2017 Eugene Marathon Training – Week 10
Rebounded from slight over-training and ran a healthy dose of intervals and marathon paced miles this week. Seventy days from the Eugene Marathon, I got three indicators that I’m in about 3:30 marathon shape.
Training Schedule
Week 10: February 19th – February 25th
Sunday: Recovery run. 8 miles + strides
Monday: Medium/Fartlek Run. 10 miles easy w/5 x 3 min. @ 10K to half marathon pace
Tuesday: Interval run. 7 miles. Speed work with run club
Wednesday: Recovery run. 5 miles + hill repeats
Thursday: Tempo run. 14 miles w/8 miles @ marathon pace
Friday: Recovery run. 6 miles
Saturday: Long Run. 18 miles
Mileage Total: ~70 Miles
Adaptations. I had an early meeting at work on Tuesday, so I skipped the club workout. And, Friday’s easy run was only 4 miles. Otherwise, I didn’t make any adjustments this week.
Goal. Run a traditional tempo run. Outcome: Success! Well, kinda. It was a long marathon paced run but I’m counting it.
Workout Details
Medium/Fartlek Run. 10 miles easy w/5 x 3 min. @ 10K to half marathon pace [Log Details].
After an easy 4 miles into the wind though Arlington, I started the fartlek segment on the Mount Vernon Trail after the Roosevelt Bridge. I found myself running high-6:00 pace to low-7:00 during the faster segments and worked to slow myself down. It’s so hard when you feel like running but know you shouldn’t! But, I don’t want to run myself into the ground again after rebounding from slight over-training.
Fartlek split paces=7:24, 7:27, 7:21, 7:17, 7:27. Overall pace=8:46.
Interval Run. Speed work with run club 10 x 800m @ 5K pace w/50-90% recoveries [Log Details].
I had an early morning meeting at work and didn’t think I had time to run with the club. I decided to do a Yasso 800s workout. The stretch of road where I decided to run the intervals was a little short of a half mile, so I had to run on busy sidewalks and grassy knolls to make the distance. Midway through the workout, I was ready to quit but realized I wasn’t getting slower. I stuck with it and finished the workout.
I know there are flaws in trying to use this workout as a race predictor, but the fact that I could finish it without fading seemed good.
Splits=3:34, 3:31, 3:37, 3:28, 3:34, 3:28, 3:33, 3:29, 3:37, 3:32. Mean=3:32.
Tempo Run. 14 miles w/8 miles @ marathon pace [Log Details].
My goal for the week was to do a traditional tempo run since, midway through my training cycle, I hadn’t done a solid block of running faster than marathon pace.
The first few miles clicked by pretty quickly. I made a quick pit stop in Gravelly Point and then felt a bit of a headwind heading south on the Mount Vernon Trail. My pace slowed on the Four Mile Run Trail and Glebe Road but not by much. I got a short break in Shirlington waiting to cross to the W&OD but I continued pushing the pace until the end.
Looking at my splits, this workout was another indicator that I might be in 3:30 marathon shape since 7:59 pace is in that range.
Splits=7:59, 7:56, 7:57, 7:55, 7:53, 7:58, 8:00, 8:10, 8:03. Average=7:59.
Long Run. 18 miles [Log Details].
It was a warm day – already 60 degrees when I started with strong winds coming out of the south.
I kept a pretty steady pace. I tried to run with good form and leg turnover. I wanted to zone out and listen to a podcast about dreaming big, but I had to stay engaged since there were so many people on the trail due to the nice weather. I stopped for water near the airport and refilled my Nathan Handheld. On the bridge near the airport, I realized too late that I saw a co-worker. Maybe a mile later, I saw another co-worker!
Near Roosevelt Island, I stopped and started a Honey Stinger gel. I ran out of water on the Custis Trail about 2 miles from the next water fountain. I was parched. At the junction of the Custis and W&OD trails, I stopped at the water fountain and doused my head with water. It’s FEBRUARY! On the W&OD, for the third time, I ran past a co-worker! This time, I was able to give a thumbs up. I kept my cool-down slow and finished tired but not destroyed.
My Garmin Race Predictor gave me another indicator that I’m probably in 3:30 marathon shape right now.
Overall pace=8:50.
Health
Injuries. I felt some pain in my right calf late last week and it lingered into this week. I guessed it was from running in shoes with a lower drop. By Wednesday, it was much better, though.
My piriformis has been a non-issue but I’m still seeing my chiropractor on Fridays. I think I only mentioned it once but I bought a TENS and EMS unit shortly after starting my chiropractic treatments. I used it a lot in December and January but haven’t in the past month.
Weight. After the bad week I had, I stopped thinking about losing any weight. But, by the end of the week, I felt like I’d rebounded and could think about getting a little leaner again.
Sleep. I slept pretty well this week. Having Wednesday and Friday as easy days gave me two opportunities to catch up on sleep mid-week.
Weather
It was an unseasonably warm week. In fact, it’s on track to be the hottest February on record! At first, it was nice. But today, I doused my head with water mid-run. It’s FEBRUARY!
Racing Schedule
Future races. I booked my flight to Eugene for the marathon! TrackTown USA, here I come!
Runner rankings. RunWashington Magazine – Spring 2017 Edition. I was 9th in my age group for 2016 – two spots lower than last year. Given my summer and fall slump, including a disappointing Parks Half Marathon, it was nice to be on the list at all.
Next race: 2017 Rock ‘n Roll DC Half Marathon on March 11th. (My Complete Racing Schedule.)
Have you been to southern Oregon? If so, do you have recommendations for visitors?
Eeek 70 days seems so close! Man, Boston was WAY too warm Friday and Saturday for me to get my quality workouts done. Friday I had 10 miles with 8 at 7:35-7:45 and the struggle was REAL! Had to keep stopping, had to stop to drink water, ugh pretty miserable (also pretty jealous your outdoor water fountain was turned on!). Saturday was a bit cooler for my 8 miler, thankfully clouds and wind came out to cool me down. Way to get through 70 miles this week, especially those Yassos – ICK! I am also looking for Oregon suggestions; we are flying from Boston and spending a week between Eugene, Bend, Hood River and Portland.
Great pace on that workout in the heat!
So, you’ll be out there much longer than me. I’m just going for 4 or 5 days total. I decided to stay in southern Oregon under the idea that I may find myself in Portland again but probably not Eugene. I’m not sure if you drink, but the one thing I hadn’t planned on doing that keeps coming up when I talk to people is visiting a winery. I don’t think I want to make a special trip for it, but may find a way to sample some of the local wines.