This is the first of several stepback weeks. Stepback weeks are relatively easier weeks that allow your body to recover a little more than normal and help prevent injury and burnout.  It is good to through them into training every now and then, especially as mileage ramps up.  I do feel a little fresher at the end of the week, but having my bike mileage ramp up during the week made me a little sluggish during the middle.

Monday: Cross-training day I started the week off with 300 yards of swimming at the YWCA.  It felt a little easier than last week but I still get tired out pretty quickly by swimming.  This is also not a continuous swim of 300 yards but I was able to swim longer without stopping this time! I again  alternated between freestyle and back stroke.

Tuesday: Run 3 miles. I am typically a morning runner, but I had an early morning conference to attend so that made it a little harder to fit in the run.  So I opted to run in the evening and took my wife along too! We rode our bikes 2.5 miles to Lake of the Isles and then I ran 3 miles around it and she ran for 15 minutes (this was her first run in a long time).  It was a gorgeous evening about 78 degrees.  I felt really good and ran 21:27 which felt comfortable.  Isles is a lot less crowded than its neighboring Calhoun so it was an enjoyable run.  We then tried feeding the ducks and rode our bikes home.  Don’t worry no matter what it seems like I’m not training for a triathlon!

Wednesday: Six miles at a comfortable pace. Back to a morning run I ran 6 along the Greenway towards the river.  It was an excellent morning with temps in the low 60’s and the sun was out. I ran this in 47:45 and felt pretty comfortable the entire way.

Thursday: Another easy 3-miler. This was a very sluggish 3 mile run around Powderhorn Park.  I think the combination of Tuesday’s run and all the extra bike miles made this tougher than it needed to be.  But I finished the 3 miles in 25:32 and called it a day.

Friday: Day of rest. A glorious day of resting! It was also a good excuse to take the car to work today!

Saturday: Run 6 miles at marathon race pace. My marathon goal is 3:10 which is a 7:15 pace.  So 6 miles at race pace would be 43:28.  This is actually my first run at race pace since I did an actual race for the first one.  It is pretty hard to keep at a certain pace over time.  I thought I did a pretty good job of it but looking at my splits I didn’t do as well as I’d thought. I drove to Fort Snelling Park and ran around Pike Island, which is a pretty much flat loop just over 3 miles long.  I set off and ran the first 2 miles right over the 7:15 pace (7:21 and 7:14 respectively).  Shortly after the 2 mile mark the trail was flooded over and either side was pretty swampy.  I tried to carefully go around it but gave up and just cut right through back to the trail.  During this section I also saw a fawn (baby deer) but didn’t see any of its relatives. When I got back to the beginning I took the trail that cuts through the center of the island and had to run through another swampy area.  This time it was impossible to go around and I just ran straight through it.  I ran miles 3 and 4 in 7:26 and 7:27.  I then cut back out to the main trail at the next opportunity and started heading back, I went through mile 5 in 7:23.  The last mile took me back off the island and for fun I decided to run up the bluff trail to Fort Snelling which my Garmin say is a 40 ft elevation gain at a 10% grade over a 1/4 mile, so its short and steep. I finished the last mile in 7:45.   I went through the first 5 miles at 7:20 pace so I think that was a pretty good showing for the day. There weren’t a lot of runners out but a few dedicated soles on a gorgeous 63 degree morning.

Sunday: Run 8 miles today at a comfortable pace. It was gorgeous this morning when I woke up.  It was 59 and sunny at the start with a slight headwind while I ran down the Greenway.  I ran towards and around the Lake of the Isles which is a perfect 8 mile course.  I ran the 8 miles in 63:04 which felt pretty comfortable all the way through.  Pretty much each mile was faster than the last one, starting with a 8:17 mile and finishing with a 7:32.  I started off feeling a little sluggish maybe through the first half of the run but then everything loosened up and the last half felt really good.  I enjoyed the early morning run around the lake.  The sun was already up but it looked neat coming off the water.

Weekly Totals:

Running – 26 miles

Biking – 50 miles

Swimming – 300 yds

Hal’s Tip of the Week: Be flexible with your training, particularly while traveling. Don’t be afraid to modify workouts occasionally when it seems appropriate. The general pattern of the program–the steady buildup–is more important than what you do on any one day. Don’t get so hung up on your training schedule that you are unwilling to make adjustments when an opportunity for an interesting run develops.

