Feeling good ahead of Twin Cities- training for a sub-2:40

I have the Twin Cities Marathon coming up in 4 weeks and I am happy to say that I am in the best shape of my life. My goal is to break the 2:40 barrier. I ran my last shorter race in mid-August and have been building up the mileage for my fall marathon ever since. I ran the Scandia 10k and finished 5th in 35:33. I was one second slower than my time at Butte to Butte on July 4th which I would say is a much tougher course. I got a pretty warm day at Scandia which did not help produce a fast time. At the start of the race, one guy shot out to a 10 second lead and I was running in 2nd through 4th until I fell off a bit at 4 miles. I went 5:31, 5:35, 5:37, 5:42, 5:55, 5:52, and then 80 (.25ish). I ended up getting passed around mile 5 and finished 5th. The early leader would eventually fall back so the winner came out of our little group. I would have liked to have seen something under 35:00 but this day was more about competing with who was around me.

That was back on August 13th. In the 4 weeks after that race, I hit 81, 88, 91, and 102 miles. Up to that race, I had spent most of the summer building a nice base hanging out in the 60-70 mile range. My marathon cycle has been all about the long run. Here is what I have been up to:

7/17- 2 hours on Brice Creek Trail, 5400 ft. of elevation change

7/24- 14 miles and almost 2 hours at Forrest Park in Portland, 2700 ft. elevation change

7/31- 17.5 miles easy (6:54 pace on the roads)

8/7- 15 miles easy (6:49 pace on the roads)

8/14- 17.65 miles easy (6:49 pace on the roads)

8/21- 18 w./ 12 @ 6:01 pace

8/28- 19 @ 6:31 average w./ a 4 mile push from 13-17 in 5:55, 6:02, 6:05, 5:57

9/3- 21- 2 mile warmup, 4 mile tempo @ 5:55 pace, 9 miles easy, 4 mile tempo @ 6:05 pace, 2 mile cooldown

9/11- 24 @ 6:44 average w./ a 4 mile push from 17-21 in 5:53, 5:57, 5:53, 5:45

This has given me all the confidence in the world that I can hold 6-6:05 at Twin Cities. Here is what my 102 mile week looked like from 9/5-9/11:

9/5- AM- 12.25 @ Mt. Piscah- 1:50:00 (3000 ft. elevation change), PM 4.15 @ 7:30

9/6- 11 easy @ 6:48 pace

9/7- 16- 3 up, 4 mile tempo 23:39, 3 mile tempo 17:28, 2 mile tempo 11:29, 1 mile 5:36, 3 down

9/8- AM- 10 @ 7:00 pace, PM 5 @ 6:50 pace

9/9- 11.1 @ 6:56 pace w./ 8 x 200m hills after mile 6

9/10- 9 miles @ 6:57 pace

9/11- 24.1 miles @ 6:44 pace, w./ a 4 mile push from 17-21 in 23:28- 5:53, 5:57, 5:53, 5:45

I think this has been the best week of training in my life. I am now 4 weeks out from my goal marathon. 24 will be my longest run in the buildup and 102 will be the highest I get up to. I am going to run the Albany Half Marathon next weekend (3 weeks out) with a goal of running around 1:16. Honestly, I won't be upset if I run slower with all of the volume I've been doing. I am not tapering too much. My workout this week is 10 x 1km on Wednesday and then Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be a 9/5 double, 8 miles, and 7 miles, respectively. I'm looking forward to Twin Cities and going after a marathon PR!

Butte to Butte 10k, things are coming along

I have been training to time a couple of track 1500s and a road 5k in mid to late July. On the 4th, I hopped into the Butte to Butte 10k to give a serious attempt at 10k as well. Most of my workouts have been geared towards 5k and under right now. With that said, I have been getting in workouts much faster than I have in the past. Here is the month of June:

6/3 8 x 1 mile on bark (slower surface) w./ 1:00 rest- 5:50 average

6/7 800m time trial 2:13, 6/11 Portland Track Festival Mile- 4:56 (2:31/2:24- closed in 71)

6/14 2 mile tempo 11:18, 400m 72, 1 mile 5:16, 800m 2:29, 400m 69, 6/17 8 x 200m, 6/18 10 mile tempo @ 6:05 pace

6/21 4 x mile w./ 3:00 rest in 5:26, 5:18, 5:15, 5:00, 6/24 5 mile tempo @ 5:53 pace

6/28 5 x (1k, 400m) 1:00 between the k and 400, 400m jog in between sets- 3:20/74 average, 6/30 10 x 200m

I strung together a solid month of June to go with a good last couple of weeks in May. I was hoping, given my workouts, that I would be in 34-mid shape for a 10k right now. 

Butte to Butte is one of the biggest road races in Eugene and, being in the middle of the Trials, this year was no exception. The course begins with a neighborhood loop for about a half mile and then a gradual climb for the next mile with a very steep section right before the 1.5 mile mark of the race. I have been told this course can be 20-30 seconds slow versus the track or a flat, road 10k. I still thought somewhere between 34:30-34:59 would be reasonable. It was 60 degrees and sunny at the start and we faced a headwind of about 10 mph on the point to point course.

