8 weeks out

Still hanging in there, though I've really lost the blogging motivation as of late. Here's where I'm at:

8 weeks out, 10/5-10/11
Mo: 11 miles easy
Tu: 20 miles, 6:57 pace
We: 10 miles easy
We: 6 miles easy
Th: 14 miles w/6 at 6:00 pace on rollers
Fr: 12 miles easy
Fr: 4 miles easy
Sa: 9 miles easy
Su: 14 miles w/10 mile race in 57:32 (5:45 pace)
100 miles in 9 runs

All in all a good week of training given the recovery from the 8K race last weekend and the race today. Goals included a 20 miler, a medium-long run with marathon pace at the end and a solid race effort. Two out of three ain't bad.

14 Weeks Out

Mo: 10 miles at 7:08 pace
Tu: 12 miles w/10 at 6:19 pace
We: 13 miles at 7:00 pace, 8x downhill 100m strides
We: 6 miles around 7min pace
Th: 14 miles w/4x.7 mile hill repeats, very tough
Th: 5 miles easy
Fr: 10 miles at 7:09 pace
Sa: 20 miles at 6:52 pace
Su: 10 miles at 7:07 pace
Total: 100 miles in 9 runs
Tuesday's marathon-ish pace effort seemed to go well, and while the downhill strides are needed they made the legs a little sore for Thursday's tough hill effort. It felt good to get in a 20 miler Saturday, but the last few miles were tough. I think the hill effort actually put me behind on recovery for about four days, so I need to be sparing with that kind of hard work.

The Marathon Training Phase

Hi Mystery Coach,

During the last several months I have been experimenting with different levels of effort I use for my long runs.I have been trying to better understand why Lydiard said to run it slow. I am beginning to agree with him dueto the factors I have listed below.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Lawrence

Hi Lawrence,

Your question on the effort of the long runs is a good one and not an easy one to answer that will fit at all stages of your development.

To help with the explanation refer to this model:

The model represents a dozen fibers that you would use on a run. The number of reps signifies how fatigue resistant the fiber is. In this runner Fibers 1-6 are used quite often (regular short runs, every day walking around, etc.) and they have developed high fatigue resistance. Fibers 7-8 get activated every so often (Long runs, tempo runs, races), Fibers 9-12 only get activated in very high effort events (sprinting uphills, short fast races (less than 6 minutes long) and maybe during very long hard runs)

Recovery is also different, 1-6 recover quickly (maybe day to day), 7-8 a couple of days, and9-12 may need a week.

To complicate the matter each fiber has a different capacity for improvement and is different from runner to runner. Some runners will have fibers 1-6 improve to 12,000 reps others will have 1-6 stay at 10,000 reps but have 7-8 jump up to 8,000 reps.

The reason the Lydiard system is effective is that it uses many different types of training to increase the fatigue resistance ("stamina first" as Arthur said) of all the fibers. Long runs are just one of the methods.

Lydiard's Marathon Training Phase does a couple of important things;

1) It gives you a break from race training ( I consider long runs that approach marathon pace as race training, they have their place for peaking but are best left out of this phase)

2) It helps improve recovery times (this is important for when you start race training) "Trying" to run faster does not speed up recovery in fact it slows it down. This is why I recommend the efforts such as:

1/4 effort - you could go out and do that run again that day
1/2 effort - you could do the run the next day and the day after and the day after.
3/4 effort - a 1/4 effort the next day and you could do this again the day after

Most runners get ahead of themselves during the Marathon Phase pushing to fast or too long too
quickly. During my running and coaching career I found better results from runners when they did a bit faster 15-18 miler than struggling to get a slower 20-22 miler in each weekend. Better recovery less injuries and more enthusiasm.

You must remember the harder you run any day the more you take away from your recovery energy that you have. Runners who have built for many years have much more energy to recover.

You'll have to try different variations to find what activates and conditions your fibers the best (and don't forget that it may change from year to year depending on how much different fibers can adapt)

I have some runners who did very well on one day doing 3-4 miles (about marathon pace) and the next a 10-15 mile at about 2 minutes per mile slower. Others would get good results with something like 10 at 30 seconds slower that marathon pace , then a 20 miler about a minute slower than marathon pace and a 15 miler the day after at a minute slower than marathon pace. So don't forget to experiment so that you can keep building and enjoy the Marathon Training Phase.


MC

15 Weeks Out

Mo: 12 miles at 6:56 +1 hill sprint and 8xstrides
Mo: 5 miles easy
Tu: 15 w/3200, 3200, 1600 tempo (400 recovery) averaging 5:45 down to 5:39
We: 13 easy at 7:13 pace
We: 6 easy around 43m
Th: 12.5 w/3x.7 mile steep hill repeats
Fr: 14 miles at 7:25 pace
Sa: 4.5 easy
Su: 18 w/last four around 6 minute pace
Total: 100 miles in 9 runs

Scheduling conflicts made crashed a planned faster run on Saturday, but beyond that it was a pretty good week of singles. The legs are feeling good, but I really need to catch up on sleep this week.

