I started this blog shortly after I returned from the Peace Corps. At the time, I did not have a reporting job and did not know that I would be too busy to really "chronicle" my preparation for the New York City Marathon.
I am now less than a week out. I did a mere 6 on Monday, 7 this morning and after some 100-mile weeks it feels like nothing. Some people do not like the taper: They get worried they are losing everything they have worked to gain. But I know from experience that it works -- the fitness does not go away; it improves -- and I like this phase of winding it down to the race, doing just enough to stay sharp, feeling like an athlete.
Last week was about 65 miles. On Thursday I did 3 by 1 mile with a 400 jog for rest. 5:00, 5:03, 5:10. The last rep was a struggle; obviously I would have preferred it not to be. Before Chicago in 2006 I did 5:00, 5:04, 5:04. But this workout took place first thing in the morning; it was cold and windy and I was feeling a bit drained. I see no reason to panic.
This will be my first marathon in America in two years. I chose to do this race while I was in Niger, around the time Emily and I decided we would not be staying in country for the entire 24 months. It may even have been last November: We were in Zinder and I was running through this wide open patch of hardpan near the hostel ...
Before I left for Niger in January of 2007 I was dealing with the idea that I might not be running for two years, that a few months after running 2:29 at the Chicago Marathon and feeling like I was finally getting somewhere in this sport that it might in fact all be coming to an end.
We spent our first two months in a training site. It was enclosed by a fence, perched up on a hill overlooking a village, quite literally in a bubble. My first five days there I had no choice: my luggage (my shoes) did not make it from Paris. By the time they arrived, however, I had to do something, and I had already begun to realize that training in Niger would be possible. It may be the hottest place in the world, but it is tolerable early in the morning. The people may be some of the poorest in the world and extremely conservative and perplexed by running, but the villages are surrounded by dead land rolling out and out and out. You find a way to sneak away; then you are gone, free, unseen.
There was a decrepit basketball court in the back corner of the training site (which was previously used by French engineers during the Colonial era). I started there, running some laps around the court and then carving a small loop around the site. It was difficult: I had not trained in a couple weeks, for one, but my system was in a state of shock.
Twenty minutes. Thirty minutes. Forty minutes. After I week I could stand the compound no more; it was time to break out. I let myself through the gate one morning, the sun barely up as the guard said something to me in a language I did not understand and suddenly I was running again, in brown pants and a buttondown shirt, the closest thing I had to running clothes ...
I chose New York because I wanted my return to marathoning in New York to feel triumphant. I wanted a big city marathon like Chicago, only I did not want to be competing with my 2006-self in Chicago, on that flat-as-a-pancake course. I would return to the city where I was born, a city I only have vague memories of, a city that nonetheless has a certain smell and an energy that makes no other city I have ever been to truly feel like a city, a city that would carry me to back to where I was. A tough, fair, championship course with hills and difficult pavement.
As much as I was able to run in Niger, my return to truly regular training -- the kind that is not regularly interrupted by things like 24-hour bus rides, farming season and amoebic dysentery -- was humbling. My fitness was lower in March than I assumed it was. My anaerobic conditioning was depleted, and it got better, slowly, but my summer racing was nonetheless discouraging.
So now I have put myself through the rigors of a marathon buildup. I am tapering correctly. I know I know how to run this race. I believe I know what I can do. For the first time in many months I will be able to rest and be fresh and have some pop in my legs. My parents, my wife, my coach will be on the streets cheering me on.
There is more faith than hard evidence at this point. We'll see how tomorrow's dress rehearsal goes. One day at a time. Always.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Two weeks to go
VIDEO: Fred Lebow and the founding of the NYC Marathon. I am reading Bart Yasso's "My Life on the Run," and the early comments in this video remind me of his story about the Philadelphia Marathon in the early 80s, how he was pumped to run through the neighborhoods he had seen in "Rocky" only to get beaned with heads of lettuce. The vendors were mad the street was closed, barring them from the usual customers. Or my dad first beginning to run in New York around the same time, getting beer bottles hucked at him when he trained at night ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adn628NSY-c
This is a good time to be a runner. Temperatures in the mid 40s. Cool, crisp air. July, August and September are months of gritting it out, legs heavy, heat, humidity. But in October, or pehaps mid-October, the weather is often ideal for running, and when you throw a taper into the mix, one can reconnect with the pure enjoyment of putting one foot in front of the other.
