Team Cross Runs

Marathon Training: Week 16

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Another week in the bag and only a few more to go.  This was a pretty good week, the weather really warmed up which was a little surprising after last week but it still wasn’t really hot.

Monday: 5 easy miles. 3 miles on a modified Powderhorn Loop.  I had some intestinal problems if you know what I mean that severely interrupted the run.  My legs felt pretty good though.  It was a cool and gorgeous morning too.

Tuesday: Yasso 800’s (8-10 miles). Happy Anniversary! Today marked our 2nd Anniversary so I opted not to run with the training class.  Instead I did the 800’s on my own. I did them right after work so that we were able to go out and enjoy our evening.  It was about 80 degrees when I ran these on the track at the University of St Thomas.  I had to dodge the football team and women’s cross-country team who were both taking up large portions of the track.  I did just over a mile warm-up before completing 6×800.  The plan was to do 8-10×800 but my times were dropping and I was hot, tired, and wanted to get on with the evening.  My Garmin says that I was actually running 0.54 which is probably accurate since I had to run in lane 8, swerve around a cart into lane 6 and then back to the outside around the circle of xc runners.  I hoped to make up the difference by cutting each of the intervals short, but guess I didn’t accomplish that! My splits were: 2:55, 3:11, 3:20, 3:23, 3:21, and 3:16.  So I started out a little too fast! I did approximately a 400 very slow in between each interval to about the 3:00 minute mark and finished the workout with 1.5 miles back to my car.  The run was 7.7 miles long and took 1:00:22 to finish.

Wednesday: 5 easy miles. I was a little tired and sore from the track workout and opted for an evening run again.  I ran along the Midtown Greenway and kept trying to slow myself down but I ran the 5 miles in 38:23 which is 7:34 pace.  It felt pretty good despite the temps being up at 80 again.  The Greenway gets pretty busy at this time of day (evening rush hour) and I passed a guy who was playing his trumpet while riding his bike!

Thursday: Rest Day. I successfuly rested today and actually got a massage. It had been awhile and this was my last pre-race massage.  It felt good and my body seems to be holding up pretty well.

Friday: 4 miles at marathon pace. Friday and Saturday’s workouts are pretty much interchangeable as scheduling goes and since we were going out of town it seemed like a good idea to get the longer run done.  So I ran 12 miles along a modified downtown loop.  With the 35W bridge and related roadways opening up yesterday it meant that some of the running trails re-opened and so I was one of the first runners to run underneath the East side of the bridge.  It is a pretty nice bridge with some green stone for decoration/memorial(?) underneath.  It was a very uneventful with temps in the mid-60’s. It felt really good until the sun started coming up and then it seemed to feel pretty hot. I ran 12 miles in 1:38:13, not the best showing of the season but a pretty nice easy run!

Saturday: 12 miles. Obviously I did the 4 miles at marathon pace today! We were celebrating our anniversary in Lanseboro, MN which is the heart of Bluff Country. I did a mile warm-up before starting the marathon pace. I ran along the Root River State Trail, which was quite empty at the 7:00am hour.  The temperature was probably in the mid-60’s and it was just me and the cows - chewing their cud. I ran the 4 miles in 29:34 which was 7:24 a little off marathon pace. The Garmin was acting up a bit during my warm-up saying I was running 14-min pace - I don’t think so! The overall run was 5.5 miles in 42:04.

Sunday: Cross-training. We rode our bikes along the trail and ended up doing just under 24 miles of easy cruising. We had a grand time, the leaves are just starting to change and everything - perfect!

Weekly Mileage:

Running - 33.3 miles

Biking - 48 miles

Hal’s Tip of the Week: Research suggests that runners often catch a cold or the flu the final week before the marathon, or the week after the marathon. That’s because in building to a mileage peak, they often overdo it and temporarily suppress their immune systems. Marathoners thus are more vulnerable to any viruses they might encounter. To avoid colds, try to avoid people who have them. And get plenty of rest.

