Mixed Bag Soul Buster

Yesterday was the MAIN EVENT of our Portland Marathon training. With just 5 weeks to go, we took on what Steve calls the toughest workout he has ever devised for a Rogue group. The 27 mile workout was planned to trash the legs early, run marathon pace for an extended period, further trash the legs with hills then attempt a 10K on the track at marathon pace and faster. I was nervous about the workout but not really intimidated by it. My feeling was that anyone who could close the workout at anything close to 10K pace was not running the marathon at their true potential. This was also going to be the final real world test of my race nutrition/hydration plan which is in fact my biggest concern going into Portland and Boston. My pre-run meal was a small cup of strong coffee and a concentrated Carbo-Pro mixture with 336 calories. I was not planning to have any calories during the run itself. I planned to sip 1-3oz water at each stop.

Run Re-Cap:
1.8 mile warmup to the track at 7:59 pace.
1 mile on the track in 5:56
2.26 miles easy at 8:02 pace
5 miles MGP 7:04 pace (*7:15 was target)
4 miles MGP 7:03 pace (*7:15 was target)
6.2 miles of HILLS 8:23 pace (*9:00 was target)
7:09, 7:15, 7:03, 7:23, 7:28 5 miles on track (targets: 2 at 7:15, 2 at 7:00, 2 at 6:50)
Then 1.3 mile jog over to Barton Springs at 9:42 pace.

So what's the good and the bad? This workout is one that will absolutely PUNISH you for ANY mistakes. Now that I have put it all in writing, I see the mistakes. The MGP section should have all been run at 3:10:00 marathon pace of 7:15 per mile. I ran paces for a 3:05:00 marathon. Felt GREAT at the time but I clearly paid later. Mistake number 2 was the pace in the hills. I know from experience that to have any chance of completing the target paces on the track that I would need to run the hills at a 9:00 pace. From the workout description, I thought we had 5 miles of hills so I was looking for a time in the hills of about 45-48 minutes. As my watch kept going past 50 minutes I began pressing. After mapping out what we actually ran it turned out to be 6.2 miles of hills and that mistake on my part was the final nail in the coffin. On the track, I completed the first 3 miles successfully. On mile 4 I lost it and after 5 miles I began dry heaving. Had this been a race and I was under 2 miles to go I would have pushed through it somehow some way. Once I heaved though, my abs were on fire and I skipped the final mile on the track. Normally this would have been mentally devastating for me but I left the track absolutely convinced that I had completed a successful workout and gotten what I needed from it. With this review, I still feel good about the results and can see where I made the mistakes. After totaling up the miles run and the total time, I posted a 3:20:08 marathon on a brutal training run. I can live with that.

Conclusions: I can run a 3:10 marathon in 5 weeks. My nutrition/hydration plan is solid. I cannot afford ANY mistakes though. If I let myself go faster than pace OR press up the two hills on the Portland course I will destroy my chances. I am healthy, I am fit and between now and October 4 I will focus on making this goal a reality.

Soul Buster Mental Prep

I walked Eileen to school this morning then set out for a Soul Buster Mental Preperation run. I didn't have a route in mind I just wanted 5 miles so I started a meandering route through our little neighborhood. Mapped it out when I got home as 4.9894 miles. Close enough? I tried to use each mile of the run to mentally prepare for a section of tomorrow's Soul Buster. I would say I'm 85% ready mentally. I really think physically I'm at 100% which is something I've not felt for nearly 2 years. We'll see how it goes!

Routine back in my life

School started this week. Yes its always crazy, stressful, sad, exciting and I must say welcome. Suddenly, there is a clock back in our life. A regulator of time, energy and resources. In the past few weeks as my enthusiasm wilted in the staggering 100+ heat of Austin I wondered what little event would come along to kick me in the a** and get me back on track. Turns out I didn't need a freezing cold front or a personal air conditioner. Nope, just the regulating influence of the AISD school day for Eileen. In just 4 short days, I have picked up where I left off in July with great runs and a better attitude. I am back with the AM group of Team Rogue. I even forgot to set my alarm BOTH days this week but woke up unaided at exactly 4:15 as planned (how sick is that?).

We are preparing for Saturday's Soul Buster with reduced mileage and high turnover workouts. Tuesday was 6x1 mile repeats, 800 at 1/2MGP and 800 at 10K paces. Chris and I nailed it at the paces based on a 3:08 marathon. Today was 12x200 at 5K pace and once again, Chris and I worked together to nail the paces. 1st repeat fast, 2nd repeat slow then 10 repeats within 1/2 second of target. About that Soul Buster. We will warm up 1.5 miles to Anderson HS where we will run a progressively faster mile on the track ending with an all out 400. We will immediately head back out for a 2 mile recovery run before running 9 miles at our marathon goal pace. Then we will run 5 miles of the Run From Hell in Westlake Hills including a return down Stratford to Austin HS. At the Austin HS track, we will then run 2 miles at MGP, 2 miles at 1/2MGP and 2 miles at 10K. Then its 2.5 miles over to Barton Springs where I hope I can soak out the damage while basking in the glow of a hard as nails 27 mile workout nailed hard.

I had a great LAB Soul Buster 2 weeks ago. Nailing this weekend's workout will go a long way toward setting me up mentally for a good race at Portland.

Hot - Humid repeat until September

With nightly lows of 83 degrees and daily highs of 103 degrees since June, running has been a chore not a joy. I've gradually reduced my running from the 80 miles per week I was running in June to 50-55 miles per week currently. With the introduction of hills and speed work, the afternoon workouts have taken 2 days recovery and morning workouts leave me wasted for the rest of the day. This Saturday we had one of our Soul Buster workouts. 2 mile warm up, 3 miles at marathon pace (7:15), 1/2 mile recovery, 3 miles at half marathon pace (7:00), 1/2 mile recovery, repeat with a final 3 miles at MGP then cool down. I've not had much success this summer hitting paces and wasn't sure how this workout would go. At the last minute, I decided to ditch most of the nutrition/hydration efforts I've worked on this summer (thanks Kent) and go with what has worked for me for 2 years. I drank a highly concentrated Carbo Pro mix prior to the run and drank only 1oz of water every 3.5 miles of the workout. I had a GREAT workout. I averaged a 7:04 pace for the MGP sections (3:05:16 marathon) and 6:43 pace for the half marathon sections (1:28:03 1/2 marathon). I did dry heave for a minute or so at the final marker and the subsequent tender abs caused me to cut the cool down miles short. Total workout was 20.5 miles instead of the 23 I'd planned.

Unfortunately, the next 3-4 weeks will be ruled by the real world. I have to be in Fort Worth tomorrow to evaluate the equipment still in place for salvage. We have a trial date in Fort Worth for next Monday that could last 3-5 days. My daughter Anne is getting married sometime in the next 2 months. Eileen starts 2nd grade. We are preparing the house for going on the market by November. Construction will start for real at Star. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.