See BamaDave Run (and Lift) - Page 43 - JP Fitness Forums

BamaDave · 10-30-2006, 11:06 AM

Brett - yeah, marathon training and NROL Strength are a tough combo!! Luckily I was in the early part of my training plan when I was finishing that program. No way could I do that now!

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MON. 10.30.06
AM LONG RUN

DISTANCE: 22.15 miles
TIME: 2:51:35
AVE. PACE: 7:45/mile

ELEVATION PROFILE:

Mile Laps according to Garmin:

1- 7:59
2- 7:35
3- 8:14
4- 8:09
5- 7:27
6- 7:45
7- 8:05
8- 7:37
9- 7:09
10- 8:47
11- 8:00
12- 7:17
13- 7:38
14- 7:36
15- 7:45
16- 7:25
17- 7:37
18- 7:52
19- 7:48
20- 7:35
21- 7:53
22- 7:19
22.15- 0:50

This turned out to be my longest marathon training run ever, by a few tenths of a mile. The nice thing about this course was that the hardest parts were over in the first half, except for that final incline in miles 20 and 21. Total accumulated elevation gain = 2,421 feet, so a little less than last week's 19-miler, even though it was 3 miles longer. That's probably why my legs feel better after this one versus last week. I was very happy with how this run went - I could have gone longer... no fading, even the final longish uphills went well. Incredible morning as well!! My endurance seems to be there for Rocket City. I feel like I'm handling the long runs better this year versus this point last year. The fly in the ointment is speed. My gut feeling is that it's not there for a sub-3:00, but hopefully enough for a PR. I still have almost 6 weeks to go, so maybe I'll speed up. Last year I had the speed but wasn't quite there on the endurance.

UpNorth · 10-30-2006, 12:13 PM

Nice work on that run! What is your PR for a marathon? -- if you don't mind me asking...

BamaDave · 10-30-2006, 12:30 PM

Thanks, Jeff! It's 3:04:27 at Rocket City last year.

UpNorth · 10-30-2006, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BamaDave

Thanks, Jeff! It's 3:04:27 at Rocket City last year.

Wow, you're close to 3. What you need is a flatter course

. On an interesting aside, my brother is having IT band issues and through a friend got to see the head physician working at the NYC marathon. When he asked this doctor what kind of training he would recommend, my brother said he went off on the traditional running programs and said he would do tons of hill work and speed work and bag most of the long slow stuff. If you believe that opinion you've set yourself up very well.

BamaDave · 10-31-2006, 10:13 AM

Jeff, the Rocket City course for my marathon in December is comparatively "flat." Not really, but the hills are more gentle than where I train. I think it's pretty close to ideal for me.

As far as training approaches, runners love to battle it out over excess miles (quantity) versus quality. I think there are different means to the same end or at least similar ends. I do believe that, for most people, the approach to your absolute best marathon performance would be a big mileage base to rev up the aerobic machine followed by significant speed work to improve pacing. However, most people aren't able to train for their absolute best, so different approaches can achieve almost the same thing. Some of this debate seems to depend on what people like to do as well. Some like running gazillions of miles with less intensity and will promote high mileage work, whereas others like to run faster and are advocates for quality over quantity. I think you just have to figure out what works best and what's motivating. I don't see myself ever wanting to shuffle along for 120 miles per week (not that I would have the time anyway!). I'm trying to hit a good balance between decent mileage to help avoid fading at the end of marathons (a problem I've always had - right now my weekly mileage is peaking in the 60's) plus getting lots of quality from the hills and faster pace runs.

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TUES. 10.31.06
AM RUN (RECOVERY)

DISTANCE: 6.15 miles
TIME: 51:02
AVE. PACE: 8:28/mile

-- Definitely in recovery mode this morning. Hopefully this will accelerate my recovery from yesterday's 22 miler, because I'm supposed to do mixed intervals tomorrow!! I was able to take in the scenery well this morning - the Fall colors are so much better than usual, it's hard to believe!! This is definitely the best time of the year to be doing anything outdoors around here.

BamaDave · 11-01-2006, 11:37 AM

WED. 11.1.06
AM RUN

TOTAL DISTANCE: 8.1 miles
TOTAL TIME: 1:03:59

WORKOUT:

*1.73 mile warmup run: 12:39 (7:20 ave pace)

*Mixed Interval Pyramid:

1. 0.25 miles = 1:19 (5:17 pace) --> 2 min recovery

2. 0.38 miles = 1:58 (5:12 pace) --> 2 min recovery

3. 0.5 miles = 2:40 (5:21 pace) --> 2.5 min recovery

4. 0.68 miles = 3:59 (5:52 pace) --> 3 min recovery

5. 0.5 miles = 3:09 (6:20 pace) --> 2.5 min recovery

6. 0.38 miles = 2:15 (5:56 pace) --> 2 min recovery

7. 0.25 miles = 1:26 (5:48 pace) --> 2 min recovery

*Cooldown run to finish: 2.24 miles = 18:30 = 8:16/mile

-- The intervals started out with a bang and then really went South after the 1000 meter one (0.68 miles). I don't know whether I really slowed down that much or whether the Garmin was having some "issues." I did sense that I slowed in the second 0.5 mile interval, so it's possible that I just expended too much on the first four. That one had a decent hill on it, but I'm still not sure I slowed down to 3:09. I did these intervals on rolling terrain and not the larger hills that I have been doing.

