A Terrible Summer for Marathon Training

Quick Points:

1. Close to defeat

2. Back on that horse

3. New training plan

1. Close to defeat

I will say that the last few weeks has been disastrous in terms of my marathon training, between this oppressive heat and a couple small injuries. Seriously, this summer's heat has messed up training plans, because my body just gets to a point when it gives up on me when it is too hot out. At one point over the last few weeks, I considered:

1. not running the Montreal Marathon.
2. downgrading to the Montreal Half Marathon.
3. going to Montreal to enjoy poutine and beer.

But, I think that I am going to power through and go with Option #1 (I'm still not opposed to Option #3). I decided to give myself until August 25th to make the final decision, because that will give me a chance to do two long runs (the 12 miler today and the 15-18 miler on Sunday). Scratch that, August 24th will be the day, because it is the last day that I can change the distance.  If I crap out and cannot hit at least 15 miles on Sunday then I will do either option #2 or #3. Perhaps, I will do both because I will feel sad going Montreal during that weekend and not participating in either event.

2. Back on that horse

To "ease" back into running, I did a 12 mile run today. Unfortunately, I ran on a treadmill because of the weather outside. For this run, I did it based on running for 2 hours rather than running for distance. To my surprise I was able to run a little over 12 miles at an fairly east pace with changing inclines. Doing this "long" run was a little surprising, because I have been really lazy these past couple of weeks and I did not do any real physical activity. . . no running, no swimming, no lifting, NADA. So, I guess that I had a decent physical base, but we will see how that last going forward with my new training plan. Many trainers say that it is fine to give your body a week or so to recover from a hard training program. We will say that I was not being "lazy" but I was being proactive to let my body "recover."

Also, I did have a little inspiration for this run, because the women's Olympic marathon was on TV, so it was nice to watch the second half of the marathon while training for a marathon. I only wish that the treadmill's TV had better quality for the screen. I know, I know, First World Problems.

3. New training plan

I found a new training plan for an eight-week training period, but I will pick up the training at Week 2. I think that I may adjust the back to back running days for Saturday and Sunday.

WEEK 2
Monday: 40 min XT
Tuesday: 3 x 1.25 mi (10K pace) with 3 min jog to recovery between each set
Wednesday: 4 mi + strength training
Thursday: 10 mi
Friday: off
Saturday 4 mi total including 8 x 100m strides with jog back recovery between each
Sunday: 16 mi

WEEK 3
Monday: 40 min XT
Tuesday: 8 x 400m (85-90% percent max effort) with 2:30 min jog to recovery between each set
Wednesday: 4 mi + strength training
Thursday: 10 mi
Friday: off
Saturday 4.5 mi
Sunday: 20 mi

WEEK 4
Monday: 40 min XT
Tuesday: 4.5 mi
Wednesday: 4 mi + strength training
Thursday: 10 mi
Friday: off
Saturday: 5 x 800m (85% max effort) with 2:30 min jog to recovery between each set
Sunday: 15 mi

WEEK 5
Monday: 40 min XT
Tuesday: 5 min @ 10K pace, 2 minute jogs x 5
Wednesday: 4 mi + strength training
Thursday: 10 mi
Friday: off
Saturday 4 mi
Sunday: 21 mi

WEEK 6
Monday: 40 min XT
Tuesday 4.5 mi
Wednesday: 4 mi + strength training
Thursday: 10 mi
Friday: off
Saturday: 4 mi total including 8 x 100m strides with a jog back to recovery between each set
Sunday: 16 mi

WEEK 7
Monday: 40 min XT
Tuesday: 3 min “on” (10K pace), 2 minutes “off” (recovery pace) x 6
Wednesday: 40 min XT
Thursday: 6 mi
Friday: off
Saturday: 4 x 5 min @ 5K pace with 2:30 min recovery between each set
Sunday: 12 mi

WEEK 8
Monday: strength training
Tuesday: 4.5 mi easy
Wednesday: 6 mi easy
Thursday: 4 mi easy
Friday: off
Saturday: 3 mi easy
Sunday: Marathon!