Week 16

Technorati Tags: Hal Higdon, Marathon Training, Taper

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Marathon Training: Week 15

This is it… the last hard week of marathon training. And I felt it! 53 miles of running and last week’s 25K race to help start the week! Good times! I felt pretty solid all the way through but was humbled by the 22 miler - which may be a good thing!

Monday: 4-6 easy miles. A 6.2 mile recovery run downtown in 50:23. Most definitely a little tired and I took it easy on this overcast morning with 51 degree temps. I ran part of the riverfront loop on top of my normal 4 mile downtown loop.

Tuesday: 10 mile fartlek. We met at Fort Snelling to run these on dirt trails in the park. My group ended up running 9.12 miles including 11 hard intervals and finished in 1:10:54. It was perfect weather in the mid-60’s and shady down by the river (didn’t see any vans though). These fartleks were more like what a fartlek should be. 1 person set the pace and distance, and they were the only one that knew how far it was going to be. Each fartlek was supposed to range between 1-3 minutes. Recovery was supposed to be equal to the interval time. This was a lot of fun overall. It was interesting that the intervals I was leading were a lot easier than the ones where I wasn’t - quite the mental game. I won’t bore you with all the details of each interval! It was a good time.

Wednesday: 5-7 easy miles. There was no way I was going to wake up and run after last night’s work out. So I ran in the evening with my wife. We rode our bikes downtown and each did our own variation of the riverfront loop. I ran 5.8 miles in 45:55 and felt pretty good despite the windy weather and 67 temps. We had fun “running together”.

Thursday: Rest Day! I was quite ready for this rest day and my legs were too! They were starting to feel a little banged up I think. I’ve also been dealing with some sinus drainage since Tues or Weds so was glad for the chance to rest-up.

Friday: 10 miles at marathon pace. Some how I missed that this was a MP run, but I think since I raced last weekend that its ok to miss the MP part! No reason to do anything stupid at this point. I ran 9.7 miles and didn’t feel like tacking on the extra .3 on a pretty nice morning, and ran it in 1:16:56. It was 58 and like 90% humidity. I ran down the Midtown Greenway and around the Mississippi River crossing both the Lake and Franklin bridges. I felt pretty good and was happy to run it under 8 minute pace.

Saturday: 20 miles. The last long run of the training cycle!! We met at the finish line of the TC Marathon course and ran out and back on it. I guess it is also a tradition that my pace group tacks a little extra on and makes it a 22 mile run. So I ran 22.2 miles in 2:52:40 (7:46 pace)!! I’ll be honest this was not an easy run to finish and I was ready to be done a few times! My slowest mile (excluding the first) was 8:07 and was mile 21. From there it was cruising to the finish and it was a thrill to come around and know that the finish was just up ahead! I can only image how it will feel right there in a few weeks. My fastest mile was a 7:26 for mile 13. It was a great day to run with temps around the 60 mark and a slight drizzle for the last 10k.

Sunday: Cross-training. I woke up pretty tired and a little sore. Today Higdon said you could cross-train or take the day off… I opted for the latter!

Weekly Mileage:

Running - 53 miles

Biking - 25 miles

Hal’s Tip of the Week: What you do in any one workout doesn’t matter. The most important point of any training program is the totality of that program, and the results it brings. A flash speed workout with quick splits may look good in your training diary, but it could bring you to the edge of overtraining. The same with running the long runs too hard. Your time in the final 20-miler won’t count three weeks later. Your success will be measured by, 1) finishing the marathon, if you’re a beginner, or 2) finishing it in a time that reflects your current capabilities, if you’re an experienced runner. What you did while getting there doesn’t count.

