2016 New York City Marathon Training – Week 3
Only two workouts this week as my coach transitions me to a 10-day training schedule. I managed half marathon pace pretty well during Wednesday’s tempo run but was no where close to hitting marathon pace for four miles on Saturday’s long run.
Training Schedule
July 10th – July 16th
Sunday: 5 miles recovery.
Monday: Off.
Tuesday: 8 miles recovery.
Wednesday: Tempo Run. 3 x 2 miles @ half marathon pace w/3 minute recoveries.
Thursday: 7 miles recovery.
Friday: 7 miles recovery.
Saturday: Long Run. 15 miles w/5 miles easy to moderate, 5 miles 30 seconds “on” and 2:30 moderate, 4 miles @ goal marathon pace, ad 1 mile cool down.
Mileage Total: ~52 Miles
Adaptations. My coach proposed moving me to a 10-day training schedule. From what I understand, that would mean consistently getting two rest days after workouts instead of one, which should enable me to run harder on those days. I’m a little skeptical because I think that also means less mileage overall and fewer long runs. But, I hired a coach for a reason, so I’m willing to give it a try. My mantra with being coached has been, “Embrace the process.”
Workout Details
Tempo Run. 3 x 2 miles @ half marathon pace w/3 minute recoveries [Log Details].
I started drinking fluids during the warm up. Not a good sign. At the beginning of the run, the temperature was approximately 76 degrees and 91% humidity. I carried a handheld with 18 ounces of water with Liquid IV. My coach also had me do 2 x 200m “hard” before starting the workout.
The first 2 miler felt easy until the last mile. Still, I felt fresh enough to jog a little during the recovery. The second 2 miler felt comfortable for maybe 5 minutes and then, 8:00 pace started to feel “hard”. I walked and drank during the recovery and tried to psyche myself up for a strong finish. The third 2 miler felt hard throughout. I also experienced some GI distress, which might have been the Liquid IV since it was new to my system. Still, I didn’t fade as hard as I did last week, so I saw that as progress. Again, Strava showed the grade adjusted pace for the last split was strong – 8:05 instead of 8:29. But, my finish time for New York City Marathon won’t be grade adjusted!
Split paces=7:54, 7:54, 8:29. Average=8:05.
Long Run. 15 miles w/5 miles easy to moderate, 5 miles 30 seconds “on” and 2:30 moderate, 4 miles @ goal marathon pace, ad 1 mile cool down [Log Details].
Before the workout, I emailed my coach to ask what I should shoot for during the “goal marathon pace” segment. My goal is to run sub-3:20, which is 7:38 pace, but there’s no way that’s going to happen. In a nutshell, her feedback was that I should attempt to run it “hard”. The goal was to start introducing me to running hard on tired legs.
I had a 9:45am plane to catch on Saturday morning and needed to get this run in early. I woke up at 4am, had coffee and a half bagel, and headed out the door. I carried my Amphipod with LiquidIV but didn’t add the entire packet so it wouldn’t be so strong.
I felt great during the 5 miles easy to moderate portion of the run. It was a little faster than usual but easy to moderate would include some faster running. I listened to a podcast to keep my pace easy.
The 30 seconds “on” and 2:30 moderate segment was more challenging. I was feeling good until I reached the Roosevelt Island area where I noticed my breathing was a little hard. My iPod malfunctioned along the way and I would have to finish the run without music. Also, part of this segment was on the toughest part of the Custis Trail coming out of Rosslyn. I timed the on-off segments almost perfectly as the last 2:30 fell at the water fountain 9.3 miles into the run.
Unfortunately, the marathon pace segment started with two very steep hills on the Custis Trail. Coming through them, my Garmin showed 9:20 pace. How am I going to come down from that? I continued on but the trail was rolling until almost 2 miles left. With a mile to go, I felt myself giving up since I was so far off goal pace. It was all I could do to keep pushing “hard”, which was the goal after all.
I stopped for water before starting my cool-down home. I felt a nauseous and my legs were cramping up. Overall, it was a very disappointing run since I couldn’t hit anything close to marathon pace. But, I didn’t have much time to dwell on it since I had a plane to catch in less than 2 hours. And, as fate would have it, I listened to a great podcast on my flight. More on that in this week’s supplement…
5 miles easy to moderate pace=8:46; 30 seconds “on” segments average pace=8:25; 2:30 moderate segment pace=9:36; 4 miles @ goal marathon pace=9:00.
Racing Schedule
Next race: Parks Half Marathon on September 11th. (My Complete Racing Schedule.)
I have found running in this heat and humidity difficult for the past 2 weeks. Most of my workouts have been disappointing (and I’ve felt demoralized a couple of times). I try to remember that this happens a few times every summer and that it makes for stronger fall running. Still, it feels bad at the time. I suspect it would be a good idea to run by effort and leave my GPS watch at home, but I can’t stand not knowing what my pace was.
I am registered for the Parks half marathon also so perhaps we’ll have a chance to say hello before or after the race. 🙂