Marathon Training Recap: Hansons Method Thoughts & 2013/2015 Comparison

A little belated, but finally put down my thoughts about how my training went for this year's marathon and using the Hansons Marathon Method, as well as compare it to my first marathon in 2013. (See similar recap/thoughts on 2013 here.) As I've been telling people when they asked how this year's went, it didn't go as badly as it did before. See also: 2013 race recap. 2015 race recap.

Time goal & pacing

Both years my time goal was around 5:00 to 5:30 (11:26 to 12:35 pace). While it's not exactly a time "goal" when it's your first marathon, you have to have something on which to base your pacing. Both years I started out roughly on track, around 12:00, though that's perhaps a bit aggressive - when you know you're likely to bonk by the end, there's no such thing as banking time by going out faster than goal, as you might be able to do in a shorter race, you're just using up energy and will likely bonk sooner. Both years I started slowing down around the same time, mile 16/17/18, but held it together better and didn't slow down by nearly as much this year. By the end in 2013, I was walking much more than I was running; in 2015 I think I was at most walking a quarter of each mile, and I at least managed a nice fast finish in the last fragment of a mile.

Actual times:

2013: 6:29:07, 14:51 average pace

2015: 5:44:55, 13:10 average pace

I stuck with the same time goal for 2015, not only because of how badly I bonked in 2013, but because it was finally a realistic goal. At the time of the 2013 marathon, my half marathon PR (set during marathon training) (how many times can I use the word marathon in this post about the marathon and marathon training?) was 2:48 - i.e., more than half the time in which I was trying to run the full. I then beat that time at the halfway mark of the marathon. It was utterly delusional to try to pace the marathon for 5:30 or anything less. 6:00 (twice my half PR plus a little) would have been much more reasonable to aim for.

This time around, my half PR (set at the same time of year, in July at the beginning of marathon training) was 2:31. By any calculator, somewhere between 5:15 to 5:30 was exactly what my goal should be, and I think that's reflected in how, even though I still bonked somewhat and took more walking breaks than I wanted to, when I was running I was still running on pace, and I felt waaay better and finished way closer to where I wanted to be. But I'll probably still have the same goal and pacing next time I try!

Mileage base

In 2013 until the start of marathon training, I averaged 11.75 miles per week. In 2015 until the start of marathon training, I averaged 18.79 miles per week. The fact that I did a spring half marathon this year, forcing myself to keep up the mileage during tax season helped greatly, compared to prior years like 2013 when I was pretty lucky to even hit double digits at all in a week. 

2015 Portland Marathon Race Recap

I survived another marathon! (See recap of my first marathon in 2013 here.)

After a solid go at carb loading and hydrating the day before, I got up at 5 am, had my usual pre-run toast with peanut butter and Golazo energy drink. Abe drove me to the start line (and then went home and back to bed!) to arrive shortly after 6 am, for the 7 am start. I immediately got in the fairly short porta potty lines, peed, then got back into the now-longer line to pee again. (Overheard: it never hurts to be in the porta potty line.)

I then still had some time to kill, hung out and chatted with another runner, finally figuring out what was going on with the different colored race bibs: most bibs I saw (and mine) were blue, but here and there were red (actually orange-y, but looked red in the low light at that hour of the morning), green, and purple. Turns out they corresponded with what color finisher shirt you'd ordered (classic marathon blue and green, Beavers, Ducks, or Huskies). 

The weather turned out pretty perfectly - it was about 50 degrees at the start; I wore shorts, short-sleeves, and cheap-socks-turned-arm-warmers to begin, plus a long-sleeve throw away shirt (a very old shirt of Abe's that's torn enough that I hate to see him wear it in public, so I convinced hi to let me wear it to toss). After tossing the extra shirt, I was a bit chilly as my corral walked to the start line, but by the end of the first mile I also got rid of the arm warmers. There were some spots in the middle with shade and some wind that felt slightly cooler, but overly it stayed pretty warm and comfortable. By the end I think it was in the mid to upper 60s, plenty warm but not so hot to be overheated while running.

The overall goal: stay between 12:00 and 12:30 for as long as possible, for a 5:15 to 5:30 finish. But mainly, I wanted to finish strong, i.e., without tons of walking and stopping at porta potties simply for a break from moving (as I may have done last time).

Miles 1 - 5: 12:25, 12:00, 12:15, 11:39, 11:56

A little slower than I felt I could go in the first mile as it was crowded, then settling in to a nice comfortable pace as we spread out. Miles 4 and 5 are downhill, so not extra effort even though slightly fast. Started eating 2 shot bloks at mile 3, and about every 3 miles after. I carried a 12-ounce water bottle, getting it refilled several times at water stations. 

Miles 6 - 10: 12:03, 12:02, 12:10, 12:49, 11:54

Mile 9 included about a minute stopping to pee. I needed from about mile 5 or 6, but waited until there were some porta potties without a line. 

Miles 11 - 15: 12:11, 12:14, 12:21, 13:05, 14:28

Started to feel a bit tired, and wondered how the hell that was when I've gone this far, faster, in half marathons. I saw a friend who was spectating near his house in mile 12, which was fun to see a familiar face - everyone cheers for you by name if it's on your bib, so it takes a second to realize when it's someone you actually know yelling at you!

I was starting to slow down here and there, but the slower splits here are also due to taking care of other things - at the halfway point I ate a pack of nut butter, which is what I've been using to fuel on long runs (to try to train my body to use more fat than just sugar - the single-serving Justin's varieties that include honey or maple syrup, so they do have some sugar, but it's not just carbs) And then mile 15 was a porta potty stop for #2 - though I tolerated the shot bloks pretty well for not having used them much in this training cycle, I started having some mild stomach discomfort in the few miles before this.

