I’m back on track with training this week. And it feels good.
This week Bill and I were talking about what my next goal should be as I continue to train to shave off an hour from my marathon time in the Austin 2014 marathon. As you may remember, I narrowly failed to get my 10K down below and hour (my first benchmark) and also to complete my last half marathon in under 2:15 (actually, I’ve missed that mark twice). I was thinking that I wanted to run in the Windermere Marathon in Eastern Washington in May, but Bill was of the opinion I would be better off continuing to work toward making my time goal in a10k or half marathon rather than doing a full at this point. Here’s how our conversation went:
Bill: I think if you do a marathon, you’ll just run it at your usual pace at this point.
Cami: But I want to have a baseline to work from this year.
Bill: You have a baseline.
Cami: But I haven’t run a marathon all year.
Bill: (Frustrated with my logic.) Why don’t you ask your coach what you should do.
This is a strategy Bill and I often use during a disagreement–we triangulate someone else in to resolve it. It’s effective because we get to stop arguing about who’s right–and we get to blame someone else if we’re not happy with the final outcome (sorry friends). So on Monday, I asked Coach Carol to take a side.
Cami: So Bill thinks I should keep working toward improving my time in the10K and the half marathon and I think I should run a full marathon. We agreed to ask you to weigh in.
Carol: Well, I hate to say it, but I’m going to have to vote with Bill on this one. We’ve got to throw him a bone now and again you know.
So it’s been decided. I won’t be running in the Windermere Marathon. Instead, I’ll be doing the Kirkland Half Marathon on May 12th and shooting (once again) for a sub 2:15. Bill has agreed to pace me and help me stay at a 10:00 pace. And actually, this decision is a relief because it’s helped me focus on my pace work with some clear intention. Here’s my training this week.
Sunday: 8 miles on the treadmill. It was raining and I’m in my stubborn part of the year when I stamp my feet and refuse to run in the pouring rain.
Monday: Speed work. 25 minutes of “ins and outs” (hard running on the straight part of the track, recovery on the turns).
Tuesday: 2 miles of walking the dog only.
Wednesday: Last day of Carol’s program. A total of 4 miles which included a warm up, a cool down, and a mile trial. I ran my fastest mile ever: 8:20!
Thursday: Pace work. 2 miles at a 9:30 pace (my 10K pace), repeated twice with a one minute recovery in between. Then another mile at my 10K pace. I was actually shooting for three two-mile repeats, but I couldn’t pull it off, so moving forward, I’m going to continue to work toward this benchmark until I achieve it.
Friday: Rest.
Saturday goal: Distance run. 11 miles at my half marathon pace (10:00/mile).
One thing I’m noticing as I’ve changed my training program this year is that my body feels stronger. I’ve dropped a couple of pounds–not because I’m trying to, just because my body is adjusting itself. And I’m more energetic in general. I’m enjoying the experiment, which I wasn’t sure would be the case.
How about you? How is your training going? What are your struggles? What are you learning?
Ah! I love this aspect of your blog! Seeing what you’re doing! Maybe I should do it? Maybe when I start my actual training for whatever I do this fall. I have a training plan for the Spokane Half Marathon set up, and am looking a possible Full Marathon (not for speed, just to run) in the fall as well. A friend asked if I would run with him. I told him “only if it’s “slower” as in we’re just running to enjoy it, and get you through a full marathon slow. He’s a faster guy than I am, and I don’t want anything fast and longer than a half until next January/February.
As for my training, I got in three good “workouts” this week, with a 5k run on Sunday and today (18:34,18:46 respectively) and a solid 4 mile tempo in roughly 27 or so minutes on Tuesday. Going to have my highest week of training this week as long as I get out for the 8 miler I have planned! Should be pretty great!
My best to Bill, yourself, and the pugs!
Hugs
Brandon
Nice job Cami. That sounds like a great plan and a really good week of training. I am also running the Kirkland 1/2:) Look forward to running it with you. Cheers.
Hi Cami, just wanted to let you know I finished the Rock and Roll Madrid Half Marathon this morning, an adventure on which I embarked after reading Second Wind for a second time over the holidays. I shaved 4 minutes of my best half marathon time, finishing in 2:24. Came here to give you an update and smiled as I read your post.Talk about timing! I was going to run a full marathon in June, I’m rethinking that. During the half today, I decided I want to work on speed. I’d love to break a 2:15 in the Philadelphia half in the fall! You’re one step ahead of me!
I’ve gotta say I’m with Bill & Carol on this (good company to be in!). There’s a lot to be said for working on your half time goal before tackling another full ~ although I can appreciate the desire to just get out there and go the distance. Here’s hoping your current training regimen will pay off in spades at Kirkland in a couple of weeks.
My own training is…sigh…frustrating. It is *so* weird to me that I went five full years completely injury-free ~ not so much as an aching pinky toe, for goodness sake! ~ only to face ongoing pain since May, 2011. Especially puzzling is the fact that I’d just had such a great race (the full in Vancouver). Loved training for that event; felt great running it, and wowed myself with a sub-4 hour finish. And then ~ wham! The weird foot/ankle stuff started. Went to three different therapists to no avail. Put running on the back burner for a while and if anything, felt worse. So, stubborn as I am, I’ve subjected myself to mind over matter, only to wind up now with knee pain that hurts like h-e-double hockey sticks.
So that’s my struggle. As far as what I’m learning (other than the fact that I apparently enjoy self-inflicted torture!), I’m trying to place quality and variety over quantity. Since I began running, I’ve had a tendency to run the same pace over all distances and just rack up miles. When I try to run faster or slower, my pace inevitably ends up the same. That’s likely because I’ve always been too lazy to mix in different kinds of runs.
This is where you & Carol come in, Cami. Using your training guide, I’m forcing myself to mix in speed/pace/tempo workouts and slow, relaxed runs and so on. What’s interesting is that the past couple of weeks, I’ve cut my mileage in half but I actually feel more spent. Mixing it up like this is a whole new ball game!
Now, this doesn’t solve my injury issues. I’m sure many people would tell (do tell me!) to stop running for a good, long while and see if that’s the ticket. But right now, well, I can’t. I honestly *need* to run. And I need to have some sort of plan, some sort of goal. Given that pounding out high mileage was only making matters worse, this new approach is giving me something to keep working at and providing a mental salve in the process.
Whew! Long-winded answer to a couple of simple questions. That’s what you get for asking! ;-D
Cheers to you,
Colleen
Ah, this is why I blog. I love conversation. Thanks all. Brandon, keep up the good work (and thanks for visiting me at the book store from time to time). Tony, let’s talk. Marilyn, what do you say that whoever breaks 2:15 first owes the other a cup of coffee (I know we live on different coasts–details!)? And Colleen, dang! Nothing worse than an injury. I don’t know what you’ve tried, but Bill did this thing called the Graston Technique with a chiropractor in town (Cherilynn Seegers)that worked really well for him. I don’t know if you’re a candidate for it, but it was magic for him with his longstanding knee and IT band issues. xoxo, all.