Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Less than 6 weeks to the TCS New York City Marathon: Last week's training

I am back to solo running for the most part after returning from Flagstaff, but it has given me more time to focus and reflect on the coming NYC Marathon this year:

The New York Marathon is the biggest marathon in the world, and New York is one of the greatest cities in the world. The participants, the crowd, and the New York Road Runners come together to make this event unimaginably massive, incredibly inspirational, and absolutely intense. It is arguably the world's most competitive race on the most challenging World Marathon Majors course. To place well at the TCS New York City Marathon you must be tough, you must execute a well-thought out race plan, and you must be competitive. It is the cross country of the marathon world, and that is definitely my style.

The New York City Marathon is the pinnacle of road racing. It is home to some of the greatest marathon performances in the history of the sport. Combine this with the atmosphere, the terrain, and the competition and you have the recipe for the word's greatest marathon. No matter your credentials or personal best times, New York is the true test of a marathoner's metal. 

Every marathon gets tough around the 18-20 mile mark. If you have prepared accordingly and executed your race plan well, this should be where the real race starts. This is typically the gut check point for marathoners and a point when I begin to question myself. While I've improved in each of marathons at having confidence at this point in the race, NYC will be a whole new mental and physical test as I plan to be more aggressive and mix it up with the lead pack. New York throws in it's own twist on this barrier as you enter Central Park at around the 23 mile mark. Central Park is hilly and full of turns at exactly the toughest part of the race. So much can be lost or gained during this short segment: minutes, places, glory, money can all go from bad to great or great to bad in the telling last few miles of the New York course. 

With just under 6 weeks left to the TCS NYC Marathon, I have another big volume week in the books. I ended up hitting back to back 150 mile weeks in preparation for having a few down days with travel to Berlin where I will be pacing Shalane Flanagan through the majority of her American  marathon record attempt. I had some recovery time built into the schedule already, it was simply pushed back until this week. Not only was last week high volume, but I also had two quality workouts on Monday and Friday. I was pleased with both workouts, but I was especially pleased with my ability to run those paces in the middle of back to back 150 mile weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing what I'll feel like with a few lighter days under my belt. After returning from Berlin, I will still have about 5 weeks of training leading up to New York, and that is still a lot of time when it comes to a marathon block.

The Monday workout was a 17 mile tempo. My legs felt tired and awkward going in the workout, but after shaking off the rust over the first few miles, I started hitting the 4:55 pace that I had originally set out for. I still have one more long tempo planned 3 weeks out from NYC, and that one will be slightly shorter, and hopefully slightly faster.

Friday consisted of tempo efforts of 4 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles, and 1 mile. I opted to do this workout on the track so I could really get rolling since the last month of training has been mostly on the hilly roads of Flagstaff. I have done this workout leading into most of my previous marathons, but this was by far the fastest. Again, coming off of Monday's effort and in the midst of so much volume, I was surprised that I could nail these times. With several weeks to go, we need to be careful not to get too far ahead of ourselves and put it on ice for a week or so.

Thanks again for reading. My training from last week is below, and follow me here on twitter for more updates.

Week 6 AM PM Strength/Drills Mileage
Sunday 6 13
19





Monday 3 mile warmup, 17 mile tempo @ 4:58, 2.5 mile cooldown off
22.5





Tuesday 14.5 6 40 minutes 20.5





Wednesday 13 + 8 x 200 meters on the track @ 30-32 7
22





Thursday 15 7 40 minutes 22





Friday 4 mile, 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile tempo (18:51, 14:07, 9:24, 4:38). Rest = 4 min, 3 min, 2 min 6
23





Saturday 12 9
21





TOTAL


150

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Less than 7 weeks until the TCS New York City Marathon: Last week's training

The first bit of weekly news is not directly related to the New York City Marathon, but I have been asked by Jerry Schumacher and Shalane Flanagan to help pace her to the American Record (2:19:36) at the Berlin Marathon on September 28th. It means a great deal to me that they consider me trustworthy enough for such an important task, and it fits very well into my training plan. My schedule had a long hard run planned for the exact same day, and I am experienced with European travel. I am put at ease by the fact that I will be setting the pace with veteran marathoner Rob Watson. I would also like to run the Berlin Marathon in the future, so this is an excellent opportunity to preview the course and meet the race organizers. I'll be leaving on Wednesday, arriving to Berlin on Thursday, and returning to Portland in the early morning following the race.