I also let myself pull out my headphones around the halfway mark, and listened to Gilmore Guys for the remainder of the race as a distraction.

Miles 16 - 20: 12:11, 14:33, 13:22, 13:56, 14:24

After talking strategy with a coworker who was also running, I decided it wasn't worth expending energy to run up the hill to St. John's Bridge in mile 17, but I did manage quite a bit of speed walking. I was getting pretty tired by now, though, even without the hill, and had a hard time getting myself back into a groove of running even once I reached the top of the bridge. I took some gummy bears at aid stations a couple times to spread out my shot bloks (I had planned to take 2 every 3 miles, but for some reason didn't bother calculating then how many I'd need, and didn't have quite enough.)

Heading off the bridge, I started talking some walking breaks, but again, trying to do more speed walking than plain walking. I wore toe socks, which was actually kind of stupid, because I rarely wear socks while running (minimialist shoes are designed to not have any seams that make them prone to rubbing in the wrong places), but thought it'd be good... just because, I'm not really sure. But one of the toes of the sock was pulling and rubbing in a weird way, so I think it was in mile 20 that I sat down to take off my shoe and see if I could adjust the sock at all. That was where I saw some goats walking along the street (they didn't seem to be with anyone, so not sure what was going on with that), and since I was already stopped figured I might as well get photographic evidence.

Miles 21 - 24: 14:51, 14:46, 14:45, 16:05

This was getting really hard. My feet were hurting from the pounding. My left IT band was hurting. I pulled to the side a few times to try to stretch it. I had lots of walking intervals, but I think at most I walked a tenth of a mile at a time, and ran for at least half a mile (last time I think those ratios were probably the opposite). Although lots of stuff hurt, and I was getting really tried, It was easier - not easy, but easier - to push through, give myself a short break, but continue running, at least some.

Miles 25 - 26.2: 13:44, 13:11, 9:25 

Coming off the Broadway Bridge I got a small portion of a second wind, and was able to stretch out between walking intervals even more. Before 24.2 I tried to promise myself to run the last 2 solid miles, didn't quite, but I think only one break in the midst of that. I calculated by this point that getting under 5:45 was a definite possibility so long as I didn't walk the whole thing, so that became a new goal to focus on.

My parents and Abe were waiting for me just before the final finishing chute (there was a tracking app through the race that worked on GPS activated on the app on my phone, so they knew I was approaching), and I handed off my water bottle for the final stretch. I was pretty much running down the chute by myself, small clusters ahead and behind me. An announcer was talking on a microphone, I think by his expression when I passed by he had been teasing me in some way, but I was pretty out of it and had no idea what he was saying beyond hearing my name a couple times. 

My watch turned to 5:44 with the finish line still just around the corner, so I busted out a pretty good sprint to make sure it wouldn't be more than another minute. When counting in hours, the garmin screen I had showing doesn't show seconds, so I didn't know who close under I was, but I knew I'd made it under 5:45! 

Stopping, my legs felt stiff, but I felt decent overall, all things considered. Nothing sounded good to eat, but I quickly drank a cup of orange juice to get in some calories, and grabbed a banana, chips, and some candy. A friend from my Toastmasters group was volunteering at a food table, another friendly face that's nice to see at that point (I'll definitely need to volunteer next year!).

I walked out to meet up with my family, where I sat down as soon as I could, putting on flip flops (beyond the pounding, a mostly-healed blister from the tri a few weeks ago (where I wore perfectly worn-in but torn up shoes in which I really should always wear socks as the rips do rub the wrong way) got aggravated a bit by the aforementioned toe socks that were pulling weirdly), and drank up some coconut water. (Froze half of it overnight, pulled it out and filled the remaining way when I left the house for them to bring for me, and it was perfectly chilled!) 

They were parked maybe half a mile away, which I slowly walked rather than have them drive over, figuring the movement would help. I took a few minutes to stretch before the quick drive home, but was pretty sore and walking funny for a while. For a few hours after the race, my feet hurt a ton, even to the point that I took an Ibuprofen (which I rarely do, just cause I figure most pain is a signal to your body to do something (like hydrate, or rest), but in this case I knew what it was telling me already!), and hung out laying on the floor with my legs up on the couch. But then there was a tipping point where it pretty quickly dissipated to a mere annoyance, and then I started noticing the aches elsewhere in my legs.  

We went out to pizza for dinner, though I remained not too hungry until Monday morning, and even that hunger didn't last too long. Last time, after not feeling like eating for the first few hours, I remember being ravenous for a few days, and I still don't feel like that's really happened, which seems odd. My legs feel a bit tired still, and have plenty of sore muscles and knots, but overall not too painful. I got a massage on Tuesday that highlighted the worst spots, including my hip flexors (the speed walking that my body's not used to probably contributed to that). 

I'm both proud of and disappointed in my time. While I set my time goal based on what I thought capable on my half marathon PR (2:31, so twice plus some), 5:30 was also a pace that was faster than my first 5k five years ago - but by going over a 13:00 pace, I ended up not meeting that, and I really wanted to be able to say that. 

I still fell apart in the last several miles, and I thought I was strong enough to not do that. I thought the back to back long/medium-long runs, and especially the longer tempo runs in the Hansons plan would be great to help deal with that fatigue. I also thought the skill I've been developing in shorter races, of getting over the mental hurdle of just being able to push through pain and be uncomfortable for the remainder of the race, would be utilized, and I did to a degree, but the pain and discomfort of a marathon is different than that of a 10k, and I couldn't push through it the same way. 

I wanted to not take any real walking breaks and say I ran the entire marathon, and I didn't meet that, but even for as much of the walking that I did do, I think I still finished reasonably strong, I still pushed through and didn't walk as much as I wanted to, and for that I'm proud of myself. 

