Week 10: Down The Home Stretch

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go ~ T.S. Eliot

Nine weeks ago, when deciding on the Hal Higdon Advanced 2 training plan; there were two series of workouts that most worried me:

Week 9: Satuday - 9 miles @ MP; Sunday - 20 mi
Week 11: Saturday - 10 miles @ MP; Sunday - 20 mi

These workouts contained the most miles at marathon pace followed by twenty mile efforts the next day.

Though the conditions weren't ideal out there; I successfully completed the Week 9 workouts this past weekend; gaining a ton of confidence in the process.

On Saturday, I followed the pre-race routine I will use come game day:  10 minute warmup, plyometrics, 3 x 15 sec strides. I then towed up to an imaginary starting line; and got through 9 miles at 7:12 average pace. This was 8 seconds slower than my goal MP, but I adjusted slightly to account for the high humidity levels. It was a tough effort; but I felt strong and actually considered going further; until I realized I had a 20 miler the next morning.

On Sunday; I decided to use a new route I had researched that I thought would keep my mind fresh and focused. Heading out, I felt surprisingly good considering the effort from the day before. I made a decision to go slower than what the plan probably called for. I wanted to be sure I had a consistent effort for 20 miles. Something I had had a 50% success rate of looking at all of my long runs in the cycle. I wanted to get a fair assessment of my overall strength after 3 hours moving on my feet.

After 15 miles; my legs felt a bit heavy, but it proved to be more of a mental game than physical. I was able to hold a steady MP + 115 second pace through mile 20. Time spent running: 3 hours 43 seconds.

Towards the end of those 20 miles, I could actually begin to visualize myself BQ'ing next month. It no longer was a question of whether I was fit enough; or had enough endurance. It started to click that this would all come down to how much I wanted it; how much I would be ready to endure the physical pain and mental fatigue in getting to the finish line under 3:10:00.

I think that by following and executing this training plan, I've positioned myself with enough fitness to run a 3:05 marathon. I have no doubt now. The ultimate challenge will be navigating what goes on between the ears 22 miles into the race. That is where I start to turn my focus.

Here's how the remaining 5 weeks look:

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Weekly Mileage
10	4 m run	7 x 800	5 m run	Rest	Rest	Half Marathon	5 m run	37
11	5 m run	8 x 800	5 m run	40 tempo	Rest	10 m pace	20	55
12	5 m run	6 x hill	5 m run	30 tempo	Rest	4 m pace	12	40
13	4 m run	30 tempo	4 m run	4 m pace	Rest	4 m run	8	31
14	3 m run	3 m pace	Rest	Rest	2 m run	Marathon		36

Only two weeks to go until taper!

-J