We're six weeks out from the Steamtown Marathon, and our training is really ramping up.
We had a19 mile long run last weekend, and we have 20 on the schedule for this weekend.
Race day will be here soon!
After some nice, easy running in the Dells this weekend, it was workout time back at the Calhoun Beach Running Club! 85 degrees and sunny did not provide for ideal conditions for a workout, so Coach Paul reminded us to take it easy and slow it down if we weren't feeling that great.
The workout was 8-12 miles total (a wide range) with 6-8 miles of marathon pace in the middle.
Marathon pace? As a workout?
Well, here's my problem: marathon pace for me is slower than "run club pace."
i.e. whenever I run with the club during the week, we never go my marathon pace (i.e. 9 min/miles for a 4 hour marathon). To be honest, the CBRC is a very fast club, and my 4 hour marathon pace is one of the slowest....so most of the time, I'm just trying to keep up, rather than doing an easy weeknight run.
So...back to this marathon pace workout; since my true marathon pace is slower than my run club pace, Coach Paul suggested that I try to run closer to my half-marathon pace for this workout. He said I should keep the warmup and cool down slower than 9 minute miles, but try to push it in to around 8:30's for the "marathon pace" miles.
I ran with Whitney, Carlos, and these two crazy ladies-
Kelly (on the left) is very speedy- I believe her PR is close to 3:33, but she was taking it a little easier tonight. And Caroline can rock out a 3:47-or-so in 90-degree St. Louis heat (true story). The heat doesn't affect this woman! These girls are great runners, and they provided great company for 10+ miles on a warm Monday evening. We didn't go quite as quickly as Paul had suggested for the "workout" but I feel that I pushed it pretty hard on a warm night, and it was definitely a workout for me.
Post workout treat?
Jamba Juice!
It was perfectly refreshing after a tough night.
As for marathon pace as a workout, I think it works best for people like the D-man. He is usually running slower than his goal marathon pace on easy nights with the run club. Let's say his goal marathon pace is 7:37 min/mile, but on an easy night with the club, he runs around 8:15's. For him, pushing it to the 7:35's or so for 6-8 miles on a longer evening run makes for a pretty solid workout, but yet he should feel like he still has 18+ miles in the tank when he's done.
For me, a 10+ mile run on Monday will always be a challenge, and pushing it a little quicker than normal made it more of a "workout!"
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