You'll either do one marathon or you'll keep doing them.. well I've already done two! I definitely plan on another one, but it will likely be further out this time. Portland Marathon's 50th will be in six years, so that sounds like a good timeframe at this point.

Hansons Marathon Method Week 18

Workouts: 

Monday: Swim 1,100 yards + run 2.8 miles (11:33 pace): 0.9 wu/cd + a mile time trial - 8:19!!

Tuesday: Play a short round of disc golf

Wednesday: Unplanned rest day. I considered a swim and/or short run, but just didn't feel like it - and since it's taper, I can just skip it. :)

Thursday: Ballet class

Friday: Run 1.65 miles - easy with some strides

Saturday: Rest day

Sunday: Portland Marathon in 5:44:55

Total swimming: 1,100 yards
Total running: 30.65 miles

Hansons Marathon Method Week 17 & NROLFW Phase 4 Week 4

Workouts: 

Monday: Easy run 3.15 miles (13:30 pace) + NROLFW phase 4 workout B

Tuesday: Tempo run 6.0 miles (12:00 pace)

Wednesday: Swim 1,000 yards + NROLFW phase 4 workout A

Thursday: Ballet class (75 min)

Friday: Swim 1,200 yards + run 1.5 miles (12:00 pace) - easy with some strides

Saturday: Warm-up 1 mile (13:43 pace) + Best Dam Run 10k in 59:37 (9:26 pace)

Sunday: Easy run 3.05 miles (13:30 pace) + NROLFW phase 4 workout B

Total swimming: 2,200 yards

Total running: 20.9 miles

A bit of an intense week, workout-wise, considering it's marathon taper - weight workouts, cause I wanted to finish up this phase of the NROLFW program, and a race (new PR! totally worth it). But now I'm going into race week, and will definitely be taking it easier. 

Hansons Marathon Method Week 16 & NROLFW Phase 4 Week 3

Workouts: 

Monday: Easy run 3.15 miles (13:32 pace) + NROLFW phase 4 workout A

Tuesday: Tempo run 9.15 miles (12:10 avg pace w/ 0.5 wu & 0.65 cd; 12:00 tempo pace)

Wednesday: Easy run 4.0 miles (13:31) + NROLFW phase 4 workout B

Thursday: Ballet class (75 min)

Friday: Rest day

Saturday: Run 1 mile warm-up (13:16 pace) + 5k race (29:08!) + run 2.15 miles (13:00 pace) + NROLFW phase 4 workout A

Sunday: Long run 8.0 miles (13:05 pace)

Total running: 30.55 miles

Hey, you know what's cool? I don't have to swim or bike if I don't want to! I plan to do them again eventually, especially if I do get pregnant soon-ish, I imagine swimming and biking on the trainer will be good, low impact crosstraining to mix up with running. But especially while trying to fit in specific runs for the remainder of marathon training - no need to worry about what else I have to do as well.

Ballet started back up for the fall session, and I moved up, since I've done three workshop seasons of the "absolute beginner" class, I'm now in the just "beginner" class. It's definitely a step up, just moving right into movements, and picking up more on the fly with less repetition, but also lots of fun.

I didn't feel great on the tempo or long runs, but I did race the day before the long run, plus strength training during the week. I'm planning on doing three strength workouts next week, too, to get fully through the rest of phase 4, and then none the week of the race to fully rest up!

I'm to the point where there's not much more you can do (or almost there - the plan has a tempo run 10 days out, saying you can still benefit from the adaptations in 10 days), you just have to be careful not to stress your body to screw anything up, and mostly just rest up. I'm excited to do a 10k this weekend - I'm not going to go totally full out, not aim for the lowest time my new 5k PR would predict, but get something close (maybe 1:05 or less). I want to prove my work with a new PR, but don't want to stress my body too much only 8 days before the marathon, the real place to prove myself.

Hansons Marathon Method Week 15 & Triathlon Training Week 8 & NROLFW Phase 4 Week 2

Workouts: 

Monday: Bike 7.2 miles (10.5 mph) + easy run 6.0 miles (13:07 pace) + NROLFW phase 4 workout B

Tuesday: Rest day

Wednesday: Tempo run 11.1 miles (12:07 overall pace (0.5 WU, 0.6 CD); 11:57 tempo pace)

Thursday: Easy run 3.2 miles (13:42 pace)

Friday: Open water swim 100 yards + play 5 holes of disc golf

Saturday: Best in the West sprint tri - 500 meter swim + 12 mile bike + 5k run

Sunday: Run 18.0 miles (13:02 pace)

Total swimming: 600 yards/meters
Total biking: 19.4 miles 
Total running: 41.4 miles

I'm quite happy with my how my longest long run of marathon training went! Not quite as fantastic as last week's 16 miles, but still pretty good.

And I don't think it's an exaggeration to call the triathlon my best athletic performance of my life! I'm still waiting for the official results to be posted, but I finished it in just over 1:35! While still slow-ish (in last year's results that would still be bottom third), in my mind that's squarely in the realm of "respectable" (slow end of respectable, but still), rather than straight out "back of the pack". 

I pretty much felt amazing, far better than anticipated, on both the swim and bike (and the swim conditions were fabulous - very clear, shallow-ish water, with minimal plant life). Although I didn't say so in my goals post, I did have in the back of my mind hope that I could get a lot closer to my 5k PR in the run leg (because after a few months of high mileage in marathon training I should be quite capable of beating that PR) - but I actually beat it!