Technorati Tags: Marathon Training, Hal Higdon

Week 15

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Marathon Training: Week 14

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Only a few more weeks to go and I think the fall weather has finally arrived.  I ran what was hopefully my last “hot” run on Monday.  It is amazing how much the temps have dropped through the week.  Monday morning was 70 and the temps barely broke 70 for the rest of the week! This was also the first week back for students at school so that was a little added stress but overall a very good week.

Monday: 4-6 miles. On Labor Day I did a random 6 mile route that took me downtown and across the Stone Arch Bridge and down to the river on some random trails I hadn’t done before.  I took it pretty easy and ran in 50:23.  It was 70 with high humidity. My stomach was a little upset and my legs a little tired from the 20 miler still.

Tuesday: 8-10 mile progression run. We met at Lake Harriet for our group 10 mile progression run.  We ran around Lake Harriet for a warm-up, did Calhoun to Isles at Marathon Pace, did the entire Isles at half-marathon pace and then the short side of Calhoun at 10K pace.  We hit each pace a little fast, so the overall 9.82 miles in 1:11:14 was actually at 7:15 or marathon pace.  The Marathon Pace segment was 2.54 miles in 18:19 or 7:12 pace.  The Half-Marathon Pace segment was 2.63 miles in 17:36 or 6:42 pace.  The 10K Pace segment was 1.43 miles in 8:48 or 6:10 pace.  I was quite pleased with the workout and how I felt overall at the end.  The 10K segment hurt but I never felt my pace was out of control. It was in the mid-60’s for the run.

Wednesday: 5-7 mile recovery run.As always when I run on Weds in the morning I am pretty tired and sore from last night’s workout.  This 3.5 mile run at Powderhorn Park was no different.  My left achilles and right ankle were a little tight, so I enjoyed running a lot of the run on grass and was glad to get home and ice! I ran it in 30:16 and with the 52 temp I was wearing long sleeves!

Thursday: Rest Day! I nice day of rest.  I didn’t do anything today except work and lounge around at home!

Friday: 6 mile run. This was a nice easy run along the Greenway.  I felt comfortable the entire 6 miles.  I went east for the first time in awhile.  It was 53 and sunny, so I wore a long sleeve shirt again and by the end I was getting pretty warm. I finished in 46:59.

Saturday: 10-12 miles. Because of tomorrow’s race I didn’t want to run today, however the training group was getting a 30% discount at Marathon Sports after the morning run.  So, I rode my bike there and bought a few items and rode home.  It was a scenic ride down the Greenway and around Lake Calhoun and Harriet.

Sunday: Cross-Training. I raced a 25K this morning instead of cross-training.  This was the last race of the USATF series and a beautiful morning.  I set out to run marathon pace and instead ran a very nice 1:48:40 or 7 minute pace and PRing in the half-marathon.  Stay tuned for more about the race!

Weekly Mileage:

Running: 40.9 miles

Biking: 33 miles

Hal’s Tip of the Week: Too much racing can compromise your marathon training. In the marathon training class in Chicago, we used to recommend that students race no more than three out of the 18 weekends at distances between 10-K and 25-K. Now we don’t recommend any racing out of fear of injury. Races, nevertheless, can help you determine your fitness level and help select you predict marathon pace. Here’s a handy formula for predicting marathon time. Multiply your 10-K time by 4.66. (For instance, 40:00 for 10-K predicts 3:06:40 for the marathon.) First-timers, however, should take a more conservative approach and multiply 10-K time by a factor of 5. (For instance, 50:00 for 10-K predicts 4:10 for the marathon.) By choosing the more conservative formula, and starting more slowly, you’re less likely to hit the wall.

Technorati Tags: Marathon Training, Hal Higdon

Week 14

Marathon Training: Week 13

This was a pretty nice week of running with some great weather and camaraderie. This was the highest mileage week of the season and it felt pretty strong. It seems the rest day always comes at the best time! I started running in my new shoes on Monday - Mizuno Men’s Wave Inspire 4.

