Boston Marathon Training: Week 10

The extreme winter weather hit Apex, NC hard this week.  We had snow, ice and temperatures way below freezing.  A kind neighbor let me use her treadmill for a tempo run, and I ran with friends and snow plows another day.

Sunday:  rest
Monday:  9 miles: 3 conversation pace, 4 tempo, 2 conversation pace.  Came up one mile short and slow for this 10 miler.  Didn't hit tempo pace on the sloping terrain.  7:52, 8:13, 7:42 and 8:15.
Tuesday:  4-6 miles conversation pace with cross training at basic training class (None of it was done. Snowed in and supervising children playing in snow and frigid temperatures.)
Wednesday: 13 miles conversation pace (ran on roads with icy patches and snow plows)
Thursday: 12 miles with 4 at conversation pace and 8 at marathon pace of 8:15.  Hit the times on the treadmill, but came up one mile short of scheduled 13 because of discomfort and swelling in lower right leg.
Friday:  6 miles conversation pace
Saturday: 10 miles conversation pace.  I was scheduled to run 5 of these at marathon pace, but I chose to run conservatively and ran a very slow 10:10 average, the slowest run of my training.

Boston Marathon Training: My Toughest Week Ever

Week Nine was the toughest ever in the history of my training: Never before had I run 60 miles in one week or included 10 miles of hill repeats.   On Monday I ran 10 miles of hill repeats during a 15 miler.  The next day was my first to include mileage on my cross training day.  Tuesday through Thursday I felt like I had just run a distance race.  During this training I have questioned why I am doing this.  By Friday I didn't care how slowly I was running during a recovery run, and on Saturday I was back at it just trying to get in the miles.

Week 8
Sunday:  Day off
Monday: 3 miles conversation pace, 8 miles of hill repeats, 3 miles at conversation pace
Tuesday:  2.3 miles (was supposed to cross train plus run 3-4 miles)
Wednesday:  12 miles at conversation pace
Thursday:  3.5 miles (was supposed to run 5 miles Fartlick during a 10 miler)
Friday: Ran 5.5-6 miles including warm up, cool down with 6 X 2 minutes speeds with 1 minute rest in between (average speed pace 6:52).  This was to make up for the Thursday run.
Saturday: 18 miles with the first half slower than second half.  Overall pace: 9:18.

Week 9
Sunday:  Day off
Monday: 3 miles conversation pace, 10 miles of hill repeats, 2 miles conversation pace
(hill repeat elevation gain: 1,234 feet; hill repeat elevation loss: 1,242 feet)
Tuesday:  cross trained with basic training class plus 3.5 miles
Wednesday:  10 miles conversation pace
Thursday:  2 miles conversation pace, 5 miles Fartlick, 3 miles conversation pace all on hilly route
Friday: 6 miles conversation pace
Saturday:  18 miles with 4 at race pace.  Race pace became increasingly sluggish:  8:11, 8:26, 8:32 and 8:37.  Last 3 miles of the run were also sluggish.  Overall pace for 18 miler:  9:22.

Boston Marathon Training: Weeks 4-7

These past four weeks have been a challenge mostly because of unforeseen personal circumstances.  I have not reached all of my time goals or completed all my mileage.  Weeks four through six concentrated on tempo work, which is faster than race pace to build speed.  Hill work began with week seven.

Week 4
Sun.  4 miles conversation pace
Mon.  3 miles conversation pace, 5 miles 8:19 average pace, 1 mile 7:31 pace, 1 mile conversation pace
Tues. cross training/basic training class of cardio and strength: not done: unforeseen circumstances
Wed. 6 hilly miles at  9:19 av. pace
Thurs. planned workout moved to Fri. because of brutal cold
Fri. 2 miles conversation pace, 2 miles at 8:33 av. pace, 2 miles at 7:32 av. pace
2 miles of tempo run were slow, but 2nd set on target.  2 mile cool down not done b/c of time constraint
Sat. 6 miles conversation pace

Week 5
Sun. 10 miles with 4 at marathon pace: 8:21; 8:24; 8:21 and 8:04
Mon. 2 miles conversation pace; 3 miles tempo, 2 miles conversation, 2 miles tempo, 1 mile conversation.  Final mile not completed, and tempo miles were slow.
Tues. cross training
Wed. 6 miles conversation pace
Thurs. 4 miles conversation pace, 2 miles at marathon pace (8:10 & 8:24), 4 miles at conversation pace and 10X100 meter strides (7:21 average pace)
Fri. day off
Sat. 16 miles with 4 at marathon pace

Week 6
Sun. 6 miles conversation pace
Mon. 3 miles conversation pace, 2 miles tempo pace (7:45-8:00), 2 miles marathon pace (8:20-8:30), 3 miles conversation pace
Tue. cross training, strength/cardio
Wed. 6 miles conversation pace (workout called for 8)
Thurs. 4 miles conversation pace, 2 miles tempo (7:45-8:00), 3 miles marathon pace (8:20-8:30), 10x100 meter strides
Fri. 6-8 miles (not done)
Sat. 16 miles; 10 at conversation pace, 6 at marathon pace (aprox. 8:15)

Week 7
Sun. day off
Mon. 3 miles conversation pace, 4 miles specific hill work, 3 miles conversation pace
Tues. cross training/cardio.  Did not do.
Wed. 10 miles conversation pace
Thurs. Fartlick workout.  Did not do.
Fri. 2 miles conversation pace, 4 miles Fartlick (speed play), 1 mile cool down.  Cool down not done.
Sat. 10 miles conversation pace