Hansons Marathon Method Week 14 & Triathlon Training Week 7 & NROLFW Phase 4 Week 1

Workouts: 

Monday: Bike Trainer 5.0 miles (13.7 mph, 75 rpm)

Tuesday: Speedwork run 8.1 miles (12:18 pace)

Plan: 0.5 warm-up, 2 x 3 miles @ 11:50 with 1 mile recovery, 0.5 cool-down
Actual: 
Warm-up 0.5: 13:41
Set 1: 11:48, 11:49, 11:51
Recovery: 13:41
Set 2: 11:57, 11:47, 11:49
Cool-down 0.5: 13:35

Wednesday: NROLFW phase 4 workout A + swim 1,000 yards + easy run 2.2 miles (13:42 pace)

Thursday: Tempo run 10.0 miles (12:15 avg pace with 0.5 wu/cd; 12:00 tempo pace)

Friday: Hike Multnomah Falls + easy run 3.85 miles (13:46 pace)

Saturday: Long run 16.0 miles (12:50 pace)

Sunday: Rest day

Total swimming: 1,000 yards
Total biking: 5.0 miles
Total running: 40.15 miles

I have plans for a couple things on Monday that are really a part of this past week (outside bike, NROLFW workout B), but due to having nothing left after Saturday's long run and attending a wedding on Sunday, didn't actually happen in the week. 

Triathlon training continued to get pushed aside to a degree to prioritize marathon training, but I think that simply has to be how it is. The race is next weekend! Obviously my race-specific training is totally half-assed, especially compared to last year, but I am at a lower weight and I think a better general fitness, so hopefully that's enough to carry me through and at least perform as well as last year (that is to say, poorly but not dead last). 

Hansons Marathon Method Week 13 & Triathlon Training Week 6

Workouts: 

Tuesday: Easy run 3.05 miles (13:17 pace) + swim 1,100 yards + bike trainer 6.75 miles (13.4 mph, 70 rpm)

Friday - Saturday: Hood to Coast!

Friday 12:50 pm - Leg 10: 5.52 miles (11:40 pace)
Saturday 12:25 am - Leg 22: 6.95 miles (11:57 pace)
Saturday 1:03 pm - Leg 34: 3.48 miles (11:14 pace)

Sunday: Long run 12.0 miles (13:05 miles)

Total swimming: 1,100 yards
Total biking: 6.75 miles
Total running: 30.95 miles

Obviously didn't do everything I should have as far as triathlon training (my goal has been a minimum of 2 swims and 2 bikes rides (at least one outside) each week), but Hood to Coast took precedence! I did intend to do one more easy run earlier in the week, but oh well. 

I think this was an odd amount of quasi-taper - I'm not sure my legs actually felt that well rested going into the weekend! But I did manage to maintain my goals for the race (sub-12:00 for all legs, basically treating it as my speedwork and tempo runs for the week), and on top of that did over 27 miles in 3 days! My legs felt done by the end of my long run on Sunday (I had 16 scheduled, and decided to play it by ear in cutting it short), but held up well enough and I guess this was perfect practice for running on tired legs per the Hansons Method.

Hansons Marathon Method Week 12 & Triathlon Training Week 5

Workouts: 

Monday: Ballet class (75 min) + bike trainer 9.1 miles (12.1 mph, 70 rpm)

Tuesday: Speedwork run 6.65 miles (12:32 pace)

Plan: 0.5 - 1 warm-up, 4 3 x 1.5 miles @ 11:50 with 0.5 recoveries, 0.5 - 1 cool-down
Actual: 
0.5 warm-up: 13:34
3 x 1.5: 11:40, 11:51, 11:59
2 x 0.5: 13:37, 14:41
0.65 cool-down: 13:27

Wednesday: Ballet class (75 min) + easy run 3.35 miles (13:43 pace)

Thursday: Bike 3.5 miles (11.4 mph) + bike trainer 3.5 miles (12.9 mph, 60 rpm)

This was my last chance to bike outside before leaving town for the weekend, so I went as far as I could before it was closer to dark than I feel comfortable, then added a little more mileage inside.

Friday morning through Sunday afternoon we were in the Spokane area. We went to Silverwood, an amusement park, on Friday, and Saturday morning went out to my dad's family's lake cabin. 

Friday: Treadmill tempo run 4.0 miles (12:00 pace)

At the motel fitness center, because the air quality in Spokane (due to wildfire smoke) was way too poor to do anything outside. 

Saturday: Kayak 1 mile + open water "swim" + tempo run 5.05 miles (12:09 pace) 

The air quality was substantially better even in Spokane from the night before, and much improved as we headed north to the lake. I tried to make up for the tempo run which should have been 9 miles the day before.

My "swim" was just jumping off the dock and trying to get over the panic attack feelings of being in open water (which, granted, may been as much to the cold water temp as to anxiety) - I was seriously have some constricting feelings in my chest, similar to where a wetsuit pulls across and creates pressure. So not feeling like you can breath well doesn't make swimming any easier. 

Sunday am: Kayak 0.5 miles + open water swim 60 yards 

I still didn't do much swimming, but got in again, and swam from the regular dock out to and around a floating dock a couple times. Didn't put my face in, but tried to do some freestyle-like strokes regardless, in addition to lots of sidestroke. 

Sunday pm: Long run 10.3 miles (12:53 pace) 

A really good long run pace! (Goal = 12:50) And especially for doing it from home (not going to one of the greenway paths), meaning it's a somewhat hilly route. I felt it more after than I usually do (the pounding, my ankles feeling sore, etc.), but pretty proud of it. 

Total swimming: 60 yards
Total biking: 16.1 miles
Total running: 29.35 miles

Hansons Marathon Method Week 11 & Triathlon Training Week 4

Workouts: 

Monday: Ballet class (75 min) + easy run 3.5 miles (13:55 pace)

Tuesday: Speedwork run 7.25 miles (12:21 pace)

Plan: 1 warm-up, 6 5 x 1 mile @ 11:50 with 0.25 recovery, 1 cool-down
Actual: 
Warm-up 0.5: 13:47
5 x 1 intervals: 11:44, 11:46, 11:39, 11:39, 11:59
5 x 0.25 recovery: 13:20, 13:02, 15:07, 13:52, 13:40
Cool-down 0.5: 13:07

Dude. I'm to the point where the speedwork run, mid week, is 7 miles, after dropping a mile repeat from it. That's, a looong speedwork run. Marathon training is getting real. 