Bill Dellinger once said when you are fit, running is as easy as brushing your teeth. Training for real, on the other hand, is more like getting your teeth cleaned every day.
I put in a 106 miles for the week of Oct.6-12.
Monday - 10
Tuesday - AM 12, PM 4
Wednesday - AM 13 PM 7
Thursday - AM UMD track - 3 WU, 4 by 2 mile with 2 minutes rest (10:38, 10:40, 10:55, 11:05) 2 CD, PM 7
Friday - 10
Saturday - 10
Sunday - 22
The Thursday workout was dissapointing. I did this same workout prior to Chicago in 2006 and ran 10:40 across the board. It was a huge boost in confidence.
But my legs were tired for this recent workout, and as hard as tried I could not get them to turn over on the last two reps.
Heading into this first of three taper weeks prior to New York on Nov. 2, I had reason to feel good about the volume I put in. At the same time, nothing about it leapt out at me and screamed loud and clear that I am capable of running under 2:30.
I am feeling more confident, though, after this week. My legs have responded quickly to the reduction in mileage, and on Friday I did my five-mile tempo around the asphalt track in Takoma Park in 26:42, with splits of 5:22, 5:24, 5:18, 5:18, 5:18. The effort was very smooth; I felt as if I could have continued for several more miles at 5:18 before it would have become difficult.
The three-week taper I use was created by Pete Pfitzinger, winner of the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic marathon trials. I have used for it all of my marathons, and my belief in it by this point is implicit. The first week is a 25 percent reduction in mileage from my peak week. The second week, meanwhile, is a 25 percent reduction from the previous one. The taper achieves two things: it allows me to feel at my best on race day and to respond physiologically to the build-up, meaning that as my legs are getting fresher my fitness is also improving, as the rest is allowing my system to make some of the adaptations sparked by a dozen weeks of mileage hovering around 100 per week. Next week I will do a workout of 3 by 1 mile on the track; the week of the marathon I will do a "dress rehearsal" of three miles at marathon goal pace. Keeping these faster workouts in the mix helps retains one's mental and physical sharpness.
Oct. 13-19
Monday - 9
Tuesday - 10
Wednesday - 14
Thursday - 10
Friday - 3 WU, 5 miles at 5:20 pace, 3 CD
Saturday - 10
Sunday - 17
Total - 80
This is a good time to be a runner. Temperatures in the mid 40s. Cool, crisp air. July, August and September are months of gritting it out, legs heavy, heat, humidity. But in October, or pehaps mid-October, the weather is often ideal for running, and when you throw a taper into the mix, one can reconnect with the pure enjoyment of putting one foot in front of the other.
Bill Dellinger once said when you are fit, running is as easy as brushing your teeth. Training for real, on the other hand, is more like getting your teeth cleaned every day.
I put in a 106 miles for the week of Oct.6-12.
Monday - 10
Tuesday - AM 12, PM 4
Wednesday - AM 13 PM 7
Thursday - AM UMD track - 3 WU, 4 by 2 mile with 2 minutes rest (10:38, 10:40, 10:55, 11:05) 2 CD, PM 7
Friday - 10
Saturday - 10
Sunday - 22
The Thursday workout was dissapointing. I did this same workout prior to Chicago in 2006 and ran 10:40 across the board. It was a huge boost in confidence.
But my legs were tired for this recent workout, and as hard as tried I could not get them to turn over on the last two reps.
Heading into this first of three taper weeks prior to New York on Nov. 2, I had reason to feel good about the volume I put in. At the same time, nothing about it leapt out at me and screamed loud and clear that I am capable of running under 2:30.
I am feeling more confident, though, after this week. My legs have responded quickly to the reduction in mileage, and on Friday I did my five-mile tempo around the asphalt track in Takoma Park in 26:42, with splits of 5:22, 5:24, 5:18, 5:18, 5:18. The effort was very smooth; I felt as if I could have continued for several more miles at 5:18 before it would have become difficult.
