Chasing 3 Hours: Boston Marathon - Week 13/19 - Legs Coming Back

Chasing 3 Hours: Boston Marathon - Week 13/19 - Legs Coming Back: The last few weeks my legs have felt heavy, concrete-like, so a slight step back in mileage was needed.  They felt better this week.  I will...

Boston Marathon - Week 13/19 - Legs Coming Back

The last few weeks my legs have felt heavy, concrete-like, so a slight step back in mileage was needed.  They felt better this week.  I will admit that I still have a ways to go, but the strategy of taking it least one day a week very, very easy seems to do the trick.  This last week it was Friday.  I normally do about 10 plus miles at a general aerobic pace, but this week decided to do 3 very easy in the morning and the same in the evening.  Both runs were with my dog, Huey, so included lots of stopping, walking and sniffing the ground. (Huey, not me!). The legs responded well Saturday morning.  Certainly, not race ready, but unlike last Saturday, my miles got faster and faster rather than the other way.  Sunday I ran 20 plus and while not blistering fast, again I managed to get faster and faster.

So to recap, another 90 mile week, a decent block tempo workout on Tuesday, where I ran 13 miles and 3x4 miles, one at 7:30 pace, another block at 6:45 and the final one at 6:30 pace.  I ran lots of hills, and also through in a very light progression run on Thursday night.  A solid week, especially when compared to my performance in week 12.

The weather coming up looks glorious.  Probably be making the transition from evening to early morning runner.  Warmer temps, no snow and ice and lots and lots of daylight.  Always love this transition.  Need to have the legs recover some more and nail some more quality workouts.  Only about 4 weeks of hard training remain and need to make the best of it.

Happy Running!
Rick

Chasing 3 Hours: Boston Marathon 2016 - Week 12 of 19 - Takin' a Br...

Chasing 3 Hours: Boston Marathon 2016 - Week 12 of 19 - Takin' a Br...: After 3 consecutive weeks of 90 plus miles, I decided that I needed a slight break in the action.  I wanted to be able to run a halfway dece...

Boston Marathon 2016 - Week 12 of 19 - Takin' a Break

After 3 consecutive weeks of 90 plus miles, I decided that I needed a slight break in the action.  I wanted to be able to run a halfway decent 20-miler on Sunday, so I took it relatively easy on Friday and Saturday.  Boy, did I need it!  I only ran 8 easy miles on Friday, but the legs felt like concrete and had absolutely no life in them. Saturday was also a very easy 11, and more of the same.  Lead legs and fighting through every mile.  The legs are not sore and I am not in any pain, just zero pop or energy.  However, after the slight cutback, a couple of Saturday naps, lots of eating, followed by a good night's sleep, I was feeling pretty good today.  My best case scenario would be to run the 20 as a progression, with the last few miles getting in the 6:30 range, but I knew, based on how the past few days went, that would be asking too much.  Did the first few miles at "Huey" pace, which includes plenty of stopping and starting.  Then I settled into an 8:45 pace for the early miles and very, slowly and gradually worked my way under a 7 minute pace.  The legs still felt heavy and I don't think I could have run much faster even I wanted to, but still a vast improvement over Friday and Saturday.

So, ended up the week with about 86 miles and will probably be around 370 for the month.  I did get in a pretty decent tempo run on Tuesday, when I ran 12 miles with half of those below 6:48 pace.  For the upcoming week, I think I might forgo some mileage again for an attempt at quality.  I have pushed my legs to the brink and only have about 7 weeks to bring them back to life.  Time for a mini recovery then some fine tuning.

Happy Running!

Rick

Chasing 3 Hours: Boston Marathon - Week 11 of 19 - Almost According...

Chasing 3 Hours: Boston Marathon - Week 11 of 19 - Almost According...: Another week that almost went as planned.  My interval sessions that I threw in last week went so well, I decdied to do them again this past...

Boston Marathon - Week 11 of 19 - Almost According to Plan

Another week that almost went as planned.  My interval sessions that I threw in last week went so well, I decdied to do them again this past Tuesday.  These were more structured than the previous version; I ran a total of 12 miles with 5 x 1 mile intervals in 5:59, 5:56, 5:52, 5:48 and 5:58.  Pretty happy with this effort.  The plan then was to finish off the week with back to back long runs, with Saturday being easy and Sunday pushing the envelope, running a progression with a possible 6 to 8 miles at marathon pace.  Saturday's run was fine, easily logging 16 miles at a relaxed pace.  Sunday started out well, getting progressively faster from 1 to 10, where I was poised to be at MP then hold on for the rest of the run.  I hit the trail, which is flat and relatively ice free, locked into MP and ran out of gas only a mile into the effort.  Turned out to be decent general aerobic run, but a far from the effort planned.  The week overall was a B+, logging 90 plus miles again and hitting 1 of my 2 workouts.

So, how to bounce back this week?  I like how my body is responding to the interval workouts, so that is on the schedule again.  I still want a marathon paced effort somewhere in the mix, so I am thinking of a 6 to 8 mile cutback in mileage, giving me some well needed rest.  Perhaps I will do a light and short recovery run Friday, an MLR very easy on Saturday, then a full-fledged long run with 8 to 10 at MP on Sunday.

Less the taper, only 6 more weeks of heavy duty training; it is make or break time!

Happy Running!
Rick

Chasing 3 Hours: Boston Marathon Week 10 of 19 - Change of Pace

Chasing 3 Hours: Boston Marathon Week 10 of 19 - Change of Pace: Last week was a rough one for me.  I have been nailing my tempo runs, but logging the long and medium long runs was beginning to become a ch...