Wednesday: Ballet class (75 min) + swim 1,200 yards

Thursday: Unplanned rest day. I think for me, at this point, either the marathon training plan, or the triathlon plan with maybe a half marathon level of training, would be totally doable. But the combination is definitely a lot! If I don't take a complete rest day, I start feel super fatigued, both physically and mentally. Like one of the days last week, thinking about what I was supposed to do this day was just super overwhelming, and I took a break, coming back into the workouts on Friday feeling much better!

Friday: Tempo run 9 miles (12:10 avg pace; 11:54 tempo pace) + swim 1,200 yard

Oh, yeah, and then my tempo run could (if I did a longer warm-up) be the same distance as some of my long runs?!

Plan: 0.5 - 1 warm-up, 8 tempo @ 12:00, 0.5 - 1 cool-down (moved from Thursday)
Actual: 
0.5 warm-up: 13:54
Tempo 1 - 4: 12:02, 11:51, 11:47, 11:47
Tempo 5 - 8: 12:00, 11:47, 11:55, 11:58
0.5 cool-down: 14:50

Saturday: Long run 10 miles (13:25 pace)

My parents were in town Saturday through Sunday morning (we saw Wicked with them), and literally immediately after they left headed off to a family reunion on Abe's side, so there was literally just a couple hours Saturday morning and a couple hours Sunday evening to get anything done. I tried to get up early enough to get in the scheduled 16 miles on Saturday, and just struggled to get out the door (as I do, in the mornings), and just managed to hit 10 - which is not bad as a bare minimum long run, especially after doing tempo the day before. But certainly far from ideal.

Sunday: Play a round of disc golf (with cousins after the reunion) + bike 5.25 miles (10.7 mph) + run 2.45 (12:53 pace)

Total swimming: 2,400 yards
Total biking: 12.95 miles 
Total running: 32.2 miles

When I was planning out the week at the beginning, I realized that, if I did everything as scheduled (as modified), I should hit 40 miles this week! And then some things went to crap and I totally overestimated (as usual) what I could fit in on a busy weekend, and I barely got over 30. Last marathon cycling I peaked at 38 miles in a week, so even though I should have but haven't hit that yet, I still should end up with at least a few weeks in the 40s. And though I can't rely too heavily on crosstraining, there certainly is still benefit from my triathlon training and what it adds to the cumulative fatigue that's built into the Hanson plan..

Hansons Marathon Method Week 10 & NROLFW Phase 3 Week 4 & Triathlon Training Week 3

Workouts: 

Monday: Ballet class (75 min) + swim 750 yards + easy run 2.2 miles (13:44)

Tuesday: Rest day

Wednesday: Run 2.0 miles (13:04 pace) + bike trainer 7.0 miles (13.8 mph, 56 rpm)

Just an off day, mentally, and felt so tired. I couldn't handle the idea of ballet class, plus other workouts, so I skipped that and went straight home to do the run (speedwork I ended up doing Thursday), but even that, was just not working out. Super fatigued, plus some digestive issues. Cut it short to move on to the bike at home, pretty easy spinning with some small intervals picking up the cadence. 

Thursday: Speedwork run 5.5 miles (12:15 pace) + swim 1,100 yards + NROLFW phase 3 workout A

Plan: 1 warm-up, 4 x 0.75 @ 10:00 with 0.25 recovery, 1 cool-down
Actual:
Warm-up 1: 13:49
4 x 0.75 intervals: 10:04, 10:07, 10:26, 10:37
4 x 0.25 recovery: 16:43, 16:36, 16:07, 14:54
Cool-down 0.5: 13:00

Got tired and slowed down the intervals - but sped up the recoveries? Considering I was still feeling a bit of the crapiness from the prior day, not bad overall, though not quite on point. 

Swim: 2 x 100, 600, 3 x 100

Friday: Bike trainer 4.0 miles (14.5 mph, 72 rpm) + tempo run 7.3 miles 

Plan: 1 warm-up, 8 tempo @ 12:00, 1 cool-down
Actual: 
1.1 warm-up (outside): 14:16
Had a weird side cramp thing going on, so I headed home for a break, did a little on the bike, and then headed to the rec center to finish indoors (since it was later in the day and getting warm).
6.2 tempo (treadmill): 12:00

Bike: Starting in low gear aiming for 90 rpm, went up a gear every half mile (and back to low for the last half mile).
Intervals (mph/rpm): 11.5/82, 13.7/84, 15.3/82, 15.8/73, 16.1/62, 16.0/53, 15.8/44, 13.5/91

Saturday: Run 7.0 miles (13:14 pace) + bike 5.5 miles (10.8 mph)

Just didn't want to go the whole week without at least getting outside on the bike for a bit. 

Sunday: Long run 10.25 miles (12:58 pace) + NROLFW phase 3 workout B

Plan: 10 miles @ 12:50 - 13:20
Actual: 
1 - 5: 13:19, 13:21, 13:05, 12:49, 12:56
6 - 10.25: 13:18, 12:40, 12:39, 12:54, 12:42, 12:45

This run actually felt great! As always, I headed out later than anticipated, so I wasn't done until after 11:00 when it was heating up, but it almost felt easier and easier as I went! 

Total swimming: 1,850 yards
Total biking: 16.5 miles
Total running: 34.25 miles

Some not great days at the beginning of the week, but finished the week pretty strong. 

