6 Days to Go (Unicorns are Awesome. I am Awesome. Therefore I am a Unicorn.)
Date - Day - Scheduled Workouts (Intervals within desired pace)
9/24/18 - M - OFF
9/25/18 - T - 6 miles @ EA (8:14)
9/26/18 - W - 2 mile WU + 5 miles BLIND M Tempo + 2 mile CD
9/27/18 - R - 60 min of indoor biking (20.5 miles)
9/28/18 - F - 5 miles @ EA (8:14)
9/29/18 - Sat - 5 miles @ EA (8:14)
9/30/18 - Sun - 5 miles @ EA (8:14)
Running duration = 4:08 hours
Running mileage = 30.0 miles
Indoor Virtual Biking duration = 1:00 hours
Indoor Virtual Biking mileage = 20.5 miles
Total (training) duration = 5:08 hours
Total (training) mileage = 50.5 miles
Number of running SOS intervals within pace = x/x (x%)
The goal for the week was "Don't get hurt."
Tuesday was a normal easy day. Just trying to maintain whatever fitness I've got. Finished up 6 miles in an 8:13 min/mile at a HR of 142 (historical long run HR). After this run, I went back and looked at the last several runs. I noticed since I restarted training my average HR in training runs has almost always been higher than 140. Since 140 is my classic LR HR, then it meant I wasn't really taking any day "easy" by my HR standards. So I knew after Wednesday's blind M Tempo I was going to need to pull back even more. I'd say the effort felt like easy, but the HR was still telling me otherwise.
Wednesday was a Blind M Tempo run. The last hard workout prior to Chicago. I had no real goal other than to have a consistent pace from start to end. I just wanted a realistic assessment from a single training run as to what felt right. From a blind perspective, I can't complain. I ran a 7:05, 7:04, 6:56, 7:02, and 7:03. So really consistent over the course of 5 miles. I was certainly not extremely tired when I finished, but it was a noticeable workout for sure. But the effort felt like maybe it was a touch beyond M Tempo. I wasn't able to pinpoint it exactly though. I kept feeling like I was letting off the gas a touch, but the pace seems to say I was rather consistent. The HR said otherwise though. Looking at the data, it suggested I was much closer to 10k pace than I was M Tempo pace. HR average was 159. Disney 10k was 155, Hot2Trot 10k was 158, and Bunny Time Trial 5ks were 159 and 161. It certainly didn't feel like a max effort 10k. So who knows whether the HR data is real or not at this point. I did get a bit frustrated during mile 3 of the blind run though. It wasn't hot, but I was ready for a really quick water break (like 10 sec). But when I ran up to my water bottle, it was gone. I saw it about 25 feet away under the swings and went and got it. The kids said "oh that was yours" and as I picked it up realized it was empty... So I just placed it back where it was on sped off again. I mean really. I'm doing a 1 mile loop and those kids have seen me over and over and over. But I guess passing by it every 7 min wasn't enough. At least it didn't get tossed. But I was definitely parched come the end of the 9 miler.
Thursday was a planned bike ride. Just trying to give my ankle a break. It's not worse, but it's not a ton better either. It comes and goes. The bike ride was just to get something in non-pounding and not new.
For Friday, Saturday and Sunday the taper was in full swing. The goal was a nice and easy 5 miler. Additionally, I was hoping to see my HR back in the 130s. I got an 8:39, 8:34, and 8:38 average pace for the three 5 milers. Average HRs of 136, 132, and 134. So much closer to where I'd want to be and much closer to classic EA HR. So not quite to pre-Madison Mini levels, but as close as I could get in this timeframe. We'll see what that translates to on race day.
A little bit of a summary of the 2018 Chicago Marathon Training Cycle
Total weeks – 16 weeks
Total non-recovery weeks – 15 weeks
Total non-recovery weeks running mileage – 551 miles (pre break was 425 miles in 8 weeks, and 126 miles in the last 7 weeks)
Average # of running miles during non-recovery weeks – 36.7 miles
Average # of running miles during weeks with running – 42.4 miles (pre break was 53 miles)
Total non-recovery weeks biking mileage – 598.9 miles
Total non-recovery weeks duration – 101:53:56
Average duration during non-recovery weeks – 6:48 hours
# of weeks over 8 hours training – 6/15 (40%) *4/15 were running weeks
# of weeks over 9 hours training – 1/15 (6%)
# of runs at 120 minutes – 3
# of runs over 120 minutes - 0
# of runs at 150 minutes (max duration) – 0
Longest training run - 16.36 miles on 8/8/18 (60 days prior to the race)
