I'm just about halfway through my build for the Napa Valley Marathon on March 1.
This past week:
Mon: 5.5 slow (fatigued from previous week, 63 miles)
Tue: 8.5 medium easy over hills
Wed: Rest
Thurs: 9.1 easy to medium (flat/creek trail)
Fri: 10.8 trail run/hill course medium>medium hard
Sat: Rest
Sun: 3.85 miles total, including 5k tempo run 22:30
Week total: 37.75 miles
Cut back on volume this week to let my legs catch up with the work thus far in this build. I'd logged six weeks averaging a touch over 51 miles per week. Next Saturday racing the "Almost NYE Half Marathon."
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Marathoner
OK, so I ran my first marathon. The Rogue Marathon from Ashland to Medford Oregon, following meandering country roads and bike trails zigzagging north for 26 miles, crisscrossing underneath I-5. A good net-downhill run!
Everything went swimmingly, except I did stop for a bit over a minute to take a leak at mile 3. I paced cautiously and caught the 4:00 pace group just before the 7-mile mark, and chatted amiably with pace leader Norm until 21 miles.
Realizing I felt pretty good, I threw it down over the last five miles and finished in 3:51:42. While I am quite content with that, I will point out that at age 62, my Boston Qualifier mark is 3:50.
It was a super positive initial marathon experience, and I've signed up for another, the upcoming Napa Valley Marathon on March 1. And yes indeed, I will gun for a BQ this time! I'm well on my way to readiness, having just completed a six-week stretch where I averaged just over 51 miles per week.
I'm chilling on the volume until I run the Brazen NYE half marathon on Dec 28, followed by a few days off. From there, I'll be sure to book a goodly number of 3 hour runs leading up to the Napa Valley Race (without actually worrying about overall volume, it's the key long runs that will power me in Napa Valley!).
We'll see how it goes, my basic attitude is Boston or Bust! I went to high school near Boston, and grew up watching the classic race. In 1975, my senior year of high school, I tracked the race with my running buddy Tim -- (he was a 9:27 high school 2-miler!). We followed the route in my dad's '74 Plymouth Valliant, stopping at Framingham and Wellesley College before watching "Boston Billy" Rodgers set an American Record of 2:09:55. I'll never forget that roar for him at the Prudential Center on Boylston!
I've always wanted to run Boston at least once, here's hoping I'll make the cut.
Everything went swimmingly, except I did stop for a bit over a minute to take a leak at mile 3. I paced cautiously and caught the 4:00 pace group just before the 7-mile mark, and chatted amiably with pace leader Norm until 21 miles.
Realizing I felt pretty good, I threw it down over the last five miles and finished in 3:51:42. While I am quite content with that, I will point out that at age 62, my Boston Qualifier mark is 3:50.
It was a super positive initial marathon experience, and I've signed up for another, the upcoming Napa Valley Marathon on March 1. And yes indeed, I will gun for a BQ this time! I'm well on my way to readiness, having just completed a six-week stretch where I averaged just over 51 miles per week.
I'm chilling on the volume until I run the Brazen NYE half marathon on Dec 28, followed by a few days off. From there, I'll be sure to book a goodly number of 3 hour runs leading up to the Napa Valley Race (without actually worrying about overall volume, it's the key long runs that will power me in Napa Valley!).
We'll see how it goes, my basic attitude is Boston or Bust! I went to high school near Boston, and grew up watching the classic race. In 1975, my senior year of high school, I tracked the race with my running buddy Tim -- (he was a 9:27 high school 2-miler!). We followed the route in my dad's '74 Plymouth Valliant, stopping at Framingham and Wellesley College before watching "Boston Billy" Rodgers set an American Record of 2:09:55. I'll never forget that roar for him at the Prudential Center on Boylston!
I've always wanted to run Boston at least once, here's hoping I'll make the cut.
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