CIM Training – Week 3
The week started rough. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this tired during marathon training. I managed to hit goal marathon pace (7:38 for a 3:20 marathon) on Wednesday despite serious doubts before the workout. That was followed by a sports massage on Thursday. By Friday, I was super sore but still had a great easy run. And, I felt relatively strong during today’s long run. Overall, I’m feeling very positive about how my training is going so far.
The Details
Week 3 started the transitional phase of the training program where I move from all easy running to actual workouts. I ran 8-10 mile easy runs four days this week, a goal marathon paced (GMP) run on Wednesday, a 16 mile long run on Saturday, and took Tuesday off.
Goal Marathon Pace (GMP) Workout. On Wednesday, my workout was: 3 mile warm up, 5 miles @ GMP, 3 miles cool down. In the days leading up to the workout, I had a lot of doubt about my ability to run my goal marathon pace – 7:38 or a 3:20 marathon – during training. Sub-3:20 has been a goal of mine for a couple of years now and I’ve rarely been able to hit that pace in training. And, I haven’t run that fast in training since February. But, I kept telling myself that I had to believe I could run it and reminding myself that I ran that pace during two of my Ragnar runs back in May. I also created playlist with 40 minutes worth of motivational music.
After the 3 mile warm-up, I did some drills and strides. I started the GMP part of the workout a little fast. I think my Garmin showed sub-7 at the beginning! I slowed myself down and felt good during most of the second mile. It wasn’t until I was getting close to the turn-around that I started to feel fatigue. I held on, though, and finished pretty close to my goal pace! I was so proud of myself. But, a little concerned because it felt more like 10K effort. Splits (Garmin): 7:22, 7:31, 7:37, 7:28, 7:36.
Long Run. I ran my long run this morning. I felt sluggish during the first few miles and annoyed because my NB890s v5, which usually feel too loose, now felt too tight. About 3 or 4 miles into the run, I started thinking maybe it’s about time I did some miles closer to my target long run pace. According to my plan, for a 3:20 marathoner, that’s 8:18 pace. I didn’t think that was reasonable based on what I’ve been running lately, but maybe some 8:20-8:30 paced miles would be doable once I hit the Mount Vernon Trail. I was able to run 5 or 6 miles in that pace range. By mile 12, though, I was pretty tired and went back to thinking it would be good to just finish 16 miles on my feet. I finally hit a water fountain at mile 13, (I carried my new small Nathan handheld and drank all my Gatorade by mile 10). I stopped for a while to drink and throw a lot of water on me to cool down. It gave me a little bit of a second wind but I was pretty done running hard by then. Of course, I treated myself to a dousing at the water park after my run. Overall pace: 8:42.
Other. I had a sports massage on Thursday evening. (I’m planning to have one every three weeks or so). It was good but I think it was a mistake to have had it so soon after my first GMP run. The therapist’s work on my calves KILLED. I probably should have asked him to ease up but I suffered through it instead. He also punished my IT Band and hips. The next day, those muscle groups were fine but my quads were so sore I couldn’t believe they weren’t bruised. My easy run was brutal, but since it was a beautiful day, I used my soreness as an excuse to stop and take pictures:
I also decided that the Army Ten Miler doesn’t really fit my schedule. I have a GMP workout the next weekend. I think I’m going to run the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon the week before instead.
The Week Ahead
I’m on the second page of my training plan! Only four more pages to go. Next week will be similar to this one except instead of a goal marathon pace workout, I’ll be doing 12 x 400m @ 5K pace as my workout. That seems like a lot of 400s…
Inspiration. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
