The Boston Diaries: Chapter 13

Taming the beast(s)

Flanagan, another beast behind me on Tuesday, March 28th.

Somehow, the Lincoln Marathon is just five weeks away. This training cycle has absolutely flown by, which means the beast workouts are dwindling by the week. Going into Sunday, one of those beast workouts was on tap. 18 miles, the latter 14 at marathon pace.

I hadn’t put a name to workouts like this until this past week, but it felt like an apt way to describe what I had in front of me. This Saturday brings the Early Bird Ten Miler. I’ll have another tune-up 10k two weeks later. Elsewhere, workouts with 600 and 1200-meter repeats. All told, five more beast runs, now that Sunday’s is in the rearview mirror.

I put a lot into these runs, both physically and mentally. I hope to see sure signs my fitness is improving. That I’ll be able to chase my goal on race day, whatever that ends up being.

Sunday was the last long run of training with marathon pacing built in. Going into the run, I still planned on keeping my MP goal at 6:40-per, which would be a 2:55 marathon. I haven’t wanted to get too aggressive a month out. Better to keep things conservative and see where I’m at heading into race day.

That’s what I told myself, at least.

The last workout like this took place four weeks ago. 16 miles with the last 12 at MP, I ran it in 1:47:20 — a 6:42 average mile — and knocked out those final 12 at 6:28 per — a pace slightly below sub-2:50. Afterwards I wrote, “I ran it so well I’m starting to reevaluate my goals for Lincoln,” before finishing the newsletter with this:

I’ll be looking under the hood, finding more seconds I feel comfortable shaving off my overall time, and put down some new goals for the Lincoln Marathon. Nine weeks from today, I’ll be there. Until then, I’ll keep pushing myself.

So which is it? Am I giving myself a new goal or am I still being conservative with my current goal?

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The log:

Monday: 20 minutes of weightlifting + a ten-minute bike ride indoors

Tuesday: 10 miles with 6 x 1000 meter repeats

Wednesday: 15.01 miles

Thursday: 6 miles in the AM + 4 miles in the PM

Friday: 12 miles

Saturday: 5 miles

Sunday: 18.06 miles with the last 14 at marathon pace + a 1 mile cool down

Total: 71.07 miles

Year to date: 815.52 miles

Day 86: Got the usual lift in and decided to add a bit on the bike too. Had a busy Monday night ahead, so I didn’t know if I’d have time for my usual walk with Banks. Still getting used to Mondays being days without runs, but I’m getting there. There are pros and cons, but it is nice starting another work week without a run.

Day 87: It was a week with two beasts! As I said above, defining these is something new for me. I’d describe them like this: Lots of miles (usually 8+) with some sort of extended speed work (in this case, 1000m repeats) or race pace (the 18-miler that finished this week). This run was ten miles with six of those 1000m repeats. Next week will bring a run with 1200m repeats, but this one wasn’t anything to sneeze at either.

This run came just three days after my 10k tune-up and two days after 18 more; not like my legs were the freshest they’ve ever been. Started with 3.5 comfortably¹ and felt pretty good about how I was doing. Thus began the repeats. 1000 meters is basically .62 miles. I was aiming for a 5:40-mile pace, which would have each interval at about three and a half minutes all said and done. Ran them at a 5:29, 5:34, 5:39, 5:38, 5:41, and 5:38 pace. I can’t tell you how annoyed I was to miss the fifth by one damn second. Went two minutes easy in between each and added another mile or so on the back end. All told, 10 miles, 7:22-per mile, 155 average HR. I tamed the first beast of the week.

Day 88: To be honest, after Wednesday’s run, I figured I’d kick this newsletter off writing about it. Went 15 miles in 1:53:01 — a 7:32-per mile pace — and my heart rate averaged 147. When considering pace + HR, this is easily the best run like this I have ever had in my entire life.

