M-pace: 10 miles in Golden Gate Park

Most of the physiological preparations have been cemented for the marathon in 4 weeks. There's not much more I can do to improve my shape before the race. However, psychologically, I need to get used to running at my goal pace, which I haven't been doing. My runs have been either considerably faster (tempo and VO2max runs) or slower (easy and moderate runs).

The first mile or two at marathon pace (M-pace) felt rough. I wasn't sure I'd even be able to do 5 miles at that pace. However, my body settled in around mile 3 and the pace felt great. I was actually a bit faster than I wanted, but it's hard to get the exact pace when running without mile markers and hitting red lights.

Mileage Summary

This Week

30.5 miles

This Month (September)

91 miles

This Year (2008)

1,229 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

127.5 miles

Today's Run

Workout

M-pace for about 7 miles (after 2 mile warm up and with 0.5 mile warm down)

Start Time

9:00 am

Total Distance

10 miles

Total Time

1:15:08

Route

Flat. Out and back to Golden Gate Park, with 1 mile on Kezar track.

Pre-run

Tiger's Milk

Post-run

Glass Ovaltine with 1% milk, a banana w/ peanut butter

Easy: 6 Miles in Dogpatch

Ran part of the marathon course to Dogpatch for a change of pace.

Mileage Summary

This Week

20.5 miles

This Month (September)

81 miles

This Year (2008)

1,219 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

117.5 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Easy pace

Start Time

8:00 am

Total Distance

6 miles

Total Time

53:05

Route

Rolling hills. Out and back on 17th, right on Indiana to Caesar Chavez.

Pre-run

Cereal w/ 1% milk

Post-run

Glass Ovaltine with 1% milk

Easy: 4 Miles on the Panhandle

Easy run with sprints.

Mileage Summary

This Week

14.5 miles

This Month (September)

75 miles

This Year (2008)

1,213 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

111.5 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Easy pace

with 2 40 second sprints

Start Time

4:00 pm

Total Distance

4 miles

Total Time

33:48

Route

Flat. Out and back up the Panhandle to Masonic, then sprinting approx 200 m up and back.

Pre-run

Banana

Post-run

Glass of Cytomax

Tempo: 3 x 3200m Cruise Intervals

Another terrific track workout! I probably ran about 5 - 10 seconds too fast each mile (i.e. I could have gotten the same benefit with less stress had I slowed down a bit), but finished strong. The 8pm track workouts have been killing my sleep schedule, though.

I was thinking about switching to 2 x 5,000 m in 20:00/each next week. This down week will give my legs a chance to rest up, which should make that possible.

Mileage Summary

This Week

10.5 miles

This Month (September)

71 miles

This Year (2008)

1,209 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

107.5 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Tempo pace, cruise intervals. 3 x 3200m at tempo pace (12:40, 12:44, 12:43) with 3 minutes recovery after the first and 2 minutes recovery after the second.

Start Time

8:00 pm

Total Distance

10.5 miles

Total Time

77:00

Route

Flat. Kezar track w/ warm down back home

Mid-run

A GU after the track workout

Pre-run

Banana, peanut butter & jelly bagel

Post-run

Glass Ovaltine with 1% milk, glass of Cytomax, bowl of cereal w/ 1% milk

Goals for Week of Sep 8

As I discovered last week, I have one more week until Bizz than I thought. So this week will be a down week. My goals: 45 - 50 miles total, 3 x 3200 m @ 6:30/pace cruise intervals, a 12 - 14 mile long run, an 8 - 10 mile run at 7:15 pace, and 3 x 200 m sprints during 2 runs (I think adding the sprints to the cruise intervals is too stressful).

Moderate: 9 Miles to Spreckle's Lake

Another run where ambition triumphed over common sense. 6 easy miles was the most that was called for, but I did a longer and faster run. My justifications: it's an evening run, so I had an extra half day rest; I need 9 to hit my weekly goal of 60 miles; I told my wife I'd be home for dinner, so I need to run faster; tomorrow is a rest day.

Mileage Summary

This Week

60.5 miles

This Month (September)

60.5 miles

This Year (2008)

1,198.5 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

97 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Moderate pace

Start Time

5:30 pm

Total Distance

9 miles

Total Time

75:33

Route

Rolling hills. Out and back to the water fountain by Spreckle's Lake.

Pain

Bottom of left foot was tingly on foot strikes in the toes

Pre-run

Nothing

Post-run

2 glasses Ovaltine with 1% milk, pasta dinner with broccoli, moderate strectching, ice bath for both feet.

Long/M-pace: 20.5 Miles Around the City

I screwed up my planning. When last week ended, I thought the race was 5 weeks out, but when I actually looked at a calendar, I realized it was 6 weeks out. So that means I needed a 20-miler this weekend and I'll need another one in 2 weeks. Anyway, this week is not turning out like my stated goals from Monday.

I replaced my Tuesday threshold intervals with VO2max intervals, but my legs were too weak today to add the 6 miles of threshold pace I wanted to do. Plus, the track was closed, so I ran on the upper path and wasn't sure the exact distance (luckily I guessed correctly that it was 0.4 miles). I did manage to get just over 5-k in at M-pace (7:15/mile). Now I need to start including M-pace runs to get a sense for what pace I'll run the marathon at.

