Austin Marathon

Time: 160:00?
Distance: 27 mi.

Target: run a smart race; sub-2:30, hopefully sub-2:28
Race: 2:36.02 for 4th (on a very uncompetitive day)
Splits: 5:55.5, 5:59.0, 5:38.8, 5:42.4, 5:37.4, 5:40.5, 5:43.3, 6:01.3, 5:48.0, 5:44.6, 5:51.1, 6:01.0, 5:45.6, 5:37.3, 6:01.0, 5:58.2, 5:54.9, 5:52.1, 5:37.3, 5:40.6, 5:24.0, 6:23.2, 6:26.5, 6:25.0, 7:06.4, 6:57.9, 1:10.0 (last 0.2 mi.)
Course Map
Full Results

Start of the marathon on South Congress
With my shadow through about 10 miles	Final stretch... ouch

This was certainly not the marathon debut I was hoping for, but I learned a lot and it kicked off a great week in Austin. In lieu of a long blow-by-blow recap, I will summarize what I took from my first marathon experience.

1. Eat, eat, eat: One Pop-Tart before the race and GU at 13 and 20 miles is not enough energy. You NEED it for the last 10k, stomach be damned. It was all I could do in the last 5 miles to finish the race.
   
2. Don't be lonely: It is so much easier to let the tempo slip when you are alone or don't have someone to share the pace with. The lesson here? Find a competitive race, or at least an injured friend to bike along with you.
   
3. Make a day of it: Having a good plan for the rest of the day of the race and have some friends around to help lessen the sting of a sub-par performance.
   
4. Run through it: I have never had a major race that didn't come along with one niggle or another. I was frustrated by the tendonitis in my right foot for two weeks leading up to this, but I barely felt it in the race.
   
5. Train better: While my training was perfectly fine (particularly given that I was running solo almost exclusively leading up to this) and probably would have prepared me for a 2:30ish race if I had done some of the other things better, I could have been more reliable on the workouts.
   

2009 Austin Marathon Training Plan

2008 Austin Marathon Start

After my terrible coach Tom McArdle screwed everything up for both Jordan and me in our preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon in October, I had to set my sights on a new goal. Because I can't find another coach, however, I'm going to stick with the same general training plan. It is based on five two-week cycles. Week one will have two mid-week workouts and a long easy run and week two will have one workout and a long hard effort. The fartlek, hill, and track workouts during the week will contribute to both aerobic and anaerobic strength, muscle strength and form but should never take me to the well.

Long Runs
Long Easy:	build to 2:20 (140 min.) at recovery pace
Long Hard:	build from 10 to 15 miles at MP+ (~5:40 pace) with a warmup and cooldown

Workouts
Fartlek:	4-10 intervals of 2-5 min. with 20-30 min. total volume and short running rest
Track:	400-800m intervals w/4-5 mi. volume and short running rest
Hills:	200-300m (45-70 sec.) hills

Milage

Consistent target of 80-90 miles per week (9-12 miles per day, plus long run)

Marathon Pace Reference (4:22 for every 10 sec. per mile)
5:30	2:24:06
5:40	2:28:28
5:50	2:32:50

Week	Long Run	Workouts
1 (12/8-12/14)	Long Easy: 110 min.	0
2 (12/15-12/21)	Long Hard: 5-10-3	1
3 (12/22-12/28)	Long Easy: 120 min.	2
4 (12/29-1/4)	Long Hard: 3-12-3	1
5 (1/5-1/11)	Long Easy: 130 min.	2
6 (1/12-1/18)	Long Hard: 2.5-15-2.5	1
7 (1/19-1/25)	Long Easy: 140 min.	2
8 (1/26-2/1)	Long Hard: 2.5-15-2.5	1
9 (2/2-2/8)	Long Easy: 90 min.	1-2
10 (2/9-2/15)	Austin Marathon	0

2009 Austin Marathon Course Map

Marine Corps Marathon

Time: 113:00
Distance: 17 mi.

Finally the Marine Corps Marathon is upon us. Jordan and I came up woefully short in our preparations, but we didn't want to miss getting involved by helping out Team MJ. If Meagan and Jilane ran well maybe we could lul them into a false sense of security about a future OJ vs. MJ matchup. (Okay... kidding, kidding.) The plan for the day was to help pace Jilane and Meagan through the first 16 miles of the marathon just around 3:00 (6:52/mile) pace.

Jordan came over to Colin's to drag me out of bed and head down to the start of the marathon, near the Pentagon. We made it down to the start line in enough time to jog a little bit and get a decent spot near the start before a howitzer shot announced the commencement of the race. The race conditions were nearly perfect, but it did take a couple of miles to get warmed up and going (the race is hilly through about the first 10 miles).