Monday: 5-6 miles comfortably. 6 miles along the Midtown Greenway, felt pretty good this morning.  The temperature was 57, it was a little humid but at that temperature you don’t really feel it too much.  I just went 3 miles out and back. I ran it in 46:18. The Greenway was a little crowded with commuting traffic, but not too bad.

Tuesday: 8-10 miles at marathon pace. Ran a total of 10.5 miles around Lake Calhoun.  We did three 5K laps and then tacked on a little bit here and there - mostly for water stops. The total run was 1:19:22 (7:32).  Our 5K splits were 23:22 (7:32), 22:57 (7:25), and 22:39 (7:20).  In the last mile and a half we did 6 strides to almost 100% effort for 15-30 seconds.  Those felt really good even as my legs were getting tired from the Marathon Pace running.  It was 80 with no humidity and a nice breeze off the lake.  I went for a quick dip after the run and was almost cold afterwards.

Wednesday: 5-7 miles easy. This morning I ran just with my wrist watch, but I ran the 4 mile downtown course so my 31:45 is pretty accurate.  It had just stormed pretty hard as I was waking up so it was pretty humid and was 67 out.  I felt tired but ok given yesterday’s workout.

Thursday: Rest day! I did rest! I had to take the car to work - can’t carry several cases of pop on my bike!

Friday: 10 miles (some at pace) I decided to run about 10 miles down the Greenway and around Lake of the Isles. Isles is just under a 3 mile loop so I decided to pick-up the tempo around the lake and run home.  The total route ended up being 9 miles. I ran the 2.63 miles around the Isles at 7:20 pace and the overall run in 1:09:30 which is 7:43 pace.  It was 57 but 80% humidity, but it didn’t feel too bad.

Saturday:20 miles. For today’s 20 miler we met at the University of St. Thomas and ran 5 miles out - going backwards on the marathon course.  We turned around, went past UST and ran the last 5 miles of the course before turning around and running to our cars.  So basically we ran the last 10 miles of the Twin Cities Marathon course.  It was a good run with lots of discussion about strategy, especially hitting some of the hills in the final miles.  I ran 20 miles in 2:35:07 (7:45).  It was 60 at the start but humid and the temps rose fairly quickly. If we felt good we could drop to marathon pace at the end.  Well for most of the run we weren’t too far off marathon pace, but in the last mile I did hit a 7:21, despite having almost bonked around mile 18. After the first mile my slowest mile was 8:09 mile 18.

Sunday:Cross-training. Rode my bike to the Midtown YWCA, only to discover that the entire pool area was closed for routine maintenance.  “Crap, now what…” As I was biking home I realized, “duh just go to another YWCA.” So I rode to the Uptown YWCA and did my swimming.  I swam 300 total yards and actually swam 100 yards without stopping!

Weekly Mileage:

Running -49.6 miles

Cycling - 32.5 miles

Swimming - 300 yds

Tip of the Week: Stretching is important for marathoners, who risk losing flexibility because of their high-mileage training. Include some stretching in your daily running routine. The best time to stretch is not before you run. Pre-workout muscles may be tight; the risk of injury is increased. Instead, stretch during–or after–your run, when muscles are warmest. Stretching on the off days also makes sense.

Technorati Tags: Hal Higdon, Marathon Training

Week 13

Marathon Training: Week 12

What a roller coaster of a week.  After a terrible run on Tuesday I was able to come back and PR in the half-marathon distance on Saturday.  I’m glad this week is over and looking forward to more good weeks of training.

Monday: 4-6 easy miles. I extended my downtown-Park Ave 4 mile loop to make it close to 5 miles and ended up running 4.83 miles in 40:21.  It was 66 which felt great even with the higher humidity.  I took it nice and easy for my first run after 20+ miles on Saturday!  I was a little tired and sore but felt pretty good.

