CIM Training – Week 16

Three weeks to go!  It feels great to be on the last page of my training plan.  The biggest development this week is that I decided to stop beating myself up during my training runs and tried to get a sense for what my actual marathon pace should be for the California International Marathon in December.  And, taking a little off the paces allowed me to work in some much needed rest into my training.  By the end of the week, I actually felt pretty good physically and mentally.  Hopefully the adage about it being better to get to the starting line a little under-trained than over-trained is true.

The Details

Starting with this week, my long runs switched from Saturdays to Sundays.  This meant I was finally following the days of the week in the training plan and race day would fall on Sunday instead of Saturday.  The plan called for a 20 mile long run on Sunday, 2 x 3 miles @ goal half marathon pace on Tuesday, and a 10 mile progression run on Thursday.

Long Run (20 miles).  [Log Details]

Most Sundays, I run with my running club – the Washington Running Club. However, since my long runs have been on Saturdays, I’ve been doing easy runs with them lately.  I guessed there wouldn’t be anyone running 20 miles this late in the season, so I started an hour earlier, so I could still meet up with everyone for coffee after our runs.

For most 20 milers, we run a route that goes through Rock Creek Park, to Bethesda, and down the Capital Crescent Trail. The first few miles was a gradual climb so I took them easy. I stopped for water at the first fountain but water was barely trickling out.  I decided to risk dehydration.  About 6.5 miles into the run, the trail flattened out at a ranger station and featured rolling hills for a while.  Still, I tried to keep the pace comfortable on the downhills.  At about the 9 or 10 mile mark, the trail went downhill and I let myself speed up a little.  At about the 11 mile mark, I reached the section of the trail where things looked familiar from weekly runs.  Mentally, it was great knowing how far I had to go.  I sped up a lot – running 7:50-8:00 miles for the entire stretch.

I ate Clif Shot Bloks instead of Gu Energy Gels during this run.  Gummies tend to go down better for me during marathons but I’ve been trying to take Gu instead because I think they’re easier to carry.  But, at the end of the day, I need to get calories in me.  So, I’m thinking of carrying gummies with me for CIM instead.

Average pace: 8:30.

Intervals (2 x 3 miles @ goal half marathon pace w/1 mile recovery).  [Log Details]

I thought I might have been tired after Sunday’s long run, but the warm up felt fine.  I decided ahead of time that I would run the first segment by feel.  I tried to think of the last half marathon I ran and how that felt.  I run this part of the trail so often that I knew about where 3 miles would be so I didn’t check my Garmin until the very end.  7:38 pace.  It’s like my body automatically just finds that pace now.  But, does that mean all my marathon paces workouts have really been half marathon pace?  The second segment started off with a strong headwind.  I gutted though it.  I ran half of it without looking at my Garmin and was surprised to see 7:40ish pace when I finally caught a glance.  I thought I was running much slower.  I finished feeling like I worked hard but wasn’t exhausted.  It was a strong contrast to a few weeks ago when I finished my GHMP workout completely exhausted.

I’m beginning to think my actual half marathon pace is probably low-7:30.  That gibes with the 1:39:14 (7:35 pace) that I ran at the Parks Half Marathon this fall.  It also aligns with the 21:35 that I did at the Crystal City 5K this summer since that equates to about a 1:39:30 (7:36 pace) marathon.  Both races correlates to a marathon in the sub-3:30 (8:01 pace) range rather than sub-3:20.  On a more optimistic note, the pace tables in the Hansons Marathon Method book has 23:00 as the 3-mile goal pace for a 3:25 (7:50 pace) marathon.

Goal half marathon pace miles: 22:54 (7:39 pace), 23:09 (7:44).  Average=23:01

Tempo Run (14 miles w/10 mile progression run).  [Log Details]

I ran this same workout in Week 12.  This week, I’ve been working on figuring out what my actual marathon pace might be, but I decided to run this workout using 3:20 marathon (7:38 pace) as my goal still.

The run started a little rocky.  Nature called during the warm up and I desperately needed to find a bathroom.  I noticed there was a public bathroom by some tennis courts near the trail.  I ran to them but the door was locked.  I spied some port-a-potties in the lot where the local buses start their route.  I mulled asking if I could use them, but ran on instead.  I found some port-a-potties by the corner where the day laborers gather in Shirlington.  They were open.  I went in and they weren’t as disgusting as I imagined they would be.

After my drills, I started my progression run.  I felt great for the first 2 miles.  If anything, I felt a little warm and over-dressed running north during the 3 miles.  Then, I headed south and into the wind.  Holding pace was a bit of a struggle when the pace hit the 8:00 range.  At the next turn around point, the wind was at my back again and the pace felt comfortable.  I thought I was running strong through mile 8 but the Garmin disagreed.  I focused on just finishing strong.  The best part: once again, I didn’t feel destroyed after the run.

I think this run also indicates I’m no where near sub-3:20 pace.  I think the first rep should have been closer to what my easy run pace has been.  Now, I’m guessing my marathon pace is probably about where the pace started to feel a little hard – 8:00 pace.

Progression run miles: 8:45, 8:29, 8:19, 8:13, 8:04, 8:03, 7:44, 7:54, 8:11, 7:58.  Average was 8:10.

Other Running-Related Activities

Future Races. 

California International Marathon.  I got an email about selecting my transportation options for CIM.  I did that pretty quickly and it motivated me to work on some of the other logistics for the trip.  I thought about buying the VIP package – mostly because the idea of being in a warm tent sounded very appealing.  But, for my first CIM, I think I’d like to be among my fellow shivering runners.

Spring Marathon.  As I started to reconcile that I might not run sub-3:20 at CIM, I’ve started looking at spring marathons.  This week, I narrowed the list down to St. Louis and Cleveland.  But then, a friend asked why I wasn’t going to make Boston Marathon my goal race.  Except for this year, I haven’t raced Boston very well, so I don’t think of it as a PR course.  But, then I thought, “How cool would it be to PR at a course you didn’t think you could PR?”  So now, Boston is on the list.

Gear.  I got my November Stridebox.  There’s a shoe bag and a lot of nutritional items, including the Gu brand version of gummies.  I might try those on my long run tomorrow.

Media of the Week.

Song.  “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” Cyndi Lauper.  I ran my easy run on Friday a little too hard thanks to Cyndi Lauper.

Picture.

The Week Ahead

I wouldn’t say my taper starts next week – it features the usual speed work on Tuesday (2 x 2 miles @ half marathon pace), a 16 mile tempo run on Thursday, and a 20 mile long run on Saturday w/10 miles at goal marathon pace.  But, I spy with my little eye a rest day on Wednesday!  Oh, I can’t wait to sleep in.  I’m on a 81 day running streak, so I’m really looking forward to that.

Inspiration.  “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz