Chicago Marathon Training: Week #7

Fun Start

Training week #7 got off to a fun start as I got to run with Declan. We were both doing our final long run in the Hanson Brooks training plan, which is 16 miles.  We met at the northern terminus of the Lakefront Trail on Sunday morning for a run that was to take us all the way to and around Navy Pier and back. It was a beautiful day for a lakefront run: Sunny and upper 40s to start.

Heading south

At the turnaround at Navy Pier

We were supposed to run about 7:45/mile but ended up running a pace more like 7:35. Time flew by as we chatted about pressing world issues. We knocked the run down in just over 2 hours.  Since we are pretty evenly paced, I hope to run with Declan for most if not all of the Chicago Marathon.

The 16 Miler on the map

Total Miles: 16.00 @ 7:35 

Tuesday: I went for a run on the Chicago River North Branch Trail and came across the set of the NBC tv show Crisis which stars Gillian Anderson and Dermot Mulroney:

On the set of "Crisis" note the trailers on the bridge

Wednesday:

Six mile morning run along the North Branch of the Chicago River

Near Lincoln Ave. and the Chicago River on the River Trail

Followed by 2.5 miles later around Welles Park.

Track Work Thursday (a.m.):

This was such an effortless track session it almost made me reconsider my marathon goal pace:

My splits:
1.5 mile warm-up
3 miles at 6:52, .15 mile recovery
2 miles at 6:35, .20 mile recovery
1 mile at 6:25
1.75 mile cool-down

My feet were just gliding over the track for most of the workout. I was barely exerting a strong effort. During one of my recoveries, a guy who had previously tried to keep pace with me during one of my mile intervals, asked me if I was doing 7:30/miles. I told him more like 6:30s and I think I amazed him. I am trying not to get too excited about this workout as a lot can happen on marathon day, so I think I will stick to my 3:10 marathon goal for now.

2.2 mile recovery at lunch.

Summary

I matched my highest training mileage of this cycle and my taper starts in just a few days. I could pull the plug on my training now and feel confident that I could at least go for a 3:15 marathon. If I can sharpen correctly in the next two weeks, I should be able to get that sub 3:10 marathon, which would be a course PR.

Week #7 Total: 60 miles
Average Pace: 7:32
Other Training: 4 strength workouts and 1 yoga session

Seven weeks down, two to go!

Chicago Marathon Training Week #3

During my last Chicago Marathon progress report for Week #2 I had a big reveal: My Chicago Marathon "A goal" was to BQ and run a sub-3:25. What I had actually done was kinda pick a number "out of the air" and thus put some pressure on myself to hit that number. However, even though I did this, sometimes I feel that picking an arbitrary goal number is not always a good thing.

Marathons are almost exclusively training dependent and weather dependent*. If I don't train correctly, or if the weather on race day is too hot, my final time will suffer. Right now, I am working with a compressed training schedule, so there is a real risk of doing "too much, too soon", or at the other end of the spectrum doing "too little, too late". Also, what will a 3:25 mean for my recovery post-marathon? Maybe a "smooth" 3:35 will be a lot easier on my body and allow me to recover a week or two sooner than a "forced" 3:25. The faster I can recover, the sooner I can build a decent base for a full 18 week cycle for a spring marathon.

Anyway, with all of that said, for the moment I feel fantastic! Now that I am nearing 40 mile weeks, I seem to have hit my running sweet spot. After my extensive downtime in "Injury Jail", my legs and lungs finally feel like they are "home". My right ankle still makes occasional clicks, and my right foot feels like it may have very minor PF, but I will take the trade-off for the increased lung capacity and faster legs. Oh yeah, and the daily shot of post-run endorphins isn't that bad either!

I may be destined to keep a base of 35 miles/week for the rest of my life, just to keep this feeling going!

Week #3 Total: 35 miles
Avg Pace: 8:15/mile
Other Training: Three gym workouts and one yoga session

Last year at the Chicago Half Marathon

* They are also dependent on running your ideal marathon pace, but if you know your fitness (which is a direct result of training), you can figure out your pace.

Chicago Marathon Training Week #2

When we last took a look at my Chicago Marathon training, I had just finished week #1 with a relaxed 16 miles. In week #2, I completely ignored the "10% Rule", and I almost doubled my miles from 16 to 30. And the results are in: So far, so good. Even though it would appear that I am overdoing it, I am consciously trying to avoid the "too-much-too-soon" syndrome that I often fall prey to when training. I am alternating medium runs with short recovery runs and that seems to be working well. However it's quite difficult to hold back on the mileage, especially when I read about other runners who are already in the 60+ mile per week range at this stage of the game.

I know what great confidence boosters those 60+ mile weeks are, and how I can feel the huge fitness gains after they are done. However, the potential injury downside to those high-mileage weeks is too great. I don't want to return to "Injury Jail" anytime soon, so I'm trying to stay focused on training for a fun and moderately-fast Chicago Marathon, and then start really training for a fast spring marathon. I have to keep reminding myself to not "let loose" in my training until I get to those fantastic runs by the lake in January and February.

My marathon P.R. finish line photo (March 2011)

In any case, I do have an "A" goal for the Chicago Marathon which I will share for the first time here: BQ at the Chicago Marathon. If my training goes according to plan, and if I run a smart, conservative race, I should be able to go sub-3:25, and BQ. I already have a BQ time from last year's race (3:10), which I could theoretically use for 2014. but it would be nice to know that I did it again. My "B" goal is to finish with a smile.

In other week #2 news, I worked out at the gym three times and did yoga twice. Week #3 is in progress...