Detroit Marathon Training - Week 16 - Run #2

Today was it. The official end of training. Four months and almost 400 miles, all leading up to this Sunday's Detroit Marathon.

Today I took it easy for once. I got on the treadmill at work for a half hour and ran 3.4 miles or so. Nothing fast, except for a few brief speed intervals near the end, just so my body would realize that I wasn't going to run that slow on Sunday.

Now it's time to down some more carbs over the next few days, rest my legs, and visualize a great race. I won't publicly admit my "ambitious" goal, but my realistic goal for the race is to finish in 3:45.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 16 - Run #1

Today was the beginning of the end. The week of the marathon. The last couple training runs, albeit easy ones. Today I took it somewhat easy.

While I had only planned to run 30 minutes, I stretched it a little bit so that I could get in a nice even 4 miles, which took me just over 31 minutes. I pushed myself a bit, but nowhere near what I had been doing recently. Still, it was in hindsight probably a little much for this point in my training.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 15 - Run #3

Today was the last "long run", though it seemed pretty short compared to the ones I have been doing recently. It might have also been my last run in the park for a while as winter nears and my training is coming to an end.

A nice trail run on the towpath trail today, heading south from Brecksville. I managed to make it all 10 miles today (no surprise), but I did it in pretty good time, finishing in 1:19:49 for a nice sub-8 minute pace, which I am always happy with.

Weekly Total: 23 miles
Yearly Total: 766.6 miles

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 15 - Run #1

Today's run I pushed myself, and tried out the "Distance" fuction of my Nike+ iPod for the first time. Instead of just running a straight 6 miles on the treadmill, I programmed my iPod to go for a 10km run (6.2 miles) and pushed myself pretty hard.

I finished the first mile in 7:46, and kept speeding up from there with my fastest mile being my 4th mile which I ran in 7:26. This was the hardest I plan to run before the marathon, which is now less than two weeks away. Time to start resting up a bit.

So 6.2 miles in 47:33, for an average pace of 7:36 per mile.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 14 - Run #3

Today's "long run" thankfully was not quite as long as the past few have been as I have begun my taper now that the marathon is only two weeks away. While it was shorter, it was also much colder. The temperature was in the mid 40s, and the wind was pretty strong at times. Fortunately I think the trees helped knock some of it down. So I was dressed a little differently than usual, opting to wear black tights under my shorts, and a long sleeve shirt. Both kept me warm, and I really did not get hot except for the brief periods of sunshine.

Since the run was shorter, I was able to use a different training route, as I headed north on the towpath from the Brecksville station, which I had not done in months. The change in scenary was very welcome. And I don't know if it was the different route or the colder weather, but today's run went great. I managed to hit the turnaround point, 7 miles, in 56:40, which put me at a 8:05/mi pace. And the 7 miles back only took a couple minutes longer as I finished my 14 mile run in 1:54:45 for an average pace of about 8:12/mi. I'm very happy with this.

As for my Nike+ iPod setup, it recorded my distance as 14.34 miles for an average pace of 7:59/mi. Obviously I like this a little better. I'm still not entirely sure which one to trust. The Nike+ thing worked really well on the treadmill the other day, only being off .04 miles on a 7 mile run. And I'm not sure of the accuracy of some of the marked miles on the towpath, as I know some on my usual route are longer than the marked distance. So I'm thinking about started to rely on the this device instead of the markers. I really should just find a track and do a very accurate calibration and go from there.

So 14 miles today in 1:54:45 for an average pace of 8:12/mi, according to the towpath's mileage markers.

Weekly Total: 26 miles
Yearly Total: 743.6 miles

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 14 - Run #2

Another treadmill run today after work. It was sort of like a tempo run. I started at 8:00 pace, went up to a 7:53 for the second mile, 7:46 for the third mile, and after 4.5 miles I went back up and did a couple more miles at 8:00 before finishing hard.

I tried going harder today than I have recently, and it did not go so great. I had planned to keep increasing speed, but after 4 miles, I had to cut back or I was not going to make it 7 miles. One good development today is that the treadmill read 7 miles and my iPod said 7.04 miles. The only really difference between today and Monday was that I used a different model treadmill. So I'm guessing this treadmill might actually be more accurate than the other one. So it looks like I will stick to this model going forward.

So 7 miles in 54:21 for an average pace of 7:42 per mile.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 14 - Run #1

I began the "taper" part of my marathon training today with a fairly easy 5 mile run on the treadmill at work. It was my first treadmill run with my Nike+ iPod kit, and it went fairly well. It clocked in my 5 mile run at 5.22 miles. I'll probably calibrate the sensor on a treadmill once it gets cold and I'm stuck indoors for the winter. Until then, I'll just stick with what the treadmill tells me I ran.

I started off around an 8:13 pace for about 2.5 miles, before mixing in some speedwork for two 1/2 mile segments and then gradual speed increased over the fifth and final mile.

