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.

Boston Week 5

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.

Uneven road conditions.

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.

Green rocks in Rock Creek Park.
Study in Green in Rock Creek Park.

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].

Washington Monument at Sunrise.
Washington Monument at Sunrise.

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.

South end of Gravelly Point.
South end of Gravelly Point.

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.

Southeast D.C. from Alexandria, VA.
Southeast D.C. from Alexandria, VA.

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.

Weather on Tuesday.
Weather on Tuesday.

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.

Snowzilla
My street on Saturday morning during Snowzilla.

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

Treadmill
My view Thursday and probably most of next week.

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