Keep Moving Forward: A Training Log (Comments Welcome)

run.minnie.miles said:

I didn’t realize you lived in the Midwest- I border you to the west! You are brave to run outside in this cold! Way to go! I quickly default to my treadmill.

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I’ve always felt really unsteady on treadmills, so it’s outside or nothing at all most of the time. Layers are my friend this time of year!

Pretty chilly, nondescript 5.5 miles today. Instead of going over the details (9:17/mile), I'm hoping those of you following along will permit me instead to share a (timely) story and photo.

So, I've always treated vacations like endurance races. I go as hard as I can for as long as I can and I tend to be completely exhausted by the end. In my younger days, this sometimes meant all-nighters on guy trips. As I've gotten older and now take more family trips, that often means staying out late getting photos (after the family is in bed) and/or getting up early for photos (before anyone else is awake).

Marathon weekend 2017 was the first time my vacation actually included an endurance race. A year ago today, I ran the marathon, but this is more about what came after.

During our previous two WDW trips (in 2012 and 2014), we set out to see IllumiNations, but were always too tired by the end of the day. For our 2017 trip, I was determined to see them. The only problem was, our lone Epcot day was also the day of the marathon.

So, after the race my wife and 2 y/o daughter went back to the hotel so I could get cleaned up and DD could rest. I took a shower called my mom and two older daughters back home and waited for my daughter to wake up. We made it over to Epcot, did some attractions and then did Ohana for dinner. I absolutely stuffed my face at Ohana and we made it back to Epcot. At this point, it was kind of late for my daughter, so we just did the Frozen ride and bought her an Elsa dress after (very crafty on Disney's part to have the Frozen ride exit into the gift shop).

My wife took my daughter home, but I decided to try to gut it out. Anyone who was there that night will remember it was pretty chilly and windy. I wasn't interested in doing any rides, so I grabbed a beer from a cart in Norway, sat on a bench and looked up the best places to photograph IllumiNations from on the Disney Tourist Blog. DTB recommended the Italy isola, with the caveat that it's rarely available. I figured I'd work my way over there and see what was available and shoot for Japan otherwise.

As I was slowly making my way to Italy, I noticed fireworks in the distance. It was the Star Wars show! So, I set up my tripod and shot some of the show from the Norway/China area. When those were done, I continued on my way to Italy. The isola was completely vacant! I set up my tripod and waited in the cold for the show to start.

This was my first time seeing IllumiNations and it was completely worth the wait. I also ended up with some photos that I really love, including the one below.

After the show ended, I got some alcoholic lemonade slushie thing in the America pavilion and did Soarin' before heading home. A year later, I still can't believe that I made it that late after running a marathon. It made my first time seeing IllumiNations very memorable.

IllumiNations 3 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

So, I'm getting a little tired of running in the snow. There wasn't a lot today, maybe a quarter inch of fresh powder, but it was that soft, smushy, sticks to the bottom of your shoe stuff that left me with minimal traction. I felt like my legs were putting in far more effort than normal just to keep moving.

That said, today's run went pretty well. The training plan called for 9 miles at an "easy run" pace, which I think was supposed to be about 9:58/mile. I did really well the first seven miles, with mile times between 9:08 and 9:29. I dropped off the last two miles, which I ran at 9:50 and 9:40 respectively. Part of it was just wearing down from the constant slog in the snow. The other issue was the tongue in my left shoe started bothering me around mile 7 or 8. Never led to any pain, but I had to adjust it about every .5 mile and it just killed my momentum.

In other news, I realized that my next marathon is less than 15 weeks away. That's really not far off. I have one week left of my DopeyBadger plan and he suggested taking the week after that easy. That puts me at 13 weeks. Factor in two weeks of tapering and I think I have about 11 weeks of training between now and the marathon. I am excited about trying DopeyBadger's approach to the marathon. The other runners he's coached seem to have done really well.

