This week was 59 miles of running, 18 "miles" of pool-running, and 2000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.
First week of CIM training in the books, supplemented by the emotional boost of some great runs by my teammates in Berlin this weekend.
We mixed things up this week - a Saturday night rock concert (C-Tec/Chemlab) meant that I had to do my long run Saturday morning. I tend to need slightly more than 48 hours between workouts to recover, so rather than try to force four hard runs into 8 days (Sunday race - Tuesday intervals - Thursday tempo - Saturday long run), I went with a single mid-week workout of 16x400m.
This was a variant of my coach's normal 25x400m at 10K pace with 100m "float" in 30 seconds. Since I'm very early in the cycle, we limited it to 16 reps - which definitely felt like the right number. Heck - it might be the right number later in the cycle also. I've done the full 25x400 numerous times in previous cycles, including last fall, but I suspect that I've also left the best part of my goal race in those workouts.
I managed to hold 10K pace for all the reps, but had to slow down the recoveries towards the end to get the 16 done. This emphasized what I already know - my speed comes back better than my aerobic stamina. That 5K to half marathon fitness is my weakest link; I do better on the pointy ends of either racing miles or cruising long runs.
On Saturday, I did my progressive long run, finishing with the last 6 miles at marathon pace.
There's a range of ways to train at "marathon pace." One extreme is to pick a marathon pace at the beginning of a cycle and target that pace for all workouts, no matter if it feels sustainable for 26.2 or not. The hope, when training that way, is that by the end of the cycle that pace will indeed be sustainable for the full 26.2 - i.e. that same pace will feel easier as the cycle progresses.
The other extreme is to train exclusively off of "marathon pace feel," and to hope that by the end of the cycle what feels like marathon pace will match the time one hopes to run.
In past cycles, I've taken a hybrid approach to my marathon pace runs - targeting a pace range of about 15 seconds (i.e. 6:45-7:00) - and letting feel guide me as to where I should be in that range. This time, I'm going to take it to the pointy end - running my marathon pace workouts completely off of feel and seeing what the pace is post-run (my coach is a big fan of training off of feel - especially in the hot/humid/summer). Ideally, by the end of the cycle, what feels like marathon pace will match my goal pace.
Since I race off of feel and do nearly all of my other workouts off of feel, it's not too hard to ignore my watch during the long run. At the same time, when one is targeting a specific pace for a marathon (6:52 or under, in my case, for a sub-3), it is disconcerting not to be training at that pace currently. Training by feel means that you don't get the reassurance of looking at your log and seeing all the runs you did at your goal pace.
However, in my case, I suspect I've overdone things just slightly in previous cycles by being a bit too aggressive early on with my marathon pace. I run best when I let my fitness come to me, rather than trying to chase it down. Hence, experimenting with training totally by feel this cycle.
The nice thing is that what feels like marathon pace has been improving in the past weeks - hopefully that trend continues.
[other notes: the C-Tec/Chemlab show was awesome, and totally worth the late night/lost sleep.]
First week of CIM training in the books, supplemented by the emotional boost of some great runs by my teammates in Berlin this weekend.
We mixed things up this week - a Saturday night rock concert (C-Tec/Chemlab) meant that I had to do my long run Saturday morning. I tend to need slightly more than 48 hours between workouts to recover, so rather than try to force four hard runs into 8 days (Sunday race - Tuesday intervals - Thursday tempo - Saturday long run), I went with a single mid-week workout of 16x400m.
This was a variant of my coach's normal 25x400m at 10K pace with 100m "float" in 30 seconds. Since I'm very early in the cycle, we limited it to 16 reps - which definitely felt like the right number. Heck - it might be the right number later in the cycle also. I've done the full 25x400 numerous times in previous cycles, including last fall, but I suspect that I've also left the best part of my goal race in those workouts.
I managed to hold 10K pace for all the reps, but had to slow down the recoveries towards the end to get the 16 done. This emphasized what I already know - my speed comes back better than my aerobic stamina. That 5K to half marathon fitness is my weakest link; I do better on the pointy ends of either racing miles or cruising long runs.
On Saturday, I did my progressive long run, finishing with the last 6 miles at marathon pace.
There's a range of ways to train at "marathon pace." One extreme is to pick a marathon pace at the beginning of a cycle and target that pace for all workouts, no matter if it feels sustainable for 26.2 or not. The hope, when training that way, is that by the end of the cycle that pace will indeed be sustainable for the full 26.2 - i.e. that same pace will feel easier as the cycle progresses.
The other extreme is to train exclusively off of "marathon pace feel," and to hope that by the end of the cycle what feels like marathon pace will match the time one hopes to run.
In past cycles, I've taken a hybrid approach to my marathon pace runs - targeting a pace range of about 15 seconds (i.e. 6:45-7:00) - and letting feel guide me as to where I should be in that range. This time, I'm going to take it to the pointy end - running my marathon pace workouts completely off of feel and seeing what the pace is post-run (my coach is a big fan of training off of feel - especially in the hot/humid/summer). Ideally, by the end of the cycle, what feels like marathon pace will match my goal pace.
Since I race off of feel and do nearly all of my other workouts off of feel, it's not too hard to ignore my watch during the long run. At the same time, when one is targeting a specific pace for a marathon (6:52 or under, in my case, for a sub-3), it is disconcerting not to be training at that pace currently. Training by feel means that you don't get the reassurance of looking at your log and seeing all the runs you did at your goal pace.
However, in my case, I suspect I've overdone things just slightly in previous cycles by being a bit too aggressive early on with my marathon pace. I run best when I let my fitness come to me, rather than trying to chase it down. Hence, experimenting with training totally by feel this cycle.
Of course, another argument for training at goal pace is that one's exact marathon pace needs to be practiced because there's a mechanical benefit to teaching your body to run at that pace. I don't buy this because I don't believe that there's that much mechanical difference between paces 10-20 seconds apart near marathon pace (I'll agree that there is a difference when we're closer to mile pace).
In my case, running at marathon pace-feel is close enough to my goal pace that the mechanics are essentially the same, but running by feel means that I don't gradually dig myself into a hole by forcing a pace that's slightly faster than what my body is currently ready to run.
In my case, running at marathon pace-feel is close enough to my goal pace that the mechanics are essentially the same, but running by feel means that I don't gradually dig myself into a hole by forcing a pace that's slightly faster than what my body is currently ready to run.
The nice thing is that what feels like marathon pace has been improving in the past weeks - hopefully that trend continues.
[other notes: the C-Tec/Chemlab show was awesome, and totally worth the late night/lost sleep.]
Dailies
Monday: Yoga and 7 "miles" of pool-running. Foam rolling at night.
Tuesday: 5 miles very easy (9:41), then upper body weights/core, followed by 4 miles very easy (9:02) plus drills and strides.
Wednesday: 12 miles, including 16x400m with 100m float recovery. Averaged 6:17 pace for the 400s; cheated a bit and averaged 34 seconds for each recovery (was supposed to be 30 seconds). Followed with leg strengthwork and then 1000 yards recovery swimming. Sports massage in the afternoon.
Thursday: Upper body weights/core and 10 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night.
Friday: 6 miles easy to yoga (9:02), yoga, then 5.5 miles very easy (9:05) plus drills/strides. Foam rolling at night.
Saturday: 16 miles progressive, split as first 4 miles averaging 9:06 pace, next 6 averaging 7:46 pace; last 6 averaging 6:59 pace. Followed with leg strengthwork, 1000 yards recovery swimming, and 1 "mile" pool-running (to chat with a friend). Foam rolling in the afternoon.
Sunday: 10.5 very easy (9:21) and foam-rolling.
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