Marathon training – Week 11 – Goals

This morning I did my last training run before the marathon. I’m taking the next two days off from running to rest up and carbo load and then on Sunday morning I’ll run the race. I’m pretty excited. I’m sure it won’t be easy but I still think it’s pretty cool that I get to run a marathon. I’ll be happy just to finish but I do have a few slightly loftier goals.

• Goal #1: Under four hours
  • Goal #1a: Go through half in 2:00 – 2:02
• Goal #2: Set a new personal best (<4:10:19)
• Goal #3: Finish proud

It does not appear that the Toronto Marathon website has live tracking on race day. The race starts at 9am so hopefully some time around 1pm my finish time will be available on the Results Page (bib number 1294).

See you on the other side!

Marathon Training – The Graphs Edition

Part of my marathon taper is always spent burning off nervous energy by making graphs. First, here’s a graph of the mileage I’ve done over the 12 weeks of marathon training. It was a pretty steady progression of mileage increases with one recovery week and two taper weeks.

Next up we have a comparison of the weekly mileage I’ve put in the 16 weeks prior to my two previous marathons and my upcoming marathon. It’s pretty obvious that while I still got the high mileage weeks in I definitely did an abbreviated program this time around.

Finally here’s a graph of my total training mileage by training type. I didn’t do any tune-up races this time around because there weren’t any conveniently scheduled ones. I do wish I’d been able to squeeze a race paced half marathon in but I it didn’t happen. All in all I’m happy with the training that I did manage to accomplish during the past 12 weeks. The countdown is on: four days to the marathon!

Marathon training – Week 10 – 1000 miles on the dot

Last week was the start of my marathon taper. Despite the reduced mileage I still managed to have a few noteworthy runs. Wednesday’s tempo run was epic in that I ran it in what I swear was a horizontal rain storm. It was cold, windy and wet but I reveled in the madness of the fact that I was even out running. I didn’t feel great and my splits were slower than I would have liked but I gave it what I had on the day. Then on Saturday I did and 8.3 mile long run along the canal and through the Experimental Farm in Ottawa. It was only supposed to be 8 miles but I tacked on the extra 0.3 so I could hit a year to date mileage of 1000.0 miles right on the dot. So pleasing.

Race Preparation

I’m starting to get really excited about the marathon this weekend. I’m not feeling super confident in my ability to break 4 hours but I’ll deal with that once I’m out on the road. For the time being I’m trying to get an extra half hour of sleep each night, eat only healthy food, not get sick and only check the weekend weather once per day. Right now things are looking great for Sunday: mainly sunny with a high of 10C and a low of -3C.

Marathon training – Week 9 – Monster month

I have survived the monster month of marathon training! I ran 153.0 miles (246.2 km) during the month of September plus another 26.0 miles in the first three days of October. This is a new all time high month beating out the 144.8 miles I did in November of 2008. September went out with a bang on Wednesday with the always challenging 4x1mi speedwork session. This workout is a mainstay of my SmartCoach training programs and it’s always an indication that race day is coming soon. My goal for the workout was to do all the miles in under 8 minutes. In other words there was to be no glory in going out too hard and then fading during the last repeat. All in all the session was pretty satisfying.

On Saturday I did my last long run of this training cycle. I did an out and back course predominately on asphalt trails. The first 10 miles were a breeze. Miles 11-15 were fine although my legs started to tighten up a bit. During miles 16-20 I was just trying to get it done. Needless to say I wish that the run had been a bit easier but I maintained a strong training pace for the entire run and I pushed through mentally so I’m happy with that. I’m going to attribute my leg fatigue to the monster month.

It’s now time for a two week taper. I’m going to do about 24 miles next week which is decrease of about 40%. The plan is to cut out the volume but not the intensity. That means maintaining my usual tempo and training paces. I’m also going to try to get lots of sleep (I got 9 hours last night!), eat well and not get sick!

Race Preparation

As I continue to develop my racing plan this week I spent some time thinking about race nutrition and hydration. Nutrition isn’t a problem: I’ll stick with my chocolate Clif Shot gels and take one every 5-6 miles. The big question is will I carry a water bottle? During the first half marathon I ever ran two water stops had no water or sports drink (the truck missed the delivery before the roads were closed). Luckily I was carrying my own water so I wasn’t affected but there were a lot of unhappy runners out on the road. Ever since that experience I’ve been reluctant to rely entirely on the race organization for hydration during half marathons and marathons. However, in June I got over my fears and ran the Rock n Roll Seattle half without my water bottle and I set a PB. I’m really tempted to leave the water bottle at home this time around too. One problem is I usually stuff 3-4 gels in the pouch attached to my water bottle so I’ll have to find some other way to store them. I’m thinking of carrying a plastic water bottle for the first few miles (I might make a duct tape handle for it, I think that would be classy) just so I can avoid the first few aid stations since they’re usually pretty busy. That being said if the race day temperatures are unseasonably warm I’ll probably cancel this plan and just carry my own water to be on the safe side.

