This week’s stats:
- 78 Miles
- 90min MLR
- 14.5M with 3 x 2.5M with 1st and 3rd intervals alternating 248/308 every 1/2 mile and 2nd interval at 556
- 21M with 12M at 611 average: 617/611/617/610/613/611/610/609/611/607/605/558
- 1 day off
- 2 rock climbing sessions
With just under 4 weeks to go until the Chicago Marathon, things are really coming together. I’m really grateful for Jay’s increased fitness and his fantastic pacing on my workouts. With his goal race as the NYC Marathon, our workouts line up nicely for him to hopefully to achieve a new PR in November.
With my trusty companion on Wednesday, Jay and I set off to run 3 x 2.5M together, with our paces alternating at each half mile mark. With our Garmins set to auto-lap every half mile, I basically just let the Garmin tell me what to do and ran alongside Jay for extra motivation. The fluctuation in pace made the workout seem a little bit more exciting than just running a continuous pace. I was really pleased with this workout and at how comfortable the paces felt.
Jay was having a lot more fun than me here....
On Saturday, Jay and I continued our normal pattern with a hard long run together. With a 6 mile warmup starting at 600AM, I ran 3 miles solo on the Baylands Slough path in the dark before grabbing Jay. I did not wear a headlamp, but the city lights, combined with the moon, lit the path up enough for me to not only see where I was going, but also to see all the jack rabbits scattering off, startled by my footsteps. During this peaceful time, I was able to ready my mind about this workout, the second marathon pace above 10 miles in distance.
During the first four miles of the uptempo, settling into a consistent pace felt difficult to me. Jay seemed much more relaxed than I was, and I felt like my pace was fluctuating, instead of just staying steady and even. I really wanted to run 615-618 in the first 3 miles so that I could ensure I could finish 12 miles at pace. After 4 miles, I finally found a rhythm that felt comfortable and familiar. By settling into a pace within 2-3 seconds of 610, I finally was able to relax. I was really grateful for Jay’s company and pace setting because while I didn't feel bad, I also did not feel like it was a walk in the park. I needed his presence to pull me along and to keep me mentally focused. Even if 608 pace wasn't as easy as I would have hoped, I still pushed hard and was able to complete 12 miles at my target marathon pace. There also weren’t any issues with taking honey stinger chews at miles 4, 11 and 16. I did stop a couple of times for a few very quick sips of water. It was a bit muggy out there!