Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
As endurance athletes we tend to find something that works or we like and stick with it for good or bad. Most of the time that is OK, but every once in a while it is good to change things up. When it comes to marathon training I’m one of those that like (needs!) to follow a set plan. I’ve done it for years, but I’ve also changed my plan through my running career as I’ve gotten stronger and faster as a runner, older and wiser, and just more experienced. My last few marathons I’ve followed my plan that keeps me just under 60-miles for my two heaviest volume weeks with my three 20-mile runs spread over six weekends. My half-Ironman race schedule caused me to change that up a bit and I further changed that up by running back-to-back-to-back 64-66-mile weeks with a 20-mile, 21-mile, and this weekend a 22-mile run on three consecutive Saturdays. I’ve never done three 20+-mile runs in a row before…but so far so good. I’m not sure how that will play out on marathon day, but I am looking forward to getting through this last 65+ mile week and Saturday’s 22-mile run.
But, all that aside, I’ve been plugging away at my training runs with consistency and it’s time to get caught up on posting those results. Here are my recaps…
Tuesday the 21st I ran a midday run on a warm and sunny day which can be challenging enough. But, of course, I had to go and add a run up Rocky Butte to that mix to make it even more so. That’s how I like to roll.
Stats for Tuesday’s run: 10.2-miles in 1:17:24 @ 7:34/m pace.
On Wednesday I ran the exact same route as the day before, but in opposite direction. It ended up being .1-mile longer…go figure. It was again warm and sunny and my legs weren’t feeling quite as tired and Rocky Butte didn’t seem so nasty.
Stats for Wednesday’s run: 10.3-miles in 1:17:27 @ 7:31/m pace.
Thursday the 23rd I had to run at 4:30am due to my work schedule that day and it was a bit cool and wet out there. For some reason I could not get the legs to cooperate and this run felt a bit worse than it should have.
Stats for Thursday’s run: 9-miles in 1:09:58 @ 7:46/m pace.
Saturday morning I headed into downtown Portland to run my long run along Waterfront Park and on the Springwater Corridor. It was an amazingly beautiful morning – just stunning. For the first few miles the city, bridges, and Willamette River were shrouded in fog but as the sun rose and the rays cast eerie beams through the fog the sky was a brilliant blue and it was just spectacular. I ran a nice even pace for the first 10 or so miles then picked it up for the return trip a little. The legs were warmed up, the temps were perfect, I was feeling good and I’m like a horse headed to the barn on the return trip so I was able to negative split the run. It was a great, great run.
Stats for Saturday’s run: 21-miles in 2:37:08 @ 7:29/m pace. See the Garmin data and map here.
Tuesday the 28th I was again forced out of bed at a very unfriendly hour and was out the door for a run at 4:30am. And it was very uncharacteristically warm, muggy, sticky and just nasty. I ran a Tempo run with the first 2-miles being easy then the next 6-miles being just under marathon goal pace and the last 2-miles easy again. Other than being overheated and sweating like a pig even at that hour the run was a good one.
Stats for Tuesday’s run: 10.1-miles in 1:14:12 @ 7:23/m pace.
And finally, today’s run was a bit longer than a normal midday run, but I was able to get out and do it. I also used the Virtual Partner on my Garmin Forerunner 305 for the first time and that was very cool! I told it how far I wanted to run and what pace I wanted to maintain and then the little pixel runner guys raced each other. I won even though I fell nearly ½ mile behind climbing up Rocky Butte. Stats for Wednesday’s run: 11-miles in 1:21:50 @ 7:26/m pace.
I’ve got two more tough runs planned for this week and then I get to enter Taper Mode and back-off a little bit. I’m looking forward to that.
Thanks for stopping by…
But, all that aside, I’ve been plugging away at my training runs with consistency and it’s time to get caught up on posting those results. Here are my recaps…
Tuesday the 21st I ran a midday run on a warm and sunny day which can be challenging enough. But, of course, I had to go and add a run up Rocky Butte to that mix to make it even more so. That’s how I like to roll.
Stats for Tuesday’s run: 10.2-miles in 1:17:24 @ 7:34/m pace.
On Wednesday I ran the exact same route as the day before, but in opposite direction. It ended up being .1-mile longer…go figure. It was again warm and sunny and my legs weren’t feeling quite as tired and Rocky Butte didn’t seem so nasty.
Stats for Wednesday’s run: 10.3-miles in 1:17:27 @ 7:31/m pace.
Thursday the 23rd I had to run at 4:30am due to my work schedule that day and it was a bit cool and wet out there. For some reason I could not get the legs to cooperate and this run felt a bit worse than it should have.
Stats for Thursday’s run: 9-miles in 1:09:58 @ 7:46/m pace.
Saturday morning I headed into downtown Portland to run my long run along Waterfront Park and on the Springwater Corridor. It was an amazingly beautiful morning – just stunning. For the first few miles the city, bridges, and Willamette River were shrouded in fog but as the sun rose and the rays cast eerie beams through the fog the sky was a brilliant blue and it was just spectacular. I ran a nice even pace for the first 10 or so miles then picked it up for the return trip a little. The legs were warmed up, the temps were perfect, I was feeling good and I’m like a horse headed to the barn on the return trip so I was able to negative split the run. It was a great, great run.
Stats for Saturday’s run: 21-miles in 2:37:08 @ 7:29/m pace. See the Garmin data and map here.
Tuesday the 28th I was again forced out of bed at a very unfriendly hour and was out the door for a run at 4:30am. And it was very uncharacteristically warm, muggy, sticky and just nasty. I ran a Tempo run with the first 2-miles being easy then the next 6-miles being just under marathon goal pace and the last 2-miles easy again. Other than being overheated and sweating like a pig even at that hour the run was a good one.
Stats for Tuesday’s run: 10.1-miles in 1:14:12 @ 7:23/m pace.
And finally, today’s run was a bit longer than a normal midday run, but I was able to get out and do it. I also used the Virtual Partner on my Garmin Forerunner 305 for the first time and that was very cool! I told it how far I wanted to run and what pace I wanted to maintain and then the little pixel runner guys raced each other. I won even though I fell nearly ½ mile behind climbing up Rocky Butte. Stats for Wednesday’s run: 11-miles in 1:21:50 @ 7:26/m pace.
I’ve got two more tough runs planned for this week and then I get to enter Taper Mode and back-off a little bit. I’m looking forward to that.
Thanks for stopping by…
