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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Long Run + Frank the Tank

Because of the wedding on Friday night, there was no way I was crawling out of bed Saturday morning for a long run.  Although the temp at 6:30am was cold (=heaven) so I really wish I would've.  Saturday night I headed to a buddy's who was throwing a keg party (because we're 21 again apparently....jk love you!).  I decided to hang out for awhile whilst hydrating for my long run.  At one point the host complimented me on "really getting after it!" because I was chugging my drink.  And then minutes later, "waaaaait a second. Is that water!?!?"  Had you fooled fool. :)

Why yes, I did show up to the party in a Green Bay Packers shirt to watch the Vikings game.  And yes the host is a *huge* Vikes fan.  Heh heh.  That's how I roll.

Miss Amanda and I trying to not get carried away by bugs.

We totally could've been on Tool Time.

Melenade and I.

Sunday I was up insanely early.  I got out the door by 7am while it was still fairly cool out.  I'm always so pleasantly shocked when the bike trails are full of other happy runners and bikers on the weekends.  Makes the long run flyyyyy by.  I had wanted to do the 14 miles around 9:25-9:35 pace.

1. 9:37
2. 9:14
3. 9:34
4. 9:34
5. 9:44
6. 9:43
7. 9:35
8. 9:35
9. 9:43
10. 9:43
11. 9:41
12. 9:34
13. 9:25
14. 9:01

I took GUs at 3.5, 7, and 10 which seemed to work out perfectly.  Plus I didn't have to take my first drink of water until 2.5-3 miles in because it wasn't scorching out.  
I did the 14 in 2:13:50 for a pace of 9:34.
Mean:  9:34
Mode:  9:34
Median:  9:35
Jeri:  Giant Nerd.

I'd say it was a pretty consistent run overall, wouldn't you agree?  ;)  My only concern is that last year I pushed myself quite a bit harder on my log runs.  I tried to average 9-9:10 pace on all of them to be sure I would break 2 hours for the half marathon.  I was also running them as progression runs where I'd be running all out the final 2-3 miles.  This year I've been running them a lot more conservatively, but I'm concerned that I might be missing that mental edge of knowing that I can go bttw after running 10-11 miles.  We shall see I guess. :)

Monday I spent some time finalizing my marathon training program and posed some questions to my experienced twitter friends such as:

  • Which is the best speed work session to do for marathon training?  Tempo runs, 1600 m. repeats or 800 m. repeats?
  • Is it worth it to do a 22 mile long run?
  • Am I crazy to do another marathon?
Ok just kidding about the last one.  we already know I am loco.  But what are your thoughts?  I know you're all much wiser than I when it comes to MARATHON TRAINING so please weigh in.

10 comments:

  1. awesome running ... I look forward to you progressing and getting a lot stronger.

    Thanks for keeping me motivated!

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  2. As far as speedwork goes, I say mix it up. I'm doing some long stuff now: 1600m repeats, 6x1200m, today was 1000m, 2000m, 2x1000m. The intervals shorten as race day approaches.

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  3. That is a good, consistent run! I worry too about not running as fast or pushing myself as hard as I did a year ago.

    I don't have any good insights into marathon training with speedwork. I didn't do a 22-mile run, but the managers at the running store told me not to do it and risk injury.

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  4. For what its worth:

    I like to do one long run at 21 or 22. I don't think it really makes a huge difference since most of what I've read suggests you don't really gain anything past 18-20. That said, mentally I think its nice to get over the 20 mile point at least once, even if physically it doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of difference.

    I'm also not a big fan of speedwork, especially while marathon training. But 1600s probably make the most sense, particularly if you combine them with a medium long day to begin with. (I'm more apt to do say...a 6-7 progression in the middle of a 13 miler than a straight out session on the track. Or I'll strategically schedule a 5k. But I'm also lazy.) :)

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  5. awesome pacing on the long run. running conservatively now on the lr will pay off huge m-day!

    definitely mix up the speedwork. I don't think a 22 mile run is necessary but to each their own. I always think it's crazy to do another marathon in the middle of each of my trainings. yet I keep on signing up!

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  6. i have absolutely no thoughts on this since i'll be training for my first marathon later this year. i just wanted to say i love your blog:-) does that help? hehe.

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  7. Isn't it so awesome when it is cooler?? You don't have to drink as much, GU doesn't upset stomaches as much? Nice work on the run!

    Tool time was such a good show. (and yeah, I totally call home improvement tooltime :)

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  8. I usually do at least 2 - 22 milers during marathon training but I know most stop at 20. Do what feels right! Listen to your body!

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  9. I ran my last marathon with a decent time (3:39) and only did two 18-milers beforehand and zero interval workouts. I think you really need at least 5 runs of 15 miles or more and that's about it. Interval training will get you a faster time but not needed to complete the marathon. That and eat lots of rotten bananas....

    Ok, don't do that last part. :)

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