I’ve mentioned it too many times, but you never know which newsletter is someone’s first: The run last summer that got it in my head that a sub-3:00 marathon was possible in Chicago was on August 16th when I went out for 15. That one looked like this:

Wednesday’s looked like this:

Same trail, same distance, but 28 seconds faster-per mile with a lower HR to boot. A special, special run.

Day 89: After 25 miles to start the week, recovery² runs were incredibly welcome. Went six in the morning on the treadmill — 9:14 pace, 113 average HR — and four more at night on one of my old trails, Big Papio Creek — 9:07 pace, 127 average HR. The latter was much more enjoyable, even with the wind straight into my face heading south. Thankfully, the turn back was into the north. Great wearing shorts and a shirt, too!

Day 90: Going into Friday’s run, I planned on dialing back the pace compared to Wednesday. It was a similar distance — 12 miles vs. 15 — but I wanted to slow down just a tad. Went out with a pair of shoes that I hadn’t worn in a while, but that still have plenty of tread on the tire. I just… couldn’t get comfortable. They felt like bricks out there and so what should have been a great continuation from Wednesday’s run turned into more of a slog. At least, it felt that way. 7:47 miles with a 148 HR. The only real downer of a run all week long.

I’m not tossing the shoes, but they’re retired from anything more than five or six miles.

Day 91: I mentioned the recovery runs on Thursday were incredibly welcome. After ten that day + another 12 on Friday, I was at 47 miles on the week over the course of four days. So, yeah, five miles easy on Saturday were something I really appreciated! The day was busy, so I wasn’t able to save this run for the better weather without the wind, which meant I kept it inside. The usual 9:14 pace on the treadmill and another 113 average HR.

Day 92: So, about the beast. As Saturday unfolded, I was preparing for what the next morning would bring. I felt properly fueled, properly hydrated. The plan was to head out solo, which isn’t out of the norm at all. Late in the afternoon though, someone in a running group chat I’m in asked if anyone was running 18-20 miles at a mid-six minute pace. Derek from Strava³ shot me a text and told me I should take him up on it. So, I did. Cory⁴ and I made plans to meet the next morning and knock out the miles together.

I’m happy we did.

We started with the same plan I had four weeks back, aiming for miles 1-4 to finish at 8:00, 7:40, 7:20, and 7:00, before going 6:40 for the final 14. And, much like four weeks ago, we started off fast. 7:40, 7:27, 7:17, and 6:59. We were 37 seconds ahead of pace and… it really didn’t feel like it. It felt easy.

I figured we’d chat for the first four miles and maybe a few more after that, but ultimately the MP miles wouldn’t allow for conversation to continue. Oops! We barely shut up the entire two hours we were out there. School, work, running; we talked about it all, essentially non-stop, all 18 miles.

You wouldn’t know it, based off the times. 6:33, 6:33, 6:30, etc. We hummed along, never getting within five seconds of the goal pace. We ran those 14 miles at a 6:29 pace. One second slower than four weeks ago? Sure. But come on! I was talking to someone the entire time! Overall, I ran 18.06⁵ in 2:00:38 — a 6:41 pace — with an average HR of 165. We added a cool down mile afterwards to get 19+ on the day and 71+ on the week.

I entered Sunday with 52 miles on my odometer over the previous five days. Throw in the 10k tune-up the prior Saturday and this was my third beast run in nine days. And yet, legs felt fresh, but they weren’t race day fresh, and I still put together an effort worthy of 2:50 over the course of 26.2 miles.

I’ve looked under the hood. It’s time for some new goals.

1. Usually like keeping my heart rate below 145 when running “comfortable” miles.

2. I try to keep my HR sub-130 for every recovery run, but when I run on the treadmill, I hope to go sub-120. No need to up the pace just to get the HR higher. Rather keep my legs fresh.

3. He texted me last week and asked if I had him saved in my phone as “Derek from Strava” — sadly the answer is no.

4. I won’t be referring to him as “Cory from GroupMe,” though I kinda want to.

5. My watch had me about .05 ahead of him the last handful of miles, so I kept going and finished when he did.