Week 14: Marathon Training

Training For:
Philadelphia Marathon
Sunday, November 20, 2011

Week 14:

October 31 – November 6, 2011

Day	Date	Session
Mon	Oct 31	60 min, Zone 1 – 2
Tues	Nov 01	60 min, Zone 1-2
Wed	Nov 02	REST
Thu	Nov 03	60 min, Zone 1 – 2
Fri	Nov 04	60 min, Zone 1 – 2
Sat	Nov 05	120 min
Sun	Nov 06	REST
Total		6.0 hr Run

Mon and Fri:
Optional Cross-Train Days

Week 14 of my 16 week marathon training program for the Philadelphia Marathon started today. My taper has officially begun! After running 9+ hours last week, which included a 20 mile long run, I won't know what to do with my extra time. Mentally, I know I have to stay strong and continue to focus on stretching and eating well. No slacking off in the good nutrition area. And, I want to be sure to get plenty of rest.

I continue to do my weekday easy runs early in the morning at the gym. I typically arrive at the gym between 5:30am and 6:00am and there are a couple of regulars who are always there. We keep good company and the time passes quickly.

Good luck to everyone who is training and keep up with the great work…..

Happy Running!
John

 

More Milestones Achieved in October

Although there is one more day in October, my running is complete for the month. And, what a month it was! I just completed week 13 of my 16-week training program for the Philadelphia Marathon and it was the most strenuous of all training weeks. During week 13 alone, I logged 9.12 hours of running and that included a 20 mile long run (on the treadmill) today!

Since August, I steadily increased my running hours and distance covered. I remember back when I was in running camp during July when the coaches talked about logging 40-50 hours a week and thinking there was no way I'd be able to pull it off. But, to my surprise and satisfaction, I was able to keep up with the program and do what I had to do.

In fact, today I had to resort to running my 20 mile long run on the treadmill due to unfavorable weather conditions. Yesterday, we had a very unusual Nor'Easter storm that dumped close to 7 inches of snow in the area where I live outside of Philadelphia and the roads were still being cleared this morning so I bit the bullet and went to the gym to do my 20! My goodness – what a challenge that was! I tend to run slower on the treadmill so I took my time, listened to music on my iPod and finished in 3:47. Looking forward to my REST day tomorrow.

Here are some of more notable achievements for October:

• Ran a total distance of 201 miles. That represents a 21% increase from September (166 miles) and a 40% increase from August (144 miles).
  
• Hit a weekly mileage milestone of 50 miles during the week of October 3-9.
  
• Hit a weekly duration milestone of 9 hours 12 minutes during the week of October 24-31.
  
• Placed 2^nd in my age group (Male 55-59) at the OctoRun 13K Race in Hatfield, PA on October 24.
  

So, with October coming to a close and the Philadelphia Marathon just 3 weeks from TODAY, my taper officially begins tomorrow. This will be interesting for me since this will be my first full marathon – that means, this will also be my first taper after preparing so hard for the past 13 weeks. I am going to have to re-discover some lost hobbies to fill in the extra time that I'll be having on my hands!

Happy and Safe Running Folks,
John

Placed 2nd in My Age Group (M55-59)

I guess I should have hung around for the awards ceremony yesterday because I placed 2^nd in my age group (M55-59) at the OctoRun 13K race in Hatfield, PA! What a great surprise. Based on my overall placement (94^th) and time (1:10:57), I really wasn't expecting an award winning finish but I'll take it! This makes me really proud of the progress I've made with my training and helps build my confidence for running the Philadelphia Marathon in just under 4 weeks!

Happy and Safe Running,
John