Five Weeks and Counting
It's officially five weeks to the LA Marathon - from today, even, since it'll be on a Monday just like today's Boston Marathon. I had a little slump there for a while but overall my training should be more than adequate for the big day.
Basically I've been running about 40 miles a week. I do 2-3 days per week on my 6.7 mile hilly course around the MSAC area, and various distances around home as fillers, and I've been alternating 12-16 mile long runs on the weekends with more serious 18-20 milers for a while now. Speedwork's been lacking, though, instead of twice a week I get in about one every two weeks. Ah well.
Saturday I did a 19.25 miler - I'd thought I might go for 22 but I was feeling really slow there at the end. However, having all sorts of people coming over to our place for my sister's bridal shower, and her and friends staying over, I thought maybe it was better if I wasn't gimpy all day. You know the training's coming along well when you can go out and run for 3+ hours, do close to 20 miles (when we stopped I even did pushups - got in 125 during 4 longish water breaks), and not be phased enough to walk funny that day (or several after).
So here it is... my dream. Naturally, I want to complete the LA Marathon, even if simply to say I did it (muggles always assume marathon training out here is for the LA Marathon). Due to it being moved, though, it's one week away from the San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon, which I'm also signed up to do. Yeah, it would have worked out sensibly if LA was March 1 like originally scheduled, but now there's not even a full week of recovery time. Now, other folks from the running club are doing both, being in the same situation as me (signing up for both before the time change). The thing is... they plan on walking it, possibly wearing costumes. Superhero costumes. (I'm probably the biggest superhero geek but I can't for the life of me figure out who I look like, or would dress as).
But me? I want to run it. I'm doing the steady long runs to, as Rod Dixon puts it in his LA Marathon video, "resist fatigue". The niggling knee pains and calf/shin pains I feared have receded. 20 milers don't phase me. My goal is to actually run both. My secret goal is to actually do better in San Diego the week following just to keep up my unbroken string of personal race records. Yeah, I may do LA "easier" than I could, and it seems a bit of a conceit to hold back and purposely finish slower than I believe I can, but if I blow myself out in LA then odds are I'll destroy myself attempting San Diego.
Now I have just a couple more weeks of "effective" training before the taper. The guideline seems to be that it takes two weeks for specific training to actually pay off in physical gains. I definitely need to get my speedwork in, and also try to increase my pace near the end of workouts as well.
On the annoying end... my Garmin seems to be dead, I have a toothache, and the temperatures have been pushing towards the triple digits. Hopefully all these situations will return to normal operational parameters soon.
Basically I've been running about 40 miles a week. I do 2-3 days per week on my 6.7 mile hilly course around the MSAC area, and various distances around home as fillers, and I've been alternating 12-16 mile long runs on the weekends with more serious 18-20 milers for a while now. Speedwork's been lacking, though, instead of twice a week I get in about one every two weeks. Ah well.
Saturday I did a 19.25 miler - I'd thought I might go for 22 but I was feeling really slow there at the end. However, having all sorts of people coming over to our place for my sister's bridal shower, and her and friends staying over, I thought maybe it was better if I wasn't gimpy all day. You know the training's coming along well when you can go out and run for 3+ hours, do close to 20 miles (when we stopped I even did pushups - got in 125 during 4 longish water breaks), and not be phased enough to walk funny that day (or several after).
So here it is... my dream. Naturally, I want to complete the LA Marathon, even if simply to say I did it (muggles always assume marathon training out here is for the LA Marathon). Due to it being moved, though, it's one week away from the San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon, which I'm also signed up to do. Yeah, it would have worked out sensibly if LA was March 1 like originally scheduled, but now there's not even a full week of recovery time. Now, other folks from the running club are doing both, being in the same situation as me (signing up for both before the time change). The thing is... they plan on walking it, possibly wearing costumes. Superhero costumes. (I'm probably the biggest superhero geek but I can't for the life of me figure out who I look like, or would dress as).
But me? I want to run it. I'm doing the steady long runs to, as Rod Dixon puts it in his LA Marathon video, "resist fatigue". The niggling knee pains and calf/shin pains I feared have receded. 20 milers don't phase me. My goal is to actually run both. My secret goal is to actually do better in San Diego the week following just to keep up my unbroken string of personal race records. Yeah, I may do LA "easier" than I could, and it seems a bit of a conceit to hold back and purposely finish slower than I believe I can, but if I blow myself out in LA then odds are I'll destroy myself attempting San Diego.
Now I have just a couple more weeks of "effective" training before the taper. The guideline seems to be that it takes two weeks for specific training to actually pay off in physical gains. I definitely need to get my speedwork in, and also try to increase my pace near the end of workouts as well.
On the annoying end... my Garmin seems to be dead, I have a toothache, and the temperatures have been pushing towards the triple digits. Hopefully all these situations will return to normal operational parameters soon.