Trying to Get There

QUICK POINTS:

1. Long Run #whatever

2. Cardio Recover

3. Musical Tastes

1. Long Run #whatever

As I continue to go the distance with my training for the Montreal Marathon in September (ACK!!!), I am beginning to explore more parts of my wonderful city via foot, because my distance is getting longer. I think going forward, I would like to run through a different part of the city for my long runs . . . granted that there is Crunch Fitness nearby, so I can stretch, shower, and change after the run. 

Since I had to work last weekend, I decided to do my long run near Cornell's medical campus and in the Yorkville portion of the Upper East Side. During the weekend, I had to do a Western blot and I had a two-hour transfer, which gave me plenty of time to complete a 10 mile (actually 9.3 miles) run through the Upper East Side and on Randall's Island.

After reading a couple of books, online articles, and random blogs, I decided do the long run at a slightly slower pace than which I am accustomed. Many sources say that one should do the long training run at a 1 - 1.5 minutes below your projected marathon pace, so that you do not burn out from training. This plan especially is important if you are doing speed work during the week, which I am  . . . sometimes.  

The run was pretty fun, since I ran slower than my normal time. I started the run around 6pm when the sun was setting and it was kind of cool running in the evening; however, running in the dark was not as fun. Not fun because it was a little hard to see potholes and uneven pavement in the street. I had a couple of close calls of almost falling.  

The route

Some pictures from the run - mostly of the East River and Randall's Island. 

2. Cardio Recovery

My training guide (as well as other resources) recommend doing a low intensity, non running cardio recovery workout a day after the long training run . . . if your legs and body are up to it. Since I could not motivate myself to do a non running cardio workout on my own, I decided to check out a Zumba class (it's much easier to have someone tell you what to do when you lack motivation). I never attended a Zumba class before but I know the they were quite the rage a few years ago. I went and had an absolute BLAST. Not to toot my own horn, I think that I did better (or was on par) with  many of the regular attendees. Even the instructor, Fabian, said that I did a good job and that I should come back. He could have been lying about the good job part; but hey, I will take a compliment when I can get one. I will say that his music selections were awesome, because  many of his songs were non-reggaeton latin songs (I really cannot stand reggaeton). 

The cool thing about this class was that it was low intensity, BUT I burned quite a bit of calories in the 60 minutes of the class. 

I think that I will incorporate this Zumba class into my weekly training regime . . . if I can get my act together on Sundays before 11am. 

3. Musical Selections

A big part of my running experience involves music; however, I am getting to the point where I am bored with much of my music that is on my iPhone. I am using a free subscription to Spotify to get some musical inspiration . . . of course I would have to buy the songs from iTunes if I like them. Do not get me wrong, it is not like I hate ALL of my music, I am just getting a little tired some of the more popular songs that are in constant rotation from my iTunes library. One would think  with over 1500 MP3s on my  iPhone that I would have enough musical selections to keep me inspired. I guess this is another case of "the paradox of choice: where more is less". 

Also, for my song of the run (seen below), I found that I am becoming a fan of show tunes during my long runs.

Song of the run. 

Many show tunes have a rapid "marching-type" cadence that matches the pace that I would like to run. I am thinking that for the marathon that I may run a portion of the marathon to a complete musical. A Broadway (or an Off-Broadway) musical typically is about 2 to 2.5 hours long, so I can complete half of the marathon without worrying about song selection and then complete the rest of the marathon with more up tempo/up beat song of my choosing. We'll see how this plan will go. 

Transitioning

Man, it has been a long time since my last post. I am really going to try to update this thing once a week. Who would have thought that the summer would make up too much of my time. 

Quick Points:

1. Queens 5K Race Recap

2. Next Steps

1. Queens 5K Race Recap

Although I was unable to sign up for the Queens 10K (one of my favorite races because it is in another location besides Central Park), I did have a bit of a blast running the 5k. Based on my times from previous races, I actually qualified to start in the first corral . . . probably, because the majority of the "big time" runners ran the 10K. 