Hansons Marathon Method Week 9 & NROLFW Phase 3 Week 3 & Triathlon Training Week 2

Workouts: 

Monday pm: Ballet class (75 min) + easy run 2.5 miles (13:16 pace)

Tuesday pm: Swim 1,000 yards

Wednesday pm: Ballet class (75 min) + speedwork run 5.4 miles (12:45 pace)

Plan: Warm-up 1, 5 x .63 (1,000 m) @ 10:00 with 0.25 recovery, cool-down 1
Actual: 
Warm-up 0.5: 13:42
5 x 0.63 intervals : 10:01, 10:03, 10:01, 10:15, 10:54
5 x 0.25 recovery: 15:11, 15:42, 17:42, 21:59, 20:21
Cool-down 0.5: 13:50

Uh, yeah, definitely tired at the end there. I was, after all, coming at this straight from ballet class, where I felt I had a ton of progress tonight in holding turnout really well - so my legs were tired before I even started! 

Thursday am: Easy run 2.25 miles (14:17 pace) + bike trainer 4.6 miles (13.0 mph, 60 rpm)

A mere 12 hours after ballet and speedwork, my legs were not ready to do anything - even in the 14:00s, the run didn't feel easy, thus cutting it even shorter than I'd intended. Kept the bike at just steady, moderately easy intensity.

Thursday pm: NROLFW phase 3 workout A

Friday day: Kayak and stand-up paddle board about 3 miles (2 hours)

As part of a work event, I got to do some kayaking (which I enjoy, but just don't get around to very often), took a little dip in the river, and tried stand-up paddle boarding for the first time. Fortunately I had a coworker guiding me on how to stand up and giving tips, but was I got in a groove after a couple minutes, it was enjoyable and I never fell off. 

Friday pm: Swim 1,200 yards + treadmill tempo run 5 miles (12:00 pace)

Saturday: Bike 10.25 miles (10.7 mph) + easy-ish run 2.1 miles (13:11 pace) + played a short round of disc golf 

Sunday am: Long run 15.0 miles (13:09 pace)

Goal: 15 miles @ 12:50 - 13:20
Actual: 
1 - 6: 13:21, 13:47, 12:56, 13:09, 13:01, 12:57
7 - 12: 12:54, 13:01, 13:23, 13:18, 12:59, 12:50
13 - 15: 12:59, 13:37, 12:54

Obviously a wide variance in pace, but overall felt reasonably easy, considering. 

Sunday pm: NROLFW phase 3 workout B

Total swimming: 2,200 yards

Total biking: 14.85 miles 

Total running: 32.15 miles

Hansons Marathon Method Week 8 & NROLFW Phase 3 Week 2 & Triathlon Training Week 1

We were in Vegas Tuesday evening through Friday evening, which made it somewhat difficult to fit in everything (between stuff to do in Vegas and the high temps - although it was rather unseasonably cool! I think the hottest day was only about 101.). But! I fit in all of the actual workouts for running (skipped easy miles), and all the non-running stuff (2x each - bike, swim, weights), even doing 4 things on Sunday to make that happen.

Workouts: 

Monday: Swim 1,200 yards, including 450 straight

Tuesday: Speedwork run 6.5 miles (12:30) + NROLFW phase 3 workout A  (This was all prior to our flight to Vegas.)

Plan: 1 warm-up, 6 x 0.5 @ 10:00 with 0.25 recoveries, 1 cool-down
Actual: My garmin froze as I was trying to upload this run, and though I eventually did a hard shutdown and got it to work again, it ate this data. I think I remember seeing an average pace at the end of around 12:30, and I'm pretty sure none of the intervals were drastically off the goal, but tended to be a smidge over rather than under.

Wednesday: Rest day, with lots of walking around Vegas

Thursday: Treadmill tempo run 5.0 miles (in the gym at our hotel)

Plan: 1 warm-up, 5 tempo @ 12:00, 1 cool-down
Actual: 
Warm-up 1: 13:34
3 tempo: 12:00
Cool-down 1: 14:12

Friday: Unplanned rest day - we had grand plans to get up around 6 am and run to the welcome to Vegas sign (less than 2.5 miles from where we were staying), but ended up sleeping in instead, and it was already in the 80s by the time we got up, so no.

Saturday: Easy run 7.0 miles (13:28 pace) + bike trainer 5.75 miles (15.6 mph, 57 rpm)

Plan: 6+ (6 on schedule, more to make up for missed easy miles earlier in week) @ 13:15 - 13:45
Actual: 13:44, 13:40, 13:42, 13:06, 13:26, 13:12, 13:14

Bike: 
3 min warm-up easy
5 x 1 min up a gear, pedaling hard, >20 mph
4 x 2 min recovery in between
3 min cool-down easy

Sunday: Bike 4.7 miles (10.0 mph) + swim 1,000 yards + long run 10.0 miles (13:30 pace) + NROLFW phase 3 workout B

Swim: 100, 200, 400, 200 with sprinting 25 out and easy 25 back, 100

Plan: 10+ @ 12:50 - 13;20 (10 on schedule as 4th day in a row, more to make up for no run on Friday adding to fatigue)
Actual: 
1 - 5: 13:14, 13:54, 13:11, 13:38, 13:30
6 - 10: 12:25, 12:36, 13:27, 13:47, 14:22

Though not 4 days straight of runs, I think the bike and swim prior to the run gave back at least some of the fatigue that was intended. Miles 6 and 7 that were so quick were downhill.

