Day 2,748: Week 3: Training is easy

The good thing about having to run at a 7:43/mile pace two days before is that when you have to run an 8:46/mile pace, it feels pretty easy.

Even without a watch, I know that a sub-8 pace for me is when I lead the run with my knees on the stride. I get a minute slower pace with just a nudge of the knees.

This morning's 8-mile run involved my first tempo run in preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon. The hard part was -- at what pace?

For a while now, the 9:09/mile pace has been the gold standard, since that is the pace that's required to break 4 hours in a marathon.

The only problem is that it's clearly apparent that I run much faster than that in training. My 7:43/mile pace in the speed workouts conforms to an 8:46/mile marathon pace.

So that's what I set to do for my 6-mile tempo run (includes a mile each warmup and cooldown). It felt really easy doing that after hard running during the speed session in Piedmont Park.

I knew there were spots, though, during the run in which I was running faster than that. I tried various methods to slow down but nothing really was too successful. Even my cooldown I wasn't able to really run any slower than a 9-minute-mile.

When I got home I saw that my pace stuck in the 8:37/mile range. It was an easy pace and one that I can consistently hit in a half-marathon. The question now is whether I tailor my training to try to go for that pace in the marathon or work a little slower with the thought of having a lot more energy at the end.

It's hard to tell how things will work out - what has worked out well through 13.1 miles may not work at all in the full 26.2. I'll have to just trust the training program, that the increased weekly mileage and workouts will bring the desired result at the end of the marathon.

Time: 6:49 a.m.
Temp: 70 degrees
Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Cherry Blossom Ten-Miler), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 31.

Day 2,746: 8 x .4 mile intervals (Week 3)

I thoroughly enjoyed last week's speed work session. This week, with the interval distance just .15 mile more, it felt like I struggled with the distance.

But when I came back and reviewed the data, all but one of the eight intervals were at my desired pace. The first one even was a little crazy -- a 6:52/mile pace!

Anyway, I dutifully came out to the park and ran to last week's spot behind the pond. For the second interval, I hopped up on the track and ran. 

I only did a few more intervals there since I didn't like how the loose gravel didn't give my feet a lot of traction and even a muscle behind my right knee felt sore while I ran on the track.

So for the last half I left the track and just continued to do my usual loop around the pond. I drank all of the water that I carried with me -- maybe 20 ounces or so -- and that's the first time I did that.

I felt like I survived this session but was happy to see consistency and speed on my side. 

Time: 6:53 a.m.

Temp: 71 degrees

Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Mission Focus: 2014 Marine Corps Marathon training), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 31.

Day 2,742: My 10th Peachtree Road Race

There was a special reward for finishing this year's Peachtree Road Race -- completing it would mean I have done the race 10 times. That's the number you need to attain special "streaker" status that basically grants you guaranteed entry for life.

It also was special because I would be running wingman for my wife, who is 28 weeks pregnant. Both of us were unsure what that would mean for the race, whether we would be walking it, whether we would be running it, just that we would both be participating in one of Atlanta's most famous traditions.

After reading my account of last year's race in which leaving home at 6:20 a.m. meant we got to the starting corral just a minute before the race started, we left a little earlier, just after 6 a.m. We were lucky to catch a train at Midtown station without much waiting and also that it wasn't crowded at all.

This train led us to Buckhead station and while it is a little bit of a walk to get to the corral it wasn't bad. The staging area at Phipps Plaza is great because they have a ton of portapotties and not many people. You can even get a cup of water if you want it.

We started out at a pretty easy pace, there were lots of people sprinting by us. The weather was fortunately pretty cool and not too hot. I would say that we took it easy, but at one point I looked down at my watch and we were running at an 8:19/mile pace, just nine seconds above what our regular training pace was 5 years ago!

Going at an easy pace in a race has huge advantages. The huge Heartbreak hill and then the gradual rise from Spring to 14th Street seemed like nothing. I felt pretty good in my pace and mainly wanted to make sure that the wife was doing ok. It seemed like she was.

We finished the race just under 56 minutes, which is funny to me because I'm sure that there have been at least two times that I've run this race slower than that when I actually was trying to run fast. And I don't think the wife has run that distance since last year's race, when we ran it in 54 minutes.

After the race, we spent a little bit of time in the Atlanta Track Club member hospitality tent, which had almost anything you needed -- water, peaches just like out in the general area. Waffle House offered grits bowls that had cheese and sausage crumbles.

