Chicago Marathon – Training Cycle #4 – Weeks 7 & 8

This cycle started coming off of the Eagle Creek Trail Half so I was a little tired coming into it. I ended up moving the workout I was supposed to do on Monday by a couple of days to allow for a little more recovery from the race.

As it turns out I ended up doing the workout on my birthday. Happy Birthday to me. It was a great birthday present! Welcome to 30! It was a nine mile run with 6 @ descending tempo going from 6:14 down to 5:52. Woof. Doing this run at midday was a great idea to by the way. Also I had signed up to run a 5K on Thursday so doing the workout Wednesday was going to make for a tough run @ the 5K but I wasn’t too worried about as I was running the 5K as another workout and I had not raced one in a long time.

Speaking of that 5K. You can read about it here! It sucked….I will however be running on next cycle. The way the workouts fall next week will line up nicely for a good 5K race. I am hoping to take a run at 17:00 flat.

So I have now raced twice in one week and had a long tempo run…so by the time Sunday rolled around I really wasn’t feeling it and that was a good thing since I had my first 20 mile run of training since I pushed my 20 two weeks ago when my hamstring flared up.  The plan is still getting in all four 20s…just means moving a couple of things around. Sunday’s workout was 20 miles with the last six at a descending tempo pace. It was not fun. I left early Sunday and went up straight up the Monon with my Hammer flask. This allowed me to get water on the trail and not have to carry a bottle…which I liked. Man oh man…those last six were fun! 6:40, 6:30, 6:22, 6:22, 6:19, 6:14. Woof.

Overall a good week.

Week 8. More of the same. It is week 2 of the cycle so it only had two workouts and easy runs the ret of the week.  That is always a nice little bonus. Wednesday’s workout was a 9 mile run with 7 @ tempo. Up until this week, I had been doing about 6 mile tempos so it was time to move things up this week. The goal is to get up to 9/10 @ tempo by the end of training. Since this was the first week doing 7, I backed the pace off slightly to make sure that I got through the workout. It felt pretty good. Managed to do about 6:11-6:15 for the 7.

Couple of easy runs Thursday and Friday. 10 miles and 8 miles.

Saturday’s run was 17 steady with Collin, Mike, and Josh on the Monon. 6:40 pace. Good working effort. We decided to pick it up the last two miles. 6:22 and 5:49. Good run. No fuel. Felt good. Week done. Rode the bike trainer Sunday and watched Breaking Bad…currently on episode 5 of Season 3. No running for sure. I picked up a new CycleOps Fluid trainer and I could definitely feel the difference from my old crappy unit. This will serve me well here in the next couple of years. Just need a powermeter now.

After the hamstring a couple of weeks ago I am extra cautious about the leg. After Saturday’s run…I can tell for sure that I need a day off from running. The milage is lower this cycle and that is fine. The workouts are getting done and the important thing is getting to the start line feeling healthy and strong.

Week 8 was good. It’s funny. I keep thinking about that 5K I ran last week. I struggled…I mean really struggled to run that 17:40 (5:40 pace) and today at mile 17 of the run today we bust out a 5:49 like no big deal. I mean it hurt but nothing crazy. Running is a funny thing like that…sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn’t go well….either way just stay after it. Be consistent and it will pay off.

The next two weeks is more of the same…just more intense. Things are really starting to ramp up. 8 weeks to go. Get fit. Get strong. Do Work. Get Fast. It will pay off….oh and I’m getting that 17:00 @ that 5K.