Total swimming: 2,200 yards
Total biking: 10.45 miles
Total running: 28.5 miles

Hansons Marathon Method Week 7 & NROLFW Phase 3 Week 1

Workouts: 

Monday: Ballet class (75 min) + easy run 2.5 miles (13:47 pace)

Tuesday: Swim 1,000 yards

With 6 days of running, that obviously only leaves 1 rest day. Following the plan precisely, that should be Wednesday, but ballet class actually works legs (and feet) enough that it doesn't feel like one in regards to running and what I'm asking of my legs. So for the weeks when I have ballet class (this is the last week of the first 4-week summer session, then there's a week off, then another 4-week session), I'm going to have Tuesday as a rest day from running and anything else leg-intensive. Thus, swimming!

Wednesday: Ballet class (75 min) + speedwork run 6.15 miles (12:15 avg pace)

Plan: 1 warm-up, 8 7 x 600 m (0.38) @ 10:00, 0.25 recoveries, 1 cool-down
Actual: 
Warm-up 0.85: 13:38
7 x 0.38: 10:02, 9:57, 9:58, 9:59, 9:56, 9:57, 9:59
7 x 0.25: 14:16, 14:13, 14:22, 14:17, 14:29, 14:50, 14:25
Cool-down 0.90: 13:28

Thursday: Easy run 2.75 miles (13:51 pace) + bike trainer 2.5 miles (15.1 mph) + NROLFW phase 3 workout A

Phase 2 was supposed to be 4 weeks. I did 3 weeks' worth of workouts, scattered over several weeks, then decided to start over and do it in 4 weeks straight. That lasted about a week and a half, and I ended up doing 3 weeks' worth again over several weeks. That seems sufficient and I was getting boring, so I'm just going to move on to phase 3. 

Friday: Tempo run 5.65 miles (12:30 avg pace; 11:56 tempo pace)

Plan: 1 warm-up, 5 tempo @ 12:00, 1 cool-down
Actual: 
Warm-up 0.5: 14:46
4.5 tempo: 11:58, 11:54, 11:55, 11:52, 11:53
Cool-down 0.65: 14:53

Saturday: Run 1.15 (13:58 pace) - This was supposed to be 6. It was 97° at 7:45 pm. Enough said, I think.

Sunday: "Long" run attempts 7.5 miles + NROLFW phase 3 workout B

Plan: 10+ miles (10 on the schedule, plus it'd be good to go farther to make up for less the prior day.)
Actual: 
3.5 miles outside in the morning (14:38 pace) - only 75° when I started, but quickly heating up and very sunny.
2.0 miles on treadmill (13:36 pace) - took a short break and headed to the rec center, but I really have a hard time not being totally bored, and then it seemed (imagined?) my foot was hurting again (on the outside, where it was most recently but had seemed to gone away), so cut it way shorter than planned.
2.0 miles outside in the evening (13:53 pace) - back down to 77° and cooling. :) 

Total swimming: 1,000 yards
Total biking: 2.5 miles
Total running: 25.7 miles

Not an exceptionally good week. Yeah, all the commitment to the plan I was talking about being so important? Apparently I can only handle that for one week. 

Part of this week was difficult because my parents were in town Friday morning through Saturday afternoon (thus cutting slightly short the tempo on Friday, and not doing Saturday's until late in the day rather than before it got hot in the morning). But it's summer, there's tons of that kind of stuff that I simply have to learn (have the motivation?) to work around.

The heat (I thought we were done with our 90+ days for the month!!!) plus PMS was making me severely lacking in motivation and willpower. Sure, I could have done more on the treadmill, or gotten up earlier, etc. I hate to use PMS as an excuse - but I do have a week prior to my period of lower energy. Which is absolutely NOT to say that it makes me capable of less - but it raises the threshold for wanting to do stuff. It takes more energy and desire to overcome obstacles (like scheduling and the heat) to actually accomplish it. At 12 weeks out, it's harder to find that desire; if it were 6 weeks away I'd like to think I would have pushed through anyway.

On the plus side, I did fit in BOTH strength workouts! Plus a swim and short bike ride. I'm leaning slightly more towards signing up for the sprint triathlon at Best in the West since I'll be on site anyway for Abe's half ironman anyway. (I have til the end of the month to decide, realistically, before a price increase.) This upcoming week is 8 weeks out, so if I can two 2 each of swim and bike (including at least one outside bike ride), then I might as well.

Hansons Marathon Method Week 6

Wait, marathon training week 6? Where did weeks 1 - 5 go? I wanted to focus on the half marathon first, and was procrastinating on picking out a training plan for the full. But I'm now jumping into the Hansons Marathon Method, an 18 week plan, with 13 weeks to go (it's basically 5 weeks of base building, 5 of speedwork, and 5 of strength work, then the 3 week taper, so I'm just subbing out half training for the base building). See this post discussing the plan.

Workouts: 

Monday pm: Ballet class (75 min) + run 3 miles (12:31 avg pace)

Plan: Supposed to be easy, but I thought a time trial for a mile (and another one at end of the training cycle to compare progress) would be fun.
Actual: 
Warm-up: 13:48
Mile: 9:00 - new adult mile PR!
Cool-down: 14:46

Tuesday am: Speedwork run 6.6 miles (13:15 avg pace)

Plan: 1 warm-up, 12 (!) 10, because that's crazy enough, x 0.25 @ 10:00, 0.25 recoveries, 1 cool-down
Actual: 
Warm-up 0.9: 13:43
10 x 0.25 intervals: 10:05, 10:03, 10:07, 10:06, 10:06, 10:15, 10:14, 10:11, 10:16, 9:59
10 x 0.25 recovery: 14:07, 14:24, 15:38, 14:45, 17:16, 14:41, 15:23, 15:29, 15:56, 15:40
Cool-down 0.7: 16:18

Wednesday pm: Ballet class

Thursday: Unplanned rest day - the tempo I did Friday should have been here, and 4 miles easy on Friday which I skipped altogether.