Race day is just now showing up in the 14-day long range forecast. Right now The Weather Network is predicting a high of 11C with rain. That’s fine by me.

Marathon training – Week 8 – Pacing Plan

On Wednesday morning I set out for a nine mile run with seven tempo miles. It was 20C at 6am with 100% humidity. Ick. I tried to run at tempo pace (approx 8:30 min/mile) but I just couldn’t get going. Somewhere during my first mile I made the executive decision to make this a marathon pace tempo run. That means I was aiming for 9:09 min/mile and I was able to average almost exactly that over the first five miles. The pace wasn’t too bad but I wished it felt a little easier because the thought of running 26.6 of these miles seemed impossible. I’ve now had time to reflect and hope that the combination of a taper, (hopefully) cooler temperature and race day magic will make it possible. During the last two tempo miles I picked up the pace a bit because I just wanted to get the run over and get on with my day! It’s a lot to get nine miles in before work. I had to wake up in the fives!

Saturday’s long run went pretty well. I took things easy and explored some local trails. It seems that a lot of the neighbourhoods around the university have networks of walking/running trails. Some are paved and some are a really nice hard packed gravel. No matter how long I study satellite maps it’s almost impossible for me to make all the right turns. I guess I don’t really have a photographic memory! Fortunately on Tuesday morning I went for a run with a friend who showed me a great 7km loop that I was able to use part of on Saturday. The truth of the matter is that it’s almost impossible to get truly lost because eventually you’ll hit a major road and get your bearings.

We are now three weeks out from race day. During my previous two marathon training cycles I’d be starting the taper at this point but this year I’m trying out a two week taper. This is mostly due to the fact that I’m only doing an 11 week training plan and there’s not so much time to squeeze a taper into that. I think I can handle one more hard week.

Race Preparation

I have chosen a pacing plan for a “best case scenario” attempt at a sub four hour marathon. Unless a horrible heat wave hits Toronto this is how I’m going to try and pace my race but of course things could change quickly as the race develops. In order to break four hours I need to average 5:41 min/km. My goal is to run a negative split running the first half in about 2:02. So for the four sections of the course that I defined last week my goal is to run 5:50, 5:45, 5:40, 5:35 min/km, respectively. It will take discipline to run the first section that slowly since there’s a nice gradual downhill along Yonge but I think it will be worth it to not go out too hard.

Marathon training – Weeks 6 & 7 – Biggest week ever

Week 6

Coming off a recovery week my legs felt fresh and I was ready to tackle a big week of training. Tuesday’s speedwork session was good although I would have preferred to have been able to do all the intervals in under 8:00. I’ve been doing all my tempo and speedwork sessions on a two mile road crossing free loop that I’ve mapped out near my apartment. I really miss the 3 mile Green Lake loop for these types of runs but I’m adapting to my new environs.

I did Sunday’s 18 mile long run in Stratford, ON. My parents and I were there for the weekend to enjoy the theatre festival. I did multiple loops up and down the Avon River and into the T.J. Dolan Nature Area. The run went fairly well. I was ready to be done at about mile 15 but it wasn’t too hard to push through and get the mileage done. A strange thing happened after the run though. My right ankle seized up and caused me a lot of trouble for a couple of hours. To be honest, My ankle had been bothering me on and off for a couple of weeks (I rolled it while walking on an uneven side walk back in August) but it honestly hadn’t been affecting my running. I iced and within a few hours it was fine. I kept up the icing for the rest of the weekend with hopes that I could nix the problem once and for all.

Week 7

I’ve been noticing that sunrise is getting later and later and we get closer to fall. It’s also been getting cooler. I think it was 3C one morning as I headed out the door! We’re starting to reach the sweet spot of perfect fall running conditions!

I consider tempo runs to be an excellent measure of fitness. With some trepidation I decided to look back on the six mile tempo run I did last October while training for the 2008 Seattle marathon. It turns out my splits were 8:56/8:54/8:39/8:34/8:33/8:26. If you ignore the first two splits (which I did in the dark) then I’m pretty much right at the same level as last year. That’s good enough for me right now!

