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

Another week of marathon training is in the books, and I am happy to report that my body feels great! The midweek long tempos are always a struggle as they follow a tough Sunday effort, so the time wasn't particularly impressive, but the effort was consistent and at the level I expect for 70 minutes of running. I decided to move my Sunday long run to a more challenging loop in order to mimic the stress of the ups and downs of the NYC course. The Fairmount loop in Portland is 3.5 miles with constant elevation changes, so it's difficult to get into a rhythm for a long run as you have to push the downhills in order to maintain goal pace. I think it's also beneficial to change the muscle groups throughout a run this long as opposed to locking into cruise control on a flat run. I am considering this challenging course for my last long tempo which will happen in a couple weeks, but I will do one or two more runs first to better learn the layout in preparation. The 3.5 mile distance is very convenient as I can simply leave all my bottles at the start line as opposed to driving around dropping them off and picking them up. It saves me up to an hour for my long run day which I could be using to better refuel and rest.

The next two weeks will likely be the toughest of the training block, and I am confident that my body is ready for it. Despite the scare a few weeks ago that forced me into the pool for a week, I can't remember my body feeling this fresh in a long time. No aches, pains, niggles, tightness, etc. This is about the time that I messed up heading into the Olympic Trials as I used this feeling as a sign to jump the mileage up to 140 per week against my coaches advice, which was likely the beginning of my road to the femoral stress fracture. This time around, I plan to stay the course, keep volume relatively low, continue to stay acutely aware of how my body is feeling, and continue with rehab and recovery. Workouts have been going well enough that I know NYC will go well as long as I'm at the start line healthy. How well it will go will be determined by the next 5 and a half weeks.

Thanks again for reading, and feel free to check out last week's training below. Follow me here on Twitter for more updates.

Weeks to go: 6	AM	PM	Strength	Mileage
Monday	90 minutes aqua jogging	off	1 hour	0
Tuesday	11.5	5.5 + drills and strides		17
Wednesday	14 mile tempo @ 5:02	off		18
Thursday	11	5	1 hour	16
Friday	11	8 x 200 meter hills		18
Saturday	12	1 hour aqua jogging	40 minutes	12
Sunday	25 miles, miles 18-22 @ 4:59, hilly	off		25
TOTAL				106

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

We're under 7 weeks until the TCS New York City Marathon. Following last week's long run, I was pleased with my threshold effort workout on Wednesday. I started out feeling pretty rusty, which is very normal coming off 24 miles just a couple days before, but I found my rhythm and felt strong during the last two mile rep. These workouts are not the best they have ever been, but they actually aren't far off. Considering the time off from injuries this year and the lower volume, I am pleased with where my fitness is with 6 and a half weeks to go. That is plenty of time to take another big step in terms my marathon prep, and it is also plenty of time to get hurt. I have to keep in mind that I was diagnosed with my last stress fracture about a week before the Olympic Marathon Trials. I have to continue to tune into my body, be prepared to take time off, and accept that I will not reach my typical marathon volume this cycle. Fortunately, my workouts have been going so well that I have the confidence to stay on this path.

New York will be here before I know it, and I have never been so excited to get to the start line. I never took running for granted, but I can tell you that I am appreciating the ability to train hard now more than ever. Thanks again for reading, and feel free to check out last week's training below.

Weeks to go: 8	AM	PM	Strength	Mileage
Monday	90 minutes aqua jogging	off	1 hour	0
Tuesday	12.5	6 + drills and strides		18.5
Wednesday	4 x miles (9:34, 9:30, 9:30, 9:26)	1 hour aqua jogging		16
Thursday	12.5	6	40 minutes	18.5
Friday	1 hour run + 8 x 200 meter hills	off		13.5
Saturday	12.5	6	40 minutes	18.5
Sunday	20 miles, 4 mile push from mile 14 @ 4:58, hilly and soft			20
TOTAL				105

Less than 8 weeks to the TCS New York City Marathon: Last week's training

It feels good to be back in the thick of marathon training after a little time in the pool. I am still trying to be very cautious as volume and intensity ramp up, but training is getting closer and closer to where I'd like it to be before NYC. This was the first week in a long time that I did not have a day off, but that was just the way it worked out with the schedule, and I did take Monday off. I will continue to take approximately one day off from running per week for the foreseeable future.

Not only did I have a solid week of running workouts, but it was in the midst of some tough lifting and my highest mileage week in quite some time. The two marathon workouts this week were fairly similar in terms of pace, so I am looking forward to getting more threshold level efforts in this week to ramp up the intensity. Sunday's long run did go a long way in boosting my confidence that my body will be ready to handle the 26.2 miles of pounding come November. This workout was a first for me, but it broke the run up nicely and also forced me to run sub-marathon pace from miles 20-22 on tired legs, a mild simulation of race day. If I can stay patient, healthy, and continue to make bits of progress, I am excited to see where I can be in terms of fitness 7 weeks from now. I am doing my best to hone in all areas possible including diet, sleep, vitamin/mineral supplements, physical therapy, massage, strength training, and remaining tuned in to my body.

Thanks again for reading and feel free to check out last week's training below.

Weeks to go: 8	AM	PM	Strength	Mileage
Monday	10	1 hour aqua jogging	40 minutes	10
Tuesday	11 + drills and strides	5 miles		16
Wednesday	14 mi progression run starting @ 5:38 down to 4:49	45 minutes elliptical		15
Thursday	12 miles	5 miles	1 hour	17
Friday	70 minutes aqua jogging	5 miles, 8 x 200 meter hills, 5 miles		12
Saturday	12 miles + drills and strides	5 miles	40 minutes	17
Sunday	5 x 2 miles easy, 2 miles @ marathon effort (avg. 11:12, 9:52)	off		24
TOTAL				111

Less than 9 weeks to the TCS New York City Marathon: Last week's training

After 5 days in the pool and a conservative week of training, I am happy to report that I'm back to workouts and bumping up the volume. With the momentum I had going with workouts, it was difficult to take a step back for a week and a half, but those workouts gave me the confidence to do so. While I do not know for sure what was the cause of the tightness, I won't regret the time off as long as I stay healthy through NYC.

As much as I can't stand the pool, knowing that the kind of minutes I had to put in last week were temporary, I was able to push through it. I was also able to talk some other runners into joining me. Turns out I'm not the only injured athlete in Portland! It also gave me time to go back and finally tackle season 1 of the Serial podcast, only a couple years behind. The excellent weather makes it that much more difficult to be trapped inside, but hopefully we have a similar fall to 2015 and I can't count on 70 degree weather through October!

Nothing overly interesting to report in terms of training for the past 7 days, but I am now back fully into marathon training mode and looking forward to sharing more with you next week. Thanks again for reading.

Weeks to go: 9	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Monday	90 minutes aqua jogging	off	1 hour	0
Tuesday	75 minutes aqua jogging	65 minutes aqua jogging		0
Wednesday	9.5 miles easy	off	40 minutes	17
Thursday	10 miles + drills and strides	5 miles		15
Friday	12 miles	5 miles	1 hour	17
Saturday	12 miles	1 hour aqua jogging	1 hour	12
Sunday	Long run w/Fartlek (5 min, 4, 3)(4, 3, 2)(3, 2, 1) w/half rest	off		20