Mileage Summary

This Week

51.5 miles

This Month (September)

51.5 miles

This Year (2008)

1,189.5 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

88 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Long run at easy pace with 3.2 miles (miles 12 - 15) at M-pace (7:15)

Start Time

6:30 am

Total Distance

20.5 miles

Total Time

2:53:11

Route

Rolling hills. Down Valencia, to Mission, cut over to Alemany, up Brotherhood, up 19th, wander through SF State (to look for a water fountain), back up 19th, along MLK to Kezar, 8 laps above the track @ 7:15 pace, back on MLK, cut up Stow Lake (clockwise) to JFK, back home along the Panhandle and Wiggle.

Pre-run

Oatmeal

Mid-run

3 GUs (1 every 45 - 50 minutes, including 1 about 5 minutes into M-pace running) and Cytomax

Post-run

Glass Ovaltine with 1% milk, glass of Cytomax, peanut butter, and a bowl of cereal w/ 1% milk

Easy: 4.5 Miles on the Panhandle

Easy run to rest up for tomorrow's long run.

Mileage Summary

This Week

31 miles

This Month (September)

31 miles

This Year (2008)

1,169 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

67.5 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Easy pace

Start Time

9:00 am

Total Distance

4.5 miles

Total Time

45:00 (approx)

Route

Flat. Out and back to the Panhandle and Stanyan

Pre-run

Cereal

Post-run

Glass of Cytomax

Easy: 9 Miles up Glen Canyon Park

Starting out this morning, my legs were much stiffer than yesterday. I've noticed that sometimes I'm more sore 2 days after an intense workout than the day after. This is one of those times. However, after about 4 miles, I started feeling fresh again.

Mileage Summary

This Week

26.5 miles

This Month (September)

26.5 miles

This Year (2008)

1,164.5 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

63 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Easy pace

Start Time

7:20 am

Total Distance

9 miles

Total Time

81:44

Route

Hilly. Up Glen Park Canyon, down 7th Ave through Golden Gate Park and back through the Wiggle

Pre-run

Cereal w/ 1% milk

Post-run

Glass Ovaltine with 1% milk, ice massage for my right Achilles.

Moderate: 4.5 Miles on the Panhandle

A recovery run with some strides thrown in to help loosen up the stiff legs from yesterday's workout.

Mileage Summary

This Week

17.5 miles

This Month (September)

17.5 miles

This Year (2008)

1,155.5 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

54 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Moderate pace, with 6 - 8 short (30 - 50 m) strides

Start Time

4:40 pm

Total Distance

4.5 miles

Total Time

42:00 (approx)

Route

Flat. Out and back, up the wiggle to the end of the Panhandle

Pre-run

Nothing

Post-run

Glass of Cytomax

VO2max: 10 Yasso 800's

Yasso 800's can be a great predictor for marathon time. That is, if you're Bart Yasso. Apparently it doesn't work for everyone. Regardless of whether I run a 2:51 - 2:57 marathon at Bizz Johnson, 10 800's at VO2max pace is an excellent workout.

Over the past few months I tended towards slower track workouts with cruise intervals, primarily because I felt I could only get 2 quality workouts in any given week. And since my target race is a marathon, a long run and tempo work seemed ideal. However, a buddy of mine suggested VO2max during the week, then a tempo long run on the weekend. That means 15 - 22 miles, where 4 - 8 miles is at tempo pace (~6:45/mile) and the rest of the run is at easy pace (~8:15/mile). I'll give that a shot this week and see if my body protests too much.

Mileage Summary

This Week

13 miles

This Month (September)

13 miles

This Year (2008)

1,151 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

49.5 miles

Today's Run

Workout

VO2max pace. 10 x 800 m w/ equal time active rest (200 m walk/jog). 2:57, 2:54, 2:56, 2:55, 2:55, 2:54, 2:54, 2:51, 2:53, 2:51

Start Time

8:00 pm

Total Distance

10 miles

Total Time

75:00 (approx)

Route

Flat. Kezar track w/ warm down back home

Pre-run

Kappa maki and raisin bran w/ 1% milk

Mid-run

A GU before the track workout and a GU after the track workout

Post-run

Glass Ovaltine with 1% milk, a glass of Cytomax, an English muffin w/ peanut butter, and a banana

Easy: 3 Miles in Golden Gate Park

A light run to get my legs ready for tonight's track workout

Mileage Summary

This Week

3 miles

This Month (September)

3 miles

This Year (2008)

1,141 miles

Shoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/2008

39.5 miles

Today's Run

Workout

Easy pace

Start Time

8:15 am

Total Distance

3 miles

Total Time

26:07

Route

Mostly flat. Starting at the Conservatory of Flowers, around Stow Lake and back past Hippie Hill

Pre-run

Cereal

Post-run

Nothing

Goals for Week of Sep 1

These next two weeks are my final push for the Marathon (less than 5 weeks away!). This week I'll get back up to 60 miles, which will probably require 2 or 3 double workouts. My long run will be scaled back to about 15. I will run a expanded and modified version of my track workout: 3 x 3200m @ 6:30 pace finishing with 2 x 200m