Chicago Marathon Track Workout #3

When I went to the track last week, I ran too fast. So, my goal today was to run a bit slower. Last week, I only ran four of the prescribed six mile repeats on the Hanson Marathon Plan. My goal today was to run five.

About to start the heavy lifting

The Workout: After a 1.75 mile warm-up run, I arrived at the track at about 8am.

According to the Hanson plan, I can run any combination of miles from one to three per repeat. I thought I would get the heavy lifting out of the way and run a three mile repeat at the beginning. Then the plan was to do a two mile repeat. After completing the three miler, and a recovery walk, I started my two mile repeat. At the end of the first mile of the two miler, I was gassed. I decided it would do more damage to try and force the second mile as my form was getting shaky and legs were straining, so I cut my 2 mile repeat to one mile. Then I did a recovery walk to get my legs and lungs to recover.

I crossed over the bridge next to the track on Argyle and did my last mile on the North Branch River Trail. After I was done, I got this photo from a familiar spot. Anyone recognize it?

At least I'm smiling at the end of my repeats

It's the turnaround spot for the Fleet Feet Pint Night run:

Same location a few weeks ago...

Anyway, here are my splits:

1.75 mile warm-up

3 miles at 6:43, .25 mile recovery

1 mile at 6:58, .25 mile recovery

1 mile at 6:57

1.75 mile cool-down

Analysis: I started too fast, running the three mile repeat about 20 seconds too fast, and paid the price during my last two miles. These runs should be done either at a steady, even pace or with the last interval faster than the first. So, I really need to dial it in and focus on starting slower and finishing faster. If I do this, I will get more benefit from my track workouts, as I will be fresher near the end and have better form. As much as I want my repeat pace to be slower, I have a problem of reigning the speed in early. Maybe I need a coach to yell at me to slow down, especially early on? Anyone want to yell at me at the track?

Next Week: I am going to skip my track workout next Thursday morning and run a time trial at the Oktoberfest 5k in the evening so I can figure out my marathon pace using the McMillan calculator.

I Went to the Track and the Track was There!

Remember way back in May went I went to the North Park University track, only to find this?:

I went to the track but the track was gone!

Well, three months later the track looks like this!

The former green track surface, which must have been at least 10 years old, and which had lots of burn marks and holes from fireworks has been resurfaced. It's new color is red, although you can still see the old green track in certain places, like here:

Remnants of the old green track on the left

Last year, the areas just inside the track straight-aways were covered:

The track in 2012, notice the green covered area to the right

This year, there is just blacktop, so don't fall!

The track today, notice the unfinished blacktop areas now on the inside

 The soccer field inside the track was also resurfaced:

The track and soccer field in 2012 (note the bad drainage)

The track and soccer field now with new surface

Soccer field now

Also of note: There is a long fence separating the river area from the track. Maybe they are trying to prevent the casual bikers and strollers from ending up on the track. It may also be easier to keep the fireworks off the track by locking it down near the 4th of July. Here's hoping they don't start restricting access to runners, however.

New Fence

Locked gate that used to be open

Despite the fence, you can still get a glimpse of the waterfall from the track.

Waterfall view from the track

They also added a small grandstand for spectators:

New Grandstands

The only people not happy with the rehab, will be the long jumpers. The long jump pit looks worse than it did before the rehab:

The long jump pit is now a garbage pit!

Anyway, after all the picture taking, it was time for my track workout. Since I'm just starting to build my base mileage, I did not want to overdo things today with a brutal workout like 6 x 1 mile repeats. So, I decided to do my trusty old half marathon track workout of 1 mile, .75 mile, .5 mile and .25 mile with .25 mile breaks.

Getting Ready to Run!

Warm-up 1.8 miles:

1.0 mile @ 6:55/mile, .25 mile walk
.75 miles @ 6:29/mile, .25 mile walk
.50 miles @ 6:22/mile, .25 mile walk
.25 miles @ 5:17/mile, .25 mile walk

Cool-down 1.5 miles

Total: 6.75 miles.

Analysis: Today's workout was just to get my "track legs" back. I may have gone a little too fast considering my marathon pace is in the 7:45 range, but I don't think I did too much damage!

The last .25 mile run I did while shooting a video, I was going to post it, but it is super shaky. If anyone has read this far and wants to see it, let me know and I will post it.

It's nice to have the North Park University track back, especially a new and improved one. Hopefully, I will get one or two "mile repeat" workouts in before the Chicago Marathon! If anyone wants to join me, I'll be there most Thursday mornings, but since I'm a late riser, please don't look for me there too early!