At any rate, I was happy to be able to run even a few good ones only two days after a 22-mile run. Overall, I'm definitely feeling the fatigue of the past few weeks. Tomorrow I'm supposed to do a medium long run again. I'm hoping to get some weights in tonight, but I think this week will be completely off from leg stuff.

The Huntsville Half Marathon is 10 days away. With no Fall races completed to test my race pacing, I'm somewhat clueless over how to set a goal this year. I'll probably put myself on pace early to match or slightly beat the 1:24:53 I ran last year. I faded a little bit last year in the last few miles, so if I'm in better shape this year, maybe that won't happen. Last year was one of those "perfect days," though, so I honestly don't know what will happen this year. I'm planning a mini-taper next week to boost my chances!

BamaDave · 11-02-2006, 11:46 AM

THURS. 11.02.06
AM RUN

DISTANCE: 15.0 miles
TIME: 1:58:03
AVE. PACE: 7:52/mile

ELEVATION PROFILE:

-- Medium long run of the week. I put the Bastard hill in this one in the middle. Overall, not too bad. I'll take it just three days post running 22. It was pretty cold this morning - in the 30's with strong winds. I thought I was running in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a minute!

No weight training last night. I was completely exhausted and fell asleep by about 8:30pm. I'm hoping to get some upper body stuff done on Friday or Saturday to keep from missing an entire week, but last week plus this week are catching up with me. Fortunately I have a backoff mini-taper next week ahead of the Huntsville Half.

Tonight is spin class night. Like last week, I'm considering bailing but will probably wind up doing it. We have the 18 year-old again, and her workouts are not all that intense.

twinsavsvikingsfan · 11-02-2006, 11:55 AM

Quote:

-- Medium long run of the week. I put the Bastard hill in this one in the middle. Overall, not too bad. I'll take it just three days post running 22. It was pretty cold this morning - in the 30's with strong winds. I thought I was running in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a minute!

Now it's snowing!

Quote:

No weight training last night. I was completely exhausted and fell asleep by about 8:30pm. I'm hoping to get some upper body stuff done on Friday or Saturday to keep from missing an entire week, but last week plus this week are catching up with me. Fortunately I have a backoff mini-taper next week ahead of the Huntsville Half.

What is the date for this?

Quote:

Tonight is spin class night. Like last week, I'm considering bailing but will probably wind up doing it. We have the 18 year-old again, and her workouts are not all that intense.

Sure...

BamaDave · 11-02-2006, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinsavsvikingsfan

What is the date for this?

Saturday, 11/11. 9 days away!

twinsavsvikingsfan · 11-03-2006, 05:59 AM

Hey Dave, How'd that book go with the workouts and running? Are you still using it? Does it have an off-season plan (with weights and running)? Would you recommend it?

BamaDave · 11-03-2006, 10:12 AM

Jim, I like the book overall - I'm still following the marathon training plan in it. It gives decent explanations about the different types of running workouts without getting overly technical. I haven't done any of the weight training outlined in the book, since I was already doing my own thing. There are also exercises for stretching, balance, and I believe some plyometric stuff as well. There's no off-season weight training plan. I kind of wish there were more example marathon plans, but they do give one for moderate workload and one fpr high workload. There are also plans for 5K/10K. The author actually has a website at TrainingPeaks.com, where he sells various marathon training plans at various levels (for about $40 a pop!).

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FRI. 11.3.06
AM RUN

DISTANCE: 7.35 miles
TIME: 54:08
AVE. PACE: 7:22/mile

-- Started out a little easier for the first half, to unwind from yesterday, but then sped up for the second half. Actually, I remember calculating my ave. pace to mile 4 as 7:45/mile (included big climb #1), which means my last 3.35 was around 6:54/mile, including big climb #2... so I must have been sub-marathon pace for a lot of it.

No spin class last night!! My wife didn't want to go after attending a conference all day. We went out for a Mexican dinner instead.