Week 3

[tags] Marathon, Training, Hal Higdon [/tags]

This was a pretty good week for training. Only a few of the days were really humid and a gorgeous weekend! On Tuesday and Thursday I threw in a couple of accelerations after the run and then did push-ups, sit-ups, and a back exercise to build up some core strength.

Monday: Do some cross-training, but only at a very easy level. Well since I bike commute to work I could have just used that as my cross-training but I didn’t really like that idea too much. I decided awhile back that I would try to avoid the elliptical machine as much as possible, so that really only left swimming. I’m not a really good swimmer so this has been something I’ve had to work on and I haven’t done any swimming since January! But I dutifully went to the gym and swam for awhile. I’ve found that if I slow down I can actually breathe properly, which makes it a little more fun. I lost track of how many laps I’d actually swam so I just called it 500 meters yards. I used mostly freestyle and backstroke and then sat in the hot tub for a little bit. It felt pretty good overall.

Tuesday: 3 miles at a comfortable pace. It was 57 and sunny for my easy 3 miler around Powderhorn Park. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to run through the park and get an accurate 3 mile course, the park has a perimeter trail and then some inner trails too. I knew the distance was going by quickly while on an inner loop and took off straight up the hill to get to the outer trail. I ran the 3 miles in 24:17.

Wednesday: Five miles today. It was 59 and humid for this out and back run along the Greenway. This is the run where I am allowed to pick-up the pace if I want to. Last week I through in a mile at an increased tempo but this week I just ran the 5 miles. It felt pretty good and I tried to just stay at a steady pace and ran a 38:15. The legs still felt tired but that’s ok!

Thursday: 3 miles at a comfortable pace This morning’s run felt very sluggish. It was 62 which was nice except that it was 93% humidity which never feels that good! I ran the downtown loop in 23:34. The bike trail leaving downtown was fairly full, a lot of people walking and of course lots of bike commuters!

Friday: A day of rest. This still feels weird to not run on Fridays. My body clock gets me up at the same time anyway so I got up and did some chores around the house – my wife works the night shift so I can be pretty loud at 6:30am if I want! I did cheat a little bit as we rode our bikes downtown for the Minnesota Bike Festival race. It was a lot of fun to watch! It was only 5 miles at a very relaxed speed so I’m not too worried about it!

Saturday: Run 5 miles. I did another 5K today. This was very low-key. I got fourth and ran a 19:11 for 2.91 miles according to my GPS. I did a little warm-up so I did actually get 5 miles in. I’m being careful and probably won’t race for awhile. Read the race review tomorrow for all the gritty details!

Sunday: 11 miles. It was pretty much a perfect day for a long run. It was 59 when I left and like 62 when I go home. I did run 11 miles along the Greenway and then down the West River Parkway. Sadly it was an out-and-back. I played with some different routes on the computer to see if I could make this run a loop but it ended up being too far. Although it kind of became a loop course during the run – let me explain. There is the paved trail on the road and then in some places – pretty much the length of the course today there is a dirt or really messed up paved trail that is farther down the cliff towards the river. In some places it is really nice and others it is just a dirt single-track. This also added a more rolling hill effect to the run which was good. It was near perfect for getting off the pavement. Running to and from the river was in the sun which made it pretty warm but all along the river it was shaded and almost cool. I did the 11 mile run in 1:34:12 which is 8:33 pace. My slowest mile was 9:38 for mile 9 and my fastest was 7:40 for mile 2. By the end of the run I was pretty wiped out – having biked 20 miles on Saturday didn’t help. I think for my long runs now on I’ll need to make sure to carry or drop water and start looking at using my Clif Shot Bloks.

Weekly Mileage Totals:

Running – 26.9 miles, this is actually a drop from last week. Though last week I ran on my cross-training day!

Biking – 67 miles. Most of these are at a fairly easy pace. I bike commute 8 miles round-trip at about 15mph but when I ride with my wife (who will be at 50 miles for the week) we ride more like 10-12 mph average.

Swimming – 500 yards.

