Pacific Crest Marathon Training

Sunday, March 13th

Tonight’s workout:

1.5 mile warm-up

20 minutes on high school track @ about 7:49 pace (I finished mi 2 at a time of 15:39) was happy w/that considering it was a bit windy this evening.

10 x 1 min fast pace (not all out sprint, but fast) w/ 1 minute recovery

1.5 mile cool down

This concluded the 3 week build-up to Marius Bakken’s 15 week marathon training plan. So, tomorrow I officially start my 15 week training plan for the Pacific Crest Marathon in June!

What I think of the training so far…it seems like if someone is ready to get a little uncomfortable and ready to push herself/himself in the speed workouts and follow the training, I think she/he will become a speedier runner. Especially since (at least with the plan I’m following) I am only going to be running 4 days a week. The days I am running are definitely mostly quality and not just a bunch of easy & comfy runs. (I do love easy and comfy runs and believe they have value.) I like that I can still cross train 1-2 other days in the week.  What I don’t like is that I feel like I have to write down the workouts on my hand to remember what all I’m supposed to do and I at the end of the week don’t actually know what my mileage was unless I really take the time to sit down and hash it all out. I know it’s a bit early to say this, but I think my running will improve and I will become a stronger, faster runner with this plan.

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Went for a slow and easy 45 minute run.

Covered a little over 4 miles.  Bottoms of feet and my knees are feeling a bit tired and ouchy.  I think I’m due for some new runn’in  shoes soon.

Tuesday, March 15th

X-trained:  about 30 min weights, 45 minutes elliptical

Wednesday, March 16th

15 minute warm-up jog

4 x 800 with 4 minute recovery jogs (my 800 times: 3:34, 3:35, 3:32, 3:32) pretty pleased. Wanting to shoot for 3:30′s or under, so I’m getting there and this is early on in training. No wind tonight, but the rain was off and on. Think I will either really like or not like this training. If I stick with it, think I will be a stronger, more fit and speedy runner. Gotta love speedwork!

Friday, March 18th

15 minute warm-up jog

speedwork:  18 x 2 min w/ 1 minute recovery after each 2 min, vary effort between 1:46-1:49 pace and 1:34-1:40 pace per 400m.

10 minute cool down jog

This workout seemed kinda nuts to me! 18 reps of any kind of running seems like a lot/to me esp. when it’s fast stuff! So, I kinda cheated a bit by instead of doing 2 min repeats, I reduced it to 400 m repeats. It still felt like a good and challenging workout to me and should still be beneficial.

Sunday, March 20th

2 mile warm-up

5 x 2 mi repeats, times: 16:22, 16:17, 16:13, 16:03, 15:55

1 mile cool down (for a workout grand total of 13 miles)

I’m pleased with how I did! I got progressively faster with each one, though my first 2 repeats were still in my pace range that I wanted to stay in. My legs are feeling this and pretty sure they’ll be a bit tired tomorrow, but this was worth it! (There was no wind tonight, but some light precipitation.

Saturday, March 26th

Long Run: 15 miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes.  Started around 6am. No rain, which was nice. Think I’m going to switch out of the training program under Marius Bakken and switch back to the plan by Pfitzinger. I don’t know if my body was liking all the speedwork involved.

Monday, March 28th

Easy 5 mile run on the treadmill

Tuesday, March 29th

2 mi warmup

4mi tempo on track- finished in 31:51 (slightly under 8 min per mile!)

approx 3 mi cool down for a total of 9 mi for the day!

Thursday, March 30th

10 mile run in 1hr 40minutes, felt good and strong

Friday, April 1st!

Easy 5 miles – bit dehydrated though!

Saturday, April 2nd

Long Run: 17 miles, avg pace 9:22 and time of 2:39 (no bathroom stops!) run felt good, nothing hurting

Monday, April 4th

8 mile run, avg pace 9:26 and time of 1:15.  Legs little tired from Sunday’s long run and little full from dinner, not bad

Tuesday, April 5th

6 miles, slow and easy, (60 minutes)

Wednesday, April 6th

8 miles, felt decent. I gave myself 1 hr 20 minutes to do it, so probably went a bit over 8. Legs (quads) feeling still tired from Saturday’s long run. Tomorrow, (Thursday) I will get to take the day off from running.

Friday, April 8th

Did an easy 5 mile run and then did some weights at the gym

Sunday, April 10th

Corvallis Half Marathon! I ran a 1:46:25 (8:10 pace per mile) and placed 13th out of 140 in my age group. I feel like I ran strong and gave it what I had today. Wished I could have run a 1:45, but I just didn’t have more in the bank today. Glad I still have more time to train for my summer and fall marathons to get where I want to get! I think I’m making progress in training though.

Tuesday, April 12th

Easy 4 mile run, finished at gym for about 20 minutes of weights

Wednesday, April 13th

4 mi easy, 5 miles tempo on track @ 8:00 pace and 1 mile cool down jog

Thursday, April 14th

11 miles in 1 hr 43 minutes avg pace: 9:22 per mile. Felt good, no big or noticeable discomforts.

Saturday, April 16th

5 miles easy

Sunday, April 17th

20 miles in 3 hrs 13 minutes. Little slow today, a bit dehydrated and not happy tummy

Wednesday, April 20th

11 mi w/6 miles at tempo done in 47:37 (7:56 per mile pace), bit breezy this evening, but run felt good!

Friday, April 22nd

12 mi in 1 hr and 56 minutes. Legs (quads) felt a little tired  and achy by the last mile and half.

Sunday, April 24th

18 miles in 2:52 (pace: 9:34) Little disappointed w/ my pace. Run felt pretty good, I thought I was moving along faster than that.Legs felt a little tired/heavy by half-way through, but strong and still ready to run.

Tuesday, April 26th

easy 7 miler, legs still slightly feeling Sunday’s 18 miler

Wednesday, April 27th

pleasant 14 miles in 2 hrs 10 minutes (9:17 pace) legs felt springy and energetic- hmmmm?!