What it took to get ready for this race.
This is in part fact (stats), in part a gratitude list, and in part a remembering what it took.
• Changed coaches after 3 years in February of this year. Big decision but I had to try to figure what works for me and what doesn’t. Working with Greg McMillan of McMillanRunning now.
• I’ll have logged a little over 1500 km by race day since the start of the year. 11.87k per day average as of today (27 April). Peak week was 123 km which was actually very achievable. Last week was 118 km.
• My average pace in the last two weeks before the taper (or Peaking phase as McMillan calls it) was sub 5 min (4:57 and 4:54 respectively).
• I did every workout but one with the McMillan program. For that one I needed an extra recovery day.
• Every Tuesday and Thursday I did speed, tempo or Fartlek workouts at the track. We’re truly spoiled having the indoor track at the Dome. I had great support from Dave, Jim and others at the Dome.
• I was willing to try my straight long runs without carbs which McMillan uses for his elite team. The idea is train the brain that it can do the run when it’s getting low on carbs. Brain training is a huge part of running long distance.
• My wife supported me (at least on the surface ;) ) throughout this period as I worked towards my goals. None of this would have been possible without her.
• I had a massage every two weeks to keep things inline. Thanks Paula.
• Yoga was also helpful. Once a week with Tatiana and other days with the DVD.
• Ryan Grant helped make sure I was in the right shoes. I used up more than my share of time with him.
• I setup a nice series of build up races to get to the marathon. 10k early March, 30k end of March and the ½ Marathon mid-April. The Yasso 800 workouts also gave me a good indication of where I’m at.
• I still ran with the group at the Running Room on Wednesdays to keep it real. This helped in a lot of ways.
• A big reason why this cycle has gone so well also is that I’ve really enjoyed the running. It’s been a lot but it’s been okay because I've wanted to do it.
• Changed coaches after 3 years in February of this year. Big decision but I had to try to figure what works for me and what doesn’t. Working with Greg McMillan of McMillanRunning now.
• I’ll have logged a little over 1500 km by race day since the start of the year. 11.87k per day average as of today (27 April). Peak week was 123 km which was actually very achievable. Last week was 118 km.
• My average pace in the last two weeks before the taper (or Peaking phase as McMillan calls it) was sub 5 min (4:57 and 4:54 respectively).
• I did every workout but one with the McMillan program. For that one I needed an extra recovery day.
• Every Tuesday and Thursday I did speed, tempo or Fartlek workouts at the track. We’re truly spoiled having the indoor track at the Dome. I had great support from Dave, Jim and others at the Dome.
• I was willing to try my straight long runs without carbs which McMillan uses for his elite team. The idea is train the brain that it can do the run when it’s getting low on carbs. Brain training is a huge part of running long distance.
• My wife supported me (at least on the surface ;) ) throughout this period as I worked towards my goals. None of this would have been possible without her.
• I had a massage every two weeks to keep things inline. Thanks Paula.
• Yoga was also helpful. Once a week with Tatiana and other days with the DVD.
• Ryan Grant helped make sure I was in the right shoes. I used up more than my share of time with him.
• I setup a nice series of build up races to get to the marathon. 10k early March, 30k end of March and the ½ Marathon mid-April. The Yasso 800 workouts also gave me a good indication of where I’m at.
• I still ran with the group at the Running Room on Wednesdays to keep it real. This helped in a lot of ways.
• A big reason why this cycle has gone so well also is that I’ve really enjoyed the running. It’s been a lot but it’s been okay because I've wanted to do it.
posted by --brian @ 8:57 PM
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