier running, which will give my body a break, let me charge my batteries back up some and build a little bit of basic aerobic endurance. I will also include 6-8 mile "medium runs" (about 90% of marathon pace) and work up to 9-10 mile progression runs. My long runs will only max out at 15 miles but I'll still try to work up to around 100 miles a week by the end of the phase.

I'll also run weekly all-out 10 second hill sprints with a lot of recovery to help with my strength/power, muscle fiber recruitment and stroke volume.

To be honest, this is my least favorite phase. You start out feeling rusty, do a lot of easier running without much of a time/pace goal and don't get in any races. However, you can't always train hard and expect to run at your best. The body needs time to repair itself and build a foundation for the harder training to come.