Well, I have been a busy little racer, with 6 races in the last 8 weeks, but now it is time to settle in for some serious training. I am signing up tomorrow for the Los Angeles Marathon, and I already have my training outline ready, with long runs scheduled. All my racing didn't seem to wear me out - on the contrary, I feel better than ever and my results have been surprising. I haven't done any speed work since June, yet I ran a 3 mile at near 5K PR pace without too much effort. So I'm feeling pretty confident and already have my goals set for the marathon.
A goal: BQ - of course - under 3:36
B goal: Beat last year's time of 3:52:28
C goal: Anything under 4:00 would still be good
So over the next 16 weeks I want to get in 4 runs every week, instead of the three I mostly did last year. I want to do some speed work nearly every week - mainly mile repeats or tempos. I want to do my long runs with more marathon pace miles (8:10) in the second half of the runs. I want to do 4 long runs of 20 to 22 miles. Then I will just pray for good weather and do my best.
Today I did 9 miles after 5 miles yesterday. I am working in my new Brooks Ghosts. They feel OK, but I do have a funny pain just under my ankle bone on one foot when I am walking. I didn't notice it running. I think I will alternate with my old shoes for a while to get used to them. Here are my splits:
8:49, 8:38, 8:34, 8:16, 7:55, 8:13, 8:06, 7:54, 7:49!
So the last 5 averaged 7:59 and felt like good moderate effort. The idea of running 26 at that pace still seems pretty tough, but you gotta have tough goals, right?
A goal: BQ - of course - under 3:36
B goal: Beat last year's time of 3:52:28
C goal: Anything under 4:00 would still be good
So over the next 16 weeks I want to get in 4 runs every week, instead of the three I mostly did last year. I want to do some speed work nearly every week - mainly mile repeats or tempos. I want to do my long runs with more marathon pace miles (8:10) in the second half of the runs. I want to do 4 long runs of 20 to 22 miles. Then I will just pray for good weather and do my best.
Today I did 9 miles after 5 miles yesterday. I am working in my new Brooks Ghosts. They feel OK, but I do have a funny pain just under my ankle bone on one foot when I am walking. I didn't notice it running. I think I will alternate with my old shoes for a while to get used to them. Here are my splits:
8:49, 8:38, 8:34, 8:16, 7:55, 8:13, 8:06, 7:54, 7:49!
So the last 5 averaged 7:59 and felt like good moderate effort. The idea of running 26 at that pace still seems pretty tough, but you gotta have tough goals, right?
Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I am thinking of signing up for one in April. That puts it about the same time frame. You, however, will easily blow away any time I might even imagine posting. We old guys have to take it easy, but a friend of mine said she won't even listen to bribes and coercion into running another until I have run two. She really needs to watch whom she challenges. I need to figure out how I can get either fast enough or up early enough to get in the distance during the work week.
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