Fourth marathon training (full training program)

My husband arrived back on Friday, so life is wonderful again.

Naturally we are back on the trail together again too.

Saturday: 6 miler MEP run

Sunday: 12 miler 50F at start, 55F at finish 60 % humidity, cloudy
Mile splits: 9:00; 8:45; 8:20; 8:25; 8:30; 8:15; 8:25; 8:30; 8:15; 8:35; 8:35; 8:30

Nice long stretches both day.

Spent both day with Christmas preparations. Our younger son, daughter, her fiancee is coming - we have plenty of to do.

Fourth marathon training (full training program)

Monday:

Cold again (45F), still we had a nice spirited 6 miler MAP run.

Back maintenance programme by Fielding - with increased emphasis on leg/hip stretches.

Background movie: Small Soldiers (1998) - with the divine Phil Hartman

Fourth marathon training (full training program)

Tuesday:

Cross-training day. LBWO - cross training, LBWO - special runners lower body strenghtening exercises, followed by special runners stretches by Anderson

Background movie: King Kong (1976) - much worst than the corny King Kong (1933) Looking forwar do see King Kong (2005) . As I understand, this new version is closer to the 1933 version than to the 1976 one. Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King were excellent, but the King Kong base story far from Tolkien's book. I feel that 180 min is a definite overkill for this story...

Wednesday:

9-mile MEP run
Excellent spacing exercise. Splits: 8:50; 8:50; 7x8:40. Cold, but only 50% humidity.


UBWO+core+stretch: Get On the Ball - all round workout 3 - stretches after every exercise.
Background movie: Bride & Prejudice (2004)

Fourth marathon training (full training program)

Thursday:

50F, but 70-80% humidity - not the most ideal for speed training, but we still tried:-)
47 min 44 sec 6 mile (Splits: 7:45; 7:45; 7:35; 7:50; 8:30 rolling; 8:15)

What can I say? The exertion level during mile 4th was between 9-10...
We can run faster (our best mile around 7:15-7:20), but definitely not in this humidity).

(My favorite simpliest exertion level chart:
Level 1: I'm watching TV and eating bon bons
Level 2: I'm comfortable and could maintain this pace all day long
Level 3: I'm still comfortable, but am breathing a bit harder
Level 4: I'm sweating a little, but feel good and can carry on a conversation effortlessly
Level 5: I'm just above comfortable, am sweating more and can still talk easily
Level 6: I can still talk, but am slightly breathless
Level 7: I can still talk, but I don't really want to. I'm sweating like a pig
Level 8: I can grunt in response to your questions and can only keep this pace for a short time period.
Level 9: I am probably going to die.
Level 10: I am dead.)

Afternoon plan: alternating long stretching sessions with Christmas preparations.

Fourth marathon training (full training program)

Friday: leg-rest day
Swimming
Get On the Ball - all round workout 3 - stretches after every exercise.


LET'S START THE BIG COUNTDOWN!

30 DAYS TILL THE MARATHON

Click here for the race details:
ROCK&ROLL ARIZONA MARATHON

We have just got the final instructions. As I expected, it would be very similar to our first marathon - same organizers, same very high level pre/after race and on course services.

John "The Penguin" Bingham again will be there - holding free clinics.

Penguin was a smoker/drinker/obese guy who started running at age of 42. He finished his first marathon 18 months later, and one of the most celebrated participant/speaker of Rock&Roll marathons since.

His books are among my favorites:

The Courage to Start: A Guide to Running for Your Life
No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running
John "The Penguin" Bingham: Marathon for Mortals

Fourth marathon training (full training program)
Saturday:

6-mile surise MEP run. Surprisingly mild weather - 50F.

Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual - advanced programme
Anderson's stretches.

Background movie: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) I have last seen this movie years ago, so fortunately I did not remember all the details. I have just noticed that there is a new version of it with Jack Nicholson. I must see it.

As of weight front an interesting news. I am losing my pants... LITERALLY. I had to hold my pants during shopping. While I do weight in every Sunday before/after long run to check my hidration level, but I do not remember when was the last time I measured myself. If these pants are so loose I must have lost one more inch from my behind.
I assume that the one week "green+fish" menu has to do a lot with this.


Race day countdown: 29 days

Fourth marathon training (full training program)

Sunday:

12-mile sunrise run.

Mile splits: 8:41; 8:36; 8:10; 8:14; 8:17; 8:10; 8:17; 8:17; 8:13; 8:30; 8:30; 8:14.
Relatively mild weather (50F), 50% humidity. We could run in shorts - our running pants are not really comfortable for long runs.

Long stretching session - Anderson.

Background movie: Boys Town (1938) Mickey Rooney and Spencer Tracy what a duo .


Race day countdown: 28 days

Fourth marathon training (full training program)

A brief update. When I do not train for marathon I am fully immersed in holiday preparations.

