Marathon Training – Week 11 – Autumn Running
I love running this time of year. The weather is cool and crisp and the trees are at the peak of their autumn colours. The set of trees in the photo above are along the Green Lake path where I do all of my weekday runs. Pretty nice!
I can’t recall the last time I had a training week where every run was a complete success. I really couldn’t have asked for anything more out of this week. Tuesday’s tempo run felt the way I imagine tempo runs are supposed to feel. Check out the splits in the table below. Can you guess when the sun came up? That’s right, just after I finished my second tempo mile. Sometime during the third mile I felt like I found a groove and I did my best to stay there. I was really happy with the final four tempo miles. There’s nothing like a good tempo run to boost your spirits.
On Saturday I had a 16 mile long run scheduled. Given that I did a 20 miler last week, 16 sounded relatively easy. I did the same 16 mile course that I used in weeks 7 and 2. I’m not getting any faster but I think the route felt a bit easier this time around. The climb up Stone Way at the end kills me every time though. I think I recovered better this time around too. My heart rate was shocking low on Sunday’s recovery run. That’s my lowest recorded average heart rate on any run in the past two years. I’m pretty sure this is OK. It was cold out and I was a bit sleep deprived so that might account for part of it. In any case I don’t think I’m overtrained so I’m not worrying about it.
| 20/10 | - | Rest day |
| 21/10 | 8.0 miles | Tempo run: 6mi @ 8:56/8:54/8:39/8:34/8:33/8:26 min/mile |
| 22/10 | XT | 45 min elliptical, upper body weights, core work |
| 23/10 | 8.0 miles | Easy run: avg 157 bpm, 11:26 min/mile |
| 24/10 | - | Rest day |
| 25/10 | 16.0 miles | Long run: avg 168 bpm, 10:56 min/mile |
| 26/10 | 4.0 miles | Recovery run: avg 149 bpm, 11:24 min/mile |
| Total | 36.0 miles | YTD: 1018.4 miles |
Next week is a step back week and I am very excited about it! I’ve basically done 5 hard weeks in a row with the exception of a days or two of extra rest before and after the Victoria half marathon. Next week should give be a chance to recover, tend to any minor aches and pains and prepare for the final training peak before the marathon.