Race bib pickup at NYRR Annex. 

It was a little rough making it to the 7:45am start, because I had to take TWO buses from Brooklyn deep into Queens. Ack!! I had to wake up at 5:20am to make into Queens on time. Plus, I stayed out till about 1:30 am, which gave me about 3-3.5 hours of restless sleep.

I guess drinking Moscato Mamas and eating fried and honey-soaked chicken wings at Dallas BBQ the night before a race is not a great idea. 

I got a little distracted (or thought that I was smarter than Google Maps) and I got off of the bus a lot further than I wanted to. I think that the walk to the start area took about 35 minutes. This 30 minute walk was quite annoying because I only had about 10-15 minutes to stretch and mentally prepare for the race. 

No clue where I am. 

It was a cool experience starting in the A (first) corral because you could see all off of the pre-race activities, live. 

I had a "blast" (which some minor annoyances) with this course - mainly the twists and the turns that were incorporated into late course. The beginning of the course was a little tough for me, because I left my water in the bag that I checked, so I was extremely thirsty while running to the first fluid station. For many of the NYRR races the fluid stations are at every 1 mile but the first station was at mile 1.5, which really threw me off.

Queens 5K Course

All in all, I had a good run without a personal best, although I ran the 5K at a 7'25''min/mi pace. However, I do not think that the pace was too bad because I was out late the night before and I had a VERY early wake up time on race day. 

Some photos from the day. 

2. Next stages. 

I am moving through my marathon training workout plan and I now I have finished my "foundation" month. I am really excited (and a little scared) to embark on this next stage of my Montreal Marathon training. This portion of the plan will incorporate more speed and Fartlek runs to improve (hopefully) my stamina and speed. These types of workouts are great for me because I really wanted to complete this marathon in 3 hours and 45 minutes. 

Speaking of marathons: I have signed up for quite a few races to meet the 9 portion of the 9+1 NYC Marathon qualifying plan, sponsored by NYRR. In the 9+1 plan, one has to run 9 races and volunteer for one event. Here are the races that I have signed up for:

1. Achilles Hope and Possibility (4M)
2. Boomer's Cystic Fibrosis Run to Breathe (4M)
3. NYRR R-U-N 5K
4. France Run (8K)

I just have to figure out when to do my long runs during the weeks of races. I know that some people incorporate the long runs into the race (e.g. run the race and keep running to complete the long run). But, I'm one of those people who likes to run his races as fast as possible, so fast that I will not have any energy to run another step once I cross the finish line. I guess that I will do the long run during the middle of the week for race weeks. We shall she how this goes. 

If everything goes according to plan, I will be done with all of my qualifying races by the end of August, which means I (hopefully) will be running the NYC Marathon in 2017. 

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Getting back on that "horse"

I have been a little busy for the past few weeks with life and with trying to enjoy our fake spring here in NYC. But, it now is time to get back to working and maintaing this "blog." And what do I mean by "working"? MARATHON TRAINING. I have decided to test my "luck" and the power in my back, ass, thighs, calves, and feet and run the Rock n Roll Marathon de Montreal in September.

Over the past few years, Montreal has become one of my favorite cities in North America and I need a reason to visit this wonderful city every year. I think running 26.2 miles through a city is a pretty good reason to visit this laid-back town.

The course, itself, looks pretty easy . . . once you get over the running 26.2 miles part. However, there appears to be a "nice" and long incline for about 8 miles after the first third of the run. I guess that I will have to incorporate more hill work (something that I did not focus on with my first NYC marathon) - good thing there are no shortages of bridges in NYC. 

Ready . . . Set . . . RUN!!!!! Over the next 132 days, I must complete 85 training runs which will consist of over 521 miles, based on my interactive My Asics marathon training app.

See ya on the streets.