Marathon Training Sucks

Marathon training sucks.  Its funny, as I write those words I realize that I have been here so many times before.  After months of slowly building myself back up into an endurance machine, sacrificing, my time, my energy, my friendships, my photography, things were just not falling into place.  Normally by this time in a marathon cycle I have blazed my way to a fast 10k or had a spectacular 10 miler.  Not this cycle.  So far this cycle I have run zero miles under 6 minute pace and barely even strung together a halfway decent 5 miler.  Last month I pulled my calf pretty badly and had to take a full week off.  These last couple of weeks my tempo runs have been flat and I had not yet knocked out any 16 plus mile long runs.  Needless to say I came close to hitting my wall and throwing in my shorty shorts.  But.. I know myself.  So as I have always done in the past I struck a deal with myself.

On Wednesday I ran a halfway decent track workout. A small spark caught the tinder and  shoes began to smoke.  4x1600 meters around my 10k pace with 400 meters in between on a 80 degree / 80 humidity day was all I needed to kick things into place.  I knocked out the workout and felt like there was still some hope.  I didn't feel great, but for the first time in 8 months I did not feel like total crap either.   I told myself that I had permission to drop out of the Chicago Marathon if I couldn't complete my Saturday workout.    On Saturday morning I woke up at 4am and trotted out a 16 mile run at MP plus 1 minute per mile pace.  Normally I never do a run like this.  Most of my long runs are within 30 seconds of my marathon pace, but I knew that this run was important and I had to try my best to complete the workout.  As I clicked off mile after mile my body and mind began to relax.  My aches and pains started to disappear as did my blanket of self doubt.  I completed my run, hydrated, ate like a beast and took a well deserved nap.

I have done all the math and realized that I still have plenty of time to pull of a great marathon this year.  I have mapped out 6 more 16 mile plus runs (from a fast finish, middle mile tempo run, to my 30k simulator run).  All of these runs are spaced at least 10 days from each other giving ample time between to recover.  The next weeks are going to be tough, but I am finally excited and motivated to buckle down and push on through.

So, the plan is to forget about the speed workouts, focus on the strength workouts, the core work , the long runs and gently move myself into a place where my strength leads the way.  My hope is that my use of hills, and core work will replace what my speed work does for me.  I'm also going to lay off my mileage totals this year and focus on building strength where I have weakness.  I figure if I spend time working on my weaknesses I will get more than grinding out 75 miles per week on weak legs.  So here we go.  Finally!

Adaptation

  The last two weeks have been brutal.  Changing around my stress and recovery pattern has put me
at the edge of exhaustion.  I am now working on a 7 day on two day off training pattern.
In the past I would take a day off mid week and one or two off at the end of the week.  I am trying my best to use nutrition, and sleep to my advantage, but am just about at the point where I need to bring my mileage back down for two weeks so that I can fully adapt to my training.  Nothing about training while tired feels good except knowing that after my body adapt to all this stress and strain I will be able to ask more of my body in the future.. Its all about adaptation..

 This Monday I am running my first race of the year to see how things are going with my training.  Having done limited speed work for the past couple of months racing will give me an idea of how my baseline fitness is coming along.  Running sub 6 minute miles will be painful at this point in the year but thats the fun of racing.  More..  Excited.
Excited for more.

What it takes to get back in shape

After that brutal Midwestern winter it has taken me 10 weeks of conditioning to get myself back into shape again.  I am in that ready to start training shape.   Its amazing how fast you fall out of shape even more amazing how hard it is to regain your lost fitness.  On memorial day I will be running my first 5k of the year to test my fitness level and put down a baseline to build from.  The idea of running sub 6 minute miles right now seems painful, but as I have learned over the last 5 years of training, put your trust in your training and your body will respond.  My mileage has returned to 50 miles a week or more, and as of right now we are steadily building up to 60 miles plus for the start of marathon training.  Lots of goals for this year.  Staying healthy, racing more, and setting some new post 40 PRs in the process.  2014 will be exciting.
MY MILEAGE

Chicago Marathon

Well its official... Now its time to work.  Slowly building mileage and stress back up.  Nothing to report.  Racing on memorial day to see where we are at before diving into marathon training.  Feeling excited about October. 

Re Boot

Week two of conditioning started on Sunday. I pounded out an easy 7 miles on a beautiful 40 degree day. 40 degrees feels like a sunny day on a beach somewhere compared to the past few months. As with most of the other starts of a new season I find that my cardiovascular system gets back in shape way before my body can handle the stress and strain of running again. This year I think I am finally able to capitalize all of my mistakes from years past and train smarter than ever before. Take your time or take time off for injuries. With that in mind.. My conditioning plan for the month is to jog an easy 125 miles or so before I do any real workouts. My plan is to only run 5 days a week, 1 day a week I will pound out an hour long core workout and one day a week will just be a hard day off. Taking days off at this point in my training will help my body adjust to the new stress and strain and hopefully by April I will be ready to add some real workouts into the mix. I have not decided what my overall goal is for the year, but I am leaning towards working on my 5k speed during the spring and summer while slowly building my endurance back up for a super fast fall half marathon. As much as I would like to run the Chicago marathon again doing so limits my ability to run any other October races. I love October. We shall see. My first race of the year is going to be a 5k in Chicago on memorial day. As of right now the idea of running sub 6 minute miles seems like a far off dream, but as I have learned every other year my fitness always returns no matter how out of shape you are at the beginning of the season.

The Key

The key to booting back up the running machine is to gradually add stress over a large period of time. Do not rush into tempos, long runs and speed workouts too soon. Simply take 30 days or so remind your body what its like to run. For the Month of March I will runjog 4 miles a day. I will not wear a watch. I will look at the trees, and enjoy being outside again. In April I will add a hill workout once a week (using hills simulate a hard track workout without the stress) and a long run starting at 9 miles once a week. My winter fat and sugar diet will soon be coming to a close. My 3 beer a night thing needs to go too. By May, my body will be ready for hard training. Ready to throw down again by the end of June.

2014 Return From The Dead

33 Days until Spring. Goals RAce a bunch of 5ks Grand Rapids Half Marathon October 2014 Either I run outside or I join a gym on March 1st. Core Work starts again Saturday Feb. 15 Easy Running/Conditioning Begins March 1st 3-4 miles a day. No watch. Just start adding stress on ye ole legs again. April 1st First Long run April 15th add Track/Hill/Tempo Runs Ease into Modified Hanson 10k Plan. May Start Hanson Plan 10k First Race Chicago Memorial Day. June add Mileage July Start pushing Mileage 2 double days per week Track repeats get longer 1600s repeat 3200 meter repeats 3200 x 2 1600 x 1 @ 10k or faster. Fun. August Start 16 Plus long runs Add 10 mile Tempo runs September PUsh PUSH PUSH October Sharpen it up Taper Race Rest., Try to squeeze in one more cycle before winter… Race Rest.. Gym Thats the plan so far