Hals’ Tip of the Week: Easy days are as important in your training plan as hard days. You won’t get the full benefits of the progressive long-run buildup on the weekends, unless you rest before and after. Resting on Fridays and Mondays allows you to run harder on Saturdays and Sundays, when you will have more time for your workouts. The marathon is 17 weeks away, but your success depends on the steady base that you are building now.

Week 2

[tag] Marathon, Training, Hal Higdon [/tags]

This will be my first marathon. I am training for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on October 5, 2008.

I had planned on using a training program from Running Planet designed specifically for the 3:10 goal time. It was a highly structured program that included goal times for each workout and lots of specific training geared towards that time. I decided that for my first marathon I should try to enjoy myself at least a little bit and not get burnt out during training. So I looked into some other plans!

I have decided on Hal Higdon’s Intermediate II program. Hal’s website is pretty adamant that first time marathoners (even for experienced athletes at other distances) should use his novice plan. Well I disagree! I think the Intermediate II is a good program that will provide adequate mileage and a mix of harder runs to accommodate my needs. I might adjust it as time goes on adding more speed work if I feel up to it. It will be a little different than I am used to since most of my races and thus long runs have been on Saturdays, now they will be on Sundays. I plan to continue bike commuting through most of my training time. So we’ll see how it goes! My goal is still a 3:10 BQ which is a 7:14 pace.

It was supposed to rain or storm pretty much every day this week, so you will notice a common thread of high humidity throughout the week. I think the lowest was in the 70% range. Here’s the week’s summary:

Monday: Comparative Rest (cross-train 30 minutes) It seemed a little wrong to start marathon training with a day of cross training so I did an easy 3 miles. I know my first act of training was the break from the schedule! Oh well. 3 miles in 23:18 on the Little Earth loop. It was 63 degrees and humid at the start.

Tuesday: Run 3 miles at a comfortable pace. Today’s loop ended up being closer to 3.5 miles in 27:33. I ran down to Powderhorn Park, around the lake and back enjoying the cool 57 degree weather, despite the high humidity.

Wednesday: Five miles. This is the “mid-week longer run”. I’m not sure I’ve called a 5 miler long outside of track when we were competing in the 800, but oh well. I ran this along the Greenway in 37:35. We are allowed to pick up the pace on this run so I ran one of the miles at what felt like a faster pace, it was actually 6:56 so that is faster than marathon pace. It was 55 and humid again.

Thursday: 3 miles, comfortable pace. Follow the run by doing some stretching and strength training for about 15-30 minutes. I did the Downtown Loop this morning which is 3 miles in 23:45. It was 61 with 88% humidity at the start! It felt pretty good. I stretch after ever run but did push-ups, sit-ups, and back exercises today and Tuesday.

Friday: Rest It is a little weird to have Friday as a rest day. I was contemplating going to the gym to do some stretching when I remembered that I still had a massage to redeem from the gym. I had bought a couple of 30 minute sessions awhile back for my wife and I but we’d never used them. So I got a 30 minute massage focused on my lower back and legs. It felt really good and probably will become a somewhat regular part of my routine.

Saturday: Five miles at marathon pace. Hear I go messing up the schedule already again! I have a 5K on Sunday so I switched the two workouts. Hal is ok with this although he really prefers that the long run follows the pace run, but such is life! I did 10 miles along the Mississippi River on some unexplored parts of the city thanks to twitter friend AEnglesrud who gave me the route idea. It was a lot of fun! I did it in 1:21:59, incorporated some hills and it was a nice morning with starting temps at 65 with 85% humidity. I felt pretty good throughout the run but I hadn’t completely mapped it out so I ended up hitting 10 miles over a mile from home – so I just stopped and walked home!

Sunday: Run 10 miles. I ran a 19:51 5K on the track as part of the USATF-MN Outdoor Championship track meet. Look for the full review tomorrow! But it totaled about 5 miles total. Another cool but humid day.

Weekly Totals:

Running – 29.6 miles

Biking – 40 miles

Hal’s Running Tip of the Week: With the marathon 18 weeks away, plan the training now that will permit you success. Marathon training works best if you start easy and build gradually: A long run of 10 miles in June becomes 20 miles in September. Most important at this time is to establish a goal, whether that goal is to finish or to run fast. Once that goal is chosen, everything else will fall in place.

Week 1

[tags] Marathon, Training, Hal Higdon [/tags]