Monday, October 20, 2008

Marathon Training Update - Week 7

Not a whole lot of training this week. There’s just a bunch of recovery and slow runs interspersed around one longer speed session. Marathon training has officially given way to marathon tapering. The big day for me is now les than two weeks away. Yikes. And please, please, please. No more 3 hour marathon talk. As if running in a crowd of 37,000+ in my hometown in front of family and friends, co-workers and neighbors, in a course that incorporates five boroughs, five bridges and 26.2 miles of tough and unrelenting ascents and descents wasn’t enough pressure for me to deal with.

Week #7 (10/13-10/19)

What I Planned:
Recovery Run: 5 miles at recovery pace
Tempo Run: 9 total miles with 7 miles at 6:35 min/mi pace
General Aerobic Run: 5 miles at 7:10 min/mi pace
Weekend Long Run: 16 miles at long run pace
Recovery Run: 5 miles at recovery pace
Total week 7 distance: 40 miles

What I Ran:
Recovery Run: 5.2 miles at 7:52 min/mi pace
Tempo Run: 9.2 total miles with 7.1 miles at 6:30 min/mi pace
General Aerobic Run: 5.0 miles at 7:01 min/mi pace
Weekend Long Run: 16.3 miles at 7:30 min/mi pace
Recovery Run: skipped due to injury
Total week 7 distance: 35.7 miles; avg pace – 7:17 min/mi

How I Ran:
After racing the Staten Island Half, I ran a slow easy run at the beginning of the week for recovery. I then gave myself the Herculean task of running a super fast tempo run, which I was able to complete with a strong finishing kick. I did the general aerobic run scheduled the next day somewhat faster than I wanted to but still finished hitting my heart rate target range. As I mentioned in the last post, the long run was a tough battle from the get-go and both sapped a bit of energy from me as well as gave me a new injury to worry about. Since my foot was still bothering me somewhat the next day, I decided to ditch my Sunday recovery run in favor of resting. After all, by this point, all the training that needed to get done have already been done and we’re all just resting our sore bodies as best we can, waiting anxiously for the big day.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice job on all the runs. Hope the foot feels better. Two more weeks! You are going to do great.

Bill Carter said...

Hi Lam

I really do enjoy this what I planned/what I ran format. I think you are going to have a great race in a couple weeks, but I won't put any more pressure on you by trying to make predictions about your time. The marathon is so long and challenging that you almost have to race it in a "wait and see" sort of way. I always say to take your time and enjoy the experience and just see what happens. If it is your day and your body reacts well to the distance, it could be very special race for you.

Best of luck and I have really enjoyed your progress as a runner this year.

J said...

Good Idea to take the day off - all your hard work will pay off - an extra day of rest will serve you well. Keep up the good work!

C said...

Dude, stop hurting yourself. That's some serious advice coming from a not-yet-non-medical doctor. :)

Felice Devine said...

Way to go on the tempo run!
And, way to go with the rest. I know it is hard but you need it. How is the foot feeling today?

Julianne said...

Woohoo! Less than 2 weeks to go. This is sooo exciting! :-)

Meg said...

I hope your foot is feeling better! Is it me or do you tend to run a little bit faster than you planned?

Aron said...

getting close!!! enjoy your taper and rest up :) its going to be a great race!

Andrew is getting fit said...

Sounds like a good week of training.

I'd love to do a race with so many people one day.

M*J*C said...

Great job on your runs!!! Your "Big Day" is coming up super soon too!!! Hope you have a great weekend!

 
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