If you look at the calendar below, you'll notice that I've shifted my week to start on Sunday. With the schedule we have laid out from now to New York, this will make it easier to hit my mileage goals. This means that the Sunday workout shown on the schedule is the same as was described in last week's blog. I took this week a little lighter due to the travel and readjusting the legs to sea-level. The Fartlek on Wednesday occurred before flying back to Portland. We decided to go with a Fartlek due to the intensity of the Sunday workout and the hope to leave Flagstaff on a positive note, even if I was a little tired. The transition back to sea-level has been a bit more challenging than I thought it would be. Aerobically I feel great, but the legs have felt a bit awkward adjusting to the pace change as I'm trying to run quite a bit faster even on easy days. I have a couple of big workouts this week that will put my legs to the test.

My blood results have come back since returning to sea-level, and not surprisingly, most relevant indicators have increased. My iron has dropped, but this is simply due to the altitude and high mileage I was putting my body through. It was good to go in with such a high base ferritin level.  Feel free to check out the stats below. The first number is my level followed by the normal range; my apologies for the scattered layout. It may seem a bit strange to publish these numbers publicly, but when I have been considering altitude in the past, it was extremely difficult to find specific data, especially from elite runners. Everyone has a very different response, so the numbers from one athlete are not nearly enough to draw conclusions, but it's the best I can do. The numbers themselves do not predict exactly how my training will be impacted, but the next month of training will be the test as to how much benefit I was able to gain out of the 4 weeks at 7,000 feet. A huge thanks to Dr. John Howell at Portland Integrated Health and Medicine for getting the tests done, helping me analyze the results, and help plan my future altitude endeavors.

Last week's training is also below the blood work. Thanks again for reading, and follow me here on Twitter for more updates.

BEFORE ALTITUDE (4 weeks in Flagstaff, AZ @ 7,000 feet)

CBC (INCLUDES DIFF/PLT)                                      RANGE
WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT                  6.8          3.8-10.8 Thousand/uL
RED BLOOD CELL COUNT                       4.58        4.20-5.80 Million/uL
HEMOGLOBIN                                            15.0        13.2-17.1 g/dL
HEMATOCRIT                                            43.5         38.5-50.0 %
MCV                                                             95.1         80.0-100.0 fL
MCH                                                             32.7         27.0-33.0 pg
MCHC                                                          34.4         32.0-36.0 g/dL
RDW                                                            13.6          11.0-15.0 %
PLATELET COUNT                                   155           140-400 Thousand/uL
ABSOLUTE NEUTROPHILS                    5392         1500-7800 cells/uL
ABSOLUTE LYMPHOCYTES                 1020          850-3900 cells/uL
ABSOLUTE MONOCYTES                      231            200-950 cells/uL
ABSOLUTE EOSINOPHILS                     129            15-500 cells/uL
ABSOLUTE BASOPHILS                         27               0-200 cells/uL
NEUTROPHILS                                         79.3 %
LYMPHOCYTES                                       15.0 %
MONOCYTES                                            3.4 %
EOSINOPHILS                                           1.9 %
BASOPHILS                                               0.4 %
FERRITIN                                                  204             20-345 ng/mL

AFTER ALTITUDE (4 weeks in Flagstaff, AZ @ 7,000 feet):

