Training for this one involved Run miles/Bike minutes bricks containing run mileage increasing 1 mile per week (only the once-weekly long run distance) with no scaling back, while simultaneously scaling back overall training time every fifth week. Sounds complicated, but it's not. See here:week 1: 188 mins: 8 mi R/108 min Bike
week 2: 190 mins: 9 mi R/100 min Bike
week 3: 190 mins: 10 mi R/90 min Bike
week 4: 210 mins: 11 mi R/100 min Bike
week 5: 210 mins: 12 mi R/90 min Bike
week 6: 160 mins: 13 mi R/30 min Bike
week 7: 225 mins: 14 mi R/85 min Bike
week 8: 225 mins: 15 mi R/75 min Bike
week 9: 250 mins: 16 mi R/90 min Bike
week 10: 250 mins: 17 mi R/80 min Bike
week 11: 190 mins: 18 mi R/10 min Bike
week 12: 275 mins: 19 mi R/85 min Bike
week 13: 275 mins: 20 mi R/75 min Bike
week 14: 300 mins: 22 mi R/80 min Bike
week 15: 225 mins: 12 mi R/105 min Bike
week 16: 170 mins: 13 mi R/40 min Bike
week 17: RnR Marathon
The idea here was to avoid running injuries but still train the internal energy system to handle long-duration episodes without bonking. Biking while glycogen-depleted ain't as easy as it sounds, either. Runs were at race pace (for us, 10 minute miles, which makes the math really easy to do).
Considerations were:
One Long day/week, this is the key workout for the week. Run milage increases week to week; time increases every 4th week after a 25% cutback week. Runs are at Marathon pace (10 min/mile).
Other listed workouts are key workouts, any other are EASY runs of low milage, low intensity, low HR (144). Usually for me, the first was 5 mi with hand-held waterbottles. EASY!
One day a week is STRETCH day. Don’t exercise, just stretch out as your workout.
Do some light leg weight lifting so you don’t get injured.
Sundays were this Key Long brick, which threw a long shadow over the rest of the week, especially when the workouts started going over 4 hours and the weather began to really heat up. Some weeks had secondary <1> or tertiary <2> key run workouts - I just won't list them here because, hey, does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? Mostly <1> involved some light AT sessions, and <2> would be 12 milers at 10 minute pace.
Sun: Key Long
M: A + light hand bike
T: <1>
W: L + light stat. Bike
Th: Stretch/off
Fr: <2> or EASY run
Sa: Pwr + EASYEASY run
I missed the key long workouts for weeks 10 and 11, when I could only squeeze in 8 milers. I detrained at week 14 - the 22 miler became a 19 miler when my left hammy seized up, then caught an upper respiratory infection which I took with me to Florida. I knew I could finish, having done it twice before, but I was worried about cramping up, which I'd also done twice before. Cramping up during the final and longest training runs was not a confidence builder.
I bought some S!caps to hopefully improve over eating salt packs during the run. I swore to run very slow up the 3 mile grade at miles 7 - 11. Pace management, strong hydration and the mystical formula of S!caps were going to save my race. That, or my only hope was for Greg to burst into flames and I could cruise with him.
All in all though, my left hamstring was feeling twingy all the time for no good reason, and I had a premonition that something bad was going to happen.
As it was, our hoped-for finish time somewhere between 4.22 and 4.30 didn't happen as Greg's knee suddenly felt like a nail had been driven into it at mile 18. Funny how the world turns; I started the run feeling like my hammy was gonna take a turn for the worse, but as the miles ticked by, the potassium, smart pacing, concentration on stride length and two-cups-o'-Accelerade per stop worked for me.
Mile splits.1: 10.27
2: 10.01 20.29 *
3: 10.14 30.43 **
4: 8.27 39.11
5: (Missed it in all the confusion) 9.42... **
6: 19.24 58.35
7: 10.14 1.08.50 *
8: 10.25 1.19.15 **
9: 11.06 1.30.22 *
10: 10.40 1.41.03
11: 8.53 1.49.56 *
12: 11.06 2.01.03 ** (we peed this mile too)
13: 9.39 2.10.42
14: 10.52 2.21.34 **
15: 10.22 2.31.57 *
16: 10.41 2.42.38 **
17: 10.22 2.53.01
18: 13.49 3.06.51 *...this is the mile where Greg's knee went ka-pop, and the 10's go ka-stop.
19: 12.43 3.19.34 *
20: 12.26 3.32.01 **
21: 11.20 3.43.22 *
22: 13.27 3.56.49
23: 12.18 4.09.08 **
24: 11.44 4.20.52 **
25: 11.49 4.32.42 * **
26: 11.36 4.44.18
Finish: 2.19 4.46.38
We walked the aid stations, so their locations on the course influenced our mile times. After 18 we did a lot of walking for knee-reasons.
* Water stations were located at the following mile markers: 1.4, 2.9, 4.8, 6.9, 7.9, 8.8, 10.1, 11.6, 13.7, 14.8, 15.6, 17.6, 18.6, 19.8, 20.9, 22.5, 23.5, 24.1, 24.9.
** Fruit-punch flavored ready-to-drink Accelerade was served at ten water station locations at mile markers 2.9, 4.8, 7.9, 11.6, 13.7, 15.6, 19.8, 22.5, 23.5, 24.9.
All in all, a positive run. Greg bagged his first marathon and did it in a good time considering his knee pain. I was happy to finish it without cramping - a first for me - and to finish feeling stronger than when I started.
Next stop: Volkslauf.
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