Friday: Tempo run 5.9 miles (12:45 overall pace, 12:04 tempo ace)

Plan: 1 warm-up 5 4 tempo @12:00, 1 cool-down
Actual: 
Warm-up 0.95: 13:34
4 tempo: 12:08, 12:02, 12:06, 11:59
Cool-down 0.95: 14:52

Saturday: Easy-ish run 8.0 miles (13:30 pace)

Plan: 8 miles 13:15 - 13:30
Actual: 
13:30, 13:28, 13:27, 13:24
13:21, 13:07, 13:32, 14:11

Sunday: Long run 7.6 miles (13:01 pace)

Plan: 8 miles 12:50 - 13:00
Actual:
12:49, 12:50, 13:06, 12:53
12:57, 13:49, 12:59, 12:39

Total running: 31.1 miles

Slightly challenging week to start training, with two evenings taken up by family birthday dinners, so I ended up skipping an easy run, but overall hit the most important pieces.

PDX Marathon Take 2: The Plan for This Time

Yesterday, I talked about what went wrong in my first marathon to take over an hour longer than I expected (and a very miserable last hour, at that). Here's what I'm doing to make sure that doesn't happen again this year. 

Time goal: 

My time goal is actually basically the same, 5:15. That requires a pace about 30 seconds slower than my half marathon pace, so maybe on the faster spectrum of what's possible, but not outside the normal range. Based on the x 2 + 10-ish minutes, it's right there. Other online calculators predict 5:16 - 5:19, so it's close. I'm training for and expect (pending how the training goes) to start the race on pace for 5:15, but will absolutely be fine with up to 5:30. Though 5:15 might be just a tad ambitious, we're talking a couple minutes, not an hour, so it's close enough to reasonable that it shouldn't screw me up so much to bonk at mile 16, it might just create a slight positive split if it ends up to be a tad fast. 

Training plan: 

I'm going with the Hansons method - the "renegade" training method. This differs from conventional training plans (at least those for the typical beginner/hobby runner) in a few ways:
1. Relatively short long runs, peaking at 16 miles.
2. Relatively high weekly mileage, peaking at 57 miles for the beginner version.
3. Relying on cumulative fatigue by building up mileage and workouts throughout the week so that that 16 mile long run feels like the last 16 miles of the marathon (versus a 20 miler after resting the day before that would feel more like the first 20 miles of the marathon).

The rationale for maxing out at 16 miles runs is largely because of how long it is for the average non-elite to run that far. Not only is 20 miles a huge % of your weekly total if you're only doing 40 or 50 for the week, but even a faster non-elite is likely to take 3 hours or more. (For some of us, upwards of 4 hours). For most people, that's going to a point of diminishing returns. Apparently research has shown that the benefits from long runs only last through 2.5 hours of running. After that, you're not getting any further benefits, and you're risking a lot through additional wear and tear on you body (especially since your form will likely degrade after so long). 

Instead of running long all at once, the plan has back to back runs. The day before a long run, rather than rest, is a moderate run of 6 to 8 miles, and this is coming after some easy miles and no rest day since the tempo run a couple days prior. So your legs are not at all rested for the long run, just like they won't be as you're pushing through the end of the marathon.

There's also a high reliance on very long tempo runs, reaching 10 miles of tempo (plus warm-up and cool-down). I think my last plan only went up to 6. You really have to get used to running that goal pace for a fairly extended period of time. 

Though what initially appealed to me was the shorter long runs (20 miles takes a really long time to run at my pace!), it's far from low intensity. The workout runs and the total mileage is designed to be challenging, even for a beginner. But if you do the work to meet that challenge, the marathon should be extremely doable.

Commitment to training plan: 

Not only am I motivated to get prepared to redeem my previous time, but the plan I've picked requires you to stick to it for it to even work. The 16 mile long run won't do any (well, much) good on its own; you have to have done the preceding runs for the cumulative fatigue to have set it and for the 16 miler to do what it's supposed to do.

I am going to slightly modify the plan to reduce the mileage - cutting not from the number of runs, but from the total easy miles included. And I think that's consistent with the heart of the intent; for example an easy 4 or 5 mile run on Monday, I think is intended to be a short easy 30 - 40 minute recovery run. If it takes me almost an hour at truly easy pace to run that 4 miles, the sheer duration will inhibit it truly being that easy recovery activity. So cutting it to 3 miles keeps it with the original intent. 

What's most important, I think is the "substance" workouts, especially the tempo and long run miles, but beyond that, I think minor cuts are ok. There's also a lot of cross training I want to fit in (some to improve running, some for its own sake), so in terms of aerobic ability I do have that supplementing. I think I might try to peak closer to 50 miles than 57; like with my easy recovery run example above, I think that much total mileage and time on my feet isn't uncomparable to the intent, given my slower pace than a more typical hobby runner at, say, a 4:00 marathon.

The other aspect of actually committing to the plan is committing to the proper paces. Easy runs should really truly be easy. From the charts in the book (or rather, extrapolated from the charts that only go up to a 5:00 marathon goal), my easy runs should be approaching a 14:00 pace! There's almost a 5 minute spread from speedwork (5k) pace to recovery pace (even slower than easy!). The faster paces on the chart might not have as much of a spread in total minutes - but it is in percentage. An 8:00 recovery pace on a 5:20 5k pace is fewer minutes difference, but still a spread of almost 50%. Thinking of it being universally applicable in that sense might make it a little easier to handle seeing 14s on my garmin.

Of course, all this talk of commitment, and this week I already skipped an easy run altogether, dropped 2 of 12 quarter mile repeats, and reduced the tempo by a mile! It's so ridiculously easy, given the sheer volume of work that marathon training takes, to let life get in the way. That's... going to be a challenge to overcome.