an unexpected 10k time trial (take 2)

i have had a few interesting weeks of training with some real highs which have been more than matched by the lowest lows i have experienced during the last few years that i have taken up running. while i am running less weekly volume than i have in the past for my marathon build up this time around i have focused my training on more marathon specific workouts. the principles are taken from the coach canova which i took from posting he added to the letsrun forum some time ago.

i have been reading and re-reading my running books from authors such as daniels and pfitzinger and the thing that really stood out to me was the key weekly sessions were focused around long marathon paced and threshold sessions. well i thought i would take it one step further and incorporate specific marathon preparation training were i run two quality sessions back to back. often a marathon paced session followed up with a session at threshold pace or quicker with the total daily volume for the two workouts around 30km give or take.

what i have noticed in all this. well it has been a tough couple of weeks. and while i have been running good quality sessions the rest of my life gradually fell apart and last week a fell into the abyss which had opened up. looking at my log it was easy to see where i had gone astray with over 52% of my weekly miles run quicker than marathon pace (3:30-4:10/k). however, after a few easy days (including a great 22km afternoon run in the national park on the trails) things starting turning around and by the weekend i was feeling ready to roll again.

so when last sunday rolled around i was feeling pretty tired from the week behind me and the 20 odd kilometres of running from the previous day. with thoughts of trying to get out for a two hour run gradually slipping away along with the daylight i eventually made it out onto the road. i had no intentions of running hard and i thought i would just try and push it along at what i hoped was marathon pace effort.

as i have been getting progressively fitter (and faster) over the last few weeks i have tried to stop looking at the devices which i am often connected to (hrm, garmin etc) and tried to run by effort. it seemed to be working and i was feeling good. so after about 20 mins of running i glanced at the garmin and i noticed that the average pace was sitting on 3:50. a bit quick but well……i was feeling good so i thought i would try and hold that pace for as long as i could and see if i could improve on my 10k from a few weeks back. things felt comfortable till around the 7.5k mark but then the effort started to build and i had to dig a little deeper to maintain the pace. i had stopped looking at the watch but with a 100m to go before reaching the 10km distance i saw that i had 16 seconds to run the last 100m to go sub 38 minutes which was the goal i had set myself at the start of the year. short story, ran the last 100m in 21 seconds to finish up the 10km in 38:05. in hindsight, if only i had looked a little sooner i think i would have nailed it - next time! the run continued with 1km easy, 4km at marathon pace (actually 4:06) and a solid 5km of climbing around the hills. thought about pushing through another kilometre to set a new 21.1km best time but was content to finish the run with 20km. great session to restore some mental centredness, hope and confidence!

it seems that i have knocked off about two minutes or so off my 10km over the previous two months with this training cycle. all other running paces are feeling easier except of course those cursed recovery runs (ok if you know me you know they are not a big part of my weekly schedule and i should concentrate on them a bit more in the future). perhaps i am on to something good here!

with the drop in training volume though i am a little concerned that when it comes around to the marathon i will be in great half marathon shape. time to address this situation with a couple of higher volume weeks which will include a weekly long run or two to rebuild the endurance base.

an unexpected 10k time trial

i was planning on running an easy recovery run after a hard run the day before. going through the first 3km in 12min something and that's exactly what was happening. before i knew what was going on though i went through the next 5km in 18:43 before finishing up with 10km in 38:42. i think this translates to just under a 3 hour marathon equivalent finishing time and about where i want my fitness to be at this stage eight weeks out from the marathon. can i improve on this....i think so!

with my heavily infected chest and sinus passages working against me, i found with excitement that it was my inability to suck in enough oxygen which was slowing me down and not my legs. they didn't feel like they were working hard (there was no evidence of lactate buildup or the heaviness which i am accustomed to) and were ready to pick it up on demand.

the last 7km were run at an average pace of 3:43....

the specific preparatory stage

i have entered the final eight weeks which usually signifies my last phase of training leading up to a race. the SPECIFIC PREPARATORY phase is where i will aim to intensify the quality of my work and build on what i have already developed, trying to bring my SPECIFIC ENDURANCE at marathon pace to the highest level.

the first workout schedule during this phase was a SPECIFIC EXTENSIVE ENDURANCE workout. the schedule called for 7 x 2km repeats at 100-102% MP with 1km recovery at 85-95% MP.

i woke early to find that i wasn't feeling well as it seems i haven't escaped the bugs that have invaded my family. i was due to meet Simon at the river at 5.15am so i made the decision to get there about 30 minutes before and get in a longer warmup than usual. during the first of the loops (~7km) in which Simon ran some fartlek surges I was beginning to worry about my workout plans as I was struggling to maintain the slightly faster pace. during the second loop where i said goodbye to my training buddy i started the workout and immediately things felt much smoother and easier.

rolled through 4 x 2km and 1 x 1km with a 500-1000m recovery at an average pace of around 4min/k before calling it quits for the morning. all up about 25km of running in 1h50.

marathon training begins

with a change of focus from training for and running ultra marathons later in the year i have decided that i want to achieve my sub 3 hour marathon goal. i haven't trained for and had a successful marathon experience and i am hoping this time around things will be different.

i trained for and successfully completed my first marathon in 2004 but it was far from being the day that i had planned for so long. as a platform for taking me from an overweight, smoking, heavily drinking and extremely unfit male in his early 30's to what i am today (more on that later) it was an overwhelming success.

my first marathon and actually my first ever running race i trained for about 9 months with no real idea about what i was doing. i bought a few running mags and checked out hal higdon's marathon training plans and based my training preparation around those. i didn't own a gps watch, heart rate monitor or other sport-related gadgetry other than the simple stopwatch. my weekly miles maxed out at about 40-50k in 3-4 runs and i thought that was all it would take to run the marathon. i overestimated everything. my pace, the distance, my fitness..... and when i went into the race i thought running sub 3:30 on my first attempt was just a formality. i made every mistake i could think of which started out with almost no running for the three weeks leading up to the event as my motivation waned but the classic newby mistake of going out too fast was what really brought me undone. i went through the half in under 1:45 thinking 3:30 would be mine but within a kilometre i developed hotspots under my feet which by the 30km mark were full blown blisters. the last 12km was a very humbling experience in which the only thing that kept me going was seeing the look of pride from my wife who was there at the finish waiting for me with my daughters.

well i have come a long way since then. i have been devoted to training and gaining knowledge about running etc but i have yet to run the marathon race i am sure i have within me.

i have completed a few ultra events and i am at the point were my weekly long run can has on many occasions surpassed the marathon distance. racing the distance is a whole different story though and is one that i am preparing to embark on until such time as i am satisfied that i have fulfilled my ambitious journey.

i have had success with my training taking my ideas from jack daniels, arthur lydiard, canova, tinman, pfitzinger and many others and i will take what i have learnt works for me and try and come up with a plan that will guide me on this journey.