Chicago Marathon Training: Week Five
Week five saw my first 5 runs/week scheduled out of three marathon training cycles (love it), running in Nike LunaRacers (nice), and weekly mileage that nearly exceeds last cycle’s peak mileage (wow!).
Monday
Run: Tempo.
Expected a battle of a run due to heat, humidity, and nasal congestion. Instead, was greeted with that “feel like I could run forever” feeling. Quite thankful for that. Heat/humidity was noticeable but not as bad as past few days. Tempo miles felt great. No complaints.
Conditions: Sunny – 82F – felt like 86F – 66% humidity – 5 mph wind
Fuel: Cran-Raspberry UCAN (1 packet)
Shoe: Saucony Type A5
Plan v Actual:
- Plan = 20 min wu; 3 mi @ 8:00; 15 min cd
- Actual = 7.16 mi – 58:11 – 8:07 min/mi avg pace
- Splits =
- wu – 2.45 mi – 20:46 – 8:29 min/mi
- (1) – 7:47
- (2) – 7:47
- (3) – 7:42
- cd – 1.71 mi – 14:07 – 8:16 min/mi
Tuesday
Run: Easy.
Easy run with Tanya up along the Hudson. Hot and humid still. Legs felt good. Run definitely cleared up remaining nasal congestion.
Conditions: Sunny – 79F – felt like 79F – 65% humidity – 0 mph wind
Fuel: Cran-Raspberry UCAN (1 packet)
Shoe: Saucony Kinvara 3
Plan v Actual:
- Plan = 50 min easy
- Actual = 6.01 mi – 52:43 – 8:46 min/mi avg pace
- Splits =
- (1) 9:10
- (2) 8:46
- (3) 8:38
- (4) 8:30
- (5) 8:49
- (6) 8:49
Wednesday
Run: Easy.
Recovery run on bridle path. Ran in Nike LunaRacers for first time. They’re very comfortable. Reminds me of my Saucony Kinvaras, but maybe a bit more cushioned (springy). Definitely like them, but had been expecting something a bit firmer as a racing flat.
Accidentally recorded this run as a warmup, so there are no individual splits. Oops.
Conditions: Cloudy – 79F – felt like 79F – 79% humidity – 3 mph wind
Fuel: Cran-Raspberry UCAN (1 packet)
Shoe: Nike LunaRacers
Plan v Actual:
- Plan = 30 min easy
- Actual = 3.45 mi – 30:01 – 8:42 min/mi avg pace
Thursday
Run: 5 x 800m Intervals.
800m intervals on tired legs? Oh, but a little zen-buddhist “be present in the moment” attitude helped me crush them. Also: not sure if it’s good or bad that I over-ran those so much. I’ll wait for feedback from Coach. For the record, they felt great, tho.
Conditions: Sun/clouds – 79F – felt like 79F – 65% humidity – 3 mph wind
Fuel: Cran-raspberry UCAN (1 packet)
Shoe: Saucony Type A5
Plan v Actual:
- Plan = 20 min wu; 5x800m @ 3:35-3:40 (2:00 walking RI); 10 min cd
- Actual = 7.04 mi – 59:13 – 8:24 min/mi avg pace
- Splits =
- wu – 2.43 mi – 20:02 – 8:14 min/mi
- (1) 3:24 – 6:49 min/mi
- (2) 3:16 – 6:33 min/mi
- (3) 3:17 – 6:36 min/mi
- (4) 3:18 – 6:37 min/mi
- (5) 3:16 – 6:33 min/mi
- cd – 1.53 mi – 12:38 – 8:17 min/mi
Friday
Rest Day.
Saturday
Workout 1 – Cross-Train: Strength Training – 45 minutes.
Had to move my strength training session to this morning. Long run after meant shorter session, but still intense.
Circuit 1: (dynamic warmup) (x3)
- High knees, (across studio & back)
- Butt kicks forward, (across studio & back)
- Reverse butt kicks, (across studio & back)
- Bear crawls, (across studio & back)
- Lateral moving planks, (across studio & back)
Circuit 2: (x3)
- Leapfrog jumps, (across studio & back)
- Squat jumps, (x50)
- Plank, (x30 sec)
- Up and down planks, (x10)
- Plank, (x30)
- One legged Plank, (x30 sec, each leg)
Circuit 3: (x3)
- Ab crunches on stability ball, (x15)
- Plank on stability ball, (x30 sec)
Circuit 4: (x3)
- Warrior 3 to standing crunch, (x15 each leg)
Circuit 5: (x3)
- Stationary leg raise (both legs 6in off ground), (x30 sec)
- Stationary leg raise (one leg lifted toward ceiling, other 6 in off ground), (x30 sec each leg)
- Leg raises with hip lift (x10)
- Abs supine opposite arm leg crunch (x10 each leg)
- Bicycle crunches (x25)
Stretch
Fuel: Vanilla protein-enhanced UCAN (1 packet)
Workout 2 – Run: Long.
Ran this a few hours after strength training session. Legs and body felt great on the run. Trying to concentrate on relaxing while running. Have a tendency to get tense in shoulders/arms, especially when I get tired.
Ran too fast, per Coach’s suggested training pace. Pace felt comfortable, relaxed and controlled. So, not sure what to do to get closer to 8:50 min/mi on long runs. Running without a watch won’t help – I’ll speed up even more without a way to check.
Ran west side bike path for a flat run.
Conditions: Overcast/Rain – 79F – felt like 79 – 79% humidity – 3 mph wind
Fuel: Vanilla protein-enhanced UCAN (1 packet).
Shoe: Nike LunaRacers
Plan v Actual:
- Plan = 1:45 long
- Actual = 12.11 mi – 1:41:31 – 8:22 min/mi avg pace
- Splits =
- (1) 8:25
- (2) 8:19
- (3) 8:28
- (4) 8:27
- (5) 8:22
- (6) 8:30
- (7) 8:15
- (8) 8:24
- (9) 8:21
- (10) 8:22
- (11) 8:15
- (12) 8:20
- (13) 9:15 for .11mi (traffic lights)
Sunday
Rest Day.
Weekly Totals
- 5 hrs 46 mins
- 35.77 miles running
See all weekly workout recaps here.
LV runs NYC 
The long run paces are going to be difficult to keep in check, I am with you, I feel like I am not exerting myself but still running a bit faster than I expect. I am with you, not sure running without a watch would hurt or help but I am leaning towards hurt. Nice STRONG week!