I also had a mild moment of marathon panic during my run today. Despite having done two marathons in the last 366 days, I felt myself briefly wondering how in the world I'm going to run 26.2 miles and why I would even want to. It was fleeting, but a reminder that I need to keep up with my mental training as much as my physical.

Today's distance: 9 miles
Avg. pace: 9:25/mile (goal pace 9:58/mile)
Time: 1:24:50

Miles this week: 33.8
Miles this year: 61

I can't believe you managed to stay up for Illuminations after the marathon ... that's pretty amazing.

I think everyone has that marathon panic (heck, I have it every time I think about possibly running a marathon). You make a good point about the mental training - it's really just as important as the physical training!

5.5 miles in the cold today. I wore some different base layers today since my other ones were in the wash and it was immediately noticeable. I felt probably 10-15 degrees colder during the first mile or so. When it's only about 14 degrees, that makes a big difference. The funny thing is my preferred base layer and matching tights are super cheap. Goes to show that price isn't everything...

Anyway, not much to report on this report. The college students are back from break and I had to dodge a few when I got closer to campus. One of the dudes gave me a "go! go! go!" as I went past, so that was fun.

Three more training runs this week and then my 10k "race" to cap off my speed training. I say "race" because I inexplicably couldn't find a 10k race in Iowa in the dead of winter (weird, huh?), so I'm just going to run my own.

Today's distance: 5.5 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:29/mile
Total time: 52:37

SarahDisney said:

I can't believe you managed to stay up for Illuminations after the marathon ... that's pretty amazing.

I think everyone has that marathon panic (heck, I have it every time I think about possibly running a marathon). You make a good point about the mental training - it's really just as important as the physical training!

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I was a little surprised I made it that long - even considering that I'm always the last one to bed and the first one up when we're in Disney - but I was really determined to see IllumiNations. I suspect my second (or third) wind had kicked in by that point.

And yes, there is definitely something to be said for mental training. The training book I used focused part of each chapter on mental training techniques and it was so helpful. I still definitely incorporate them to this date. I'm sure I've gotten some strange looks from passersby who have seen me telling myself "I am a marathoner" to psyche myself up.

Today's run called for a 1 mile warm up, 3 x 1 mile at T (8:33) with 2 min rest and a 1 mile cool down.

It was warmer today, but still pretty brisk. It's funny how warm 25 degrees can feel when you've been used to 10 or so. Still some snow on the sidewalks, which is still a drag.

My legs felt heavy during the warm up. I think all of this polar training is getting to be a little hard on the legs. The first T mile was not great. I felt like my feet were lead and I just couldn't get into it. I temporarily thought about chalking it up as not my day and cutting the run short. But, I rebounded in miles 2 and 3 and had pretty decent times, too. In fact, mile 3 was 7:48, though Strava told me I hit my third best mile time with an 8:00 mile? Anyway...

So, finished with a 9:05 cool down. It's supposed to warm up over the next few days, with highs in the upper 30s and mid-40s, so hopefully some of the snow clears away. I'm hoping that the dead legs don't continue into the weekend so I can take a crack at a decent 10K time...

Today's Distance: 5 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:30/mile
Time: 42:33

Some Friday thoughts...

1. Heatwave! It was around 45 degrees during my run this afternoon and it was AWESOME. It felt so good. I'm already looking forward to getting two more runs in this weekend.

2. Reason No. 3974 why I love my wife: After about 3 weeks of listening to me fuss over my running shoes, she suggested I try changing the way they were laced. Of course, it worked like a charm. Granted, today was a short run at an easy pace, but I'm really encouraged by how the shoes felt. No issues at all.

3. Today is a bit of an anniversary for me. Four years ago, I ran my first "real" race as an adult. On brisk Sunday morning in Milwaukee, I ran the Samson Stomp 5K at the Milwaukee County Zoo. I had trained all fall and winter for the race and remember being so worried I wouldn't be able to do a 5K. As I recall, there was a little bit of walking, but I mostly ran and I felt great afterward.