The three-week taper I use was created by Pete Pfitzinger, winner of the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic marathon trials. I have used for it all of my marathons, and my belief in it by this point is implicit. The first week is a 25 percent reduction in mileage from my peak week. The second week, meanwhile, is a 25 percent reduction from the previous one. The taper achieves two things: it allows me to feel at my best on race day and to respond physiologically to the build-up, meaning that as my legs are getting fresher my fitness is also improving, as the rest is allowing my system to make some of the adaptations sparked by a dozen weeks of mileage hovering around 100 per week. Next week I will do a workout of 3 by 1 mile on the track; the week of the marathon I will do a "dress rehearsal" of three miles at marathon goal pace. Keeping these faster workouts in the mix helps retains one's mental and physical sharpness.
Oct. 13-19
Monday - 9
Tuesday - 10
Wednesday - 14
Thursday - 10
Friday - 3 WU, 5 miles at 5:20 pace, 3 CD
Saturday - 10
Sunday - 17
Total - 80
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Sept. 22-28
My objective for the DCRRC 20-miler in Alexandria, Va. was to get in 15 miles at marathon goal pace, roughly 5:35-40 per mile. The idea was to go at that pace from the gun and wind it down the last five miles, letting people pass if necessary.
Things did not go as planned. I was out front early on, and perhaps a half-mile into the race, a volunteer on the course told me to go straight rather than turn (she confused me for someone in the 5-miler which was starting 15 minutes after us). Cresting a hill I began to hear people yelling, "Hey! You were supposed to turn!" So I turned around and got back on the course and caught up to the front. After the race I guessed it was about a 60- to 90-second loss in time, but now that I think about it, I would say it was closer to 2 minutes.
Most of the race was on rolling bike trails that, much like the Parks Half, disrupt my rhythm style. The weather was rainy and humid. I ran about six-minute pace for 15 miles, and at a certain point I almost forgot I was in a race, not a Sunday long run. The lapse in concentration allowed the chase group to reel me in quite a bit, but at a certain point I decided that if the workout did not go according to plan, I might as well get a win. My total time was 2:04.56, and surely there is a good training effect to be had from the effort ... but it would be to nice to have clearer evidence that I can get it done on Nov. 2. Next year I will put the Philadelphia Distance Run on the calendar.
What can you do? Ten days until taper. In the middle of a 110 week; another will follow.
In other news, Haile Gebreselassie broke his own world record in Berlin by 26 seconds. 2:03.59.
I think it is fair to say that Simon Wanjiru ran the best marathon of all time in Beijing. Geb, in Berlin, ran the best time trial of all time.
M - AM 8 PM 7
T - AM 8 PM 6
W - 12 - 3 WU, 8 by 800 2:30 avg. with 400 rest, 3 CD
Th - AM 15 PM 5
F - 12
S - 10
S - 22 - Race
Total - 103
Things did not go as planned. I was out front early on, and perhaps a half-mile into the race, a volunteer on the course told me to go straight rather than turn (she confused me for someone in the 5-miler which was starting 15 minutes after us). Cresting a hill I began to hear people yelling, "Hey! You were supposed to turn!" So I turned around and got back on the course and caught up to the front. After the race I guessed it was about a 60- to 90-second loss in time, but now that I think about it, I would say it was closer to 2 minutes.
Most of the race was on rolling bike trails that, much like the Parks Half, disrupt my rhythm style. The weather was rainy and humid. I ran about six-minute pace for 15 miles, and at a certain point I almost forgot I was in a race, not a Sunday long run. The lapse in concentration allowed the chase group to reel me in quite a bit, but at a certain point I decided that if the workout did not go according to plan, I might as well get a win. My total time was 2:04.56, and surely there is a good training effect to be had from the effort ... but it would be to nice to have clearer evidence that I can get it done on Nov. 2. Next year I will put the Philadelphia Distance Run on the calendar.
What can you do? Ten days until taper. In the middle of a 110 week; another will follow.
In other news, Haile Gebreselassie broke his own world record in Berlin by 26 seconds. 2:03.59.
I think it is fair to say that Simon Wanjiru ran the best marathon of all time in Beijing. Geb, in Berlin, ran the best time trial of all time.
M - AM 8 PM 7
T - AM 8 PM 6
W - 12 - 3 WU, 8 by 800 2:30 avg. with 400 rest, 3 CD
Th - AM 15 PM 5
F - 12
S - 10
S - 22 - Race
Total - 103
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