So 5 miles in 39:01 for an average pace of 7:48 minutes per mile.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 13 - Run #3

Today was it. The last "long run" of my marathon training. From here it's all downhill as I begin my "taper" now that the marathon is only 3 weeks away. Unfortunately, today's run didn't send me out on a very good note.

My first mistake was a fast start. I took the first mile to calibrate my Nike+ sensor, so I ran a mile and stopped briefly to set it. It indicated my first mile was actually .9mi, so it seems that it was exactly 90% accurate out of the box as the instructions indicated it would be. My first mile went by in about 7:30, which is not what I wanted to do. The next mile was the only other mile I checked my iPod, and it came it at .99mi, so I think I have it calibrated pretty well. I then tucked it into my Camelback and there it stayed until the end of my run.

Not all was bad with my run. I hit the turnaround point, 9 miles, at 1:14:30 for an average pace of 8:17 per mile. On the way back, I started wearing out around mile 13. I was really struggling and was not sure if I would make it. For the first time since I've been running, my feet started hurting. Usually I just get pain in my legs, but this time my actual feet were aching. So I don't know if that is a not so subtle hint that I need to get new shoes. I have around 350 miles on these shoes. I'll just have to see if it happens again.

My finishing time was 2:39:21 for 18 miles which averages out to about 8:51 per mile. This is slightly faster than my last 18 miler which was two weeks ago. But I feel much worse at the moment than I did two weeks ago after the run. I have been wheezy and my feet are aching. I just hope that my runs over the next few weeks go better because today did not do much for my confidence, even though I managed to finish.

Weekly Total: 28.1 miles
Yearly Total: 717.6 miles

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 13 - Run #2

Tonight's run was pretty impromptu. I had just received my new iPod nano in the mail, along with my Nike+ kit, so I was very anxious to take it out for a test run. So I did. Even though it was almost 8pm and already dark outside. Not a good idea.

Disaster almost struck during my first mile as I was running through an intersection when I had the walk sign, and just as I was about to get to the other side, a car came up and of course did not bother to stop at the white line but started going through the crosswalk until they suddenly saw me and stopped. I had to swing out wide to avoid being hit. So obviously not a fun experience, and a warning to be more careful when I run that late.

The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. I finished and saw that my iPod told me I only ran 2.84mi, though I had mapped that route out numerous times and estimated it to be closer to 3.1mi. Then I read that the sensor is only about 90% accurate out of the box (until I calibrate it). So I'm sticking with my original 3.1mi estimate, as that is within the margin of error.

So 3.1 miles in 22:52, for an average time of 7:22 per mile.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 13 - Run #1

I was in a training class at work all day today, and a good part of that day was spent figuring out whether or not to run afterwards. Ultimately, I did, and ended up getting in a good run.

For the first time in a while, I headed to the park across the street for work for a nice outdoor run. It had rained in the morning, and everything was wet, but it had that nice fresh smell. Not all of the trail is marked, so I'm not definite on the distance, but I'm pretty sure I ran just over 7 miles. The first half I finished in 27:13, and I barely managed to pull out the "negative split" with a time of 27:12 for the second half, for a total of 54:25, which is around a 7:46/mi average pace.

So today's run was at a pretty brisk pace compared to what I've been doing the past couple of weeks. I felt like I needed to get in a tough workout, and today was a good day for that. It was sort of like a tempo run with some speed work mixed in. Not a lot of speed work, but some is better than none. I was huffing and puffing a few times, so that's a good workout in my book.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 12 - Run #2

Unfortunately, I only managed to get in two runs this week. However, today was the "big one". The 20-miler. The mother of all "long runs" when training for a marathon (at least in most training programs). So I suppose that's as good of an excuse as any to miss an extra run during the week.

I almost put off the run this morning when I awoke to see the pavement mostly wet in our apartment parking lot. It had rained pretty heavily the night before, and I was worried that the towpath trail was going to be very messy. But, I eventually got out of bed and out of the house a little after 9am, into a mostly sunny but chilly mid-50s October day.

Things started off pretty good, right around an 8:25/mi pace. The only scary moment was right before I hit my turnaround point at 10 miles, I had a sharp pain in my left knee that made me pull up for a few gimpy steps, but it was only momentary, and I was back to normal in no time. I hit the turnaround point at 1:26:30, for an average pace of 8:39 per mile. Not too shabby.

The second half was slower of course, as has become my norm. I was pretty dead most of the last 3 miles, but not quite as bad as the previous week's 18 miler. I tried to make it in under 3 hours, but those last few miles killed me. I ended up finishing around 3:03:15 (I failed to properly stop my watch at the finish, so the seconds is more of an estimate). Unfortunately, this is about 2 minutes slower than my last 20 miler I did back in April.

So 20 miles in 3:03:15, which averages out to a pace of 9:10 per mile, which is just over the 4 hour marathon pace. Not too happy with that.

Weekly Total: 28 miles
Yearly Total: 689.5 miles