The rest, as they say, is history. I did pretty poorly on a 7-miler later that summer, but in 2015 I did another 7-miler that went really well. That led me to attempt my first marathon in fall 2015. After finishing that, doing a marathon didn't seem so far-fetched and I completed that goal one year ago at the Walt Disney World Marathon.

It's nice to be reminded that we all start somewhere and I'm extremely proud of that 5K.

Anyway, onto today's run. 4.5 miles at an easy pace. Everything felt great. Much better than my first couple miles on Wednesday. Between the weather, my shoes and a little extra spring in my step today, I'm feeling really good about my 10K on Sunday.

Today's Distance: 4.5 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:26/mile
Time: 42 min

Here's a photo from that 5K. I'm on the left in the super sweet Flash hoodie.

(Belated) Happy Race-iversary!

SarahDisney said:

(Belated) Happy Race-iversary!

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Thanks!

I didn't have time to post yesterday, so I'll double-up today and let this one serve as a pre-"race" post.

Yesterday was a nice and easy three miles. The weather was perfect. I am still acutely aware that I need to work on slowing down for my DopeyBadger plan to be effective. The training plan called for 11:05/mile and I was below 10:00/mile the whole time. That was with me consciously slowing down, so I've got to do better.

Those three miles also served as the end of the speed training I started back in October (courtesy, again, of DopeyBadger, who I will not relentlessly tag in these posts). Today is the culmination of that training, my 10K "race." I say "race" because I couldn't find a 10K in Iowa to run this weekend and I'm just going to do my own.

I had hoped to set a PR today, but that might be a lofty goal. Estimated PR on Strava for a 10K is 54:50, which I set a month ago during a track workout and I wouldn't count as a true 10K since it was sprints combined with resting intervals. That's a pace of 8:49/mile, which I think I could meet or beat. HOWEVER, according to RunKeeper, which I used for a couple years before switching to Strava, my 10K PR is 51:17, a pace of 8:15/mile. That was set two years ago (apparently, I'm my fastest in December?).

So, I guess I'm not entirely sure what to expect today. The weather is mostly in my favor, though there could still be patches of ice to watch out for. No snow, though, so I should have traction. My shoe situation seems to have improved a great deal. I also came up with a course that should get me my 6.2 miles without having to cross any intersections, deal with traffic, etc. It'll have some gentle hills, but I think it's largely flat.

Anyway, we'll see how things go.

Yesterday's run: 3 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:41/mile
Time: 29 min

So, this morning was the "race."

Starting off...FWIW, I know this wasn't as big a deal as a marathon or a race weekend, but it was the culmination of 14 weeks of training and a benchmark for how I'm progressing with speed, health and overall fitness, so I was excited to see how things turned out. Anyway, here we go...

To warm up, I got dressed and jogged about half a mile to where I wanted to start. It was right on the other side of an intersection that is ALWAYS busy and I didn't want to run half a mile then have to wait for 2 minutes to resume my run.

My plan was to run what I thought was basically a six mile loop that would avoid most major intersections in the city and allow me to run uninterrupted. The weather was kind of dreary, but warm enough (mid-40s) and it wasn't raining, so I figured I'd be in good shape there.

Note: I know this goes against DopeyBadger's training, but I did get audio time updates at each mile, so I did have a sense of where I was at throughout this race, pace-wise. I used that to gauge throughout the run the likelihood of hitting my PR (51:17 - set in Dec. 2015).

Mile 1: 6:45. HOLY SMOKES! I knew right after the first mile that I had hit a PR for the mile, likely a lifetime PR. I also that was unsustainable and I was worried what that'd do to me in the long run. Happy that I had more than minute "baked in" to my PR effort, I soldiered on.

Mile 2: 7:09. I knew Mile 3 would be a climb and I knew I wouldn't maintain my first mile pace for long, but I tried to keep it up to the best of my ability, especially while the course was flat.

