{"id":535,"date":"2008-09-15T03:56:53","date_gmt":"2008-09-15T08:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=535"},"modified":"2008-09-19T11:16:13","modified_gmt":"2008-09-19T16:16:13","slug":"marathon-training-week-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/marathon-training-week-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Marathon Training: Week 15"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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Image from stock.xchn<\/a>.
\nTaken by phelle<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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!<\/p>\n

Monday:<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>4-6 easy miles.<\/em> 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<\/a> on top of my normal 4 mile downtown loop.<\/p>\n

Tuesday:<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>10 mile fartlek.<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

Wednesday:<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>5-7 easy miles.<\/em> 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<\/a>. I ran 5.8 miles in 45:55 and felt pretty good despite the windy weather and 67 temps. We had fun “running together”.<\/p>\n

Thursday:<\/strong><\/span> Rest Day!<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

Friday:<\/strong><\/span> 10 miles at marathon pace.<\/em> 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Saturday:<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>20 miles.<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

Sunday:<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>Cross-training. <\/em>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!<\/p>\n

Weekly Mileage:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Running – 53 miles<\/p>\n

Biking – 25 miles<\/p>\n

Hal’s Tip of the Week:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span> 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.<\/p>\n

[tags] Marathon Training, Hal Higdon [\/tags]<\/p>\n

Week 15<\/a><\/p>\n

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