Tuesday: 6-mile sunrise MAP run

Wednesday: 9-mile sunrise run - pacing exercise: 9 min/mile constant pace during the run

Race day countdown: 25 days

Happy New Year for everybody

I had two wonderful holiday weeks. Concentrating to my family, these weeks were off-line, but not off-training. Our next marathon is very close, we could not afford even one day off-track from our training. Actually I did not feel that in any way our training interfering with our holiday spirit. Contrary: our younger son joined to us (he is runnnig the same marathon as we), so we had increased fun.

Fourth marathon training (full training program)

December 27th:
24 - mile "dress rehearsal"

The weather was very kind for us: 49F at start, 63-65F at finish. It means, that we could start in short-sleeve tops, shorts. The only added gear were our warm gloves.

Our plan was: easy start, warming up to our 8:45-8:50 min/mile "flat" pace, then finishing with 9 min/mile "rolling" pace. There was no way to imitate the race course: it will be totally flat.

Mile splits shows, that we could achieve our goal:
9:15; 9:15; 9:00; 8:50; 9:00; 8:35; 8:40; 8:45; 8:40; 8:45; 8:50; 8:55; 8:45; 8:50; 8:40; 8:40; 8:50; 8:45; 9:00; 9:00; 8:40; 9:15; 10:05; 9:50

Net time: 3h 34 min - 8:57 min/mile average pace

I felt light cramp around mile 23, so as a precaution slowed down. This is always a killer to have rolling last two miles.

Nutrition: 80 carbs on days before the run; on the day of the run: Cliff bar (40 g carbs) before run, Glues (20 carbs) at mile 9, 15, 21; water, salt

The total time - with restroom breaks: 3h 39 min - 9:10 min/mile average - excellent for a training run. We feel very confident to achieve our goal: HAVING FUN :-)

On Dec 28 we started our tapering - following the Runnersworld's plan - except the nutritional part. Details in my next post.

Race day countdown: 12 days

Fourth marathon training (full training program)

The final countdown... Leaving today to Arizona - with very high spirit.

After three weeks tapering - following the Runnersworld's plan - except the nutritional part, we are ready to

ROCK&ROLL!!!! for detail see: http://www.rnraz.com/

For a peak view of the course click here. Under the maps there is link to a virtual tour (do not forget to turn ON the sound).

See you all next week, after the race.


Race day countdown: 3 days

We have just arrived back from Arizona, from the Rock & Roll Marathon.
(See here: our full training program for this 4th marathon.)
Our result an unbelievable, fantastic:

3:59:22
Boston Marathon qualifier time !!!!!

Boston Marathon is the Holly Grail for marathon runners. To qualify for the race, athletes must meet the designated time standard which corresponds to their age group. ( Qualifinig times ) Even if somebody does not plan to race there, to meet those standards means a high(er) prestige among long distance runners.



LONG LIVE MITTLEMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

More tomorrow. Now I am dead tired.....

Congratulations! It's no joke that Boston is the Holy Grail for runners. I read in Runners World that fewer than 10% of runners ever get a Boston qualifier. That puts you up there with the elite crowd. I've been running for 20 years and never gotten a Boston qualifier.

What next, the Olympic Trials? :-)

There is a small BBS for runners called Dead Runners Society. There are over 2000 runners on this site and all would love to hear about your transformation and achievments. If you're interested, do a Google search for Dead Runners Society and you'll find instructions for logging in.

Hi Galadriell! CONGRATUALTIONS! You are so inspiring!! I have wanted to qualify for Boston since I started running 3 years ago! Hopefully one day I can get there. I am just curious - do you follow a strict lc diet while marathon training?

congrats, galadriel!

OMG! This gym log is dusty. We had three very busy months, many family businesses to take care as well as a moving. Many things have changed in our life, but still we have kept our running routine - under the euphory of our fantastic new marathon PR.

We had only the week after the marathon off, then we went back to our standard running schedule : on weekdays 3x6-9 miles, on Saturdays 6-mile hill, on Sundays 12-mile long run. Unfortunately we had record number of rainy days, but still could manage min 4 run/week - with one long run.

I had my regular spring trips to Boulder, Colorado as well as to Chicago. Unfortunately I Boulder experienced record low (constant bellow 0F) during my stay, so I could only walk - I do not have any running gear for this kind of cold.
But Chicago weather was much more generous, I had wonderful runs on the scenic Lake Shore Trail.

Our fantastic Boston Qualifying time strenghten my already rock solid faith in Mittleman's Slow Burn program. Still maintaining my weight between 123-127 lbs.

On last Friday we sent our registration to our fifth marathon : Lake Tahoe, in September. On Saturday we "officially" started our fifth training with a wonderful easy 18 miler.

To read a brief overview of my journey from 175 lbs to 125 lbs, from 100 yards to 26.2 miles - go to the first post of my gym log. That post offers hyperlinks to details.

To read the detail of my fifth marathon training, check this thread for time to time.