CBC (INCLUDES DIFF/PLT) NW
WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT      4.6              3.8-10.8 Thousand/uL
RED BLOOD CELL COUNT           4.72            4.20-5.80 Million/uL
HEMOGLOBIN                                15.6            13.2-17.1 g/dL
HEMATOCRIT                                45.7             38.5-50.0 %
MCV                                                 96.8             80.0-100.0 fL
MCH                                                 32.9             27.0-33.0 pg
MCHC                                              34.0             32.0-36.0 g/dL
RDW                                                 13.7            11.0-15.0 %
PLATELET COUNT                        172             140-400 Thousand/uL
ABSOLUTE NEUTROPHILS         2461           1500-7800 cells/uL
ABSOLUTE LYMPHOCYTES       1656           850-3900 cells/uL
ABSOLUTE MONOCYTES            202            200-950 cells/uL
ABSOLUTE EOSINOPHILS           258            15-500 cells/uL
ABSOLUTE BASOPHILS               23              0-200 cells/uL
NEUTROPHILS                               53.5 %
LYMPHOCYTES                             36.0 %
MONOCYTES                                 4.4 %
EOSINOPHILS                                5.6 %
BASOPHILS                                    0.5 %
FERRITIN                                       149             20-345 ng/mL NW

VITAMIN B12                                522             200-1100 pg/mL NW


Week 5 AM PM Strength/Drills Mileage
Sunday 3 mi warmup, 4 mi tempo @ 5:06 pace, 10 mile run @ 6:15, 4 mi tempo @ 5:00, 3 mi cooldown – Lake Mary Rd. off
24





Monday 15 7 40 minutes 22





Tuesday 15 6.5 + drills and strides
22





Wednesday 10 x 5 minutes hard, 1 minute easy 5 easy – travel back to PDX
22





Thursday 14 6 40 minutes 20





Friday 14 3.5 + 10 x 200 meter hills
20





Saturday 14 6
20





TOTAL


150

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

8 Weeks to the TCS New York City Marathon: Last Week's Training

The field has officially been announced for the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon, and I'm pumped to be a part of a deep and talented field. While I did not have a bad day there last year, I left feeling the result did not fully represent my fitness level, and I was very much hoping to return and make up for it this year. I'm already getting goosebumps re-imagining the starting line, the energy from the overwhelmingly massive crowd, and international superstars I'll be toeing the line with. Having one NYC Marathon under my belt is an asset that will change the way I approach this year's race.

We're already less than 8 weeks away, but if you've followed the previous blog posts you know that my preparation is into the 5th productive week following my track season. I'm now finishing up my 4th week at 7,000 feet in Flagstaff, AZ, my first long stint at altitude, and each week has been slightly better than the previous. My coach, Dave Smith, put a great deal of time into planning my training for this trip, and it has paid off. I have to give a lot of credit to Nick Arciniaga, Scott Smith, Matt Llano, Ben Bruce, Guor Marial, Jordan Chipangama, and Coach Ben Rosario for helping me with the adjustment, the pacing, and learning the training routes in Flagstaff. With their help I was
Downtown Flagstaff
able to get dialed in almost immediately rather than learning from my own mistakes and digging myself into a hole. My time in Flagstaff has been great for my New York preparation, and I have really enjoyed getting to know the town and the beautiful surroundings. I definitely plan on returning in the near future.

Last week included two pretty major workouts for me. After having a few weeks under my belt, I felt adjusted and ready to push the effort a bit more than I had previously. I also brought the mileage back a bit, but I will return to 150 this current week. Wednesday included a 5 x 2 mile workout on the hilly Lake Mary Rd. with a half-mile recovery jog in between, bringing the total to 12 miles. Scott Smith and I started in the 10:00 range and maintained through 3 reps, picking it up on each of the last two down to 9:43. I still don't have workouts to compare these times to, so it's hard to know how excited to be, but Scott and Ben Rosario were happy, so I was happy. Again, it was difficult for me to feel the pace out on this type of workout without the experience, so it was great to be with guys that knew what the effort should be early on.

Sunday was another big day, and we had a very talented group together for it (Llano, Marial, and Chipangama). The workout started with a 3-mile warmup before hitting a 4-mile tempo at 5:06 pace. After switching shoes and taking fluids we jumped right into a 10 mile, moderate effort run,
Llano, Vail, Marial, Chipangama
before switching back into flats and jumping into a second 4-mile tempo at 5:00. This was again on Lake Mary Rd. This type of workout has been a staple for me during my marathon training, but the tempos have usually taken place on the track, so this was a whole new challenge. It's a tough way to get 24 miles in, but the second tempo forces you to experience the latter stages of the marathon for a short period of time. Even long tempos are normally finished in the 16 mile range, but this workout starts the second tempo 17-18 miles in.

