Richmond Training: Week 1 Review
Off the recommendation of several people, I picked up the book Advanced Marathoning a few months ago. I love reading about anything related to running or training so this book was a welcome addition to my ever-growing library of Runner's World, Running Times, Women's Running, and essentially any book that has "run" in the title. 
For the past two years, I've been writing my own training plans. In all of my prior marathon training, my weekly mileage never surpassed 50 miles a week. I also wasn't cognizant of my pace during runs and would run all of them at the same speed. With the goal of running a sub 3:10 marathon this year, I knew that I would have to shake something up with my training.
For the past few months, I've been working on building a consistent base of 45 miles (+/-) a week. I've been feeling really good and decided to start the 55-70 mpw plan with the hope that the additional miles will bring my fitness to a higher level. I'll make some modifications to the workouts to account for other races on my schedule, but stick to it for the most part. Here's a look at how Week 1 shook out.
Planned- 54 miles
Actual- 56 miles
Monday
Rest
Rest. I like how my official training kicked off with this. Done and done.
Tuesday
9 mi w/ 4 mi @ half marathon pace
Track workout with Minnesota R.E.D. 2 x 2 mi @ tempo w/ 5 min RBI and 3 mi @ goal race pace.
First set- 6:53 (too fast!), 7:00; Second set- 7:08, 7:03
For the 3 miles at race pace, we did two laps on the track to get our pacing down, then left to run the rest on the road. 7:16 average (just a touch slow, should be at 7:14). I was running with two others and our Garmins were disagreeing on our pace so we slowed. We shouldn't have. Great workout, all in all.
Wednesday
11 mi
Trail run w/ R.E.D. at Hyland. 7.3 miles of trail plus a warm up and cool down around Lake Normandale for a little over 11 miles total. Went out with the fast group that I can't keep up with on the track. While they were running at a pace that was conversational for them, I was working hard. I kept up, though, mostly because I didn't want to get left alone in the woods to be eaten by bears.
Thursday
5 mi recovery
An easy 5.25 at an acceptable recovery pace (8:35). I was bored out of my mind but kept reminding myself that recovery is just as important as the hard workouts.
Friday
9 mi
9.5 total. Ran the first 4 on my own a little too fast (7:28 pace) before meeting up with a friend to finish it out around a more acceptable 7:55 average.
Saturday
5 mi recovery
5.39 miles on a very humid Saturday morning. Ran this a little too fast for recovery but it felt good.
Sunday
15 miles
Most. Humid. Day. Ever. (We're having a heat wave here in MN if you haven't heard.) I have never been so sweaty in my entire life. Literally wringing out my short, shirt, hair, etc. Even my shoes were squishy. Ended up with 15 miles in 2:08. Glad when it was over but didn't regret getting out the door.
On to Week 2.
For the past two years, I've been writing my own training plans. In all of my prior marathon training, my weekly mileage never surpassed 50 miles a week. I also wasn't cognizant of my pace during runs and would run all of them at the same speed. With the goal of running a sub 3:10 marathon this year, I knew that I would have to shake something up with my training.
For the past few months, I've been working on building a consistent base of 45 miles (+/-) a week. I've been feeling really good and decided to start the 55-70 mpw plan with the hope that the additional miles will bring my fitness to a higher level. I'll make some modifications to the workouts to account for other races on my schedule, but stick to it for the most part. Here's a look at how Week 1 shook out.
Planned- 54 miles
Actual- 56 miles
Monday
Rest
Rest. I like how my official training kicked off with this. Done and done.
Tuesday
9 mi w/ 4 mi @ half marathon pace
Track workout with Minnesota R.E.D. 2 x 2 mi @ tempo w/ 5 min RBI and 3 mi @ goal race pace.
First set- 6:53 (too fast!), 7:00; Second set- 7:08, 7:03
For the 3 miles at race pace, we did two laps on the track to get our pacing down, then left to run the rest on the road. 7:16 average (just a touch slow, should be at 7:14). I was running with two others and our Garmins were disagreeing on our pace so we slowed. We shouldn't have. Great workout, all in all.
Wednesday
11 mi
Trail run w/ R.E.D. at Hyland. 7.3 miles of trail plus a warm up and cool down around Lake Normandale for a little over 11 miles total. Went out with the fast group that I can't keep up with on the track. While they were running at a pace that was conversational for them, I was working hard. I kept up, though, mostly because I didn't want to get left alone in the woods to be eaten by bears.
Thursday
5 mi recovery
An easy 5.25 at an acceptable recovery pace (8:35). I was bored out of my mind but kept reminding myself that recovery is just as important as the hard workouts.
Friday
9 mi
9.5 total. Ran the first 4 on my own a little too fast (7:28 pace) before meeting up with a friend to finish it out around a more acceptable 7:55 average.
Saturday
5 mi recovery
5.39 miles on a very humid Saturday morning. Ran this a little too fast for recovery but it felt good.
Sunday
15 miles
Most. Humid. Day. Ever. (We're having a heat wave here in MN if you haven't heard.) I have never been so sweaty in my entire life. Literally wringing out my short, shirt, hair, etc. Even my shoes were squishy. Ended up with 15 miles in 2:08. Glad when it was over but didn't regret getting out the door.
On to Week 2.
Your advice worked!!! Thank you so much! Great training for week 1- I look forward to watching your training. Does it cost $ to join MNRed and do they have all different paces?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the knowledge...I am using a book called Brain Training for Runners...by the looks of your first couple of weeks, it seems to have a similar outlook at least in terms of splitting up the types of runs.
ReplyDeleteI have been wondering what it has taken you to move so quickly from around 4 hours to knocking at the 3 hour door - besides your obvious dedication, which is amazing, and has obviously also affected your family too!
Hope all is good! (p.s. are you coming on 13th August???!)