I took things out in 5:35 which was probably a little quick with a net uphill in mile 1. I then split 6:05 for mile 2 which featured a big uphill and then a nice downhill the second half of the mile. Mile 3 was a 5:10 down a very steep incline. I then ran a 5:40 mile 4 as the course flattened out. I was about 17:25 at 5k and still on sub-35:00 pace at 4 miles- 22:30- 34:57 pace. At this point, however, my day was done. My legs took a beating on the uphill and downhill portions. I envisioned myself rolling on the last 5k on this course. It is perfectly flat and would make for a great 5k point to point race course. There was a decent headwind the last two miles and my legs felt like lead. There were plenty of people to run with and race but I could not respond the few times I got passed over the last two miles. I tried to go with a couple of moves but only lasted 10-20 seconds each time I tried to go. I would like mile 4-5 to be my quickest in a 10k and then try to maintain pace through the finish. I ended up splitting 5:55 and another 5:55 for miles 5 and 6. I didn't have much of a kick to the finish as I averaged 5:30s for the last .2 to finish in 35:32 (5:43 pace overall).

The bad news: I am more fit than this result shows. That is how I feel a lot of the time after races but there is no doubt in my mind I should see 34:XX on the clock in a 10k right now.

The good news: A new PR for me! It was a new PR but remains relatively weak in my mind because I think I can run about a minute faster right now. Last summer I ran 17:45-17:50s for a few 5ks and on the 4th I averaged 17:46 per 5k on a hilly course. That is encouraging. I don't get to race 10k much and the only other race efforts I've had in the past year are a pair of 36:1xs. Both were taken more as tempo runs but it was good to take off 40 seconds a couple of days ago.

There is definitely more in the tank and I will get to prove that. The 4th started a stretch where I race 5 times over 6 weeks. I am going to trust my training as my workouts will cut significantly in volume and speed up a bit. For example, instead of 4 x 1 mile, I'll have 4 x 400m at goal 1500m pace the week before my first 1500. I need to recognize that the work is done, let my body recover, and get after fast times in races--not in workouts.

Summer Schedule:

6/11 Portland Track Festival Mile- 4:56 (2:31, 2:24) in a tactical race

7/4 Butte to Butte 10k- 35:32 (5:43 pace) on a hilly course

7/14 All Comers 1500m

7/23 Bowerman 5k

8/4 All Comers 1500m

8/13 Scandia 10k (flat course!)

p.s. with the Olympic Trials in town, the top 80 were all at 36:00 or better on a hilly course into a steady headwind. I only managed 63rd. Most other years I would have been top-25 or 15.

Portland Track Festival- 4:56 mile FTW

Just a quick recap:

The night was perfect- low 60s, cloudy, little wind. I left Eugene at 3:15 pm, figuring it would take me an hour and forty-five minutes to get to the track at Lewis and Clark College right outside of Portland. I hit three separate accidents on my way up and got there at 6 pm. I luckily had another friend in the race and he grabbed my bib for me. I definitely was feeling a lot of anxiety the last hour and a half of the car ride and now only had 20 minutes to get ready for the mile.

I usually like to warmup for 20 minutes before a 5k race or shorter. I did what I could and jogged an easy 1.25 miles in 11:00. I went straight into drills and took no time in between them. I did on stride, put on my spikes, and went straight to the start line. Just like that, the gun went off. I was in the Community Mile and the field was supposed to be a little bigger than it was. There were only three of us. I had my friend with me who is in similar fitness and then there was a masters woman (to her credit she broke 6:00!).

My friend took things out and we went through 409m in 75-mid. Any thought at a mile in the 4:40s went out the window on the first lap. It had turned tactical already with just the two of us running. The next lap was a 76, as we went through 809m in 2:31-mid. I knocked out 4 x 800 averaging 2:30 a few weeks back. With 600m to go, I took the lead and started to push the pace. I split 73 for the third lap. On the final lap I continued to press. I felt strong but my legs started to feel it in the last 200. I could not close as well as I wanted to but still managed a 71 second last lap. My last 800m was in 2:24 but the opening 2:31 meant a 4:56 mile. I wanted to be faster in this one but I had some bad luck getting to the race and you can only race who shows up. I ended up putting 7 seconds on my friend in the last 600m which is solid.

For the win, I got a Portland Track Festival backpack and a 22 of craft beer! So practical! I would recommend this meet to anyone. The race director let me register after the official deadline had passed. It was well organized. The commentator was calling out our splits for all of the spectators to hear. It was a fun time! I'm happy I went up and competed! I just wish I hadn't rolled out of a car after three hours of driving and onto the track. There's plenty more in the tank. This is just the start to my outdoor season!

Next up will be an All Comers 1500 in Eugene on 7/14. The goal here is to run something equivalent to a mile in the 4:40s. Stay tuned.