Mile 3: 7:46. This one was a drag. It felt long and it had what I knew going in would be the steepest climb of the run. I made the mistake of checking my distance, expecting it to be almost 3 miles and it was only 2.6. UGH. Once I reached the top of the hill, though, I knew I was in pretty good shape and when I hit the halfway point with almost 3 minutes of cushion baked in, I figured I had a good shot at a PR.

Mile 4: 7:26. No big climbs and I gained a little speed. I grew increasingly confident a PR was going to happen, but I also dealt with some side splits and this portion was really wet. Lots of puddles. Not enough to affect my pace, just had to avoid getting soggy.

Mile 5: 7:26. I knew at this point I was going to PR unless I completely broke down. I had enough of a lead on my PR pace that I could do something close to a 10-minute mile the last two miles and still - barely - PR. The side splits got to me a little bit and I was breathing pretty hard, but still moving at a good pace.

Mile 6: 7:45. The last mile was a slog, especially at about 5.5, when I pivoted and turned back for the final .7 miles (my 6-mile loop was actually only about 5 miles, so I doubled up on a bit). That brief moment of stopping and turning back took the wind right out of my sails. Fortunately. I recovered quickly and was chugging along again. I also think I weirded out some guy who walked out his front door to hear me giving myself my "I'm a marathoner" pep talk. I just waved and kept going.

The last .2 miles were run at the 7:45/mile pace. I ran just a bit beyond the 6.2-mile mark, just to make sure. The time on my phone read 46:14.

10K PR!!!!

It wasn't until I got home and looked at my readout that I broke or got close to breaking 7 PRs on Strava (which, granted, I've only been using since October, but I never did any speed work before this, so I'm confident in these PRs):

1/2-mile 3:20 (second best)
1K - 4:09 (PR)
1 mile - 6:45 (PR)
2 miles - 13:55 (PR)
5K - 22:27 (PR)
10K - 46:01 (PR) Previous PR - 51:17

So, I beat my last 10K time by more than five minutes, which I'm so stoked about. I've said several times throughout this training session that I've felt better than ever. Going into this, I kept my training to only three days a week, which I felt was all my body could handle after a stress fracture in my foot and some knee issues. I never would have guessed that I'd be not only running five days a week, but that I'd get stronger and faster, too.

Ultimately, the goal is to PR a marathon, so a 6:45 mile doesn't mean much because I know I'm not doing that over 26 miles. But, I'm really happy with the improvements I've seen.

I want to publically thank @DopeyBadger for taking my feedback and goals, writing me this plan and encouraging me throughout the training. He has definitely brought out the best in me.

Now, onto the marathon...

Today's Distance: 6.2 miles
Avg. Pace: 7:24/mile
Time: 46 minutes
Miles this week: 24.3
Miles this year: 85

Spectacular time trial today! To say you crushed your previous PR would be an understatement! Welcome new paces!



So how many days per week and duration per day for the 4/29 marathon plan?

Congrats - that's an amazing PR! Training is definitely paying off!

DopeyBadger said:

Spectacular time trial today! To say you crushed your previous PR would be an understatement! Welcome new paces!

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So how many days per week and duration per day for the 4/29 marathon plan?

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Thanks!

I’m good sticking with 5 days a week. Fri, Sat, Sun typically have no time limit. Tuesday is fairly wide open (60–75, maybe?). Wednesday is the only day I’m limited on time. 60 minutes, max, probably.

Wow!!!! 6:45 Mile, 46:01 10K! Great job!

Baloo in MI said:

Wow!!!! 6:45 Mile, 46:01 10K! Great job!

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Thanks!

Wow! Way to go!! It always feels good when a training cycle is so successful!

run.minnie.miles said:

Wow! Way to go!! It always feels good when a training cycle is so successful!

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Definitely!

Way to go, speedy!!!