2016 New York City Marathon Training – Week 4
After last Saturday’s long run, I was happy for some easy running on Sunday and Monday. I nailed Tuesday’s interval workout on Chicago’s busy but flat Lakefront Trail in low 70 degree temperatures. Then, I had a few recovery run days before today’s long progression run, which I ran on the treadmill to avoid the heat.
Training Schedule
July 17th – July 23rd
Sunday: 5 miles recovery.
Monday: 7 miles recovery.
Tuesday: Intervals. 4 x (4x400m @ 10K pace w/1 min. recoveries) w/3 min. recoveries between sets.
Wednesday: 8 miles recovery.
Thursday: 7 miles recovery.
Friday: 7 miles recovery.
Saturday: Long Progression Run. 16 miles – 3 miles at 9:00 pace, 3 miles at 8:45 pace, 3 miles at 8:30 pace, 3 miles at 8:15 pace, 2 miles at 8:00 pace, 2 miles at 7:50 pace.
Mileage Total: ~58 Miles
Adaptations. None this week. I pretty much followed my schedule. The skyscrapers in Chicago and the treadmill on the long run may have messed up some of the distances, but I feel pretty confident that, if anything, I ran more mileage rather than less.
Workout Details
Intervals. 4 x (4x400m @ 10K pace w/1 min. recoveries) w/3 min. recoveries between sets. [Log Details]
I was on travel this week so I ran this run on Chicago’s Lakefront Trail. I had an easy warm-up but the first set felt moderately hard. I struggled to get the pace down in the 7:teens, which is my 10K pace based on recent summer races. The second set was easier but ended on a section of the trail with construction so I turned around early. It was difficult running hard while also paying attention to fellow trail users and detours.
I found myself running harder during the third set but not quite what would feel like 5K pace.
On the last set, my legs tired but 10K pace didn’t feel “hard” yet. I finished the workout feeling like I could have done another set.
My cool-down took me to a bagel shop. I bought a nova lox bagel, walked to the Marina City Towers, and enjoyed my breakfast on a bench. It was a great workout.
Splits=1:50, 1:51, 1:52, 1:51 (set 1); 1:50, 1:50, 1:54, 1:48 (set 2); 1:47, 1:47, 1:49, 1:46 (set 3); 1:49, 1:48, 1:51, 1:50 (set 4). Mean=1:50 or 7:20 pace.
Long Progression Run. 16 miles – 3 miles at 9:00 pace, 3 miles at 8:45 pace, 3 miles at 8:30 pace, 3 miles at 8:15 pace, 2 miles at 8:00 pace, 2 miles at 7:50 pace. [Log Details *I edited the distanced based on treadmill pace conversion]
This was a pretty intimidating workout under normal conditions. But, when I woke up at 5am, it was already 80 degrees outside. I walked out the door and thought better of running outside. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t mind the occasional long run on the treadmill. And, I wanted to run one fast for a change.
Even before I started the workout, I could tell my Garmin was having problems gauging my pace even though I’d selected the “Run Indoor” setting. I decided to rely on the treadmill settings and run by time for each segment.
I ran pretty well until the third segment, which was at 8:30 pace. The 7.1 setting felt hard so I toggled between that and 7.0. I decided to take the opportunity have a Crank Sports e-Gel…
There’s a guy I’ve seen at the gym a few times doing all kinds of crazy workouts. As fate would have it, he was doing cariocas on the elliptical in front on me and we looked one another straight in the eye. It was like locking gazes with whoever Eye of the Tiger was written for. (Rocky Balboa?) It was like locking gazes with Rocky Balboa.
I took a very short break after the fourth segment to refill my water bottle and then started the 2 mile segments that were closer to marathon pace. I relied on music – I listened to my song of the week multiple times. At one point, when I wanted to drop the settle a little, I channeled my inner Jillian Michaels:
“Don’t you touch that button unless you’re about to go flying off the back of this treadmill!”
Then I thought, she probably would have said something more violent like:
“If you touch that button, I’ll break your finger”. (Hmm. My version is worse.)
I also tried visualizing myself finishing the New York City Marathon in Central Park – the hills, the autumnal trees, the banners of past champions on the home stretch, the finish line! I can’t wait!
Splits=~3.2 miles at 9:00 pace; ~3 miles at 8:45 pace; ~3 miles at 8:30 pace; ~3 miles at 8:15 pace; ~2 miles at 8:00 pace; ~2 miles at 7:50 pace. Overall pace=8:27.
Racing Schedule
Next race: Parks Half Marathon on September 11th. (My Complete Racing Schedule.)
