Week 7 is over.  It was a tough week as mileage continues to increase.  Both of my easy days saw miles increase as well as the mid-week long run.  But training is also almost half over! It was a busy week personally and I’m feeling a little tired (the 16 miler didn’t help:)  Next week is a step back week and hopefully things will settle down a little bit.

Monday: Four comfortable miles. I had to come up with some new courses now that the distance changed so I tacked on some additional roads to my downtown loop and still have pretty much the same loop – going past the Metrodome and skirting the edge of downtown. I ran the 4 miles in 31:39 and felt tired and tight from all the traveling. It was in the low 60’s but very humid for early in the morning. In the hundred push-up challenge I had to start over on Week 2 because I didn’t do the third day’s workout.  So back to Week 2 Day 1.

Tuesday: 7-9 miles. Due to a scheduling conflict I wasn’t able to make it to the training class so I missed out on running with the group and the discussion about stretching afterward. However, I was quite happy to miss out on the 90+ temps that they had to run through.  Although it was still 84 and humid when I ran at 7am. I ran around Lake of the Isles and for an 8 mile run – I just didn’t feel like tacking on anything else to the extra mile in. I still made it under 8 minute miles with a time of 1:03:16 so that’s not too bad.

Wednesday: Four easy miles. I thought I would try adding some mileage onto the Powderhorn loop that I run around Powderhorn park but I guess I miss judged it and only ran 3.5 miles in 29:34.  A lot slower than expected but that always seems to happen here.  It was in the mid-70’s and humid (again!) and I felt very tired and sluggish.  Week 2 Day 2 of the push-up challenge went pretty smoothly.

Thursday: Day of Rest! I totally enjoyed the rest day!

Friday: 8 miles at marathon race pace (7:15). I had setup my Garmin so that it would beep at me if I varied out of the pace range, I thought.  But I had loaded the wrong workout onto it, so I stopped and quickly setup a “quick workout” which I thought would include a virtual partner to “race” against. Not really sure what happened because my training partner never showed up – typical – and my watch screen was showing some weird sections I hadn’t seen before.  Oh well… Not sure what was happening but a ton of cop cars were swarming the area speeding around almost skidding around corners – something big.  I ran from home and did the loop around Boom and Hennepin Islands making a couple of water and a bathroom stop. It was 70 degrees out with 76% humidity at the start.  I did the 8 miles in 59:48 which is a 7:28 mile.  Hal Higdon says that you shouldn’t worry about your runs unless they are more than 15 seconds per mile off in either direction.  So I guess this is a good run. If nothing else it is always fun to run along the river and downtown. Week 2 Day 3 of the push-up challenge was a little tougher than usual since I was tired from the run but I was able to complete the workout.  I acutally forgot to do the rest of my core workouts, oops!

Saturday:14-16 miles. 66 at the start with humidity probably didn’t really warm up much over 70. I biked the 4.5 miles there and arrived with plenty of time to relax and let my legs recover before the run (the ride was at an easy pace).  We started with an out and back along Minnehaha Parkway before running around Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles tacking on a little at the end to reach 15.77 miles.  The TC Marathon was hosting an aid station that we hit 2x’s that included the same type of Powerade and Gu that they will have available on race day – so that was really nice.  They had Clif Shot Gu in two flavors Chocolate andDouble Espresso; the Chocolate was quite delicious. I felt pretty good for the most part – our pace yo-yo-ed throughout the run with an average of 7:54. No mile was over 8:25 and none under 7:37 so this was a nice LSD run for a change – although our actual pace varied greatly – actually hitting 7:00 a few times (the chart shows some 10 minute paces but those are probably at stop signs.  I was glad for it to be over that is for sure! This is my longest run ever so that feels good too.  Afterwards a couple brave souls and I took a dip in Lake Harriet to cool off and relax.  At times it was quite cool out there when the sun was behind a cloud and the wind was blowing.  15.77 miles in 2:04:30.

Sunday: Cross Training. This is probably the most sore I’ve been yet after a run.  Saturday night we walked around a little bit at the Rose Garden and Harriet Band Shell so that helped clean some of the junk out of my legs, but I still felt it.  I couldn’t decide between biking and swimming so I opted for the lower impact activity! It felt good to be in the water even though I struggled a little bit. I wanted to get to 400yds but decided to be done at 300 before getting too fatigued. I needed to do an exhaustion test for the hundred push-up challenge.  My results are a disappointing 16 but I had already swam, which wears out the arms, and I still had several more left in my arms.  Huh? Remember I’m using a core strength ball for my push-ups.  My feet rest on the ball which wiggles back and forth while I do the push-up.  Basically the ball rolled out from underneath me – meaning my core wasn’t able to handle the strain.

Weekly Mileage Totals:

Running – 39.3 miles

Biking – 30.3 miles

Swimming – 300 yds.

Hal’s Running Tips: Marathoners need to learn the value of strength. If you plan to win the marathon, running is not enough. Most top runners head to the gym two or three times a week to pump iron. That’s good advice for anybody. Machines and barbells work for the elite, but you can stay in shape with push-ups and sit-ups in your own front room. Then you can flex your muscles while crossing the finish line on marathon day.

Week 7

[tags] Marathon Training, Hal Higdon, Training [/tags]