In the general area, they had the tried and true hits, Mellow Mushroom cheese pizza, bagels, bananas, packages of cereal bars and cookies. It seemed like there was a run on Diet Coke -- I had to walk all the way to the first bin and then had to scrounge around. A volunteer put a pink lemonade Powerade in my hands and I picked up a few other flavors for those hotter, longer runs later on this summer.

All in all, a great run and a confidence builder for my main goal this year -- the Oct. 26 Marine Corps Marathon.

Time: 7:34 a.m.

Temp: 66 degrees

Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Publix Half Marathon in Training 2014), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 30/A.

Day 2,739: 12 x 1/4-mile intervals (Week 2)

Earlier this year, I started the half marathon program late and entered training after the speed phase. Today was the first speed session of my life -- 12 quarter-mile intervals at race pace.

It felt like training for a strafing sortie -- you do a warmup run to your training location and then run a quarter mile at race pace, then jog a quarter mile. Repeat 12 times and then return back to base.

I chose Piedmont Park since it would be a place where I could run and not worry about cars. I thought about running in the bowl near Park Tavern but at the last minute decided on the stretch on the south side of the pond.

Although I dreaded doing anything 12 times in a row, it sort of became routine, running to the same place and back over and over again. Although I don't like running on tracks, I can see how this would help, since it was actually easier to run faster when there was a runner ahead instead of having to do the distance by yourself.

Back home I was pretty happy with my time, which does seem to be in line with my 5K times.

Time: 6:38 a.m.

Temp: 70 degrees

Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Asics blue, shorts, Skechers Go Run 2).

Day 2,734: Quick notes

Quick notes for today's 6.16 mile run to Atlantic Station, mainly to keep track of my hydration.

Time: 7:30 a.m.
Temp: 74.7 degrees (85 percent humidity)

Drink:

3.8 miles: 1 gulp water
4.6 miles: 4 gulps
5.6 miles: 7 gulps

9 oz. Gatorade after run.

Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Charles Harris '14), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 31.

Day 2,728: Week Zero

The other day I came across a posting on a social media site in which someone mentioned they were heading into a marathon this weekend with a little more than 400 miles of training.

That's not enough, I thought as I read that. At least for me.

During that same time period I logged more than 630 miles on the roads. And I am three days from embarking on the first week of an 18-week training program that at least for me will be the toughest training I have ever done for an event.

There will be two months when I will exceed 200 miles for the month and as such will push my yearly mileage on pace to be close to breaking 2,000 miles for the year -- something I have never done as a runner. I am also projected in August to cross 10,000 miles for my running streak.

And much of that training will be during Atlanta's grueling summer days of high heat and high humidity. I'm also going to clear my summer and fall schedule of all races -- the only race I will do between now and the Oct. 26 Marine Corps Marathon will be the July 4 Peachtree Road Race (it will be my 10th running of the race and finishing it will give me "streaker" status in which special consideration will be given toward getting in the race in future years if I do not get in through the traditional lottery).

By the numbers, my running this year resembles that of 2010 when I ran in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. I have similar speed in the 5K, 10K and half-marathon, giving me a realistic shot at breaking 4 hours for a marathon.

Since the Publix Georgia Half Marathon in March, when I trained using the half-marathon version of the program I'll use for the full marathon, I've tried to be aggressive in keeping my base mileage between 30-40 miles a week.

Everything feels right going into this training period and yet there will be crucial things I will need to work on, including having proper hydration and fueling to keep from developing leg cramps at the end of the race. So, all this work upfront and there's no guarantee I can do what I want to do with the race. The only thing I can do is work hard and be mindful of the details and hope for the right conditions to earn a successful race.

Day 2,717: The Pegasus 31s are out!

Placed my order today at Nike.com for a brand-new pair of Nike Air Pegasus+ 31s.

I'd previously gone through two pairs of Pegasus 30s (the current pair has 440+ miles on them) and would not have ordered the 31s so soon if I hadn't had a $25 coupon from redeeming points at My Coke Rewards.

Last December mcr.com had a special promo where I could redeem points for the Nike coupon for what amounted to half off.

I held onto that coupon until today. Without those points I likely would have bought a third pair of Pegasus 30s now that the price has dropped since the new model is out.

Although I enjoy running in my Skechers Go Run 2s, I really can feel the pounding in my knees whenever I am out for a 6-mile run. So I've been thinking of limiting running in that shoe to shorter courses.

*****
The week I was in the Netherlands and Belgium I had it really good -- the temperature for running was in the 50s-60s and no humidity.

Since I've been back, it's been the same old stuff -- today it was 72 degrees and super humid as always. I haven't had to bring a fresh shirt for the middle of a run yet -- but I've been tempted to.