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Monday, October 15, 2012

Richmond Marathon Training - Week 10

Monday October 8
Run 8.5 mi
Since I work for a company that doesn't recognize the somewhat questionable holiday of Columbus Day, it was a typical Monday morning run commute. Until, that is, I got about a block away from my office and was prevented from crossing Pennsylvania Ave by fencing set up for Taste of DC. A half mile and one or two rude security guards later, I was finally across the street and done with my run.

Tuesday October 9
Run 10.25 mi
10x800 (3:34/3:34/3:27/3:26/3:24/3:24/3:24/3:21/3:24/3:22/3:21)
I definitely wasn't feeling quite as energetic as the last time that I did this workout and the times were slightly slower. Still, I was right in the range where I need to be and I was able to get faster as I went along, so I have no complaints. It's hard to believe that I'll only be doing this workout one more time before race day!

Yoga - 75 min
I checked out a new studio and really enjoyed the pace of the class. It was an all levels class and was just speed and difficulty that I really enjoy. I'll definitely be heading back.

Wednesday October 10
Run 9.75 mi - AM
Run 5.15 mi - PM
Another mid-week double run day. I'm really glad I decided to give this a try during this training cycle. The timing of it works out well with the rest of my week and it let's me give my legs two days off from running while still getting in (for me) a lot of miles.

Thursday October 11
Run 7.8 mi
2 mi tempo (7:08/7:04)
1 mi tempo (6:55)
I'm not really sure what got into me during this workout. Maybe it was running on the trail at night, with no good visual sense of pace (or a coach yelling splits every 400), but I went a lot faster than I've been doing at tempos recently.

Friday October 12
Pool run 60 min
For some reason I wasn't feeling much like swimming this week and I knew a teammate would be pool running, so I opted to join her instead. I knew that some kind of aquatic activity would help loosen up my legs before Saturday's marathon pace long run.

Saturday October 13
15.0 mi w/marathon pace pickups
4 mi (8:20/8:11/8:19/8:17)
3 mi (8:20/8:25/8:17)
There were supposed to be two more of those marathon pace sections to this run (2 miles and 1 mile), but I was hit with a massive calf cramp in my right leg shortly after starting mile two of the three mile set. I immediately took two Saltstick pills and chugged some water and hoped that I could somehow run through it. I could, but not quite as quickly as I was moving before! It went away with about a quarter mile left in the third mile, but I was advised by my coach to take it easy for the rest of the run. Fortunately there was not even the slightest twinge in the last five miles and I finished feeling pretty good. I've been doing a good job with hydration so I'm pretty sure that it has to be an electrolyte issue. I have a 16 oz cup that I use at work, so I'm going to start alternating water and Gu Brew or Nuun. I'll probably also start taking a Saltstick pill prior to starting, in addition to my normal one an hour on the run. I've always been on the opinion that you need a couple of bad runs every training cycle to get the potential problems to the surface or just get that general "bad but I can't figure out why" run out of the way before race day. I've never had this issue before, but now I will be doing everything necessary to prevent it from happening on race day!

Sunday October 14
Rest

Week 10 - 56.45 mi
Another solid week with lots of miles. I would have liked to complete the entire workout on Saturday, but it's really not a big deal. Three extra marathon pace miles are not going to hurt my marathon performance in any way and I learned a valuable lesson about not neglecting electrolytes.

4 comments:

AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris. said...

I'm sorry about the Saturday cramping issue, but I absolutely agree that it's better to have that happen now then during a race. You can figure it out and move on.

For hydration, I've been using ultima to flavor my water. I dilute it a lot (1 scoop for 32 oz - it's supposed to be 1 scoop for 8-10 oz). It makes the water surprisingly tasty, while also getting in some electrolytes.

MJ said...

I'm going to have to save all your Richmond posts for when I can train for full instead of half again - looks like you've got a really good plan going, and I love seeing what works!

Re electrolytes, I was having issues other than muscle cramping (but electrolyte-related) and 2 things have helped me - 1) taking 2 Endurolytes caps from Hammer Nutrition twice a day (am before w/o, eve before bed) and 2) and I know this is weird - drinking SmartWater instead of plain water mostly. I will say that the SW wasn't enough by itself, it was the endurolytes that really tipped it, and it took some time.

I love Ultima and used to use the lemonade flavor - till my GI issues required me to cut out citric acid as much as possible. That was one of the places I cut it. Plus I figured I'd only have access to plain water on course - I use plain water on my runs, and long runs take EFS Liquid Shot gel, which has electrolytes and which my stomach (knock wood) seems ok with.

Elizabeth said...

Nice week! It's good to see how the doubles are working for you. The race will be here before you know it!

Caroline said...

I've really enjoyed reading about your marathon training-it actually makes me miss training for one myself. You've been super dedicated and I can just feel it that it's going to pay dividends on race day. A week or two before a race, I start drinking water with NUUN like crazy and I think that (along with Saltstick pills) have really helped me avoid any dreaded cramps