Carmel Marathon Training - Week 2 01/09/12 - 01/15/12

Monday - 3.1 miles

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - 7 miles (Tempo)

Thursday - 9 miles (Speed work)

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - 15 miles

Weekly Total - 34.1

Once again ran my three key workouts but failed to get in the cross training. Nailed my tempo run on Wednesday and hit my goal pace +/- 1 second of marathon pace on each mile but it think it cost me some speed on Thursday.  I was aiming for 3:00 minute 800m repeats and I was able to hit it on the first two but they became gradually slower. I ran my sixth & final interval in 3:11.  I really look forward to my Thursday speed work at NIFS.  Great group of guys to run with and it's definitely easier to do repeats on an indoor 200m track when you have other people suffering along with you.

Two weeks into the plan and I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm happy with the mileage that I've been getting in and my body seems to handling the increased work load as well.  I know I'm still 14 weeks out from the marathon but I'm fairly confident that if I'm able to continue to stick with the plan that I'll be able to go under three hours in April.

Carmel Marathon Training - Week 1 01/02/12 - 01/08/12

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 5 miles (Treadmill tempo)

Wednesday - 6.2 miles (Trails)

Thursday - 8 miles (Speed work)

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 13.1 miles

Sunday - Rest

Weekly Total - 32.3

I did my 3 key workouts as prescribed by the FIRST plan but didn't get in any of the cross training. I was going to spin on Wednesday but the opportunity to hit the trails is always a more enjoyable option.  I'm happy with this week's training as a whole but I was a bit upset with not being able to maintain my goal pace on the tempo portion of Tuesday's treadmill session and on the mile repeats on Thursday.  I do realize though that the paces I had planned are for someone who is currently capable of running a sub 3 hour marathon & I still have 15 weeks to go. Briefly flirted with the idea of running 8 miles today to get in 40 miles for the week but I haven't had a 30+ miles week that didn't include a marathon or 50k in over 6 months.  Taking the extra day off this week will be beneficial as I start to ramp up the mileage in the weeks to come.

"It might be time to start looking at getting uncomfortable..."

Nice post by Travis Liles over at Run The Ultras on taking your training to a new level.  I love the last few sentences about if you want to improve your results, you're going to have to make your training uncomfortable. It's a nice reminder, with my spring marathon training starting this week, of what it'll take to achieve my goals in April. Approaching my training with the same attitude that I've had over the last few years will just lead to the same lack luster results. I'm going to have to wake up early on cold winter mornings that I'd much rather stay in bed. I'm going to have to push myself through speed work on days that I'd rather just head out for some easy miles. If I'm going to run a sub 3 hour marathon, the road to get there is going to be uncomfortable

Gearing Up for Spring

For the most part, I've taken the last couple of weeks of from running.  The Tecumseh Trail Marathon was my 4th marathon or more event since the beginning of September and I was starting to feel burnt out & unmotivated.  Now with less than 2 weeks to go before my Spring marathon training plan begins, I'm ready to head back out on the road and trails.
 I've set my "A" goal as going sub 3 at the Carmel Marathon in April.  As I've stated previously, I've made attempts before and failed but this is mostly due to the fact that I usually stray from the plan and end up going into the race under trained.  I'm fairly confident that if I stick to the plan that I'll be in a good position to go under 3 hours. I've signed up for the new Carmel Runners Club, hoping that I'll be able to stay on track by running with others who with the same  or similar goals. I'm also going to try to not sign up for random races during the build up that will end up being detrimental to my training. This means nothing over a half marathon until race day though it's going to be tough to pass up the Planet Adventure Winter Trail Marathon.
My plan is to do weekly updates on how the training is going to hold myself accountable for not only getting in the workouts but also for updating my blog more regularly.

2011 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

Marathon #12 is in the books and I really couldn't be happier with the results.  Even though it wasn't a PR, it was probably the best marathon that I've run in the last 3 years.  I was able to pace myself fairly consistently and other than walking through 2 of the last 4 water stops, I didn't have any major melt downs.
Going into Saturday's race, I thought I was capable or running somewhere in the 3:30 to 3:40 range.  I didn't follow a training plan but after running both the Run Woodstock Trail Marathon & StumpJump 50K over the last couple months, I figured I could count those as two very long and very slow training runs. My plan for Saturday was to start out running 8:00/mile and hope to hang on until the finish in front of the state capital building. This worked for the first 10K but after a quick bathroom break on Mass Ave, I got antsy and picked up the pace to make up lost time.  I tried to calm down and slow it down a bit but still ended up putting in back to back 7:45 miles. After that, I was able to settle back into an 8:00/mile pace. I was able to stay right around that pace up until mile 20.  I didn't have any cramping issues, which was a first for me, but I could feel the energy starting to fade. From there I broke the race up into 2-5Ks and decided to take a GU and walk the next water stop and then repeated the same process at water stop around mile 23. I ended up crossing the finish line in 3:33:44.
The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon is a great race and even though it's only in it's 4th year, it's an extremely well organized event.  The course takes you past most of the major sights of the city including Lucas Oil Stadium, Conseco Fieldhouse, Butler University & the Indianapolis Museum of Art. There is a bit of a boring stretch between miles 19 & 21 while your're running along the White River Parkway. To break up the monotony, someone put up Hoosier Trivia questions and answers on alternating signs throughout this area.  Some question were easy, some were hard (I still have no clue who Hoagy Carmichael is), but I have to admit that this kept my mind occupied for those miles. My only complaint is that they were out of chocolate milk at the finish line though they more then made up for it with the unexpected stocking cap that they handed out to all finishers along with the medal.

Garmin Connect data

Spring Marathon Plans

I've spent the last few days debating on what training plan to follow and what marathon to run in the spring.  I had originally planned on Bayshore but now I'm leaning toward the Carmel Marathon, four weeks earlier. I'll still run up in Traverse City but the goal will be to BQ at Carmel and use Bayshore as a back up plan.

As for training plans, I'm more than likely going with the FIRST program.  I like the concept of focusing on three quality workouts a week (speed, tempo, long) and supplementing the off days with cross training.  Of course, every training plan depends on how well you stick with it and seeing it through to completion has always been an issue that I've had.  After running eleven marathons, I haven't PRed since marathon # 2, the last time I followed a training plan faithfully.  Hopefully the flexibility of the FIRST plan and the fact that it's only a 16 week program as opposed to 18+ will keep me on track.

Upcoming Race Schedule

I think I have finalized my major race schedule for the rest of the year. The only problem is that I'm not prepared for any of them and the first one is 30 days away. It's not that I'm completely out of shape, I'm just not where I envisioned I'd be at this time of year. I could blame it on the 23 consecutive days of 90+ degree heat but in reality, I just haven't been that motivated. I'm not a fan of waking up early to get in a run before work and it's too easy to talk myself out of one after. You'd think a schedule of 4 marathon or more distances in 3 months would be motivation enough to get in my mileage. If I want to return to the shape I was in a couple years ago, I need to get out the door & stop making excuses.

Here's the schedule:

September 9th - Run Woodstock Trail Marathon or 50K (still undecided) Pinckney, MI
October 1st - Stump Jump 50K Chattanooga, TN
November 5th - Monumental Marathon Indianapolis, IN
December 3rd - Tecumseh Trail Marathon Bloomington, IN