While I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in Flagstaff, I'm looking forward to heading back to Portland. After being in Europe for a long chunk of the summer, I've been away for quite some time. Hopefully the training here will allow me to have my best month of training yet when I get back to sea-level. I'll be heading into Portland Integrated Health and Sports Medicine on Thursday to get my blood drawn again and see the before and after altitude comparison. I'll share the results next week. Feel free to check out last week's training below. Thanks again for reading, and follow me here on twitter for more updates.

Week 4 AM PM Strength/Drills Mileage
Monday 14 6 40 minutes 20





Tuesday 14 5 + drills and grass strides
19.5





Wednesday 5 x 2 miles on Lake Mary Rd. w/ half mile jog recover (10:01, 10:00, 10:05, 9:55, 9:43) 5 easy 40 minutes 22





Thursday 12 miles easy Off – hiked around Grand Canyon
12





Friday 12 miles + 8 x 200 meter hills 6
20





Saturday 12 6 30 minutes 18.5





Sunday 3 mi warmup, 4 mi tempo @ 5:06 pace, 10 mile run @ 6:15, 4 mi tempo @ 5:00, 3 mi cooldown – Lake Mary Rd. off
24





TOTAL


136

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Week 3 in Flagstaff

Another week at 7,000 feet is in the books with a couple of solid workouts in the middle of a 150 mile week. On Wednesday I decided to make an early trip to Sedona Red Rock High School in order to drop to 4,500 feet and allow the legs to move a bit quicker. I had to be off the track by the start of school at 8:00 AM which meant leaving at 5:30. The drop in elevation and trading the hilly terrain of Flagstaff for a track obviously made a world of difference for my legs and lungs. The workout consisted of
3.5 miles, 2.5 miles, and 1.5 miles with a 4.5 minute and 3 minute recovery. While the recovery seems long, it's necessary to extend it beyond the normal 3 and 2 minutes I would normally do at sea-level. While the pace was not overly impressive, it was close to my threshold efforts at sea-level when using an altitude conversion. Most importantly it gave me confidence to continue to push through the tough days in Flagstaff and look forward to some incredible sea-level training in the near future. Sedona is a beautiful town surrounded by magnificent rock formations. I had the privilege of refueling with a smoked salmon omelette from a place called the Coffee Pot which has 101 omelettes on their menu. I'm looking forward to heading down again this week for another workout and another dining experience.

Sunday's long run was also fairly successful. Doing an out and back on Lake Mary Rd. in Flagstaff was challenging as the first 11.5 miles were into the wind with a net elevation gain, so it was a slow start. After turning around I was able to get moving and also put in a 4 mile push from 16-20 at 5:11 pace, bringing the overall average to about 6:05. Again, nothing outstanding, but it's nice to see consistent improvement each few days up here.

I'm already down to my last 9 days here before heading back to Portland to continue marathon training. There are still trails to explore, restaurants to test, and the Grand Canyon to see. Feel free to check out last week's training below. Thanks again for reading and follow me here on Twitter for more updates.

Week 3 AM PM Strength/Drills Mileage
Monday 15 7.5 40 minutes 22.5





Tuesday 13 + 8 x 200 meter hills + drills 7
22.5





Wednesday 14 6.5
20.5





Thursday 3.5 mile, 2.5, 1.5 @ 4:54, 4:53, 4:51 w/ 4.5 & 3 minutes rest. On track in Sedona (4500 feet) 6.5
22.5





Friday 12 + 8 x 200 meter hill repeats 6.5 40 minutes 20.5





Saturday 12 6.5
18.5





Sunday 23 miles in 2:20:03, pushing miles 16-20 @ 5:11 average on Lake Mary Rd. off
23





TOTAL


150