2016 Boston Marathon Training – Week 5

I came off a recovery week that ended the base building phase of my training for the Boston Marathon.  I embraced the adaptive training philosophy and departed from the back-of-the-book schedule in Hudson book and created my own plan for the week.  Unfortunately, the weather foiled my scheduled workouts for the end of the week.

Training Schedule

Sunday: Specific Endurance Run.  16 miles w/4 miles @ marathon pace.
Monday: 6 miles easy + hill sprints (AM), 4 mile easy (PM).
Tuesday: 8 miles easy.
Wednesday: Progression Run.  12 miles w/6 miles moderate.
Thursday: 4-6 miles easy.
Friday: Speed Intervals.  2 miles @ half marathon pace + 4 x 400m @ 3K pace.
Saturday: 4-6 miles easy.

Mileage Total: 60-64 miles.

Daily Adaptations.  On Monday, I ran 10 as a single instead of a double.  Thursday’s easy miles were done on the treadmill.  I ran long on Friday instead of doing an interval workout due to an impending snow storm.  Finally, Saturday was an off day.

Details

Long Run.  16 miles w/4 miles @ marathon pace [Log Details].

Before this run, I read the section on specific-endurance training for the marathon in the Hudson book:

If your marathon goal is not just to finish but to achieve a certain finishing time, begin doing a small amount of goal-marathon-pace running in your Sunday long runs in the very first weeks of the training cycle.

Oops! Oh, well.  Coming off a cut-back week and an off-day, I thought I could do some miles at marathon pace for this run.

I ran with my club and started with the sub-3:00 crew on the Rock Creek Park.  Once the trail started to climb, I bid them farewell.

Before the run, I tried cleaning my Nathan Quick Shot but I broke the nozzle.  I was splashing water all over myself so I threw out it away during the run.

Despite starting the run “hot” with the fast crew, I settled into a nice easy pace.  There were a lot of runners out and I drew motivation from seeing them all.

For the marathon paced miles, I was running low 7:00-pace coming out of the wooded section of Rock Creek Park so I ease off the pace significantly.  By effort, I would say it was actually 10K pace.

 

Goal marathon pace miles= 8:00, 8:02, 7:53, 7:59.  Average=7:59.

Progression Run.  12 miles w/6 miles moderate [Log Details].

A cold front moved through the area this week.  For this run, it was a balmy 20 degrees but a 0 “feels like”.  I wore enough clothing that I felt comfortable.

My pace was pretty slow getting to the Custis Trail.   I ran strong during the moderate section. The sunrise featured breathtaking  pink sky.

By the time I reached National Airport, my pace was probably “hard” – about high 7:00 pace.  I wondered, Should I be running this hard?  With Hansons, I dropped under marathon pace on progression runs but I wasn’t sure now.

I got yet another burst of speed around Gravelly Point and then flagged a little.  I ran a very slow cool-down, though.

Moderate pace segment=8:10 pace.

 

Long Run (20 miles) [Log Details].

The forecast showed a pretty severe winter storm this weekend.  I wasn’t sure the roads and trails would be clear for a Sunday long run so I did it on Friday.

Even though I thought I was running pretty easy the first 6 miles, I started to feel a little tired.  I stopped to drink water a little short of an hour into the run and to take a picture.

I seriously thought about bailing on this run but knowing I’d probably be on the treadmill for a few days kept me going.  The sunrise was beautiful – a bright red sky.  I was so intent on getting the run over with that I didn’t want to stop and capture it.

I ran the uphills of the Custis Trail pretty strong but stopped to take fuel and finish my water.  Once I hit the W&OD, I was determined to  run faster for a few miles which felt fine.  By the time I ran uphill home, I didn’t feel terrible.  I took a 10-15 minute shower and then started my commute to work.

Average=8:57 pace.

Other Running-Related Activities

Future Races.  I submitted my entry for the New York City Marathon.  I had a non-guaranteed qualifying time from the 2015 Boston Marathon.

Nutrition.  I tried the NoGii bar from my January Stridebox.  It was tasty but since I don’t have a gluten-intolerance, I won’t seek it out.  I also tried a Skout bar.  It  was a dense, moist sports bars and I like the crunchy ones.  On my long run, I had some Glukos energy gummies.  They were frozen so I couldn’t fully enjoy them – I sucked on a few instead of chewing – but, they seemed alright.

Weather.  A cold front moved through on Tuesday.  I wore all my warmest clothing and gear.  I tied my record for coldest run on Tuesday when it was 15 degrees with a feels like of 0.

On Wednesday night, the area got 1″ of snow that immediately turned ice.  I ran an easy run on the treadmill on Thursday.  But, that was just a warm up.  The real snow event – “Snowzilla” – started at around 1pm on Friday.  Most of the area got at least 2′ of snow.

Media of the Week

Music.  “Here I Come” and “The Fire,” by The Roots.  “You don’t say good luck.  You say don’t give up.”  There was a post on the National Black Marathons Association’s Facebook page on workout music.  I listened to and I bought a lot of songs mentioned.

The Week Ahead

Hopefully, the roads will be clear enough for me to get to the gym tomorrow so I can run on the treadmill.  By Tuesday, temperatures should be above freezing and some of the snow should melt.

Inspiration.  “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche