Perfect Weather -- Can't believe I had this in me.
Today's run: Long Run of 17 miles at 8:31 pace
51 miles this week. Marathon is 6 weeks from today!
The day after an effort like I had yesterday would seem to be the worst time to do a Long Run. In fact, it was precisely this part of the schedule that caused me to have the following exchange with Thomas:
The verdict? Let's leave some suspense, shall we?
I have been very fortunate to have found a couple of
runners who run my pace and are willing to coordinate the occasional non-Saturday run with me. Today's victim was Galen, who established the route, originating at our typical meeting place for the K-Star runs.
My expectation for the run was to face cold, hard winds for much of the run, especially coming up the Great Highway. All day long it seemed the wind was blowing, and it was blowing hard in Cole Valley when we started. Galen convinced me the wind wasn't too cold and I should wear a short-sleeved shirt instead of the long-sleeve I showed up in, so we stopped at my car for the exchange (I tend to bring both long and short sleeves if I'm not sure about the weather).
We reached the park in short order. One of the great things about running with someone else is that you can completely distract yourself from the run through conversation. Instead of observations about the route, I can only really tell you about the conversation topics:
When we reached Fort Funston, we were treated to nearly clear views up and down the shoreline, and some winds. Approaching the Great Highway, the winds blew some sand in our faces. But coming up the Great Highway, the wind was at our backs, and it wasn't too cold.
Back in the park, taking JFK all the way back meant a different arrangement of hills to climb. At that point, the toll of yesterday and the week behind me started to register. Even still, the pace felt good, and it wasn't until we had about 2.5 miles to go that I felt like my legs would go on strike. This is when I observed that I my total for the week was approaching 50 miles, and the feeling of accomplishment made me feel good. Still, my legs were tired and I felt a little pain in my knee.
Getting closer to the end of the route, aware that it was getting tougher and tougher, conversation flagged a bit. When we reached the last, one-block hill up Stanyan, I surprised myself (and Galen) with how fast I climbed it. We reached the end a couple of blocks later, stretched in a very windy spot, and called it a day.
I'm surprised by the pace: it didn't feel like 8:31 (it felt slower), and this is a good sign that after a day like yesterday I can run that distance in that pace. In fact, all of my Long Runs so far have been between 8:30 and 8:40, and this gives me confidence for the marathon.
Verdict? Not a cake walk, but doable, and probably the "training stimulus" that will put me in excellent shape six weeks from today.
51 miles this week. Marathon is 6 weeks from today!
The day after an effort like I had yesterday would seem to be the worst time to do a Long Run. In fact, it was precisely this part of the schedule that caused me to have the following exchange with Thomas:
Subject: Insane Training Program ;)
From: Brent
Date: 3/23/06
To: Thomas
Hi Thomas...
So, just checking on something with you... Pfitzinger's 55-mile a week (peak), 18 week training program has a few oddities that, having read Chapter 2, I barely understand...
1) There's a couple of instances where he has you run a 8-15K race on a Saturday ("all-out") and then a recovery run of 16 or 17 miles the next day.
2) There are three races scheduled in the last mesocycle. (8K, 10K, 15K)...
If I'm reading it right, the kind of running in races is different enough from the kind of running during long runs, and, having already done a couple of 20 milers in the weeks preceding, doing a 17 mile run the day after a fast 10K actually works... ?
Brent
Subject: Re: Insane Training Program ;)So, the question today would be, does a 17 miler feel like a cake walk?
From: Thomas
Date: 3/23/06
To: Brent
It's not as bad as it sounds. Once you get to that point you'll be in the best shape of your life and 17 miles will be a cake walk.
[snip]
There's also an immense mental benefit from setting a 10K PR 2 weeks before a marathon. You can make it better by establishing a benchmark early in the process, like in the next month or so. Racing also breaks up the monotony of training but don't overdo it.
::t.
The verdict? Let's leave some suspense, shall we?
I have been very fortunate to have found a couple of
runners who run my pace and are willing to coordinate the occasional non-Saturday run with me. Today's victim was Galen, who established the route, originating at our typical meeting place for the K-Star runs.My expectation for the run was to face cold, hard winds for much of the run, especially coming up the Great Highway. All day long it seemed the wind was blowing, and it was blowing hard in Cole Valley when we started. Galen convinced me the wind wasn't too cold and I should wear a short-sleeved shirt instead of the long-sleeve I showed up in, so we stopped at my car for the exchange (I tend to bring both long and short sleeves if I'm not sure about the weather).
We reached the park in short order. One of the great things about running with someone else is that you can completely distract yourself from the run through conversation. Instead of observations about the route, I can only really tell you about the conversation topics:
- Baseball: how Wayne Huizenga was a terrible owner and other topics
- Energy Gel preferences
- The Daily Show
- The Colbert Report
- Yesterday's run
- Is golf a sport?
- Other runners (oh, don't you wish you could know!)
When we reached Fort Funston, we were treated to nearly clear views up and down the shoreline, and some winds. Approaching the Great Highway, the winds blew some sand in our faces. But coming up the Great Highway, the wind was at our backs, and it wasn't too cold.
Back in the park, taking JFK all the way back meant a different arrangement of hills to climb. At that point, the toll of yesterday and the week behind me started to register. Even still, the pace felt good, and it wasn't until we had about 2.5 miles to go that I felt like my legs would go on strike. This is when I observed that I my total for the week was approaching 50 miles, and the feeling of accomplishment made me feel good. Still, my legs were tired and I felt a little pain in my knee.
Getting closer to the end of the route, aware that it was getting tougher and tougher, conversation flagged a bit. When we reached the last, one-block hill up Stanyan, I surprised myself (and Galen) with how fast I climbed it. We reached the end a couple of blocks later, stretched in a very windy spot, and called it a day.
I'm surprised by the pace: it didn't feel like 8:31 (it felt slower), and this is a good sign that after a day like yesterday I can run that distance in that pace. In fact, all of my Long Runs so far have been between 8:30 and 8:40, and this gives me confidence for the marathon.
Verdict? Not a cake walk, but doable, and probably the "training stimulus" that will put me in excellent shape six weeks from today.
posted by Brent at
8:50 PM
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