My daughter's gymnastics meet is at Noon tomorrow, which means I could have run the Vulcan 10K in Birmingham at 8AM. Too bad they can't get us a time on these meets a little sooner. With no tapering, I'm not going to bother running it (not to mention spending $30 for same day registration!). I'll just save it all up for next weekend's Half. The last two weeks have kind of been envelope pushers, so a race effort with no rest would probably be tempting injury.

BamaDave · 11-04-2006, 05:52 PM

SAT. 11.4.06
AM RUN

TOTAL DISTANCE: 10.15 miles
TOTAL TIME: 1:10:34

WORKOUT:

*1.28 mile warmup run = 10:03 (7:51 ave. pace)

*46 minute Tempo Run --> 7.25 miles covered = 6:21/mile ave. pace

*1.62 mile cooldown = 14:26 (includes approx 3.5 minutes of walking at end of tempo run)

-- This run went very well. I was pretty pumped when it was over. The Garmin's mile lap times for the tempo portion were: 6:33, 6:21, 6:01, 6:10, 6:27, 6:19, 6:27, 1:40 for final 0.25 (6:48 pace). The course was different at the beginning versus previous tempo runs, because I added a 2.3 mile stretch and then picked up where I had been starting. This made the first mile a fairly difficult hilly one with pretty big rollers, so I tried not to go overboard on that one. Much of mile 2 was the same, but then it ended with an easier downslope. Mile 3 was the easiest of the run, with a couple of uphills but mostly a fairly fast downhill slope. Slowed down in miles 5 and 6, portions of which were on the pot-holey dirt road that's almost like a trail run. Unfortunately, the final 0.25 was straight uphill, so I lost some time in the home stretch. IRONICALLY - I must have hit the 10K point within just a few seconds of my 10K PR from last year. And I skipped that 10K today largely because I thought there was no way I would come close to the PR on tired legs (approx. 69 miles from Monday through today), and I probably could have beaten it. Next year I'll know better if this situation comes up. At any rate, this run was a much needed confidence builder as far as pacing. Hopefully it will translate over to the 1/2-M next Saturday, especially with some rest before the race. Right now the weather is looking iffy with rain and thunderstorms and probably muggy temps., but hopefully that will change over the next week.

BamaDave · 11-05-2006, 08:53 AM

SAT. 11.4.06
PM WORKOUT

A. PULLUPS: +35#: 5; 5; 4

B. BB SHOULDER PRESS: 125#: 6; 5; 3

C. SINGLE-ARM DB ROWS: 105#: 5ea.; 5ea.; 5ea.

D. DIPS: +40#: 6; 5; 5

E. SWISS BALL PUSHUPS: 20; 10

F. DB WOODCHOPPERS: 50#: 10ea.; 10ea.

G. WEIGHTED SIT-UPS: +75#: 12; 12

H. DRAGON FLAGS: +20# ankle tws.: 15; 15

-- I was pretty tired but that's when it's an advantage to have weights in your basement and not have to drive to a gym. Once I got started I was okay. I'm hoping to get more weight training in this week, since I'll be mini-tapering for the 1/2-M. My planned run this AM is 20.25 miles. If I make it, it will be the first time I have done back-to-back 20+ long training runs in successive weeks.

twinsavsvikingsfan · 11-05-2006, 08:57 AM

Wow. A 20 miler a week before the race. Obviously the 1/2 isn't your goal race. Do you think you'll be affected that much next week by today's run?

BamaDave · 11-05-2006, 03:09 PM

Jim, I don't think it will affect it too much. I'm not going to run at all on Thurs. or Friday. I imagine I could do better with more rest, but this is actually only my second 1/2-M ever, same race, and same position at 4 weeks ahead of Rocket City. So I haven't had a chance to test how I would do with a better taper.

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SUN. 11.5.06
AM LONG RUN

DISTANCE: 20.25 miles
TIME: 2:39:29
AVE. PACE: 7:53/mile

ELEVATION PROFILE:

-- This one went well, and I finished strong... although I was way more than ready to stop running!!! This was a tougher course than Monday's 22-miler, with 300 feet more accumulated elevation increase in two miles less, so I was happy with the pacing. My Monday to Sunday total = 89.1 miles, which is a PR for a 7-day span, although that only happened because I bumped last Sunday's run to Monday. Also first time with back-to-back 20+ mile runs from one week to next. I'm planning one more 20+ miler two weeks from now, which will be 3 weeks out from Rocket City. I'm more confident than ever on my long mileage endurance, I just hope I don't come up short on the speed!!

twinsavsvikingsfan · 11-05-2006, 03:22 PM

Nice. You should have threw an extra 0.9 in there today to hit 90!

BamaDave · 11-05-2006, 03:26 PM

I actually thought about doing that but when I reached my driveway it was way too tempting to end it!!!!

If I had been at 99.1, I definitely would have done it.