16 Weeks Out

Our daughter started 1st grade this week and she's proudly riding her own bike to school, which has added two miles to my runs until she's comfortable enough for me to ride beside her. Cool stuff. (photo by Kiera)

16 weeks until the C.I.M. marathon:

107 miles in 11 runs
Mo: 10 miles at 7:22 pace
Mo: 5 miles at 7:32 pace
Tu: 12.5 miles w/3 x .7 mile hill repeats at strong effort
Tu: 6 miles at 7:44 pace
We: 8.5 miles at 7:08 pace, 8xstrides
We: 6 miles at 6:55-ish pace
Th: 11 miles w/8x1000 on 5 minutes in 3:23, 3:19, 3:20, 3:22, 3:21, 3:20, 3:21, 3:20
Th: 5 miles at 7:20 pace
Fr: 12 miles at 7:14 pace
Sa: 12 miles w/6x1600 redline run at 6:06, 6:08, 6:07, 6:07, 6:03, 6:02
Su: 19 very hilly miles (Saguaro loop) at 6:53 pace w/second half around 6:15-6:20 pace

I think I'm at close to my limit for miles for this build if I'm hoping to maintain or add to this level of intensity (my hope is to add to it). While I'd like to get back over 120 for a few weeks, it remains to be seen whether or not I can do that without just adding junk miles.

As far as how the week went, I feel good about getting in a hill workout Tuesday and 1000's on Thursday, but failed at squeezing a medium-long run between on Wednesday due to fatigue and a little malaise (still managed some strides though). I also felt good about the redline run on Saturday followed by a tough but strong long run Sunday, and for getting in a total of four doubles without the family throwing me out.

21 (Make that 17) Weeks Out

94 miles in 8 runs this week. A day with eight miles and a zero day while camping Monday and Tuesday really set me on another mileage hunt this week (like last week), and a bonk on Thursday plus feeling tired at the end of both Saturday and Sunday's runs show I'm a little behind on recovery. I felt good about fitting in a hill sprint Thursday, strides on Friday and an evaluation on Sunday. Hopefully I'll stay more consistent with the miles from day to day in the coming weeks, which should allow me to work in more quality instead of chasing missed miles.

Missed out on 100 by eating half a pizza and drinking two beers Friday night instead of running a double, but I'm over it.

Mo: 8 around 7:20 pace at 8000 feet, half uphill and half down
Tu: 0
We: 14 at 7:00 pace in the morning
We: 6 around 6:50 pace in the evening (too fast)
Th: 13 at 7:22 pace and a bonk, plus 1x25 second uphill sprint
Th: 5 miles at 7:40
Fr: 16 miles at 7:11, plus 8x300 jog, 100 accelerate-sprint
Sa: 12.5 miles w/4x1600m evaluation at 150HR in 6:03(149HR), 6:07(150), 6:04(150), 6:07(150) :42 seconds to 120HR recovery
Su: 20 miles at 7:15 pace

Groundwork

Next week I'll start a 20 week build for the California International Marathon on December 6. In preparation for the work ahead I've spent the past ten weeks building up a tolerance for mileage again with four weeks at 100 miles, one easy week at 58, three more weeks at 100, one week at 57, and the current week. I've managed long runs of 16-18 as well as at least one 14 miler each week, and I've also tried to implement strides, strong uphill running, moderate-paced runs and even a few 4 mile evaluations and the occasional workout of repeats around 5K pace.

As for the body, turning 38 last month has resulted in more gray hair in the beard but not many other changes. I'm starting some runs slower than I used to, and I'm running my doubles (3-4 a week) at pretty slow paces (usually 7:30 pace at the fastest except for when the Wednesday night gang lights things up). I seem to be adapting to the miles about the same as usual, and aside from an achilles scare last week and a few of the old familiar iliopsoas complaints I'm doing well.

As for specifics on the build, I'll be sticking fairly close to what worked well for NYC last year, but I'm hoping to work in a bit more time at paces faster than my current marathon pace earlier on. The training will still follow the usual Lydiard model of base conditioning, hills/transition, speedwork, specific pacework and sharpening and taper, as this has worked well for me in the past.

I'll try to start writing a weekly wrap-up of how the training is progressing, though as usual I won't make any promises. Races leading up to the marathon in December include the Saguaro 8-Miler on September 7, the 8K Run and Roll on October 4, the Get Moving 10-Miler on October 11, the Oracle 10K on October 31, and possibly the 5K Cross-Country Turkey Trot on November 26. I'll have to make most of these races into hard workouts without a taper, and I'll be focusing much more on recovering fully from them rather than tapering down for them.

All in all, the motivation is high and I'm really looking forward to marathon day. Like NYC last year I'm going to be joined by several of my friends for this race. James, Jason, Justin, Lucas and Sean will all be training hard for this marathon, so I'll have some good company for many of the long runs and possibly even some workouts.

As for the family, life is good. Our daughter starts first grade next week and turns seven next month, and our son (who just turned 4) is heading back to preschool for a few days each week at about the same time. My wife is still baking up a storm, and in fact just this morning revived me after the bonk on my run with waffles from scratch, eggs and fake sausage. I live a charmed life and I'm grateful for it. I am trying to keep most of the family details out of the blog, but if you are interested you can always find me on Facebook for that stuff. Thanks for sticking around.