Boston Marathon Track Workout #2

I had to move up my weekly Boston Marathon track workout to today, as I am unable to do a track workout on Thursday. I wasn't sure how my legs would react to running fast so soon after my race on Saturday. Anyway, this was my first real Hansons Brooks "speed" workout where the goal is to do a total of three miles of 10k paced intervals with no single interval more than 1600 meters. Today, I decided to do the minimum number of intervals to get to the three miles, which was:

 3 x 1600 @ 6:20/mile pace (with 400m recoveries).

Mid workout at the track

So with that goal in mind, I hit the track and did this:

2 mile warm-up

1600m @ 6:22/mile pace (400m recovery)

1600m @ 6:12/mile pace (400m recovery)

1600m @ 6:08/mile pace

2 mile cool-down

Track workouts seem like an uphill climb for the first few laps...

you start chugging along, fighting to get your speed up...

and as they progress, you get faster...

 then they don't seem so bad as you start to fly around the track...

and soon enough they're over, and you're on your way home!

Analysis: Mission accomplished. My legs responded admirably at the track despite having run a 10k on Saturday. My goal was to run all three intervals at 6:20/mile and I actually averaged 6:14/mile. I felt like I could run another mile or two at the end when normally I am pretty fatigued. Maybe I'm getting stronger? Maybe a Tuesday track session suits me better than a Thursday session? Maybe I had a breakthrough at the 10k on Saturday? In any case, I'll see if I can keep this fitness level up. I will run at least a couple of miles tonight in order stretch out my legs and get some extra mileage.

"This workout is going to hurt, but it will make you faster."

Let the taper begin!

Today was my last S.O.S. (Something of Substance) workout. I ran it at the North Park University track. There was a high school track team practicing there at the same time. I heard the coach telling the boys team:

"This workout is going to hurt, but it will make you faster." 

He then shouted, "Go!", and without missing a beat, the boys team took off running fast around the track. I guess kids are not afraid of coming face-to-face with pain!

Anyway, it was fun being out there, because it made it easier to run fast when a bunch of fast runners were flying all around me.

At the track this morning

6 x 1 Mile Workout Summary:

• 1.75 mile warmup
• 3 miles @ 6:27/mile
• .25 mile walk
• 2 miles @ 6:28/mile
• .25 mile walk
• 1 mile @ 6:21/mile
• 1.75 mile cool down

How this week compares to the week before my Marathon p.r.:

Today, my average pace per mile was 6:26 for the 6 x 1 miles. This is a whole nine seconds faster than the identical workout I did one week before my marathon p.r.. However, when I set my p.r. in 2011, I was averaging 57 miles/week. For the 2012 Chicago Marathon training cycle, I only managed to average 47 miles/week.  I may be slightly faster today than I was in 2011, but my legs are not as "battle hardened" and I likely have slightly less endurance. So, what should my marathon pace be?

A view this morning of the "L" looking southward from the Lawrence Ave. Bridge over the Chicago River

Determining My Marathon Pace:
I would like to set a new marathon p.r., which would mean averaging 7:02/mile. I trained for around a 7:00 pace, but, realistically, I did not put in a ton of miles this training cycle, so my confidence in finishing the marathon strong is not super high. In any case, all of my personal records in races were set when I ran negative splits, so I need to run negative splits for this one too. It would seem that my best bet is to shoot for a 7:10 pace and if I am feeling good at mile 13, I can drop down to a 7:00/mile until mile 20. If I am still feeling good at mile 20, I can drop my pace down to 6:55/mile. That would bring me to my marathon p.r. If I am not feeling good at any point, I can slow down a bit and still get a decent finishing time.

By the way, I do all of my marathon pace calculations based on a 26.3 mile course, since I don't always cut perfect tangents. In fact, my Garmin said I ran 26.5 for my marathon p.r. in 2011!

The Bottom Line: In order for me to break my p.r. I need to run negative splits. Also, it needs to be cool, say 45 degrees at the start and 55 degrees at the finish. A little drizzle would help if it is warmer. As a bonus, a nice little tailwind for the final few mile run up Michigan Avenue would be fantastic! If I start the race too fast, or the weather is disagreeable, then I can likely kiss a new p.r. goodbye.

The Bottom Bottom Line:
If the race day weather is warm or I start the race too fast, I'll be in the race purely for fun, so you marathon spectators should get ready for lots of high-fives and smiles from me!

Sunrise over Lawrence Ave.

Tapering Goals Next Week: Stay injury free, run 35 miles to stay sharp. Oh, did I mention that I am going to stay injury free?! :-)

Do you have any specific goals over the taper week?

Artistic rendering of Lawrence Ave.. Thanks Photoshop!