Tuesday: 8-10 mile threshold workout. This ended up being a downright brutal workout due to the heat and humidity. I think it was in the mid-80’s with near 100% humidity. It was raining north and south of us but not on us.  They gave us a progression workout for a 10 mile run.  The plan was 2.5 easy, hydrate, then 2.5 at Marathon Pace, turning around and running 2.5 at Half-Marathon pace, water stop and then recover for awhile do a mile at 10K pace and recover to the start.  No one in my pace group did the 10K pace section.  We ran along the East River Parkway, next to the Mississippi River, but the scenery didn’t help the run any.  Also the East side of the river is significantly hillier than the west, so our downhills out made for some tough uphills towards the end of the half-marathon pace.  I should note that I was outside most of the afternoon, but tried to stay hydrated.  We ran the first section in 20:21 (8:01 pace) and completed the marathon pace section in 17:46 (7:12 pace).  So far so good -  MP for me is 7:15. I ran the half-marathon pace section in 17:21 (7:03 pace Goal Pace would be 6:54), during this section our group of 5 got strung out pretty good.  We stopped for water and I hit the porta-pot.  When I came out the group had a small lead, but I was never able to catch back up - which I think hurt mentally for me.  I finished the last leg in 20:05 (8:13 pace) and was glad to be finished.  We commiserated about how bad we felt and went our separate ways.  I got home, showered, ate a quick dinner, and was asleep by 9pm.

Wednesday: 5-7 easy miles. I didn’t wake up until 7:30am which is really sleeping in for me.  I still felt really drained and all around terrible.  I finally managed to drag myself to work, thankful I was going in late due to working later than normal yesterday. I drank a lot of water and by the evening felt like I should give running a try.  I wanted a little motivation so I went to Pike Island and ran on the scenic dirt trails around the island that marks the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers.  I wanted to take it easy and just run how I felt. I ended up running 4.3 miles in 34:10 and felt really good.  I picked up the pace for a little bit when a group of college runners went by, but kept reminding myself to slow down! I’m glad I motivated myself to go and it was nice to just run and enjoy the scenery.

Thursday: Rest Day. A much needed rest day, even though I bike commuted it felt good.

Friday: 6 miles at marathon pace. An unscheduled (kinda) rest day.  I was still back and forth about racing over the weekend so I knew that if I ran it wouldn’t be the scheduled workout.  I had to go to work earlier than normal and thought I’d be able to run in the early afternoon.  That ended up not working out, but taking the day off shouldn’t hurt too much since it is a stepback week.

Saturday: 10-12 miles In his notes Hal Higdon says this would be a good week for racing a half-marathon.  A group of people from my team were racing a half-marathon so I went with them.  Am I glad I did. If you read the introduction then you know that I set a new PR.  Breaking my 3 year old PR by about a minute and a half! Quite an exciting race.  I felt terrible for the middle - last part of the race so I was delighted to see the clock showing a PR!! It was a perfect day to race - temps in the mid-60’s, low humidity, a fairly shady and flat course.  My watch had me at 1:33:22, which was also my official chip time.

Sunday: Cross-Train. We rode our bikes to church and the Minnesota State Fair for a total of 13.3 miles on the bike and several miles wandering around with the hoards of people at the fair.

Weekly Mileage

Running - 32.1 miles

Biking - 53.4 miles

Hal’s Tip of the Week: There is no such thing as “bad food,” only bad choices. There’s even a place for burgers, fries and shakes in your diet. You just need to balance everything you eat. If you eat a well-balanced diet, that includes ample fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains, you can avoid expensive supplements. Tape these words to your refrigerator: “Eat a wide variety of lightly processed foods.”

Technorati Tags: Hal Higdon, Marathon Training

Week 12

Reflections of a 20 Mile Run

The first 20 miler maybe the toughest. That was the topic of discussion at the end of the run as we all stood around recovering from a nice 21 mile run.  I was the novice in the group as this was my longest run ever and everyone else has several marathons already under their belt (with some impressive times to boot!) I think we decided that the first one might be the hardest, but they never really get easier.  Not overly encouraging as we have 2 more 20 mile runs in the upcoming weeks.  But their points were well taken At this distance it is easy to have a bad day and feel it. Runs of this distance require a little more thought and preparation than an easy 10 miler.  I plan to prepare well for all of my upcoming long runs!