Yesterday I did a 20 miler. This is the longest distance I include in marathon training programs so it’s always a big deal when it’s on the schedule. I mapped out a big loop route out of town onto the Walter Bean trail along the Grand River with two water stops at RIM park. I had a few navigation problems picking up the trail (I got scared by a “big private property – no trespassing”  sign) so I improvised the route in a few places. In any case  I came in at 20.5 miles. I was definitely dragging during the last few miles but I made it. My ankle still isn’t 100% so I spent most of yesterday afternoon lying on the couch eating, icing and napping. Good times.

It turns out that this week is my biggest mileage week ever at 41.5 miles. I previously ran 41.3 miles during 7 consecutive days in 2008 although not during a Monday – Sunday running week. So yay for me for setting a new personal record!

Race Preparation

The marathon is four weeks away. How did that happen? I started making my race day preparation with an in depth examination of the course route (see the course maps on the marathon website and a very detailed map made by a fellow runner). I’ve decided to split the race into four segments which I will attempt to tackle independently. This worked really well for me in Ottawa in 2007 and luckily it lends itself well to the Toronto course too.

1. Start to Yonge St turn off – aprox km 0 to km 8.5
2. Yonge St turn off (past Casa Loma, Bayview Ave, Front St) to Half way – approx km 8.5 to 21.1
3. Half way to Lake Shore turnaround – approx km 21.2 to km 30
4. Lake Shore turnaround to finish – approx km 30 to km 42.2

Up next in race preparation will be deciding on a target pace for at least for first 3 course sections.

Marathon training – Weeks 1-5 – Bringing you up to speed

It’s marathon training time again!

I’ve decided that my next major running goal will be the Toronto Marathon on Oct 18. I’m already through 5 weeks of an 11 week training program that I tweaked from Smart Coach. Normally I’d prefer about 16 weeks to train for a marathon but that just wasn’t going to happen this time around. After setting a PB at the Rock n Roll Seattle half marathon at the end of June I became absorbed with packing and moving back to Ontario. Throw in a three day ultimate frisbee tournament to play and recover from and a two week vacation to Europe and my July mileage topped out at only 20.2 miles. I’m pretty sure that’s the lowest monthly mileage I’ve done in the last three years! However, marathon training started on August 3rd and I covered 136.5 miles for the month so I feel like I’m back on track.

My dream goal for this race would be to beat 4:00 but given the abbreviated training cycle I’m not sure how realistic that is. Right now I’m just concentrating on getting the mileage in and I’m not paying much attention to pace. I’ve also stopped wearing my heart rate monitor strap but that’s partly because I haven’t unpacked that box yet! The next four weeks are really critical to my marathon training because the big long runs are coming up!

Here’s a quick week-by-week account for the first five weeks of training:

Week 1 - I was in Niagara-on-the-Lake at the Shaw festival with Mom and Dad this week. Most of my runs were along the very pleasant Niagara Parkway running along the Niagara River.

Week 2 - This week I was back in Ottawa preparing for my move to Waterloo. Mom and I were ridiculously busy this week (sewing, packing, shopping and visiting various government ministries) so I did my mid-week runs on the treadmill in the (relatively) cool basement. My long run was along the Rideau canal which is one of my all time favourite places to run. It was hot though so I had to make an emergency stop at the Loblaws near the Pretoria Bridge to get more water!

Week 3 - This was my first week in Waterloo and as everyone very kindly pointed out to me it was the hottest week of the summer so far. Even getting out at 6:20am it was hot. It was mercifully cooler on my long run day so I took the Trans Canada trail and ran up to St Jacob’s and back. It’s funny when I was here before St Jacob’s seemed so far away but now it’s well within a runnable distance for me!

Week 4 - I started to feel like I was hitting my stride a bit better this week. I was in Kincardine visiting a friend over the weekend so I did my long run up there. Running along the shore of Lake Huron on “Ontario’s West Coast” was definitely a treat.

Week 5 - By the time this week rolled around I was more than ready for a recovery week. It was 5C at 6am early in the week so I actually had to break out the long sleeved running shirts! I think my improved pace is mostly thanks to the cooler temperatures but I definitely felt like my runs were getting easier. I’ve decided to take two rest days in a row this weekend to let a few minor aches and pains heal up before next week’s 38 mile effort.