The start of the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon

We enjoyed running together through the first 8 miles at which point Meagan (and Jordan) had to make a pit stop. I ran with Jilane through the next few miles from Georgetown out past the halfway mark over by East Patomac Park. We were a bit quick through the half (1:27:30) but Jilane seemed relaxed and I was even trying to pull in the reins a bit after a few miles under 6:30. I let her go at 16 miles with confidence that she was on the right track, but I wouldn't get any update until I saw her finish. She ran a great second half (about 1:30:50) and finished in 10th! Meagan had a rough stomach day, which I can definitely sympathize with, and had to stop around 20 miles.

Splits: 7:03, 7:04, 6:31, 6:25, 6:34, 6:44, 6:55, 6:31, 6:45, 6:23, 6:25, 6:47, 6:34 (1:27:30 half), 6:42, 6:42, 6:32 (1:46:35 at 16 miles)

I was very glad that despite not fulfilling my marathon goal, I could help Jilane out, and her hard work paid off. I felt fine and was having a lot of fun being in the race, despite a bit of hamstring tightness. Once Meagan reached 16 miles Jordan dropped out as well and we walked back to the Iwo Jima memorial for the finish.

For a lot more on the day, see Jilane, Meagan and Jordan's logs, as well as the full race results.

2008 Marine Corps Marathon Training Plan

My training plan for the Marine Corps Marathon this fall, constructed in consultation with Tom McArdle, is based on five two-week cycles. Week one of each cycle will have one mid-week workout and a long hard weekend effort (the marathon preparation run) and week two will have two mid-week workouts and a slightly longer easy run. The fartlek, hill, and track workouts during the week will contribute to both aerobic and anaerobic strength, muscle strength and form but should never take a lot out of me. The workouts I've listed in the calendar are just a very general guide of what I am planning for. The long and hard marathon preparation runs just over marathon pace will hopefully reflect the development of long distance fitness throughout the course of my training and prepare me for long runs at the hard effort. Finally, the long easy runs will give me volume runs close to total marathon time.

This whole schedule is flexible, and I will definitely adjust it as time goes on.

Long Runs
Long Easy:	build to 2:20 (140 min.) at recovery pace
Long Hard:	build from 10 to 15 miles at MP+ (~5:40 pace) with a warmup and cooldown

Workouts
Fartlek:	4-10 intervals of 2-5 min. with 20-30 min. total volume and short running rest
Track:	400-800m intervals w/4-5 mi. volume and short running rest
Hills:	200-300m (45-70 sec.) hills

Milage

Consistent target of 80-90 miles per week, which with ~20 mile long runs means 9-12 mi. (60-80 min.) daily

Marathon Pace Reference (4:22 for every 10 sec. per mile)
5:30	2:24:06
5:40	2:28:28
5:50	2:32:50

AUGUST
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10 Long Easy (120 min.)
11	12	13 Fartlek	14	15	16	17 Long Hard (5-10-3)
18	19 Track	20	21	22 Hills	23	24 Long Easy (130 min.)
25	26	27 Fartlek	28	29	30	31 Long Hard (3-12-3)

SEPTEMBER
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	2 Track	3	4	5 Hills	6	7 Long Easy (140 min.)
8	9	10 Fartlek	11	12	13	14 Long Hard (2.5-15-2.5)
15	16 Track	17	18	19 Hills	20	21 Long Easy (140 min.) CVS Downtown 5k
22	23	24 Fartlek	25	26	27	28 Long Hard (2.5-15-2.5)
29	30 Track

OCTOBER
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
		1	2	3 Hills	4	5 Long Easy (140 min.)
6	7	8 Fartlek	9	10	11	12 Long Hard (2.5-15-2.5)
13	14 Track	15	16	17 Hills?	18	19 Long Easy (90 min.)
20	21	22	23	24	25	26 Marine Corps Marathon
27	28	29	30	31

Marine Corps Marathon

Runners crossing the Potomac in the 2007 Marine Corps Marathon

I entered the Marine Corps Marathon today, which takes place October 26, 2008. That is 89 days from now. By this weekend I hope to have a training plan. Maybe I can recruit a coach? Maybe Jordan can stay healthy? Maybe Jilane and Meagan won't find a way to sabotage us? Only time will tell...

LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course

Time: 30:00
Distance: 4 mi.

Course jog with 6 or 7 strides in spikes.


Aerial view of the course (which used to be the remnants of a mine)


10k course map

While we were putzing around in Terre Haute, Jilane (and friends) were rocking out in Philadelphia. JR ran a nice negative split (1:46:52 / 1:37:01) to finish in 3:23:53 (well under the Boston Qualifying time of 3:40, which I think was her goal).