Preparation - We spent a pretty quiet evening at home on Friday night, eating Pasta and watching the Olympics. I can’t say I hydrated excessively, but felt pretty hydrated.  I actually woke up Saturday morning with “pre-race jitters.” I hit the bathroom several times and ate a bagel with peanut butter and half a bowl of oatmeal.  Then I hopped on my bike and rode the 2.75 miles to where we were meeting. It was a nice easy ride on a cool (low 60’s morning).

The Route

Run Time - I loaded up my shorts with a package of cola flavoredClif Shot Blok and off we went.  The plan was to take a Shot Blok every 5K.  I managed to do that and felt like that was a good mixture for most of the run. We actually did take the pace nice and slow as we started out.  We had a group of about 10 runners which was a nice size.  We started approximately at the 1.5 mile mark of the Twin Cities Marathon. We followed the course pretty accurately hitting the official water-stop around mile 3 where I picked up some CLIF SHOT Energy Gel of the Chocolate persuasion - they offered both Chocolate and Double Expresso. They did this for all the runners about a month ago.

We made some course deviations to throw in some soft trails but hit the hills along Minnehaha Parkway so we wouldn’t be surprised by them during the race. That was actually a good thing because I didn’t realize there would be any on that part of the course, so now I can plan for them. We hit them about 7 miles into our run which places them approximately in the 8-9 mile range.

Pace Chart

Coming back from the turn around point I noticed on my Garmin that we were in my Marathon pace range (my goal is 7:15 so Marathon Pace runs would be between 7:30 and 7:00).  The pace chart shows us hitting 7-flat for a brief moment of time in the 9 mile range.  I wanted to stay with the group but also knew we had a long way to go still so I was willing to let them go, knowing eventually we’d catch up.  I never really got gapped by the group and had someone to run with for most of the run, which was nice!

The trails were quite crowded on our return run as many training groups were out there hitting the roads. On the return we “closed” the lakes - running around them on the opposite side so that we essentially ran around the entire thing. I started feeling bad when we got to Lake Calhoun, it had been about 5 miles since the last water stop and I was tired.  I stopped to pee real quick and caught back up to the group at a water fountain.

We then swung by the Marathon Water Stop at 17.25 already 1.25 miles farther than my longest run.  I grabbed 2 cups of water, a cup of Powerade, and ate a Chocolate Gu (I didn’t eat the first one).  I had gotten a little hungry somewhere in the early teen miles, but not the hunger that can really be satisifed while running.  I over did it at the last stop and felt it within the next mile. I was still moving along fairly well but could feel my hip flexors getting tight, my toes getting blisters, and my stomach was a little off.

I hung in there and finished at the consistent pace we had been going.  I ran the last mile pretty much by myself, with a group right in front of me and a guy behind me who later said, “My GI tract finished the run before I did.”

Reflections - Those are my thoughts from my first 20+ mile run.  Here are my take-aways:

• Eat a bigger breakfast,
• Don’t try to “cram” for the final miles,
• Be consistent with nutrition on the run,
• Steady pace throughout the run, try to avoid spiking the pace,
• Relax and have fun!

Here is a list of my mile splits if you care! Oh, I guess I should note that my Garmin had the run at 20.5 miles but pretty much everyone agreed that it was at least 21.

1. 9:00
2. 8:14
3. 8:20
4. 8:14
5. 8:11
6. 8:12
7. 8:03
8. 7:49
9. 7:47
10. 8:12
11. 7:33
12. 7:54
13. 8:03
14. 7:55
15. 7:37
16. 8:00
17. 8:05
18. 7:59
19. 8:14
20. 8:01
21. 3:52 (8:07 pace)

Technorati Tags: Running, 20 miles, Reflections

Marathon Training: Week 11

A pretty good week that ended with my longest run ever! I definitely started to feel the load of building up the miles this week though, especially on the hills.  The weather has been great for pretty much all the runs so that is really nice.

