Week 11: New Shoes, New Mileage PRs
Week 11: September 9 - September 15, 2019
The planned volume mileage for Week 11 of the Hansons First Marathon program jumped up to 57.5 miles, increasing some of the weekday mileage and the long run on Sunday:
Monday: 6 miles easy
Tuesday: 1.5 mile warmup, 6 x 1 mile @ MP-10 seconds pace w/ 400m jog, 1.5 mile cooldown
Wednesday: Rest/Crosstrain
Thursday: 1.5 mile warmup, 2 mile, 3 mile, 2 mile @ goal MP w/ 0.5 mile jog, 1.5 mile cooldown
Friday: 4 miles easy
Saturday: 10 miles easy
Sunday: 16 miles long (TCS Marathon Training run 18M Day)
Monday’s easy 6-miler was the day after my success in the Fifth Avenue Mile race and additional training runs before and after the event, so I was feeling great on a mental high. While technically running marathon pace, my perceived effort for this short recovery run felt very easy. It was the first run in my new Mizuno Wave Inspire 15 sneakers and I wanted to break these in over the next couple of weeks in order to use them on Marathon Day.
On Tuesday I had to wait until the afternoon to run because we had a mandatory staff meeting after a few of my sessions. A 10.5 mile track workout is tough in the afternoon heat when you’ve been up since 5 a.m. working. I only had a croissant and two mocha lattes for breakfast (not the most nutritious, I know) and my tiredness was compounded, but I somehow managed to own the workout using my new ChiRunning skills to get an average pace of 7:27 for the 10 miles I completed.
I had to rest from running on Wednesday and Thursday, and when I got back to it on Friday I was not mentally into it at all. I had been up since 5 a.m. again, and I was starving when I woke up (when I’m usually not hungry upon waking). I ate my usual egg bagel with butter and had a coffee about 2 hours before the run so that I wouldn’t bonk out later, and intermittently popped in a Clif Blok as I circled the track to do Thursday’s prescribed workout. I had a few things going against me: my neck felt tight and out of alignment, it was so windy I kept having to hold my hat on one side of the track, and just really wanted to get out of the mental funk of the day. Because I was out of it, I focused on my form and adjusted my forward lean and picking up my feet to ankle height for a more efficient run. By the end of the 11.5 mile workout, I felt much better aerobically and I physiologically reaped the endorphin rewards. The average 8:28 pace wasn’t too terrible for a bad day either.
I rested Saturday knowing that Sunday’s TCS NYC 18 Mile Training Run race would test me and be the longest distance attempted in one go before the Marathon. I was not wrong; it was pretty brutal (which you can read about in more detail in another blog post).
Although the week was tough and exhausting between work and the training intensity, I survived and I know that the extra time on my feet will be important in building up my endurance for an enjoyable 26.2 through the 5 boroughs of New York. I ran about 10 less miles than prescribed for the week, but I had to listen to my body and take the recovery days I needed.
Holy splits, Batman! Consistency and pushing myself on the track was really paying off. This is why I called this month of training “Speedy September” 🏃♀️💨