Monday:4-6 easy miles. 5 mile recovery run. It was nice and slow as I was feeling yesterday’s race. I ran around Powderhorn Park doing laps around the lower level until I got to 3.5 so that I would hit 5 on the way home.  I finished the run in 42:05. The temperature was around 60 with high humidity, but it was cool enough that the humidity wasn’t much of a factor.

Tuesday:8-10 miles with hills. 8.6 miles at Hyland Hills again. This time we didn’t run up the ski hill, but it didn’t matter too much because my body was quite tired.  I really felt all of the previous hillwork and racing on hills during the run.  Hyland is a great place to run because it has a lot of options for hills and flat spots too. 1:08:30 was our overal time on a pretty good evening to run.  We got the run in between some major deluges, so it was pretty humid and around 75. Surprisingly the trails weren’t really that wet.

Wednesday: 5-7 easy miles. I had planned to run 6 miles today but ended up only running 4.  I felt pretty wiped out and didn’t want to push it too hard.  I was suffering a little bit from Olympic sleep deprivation and this run is always pretty tough anyways. I did my Downtown via Park 4 mile loop in 33:22.  It was a nice 61 degrees but 94% humidity made for a nice sweaty run! I seemed to hit a lot of red lights today - which I didn’t complain too much about!

Thursday:Rest Day. I did a pretty good job of resting, but I did bike commute 8.6 miles, but I tried to keep it at an easier pace.

Friday:10 miles. A nice 10 miler to start the weekend off! It really would have been nice to get out on some trails but I did what has become my normal Friday loop of running around the Minneapolis Riverfront - Boon Island, Nicollet Island, and the W River Parkway.  I tacked on some miles running through the University of Minnesota East Bank Campus and made it home in 1:22:20 for the run.  I wanted it to be an easy run as the 20 miler loomed on Saturday, so that definitely fit the bill. It was in the low 60’s and humid for this run as well!

Saturday:18-20 miles. Ta dah, my longest run ever and the route-maker made it a little long, thanks Nathan! Couldn’t have asked for a better day for this run and a great group of about 10 people to run with for it.  We ran almost the entire first half of the Twin Cities Marathon Course and got a waterstop provided by the marathon. We ended up running 21 miles around the Lakes for a pretty decent run.  We finished in 2:45:22 before it got too hot.  Temps started in the mid 60’s and were in the mid-70’s when I got home. We felt the heat on some of the exposed areas around the Lakes but much of the run was shaded! I felt good for the first half and struggled more in the second.  After the last stop at 17.5 I started feeling bad for awhile (I had taken too much water) and finished valiantly with a long slow uphill in the last mile. My hip flexors and toes hurt the worst!

Sunday: Cross-Training. I rode my bike to the YWCA and swam a total of 400 yards.  I did my best Phelps impersonation and failed miserably! I did swim 200 yards without stopping - alternating freestyle and backstroke.  I didn’t feel too sore upon waking up so that is a really good thing! It was nice to sit in the hot tub though!

Weekly Mileage Totals:

Running - 48.6 miles

Biking - 52.2 miles

Swimming - 400 yards

Tip of the Week: Occasional racing may be important for marathon success. Particularly this is true for Novice runners who have raced infrequently–or not at all–before catching the Marathon Bug. One reason for racing is to test your fitness: to get an idea of how fast a pace you will be able to carry in the marathon. Another is to test all your strategies from the shoes you’ll wear to grabbing fluids at water stations. Leave nothing to chance. Too much racing, however, can lead to overtraining, so don’t overdo it.

Week 11

Technorati Tags: Marathon Training, Hal Higdon