Sticking to the Plan (Training 6/22-8/30)

After Grandma's Marathon, I took two weeks off of running (6/22-7/5). I really enjoyed and needed this break from running and probably could/should have taking a third week off. During this time, I was able to follow up last year's Three Floyds brewery ride with a ride with Eric and Lyndsey to Two Brothers Tap House in Warrenville, IL:

The Prairie Path is great, but I wasn't a huge fan of the crushed gravel. Riding through Oak Park, was probably my favorite section; the streets are wide and the houses are pretty.

After my break, I immediately jumped into the program I wrote for the 2015 BoA Chicago Marathon. This year, after a somewhat disappointing result in Duluth and conversations with teammates, I decided it was time for me to try a higher mileage approach again. After years of off and on injury, I'm a little gun shy about higher mileage (consistently 80+ mpw), but it felt like my body and mind were getting to a point where I could and should increase my average mileage. 

This is the first program that I've ever tried to execute that outlines every single day of the cycle. The two driving forces behind trying this approach were 1) to plan recovery days/weeks to avoid falling into the trap of trying to string together as many 90+ weeks as possible (I ended up injured doing this before) and 2) to reduce the stress of planning when I'd be getting my runs in for the day/week. Of course I use the term "stress" here sort of lightly however since I've made run commuting a habit, it does require some additional thought and planning to get one's self and stuff from one place to another. I figured if I could reduce some of the constant unknowns, by planning ahead as much as possible I could be more relaxed and enjoy my training more.

I'll post my program in another post to keep things focused more on the execution of the program itself.

Eight weeks into my program and with six weeks to go, it seems that this approach has certainly helped me stay healthy while increasing my weekly mileage into the 90 mile range.

It's also been helpful to have a plan for commuting/running. Of course I've deviated from this plan due, but in general, it's been helpful to have a plan for the week. An added benefit of planning recovery runs/commutes is that I've been a lot more consistent about getting in strides throughout the week. I'm still working on being consistent about strength and mobility training, but it seems like the strides have helped running at faster paces become more comfortable.

Workouts have been consistent and for the most part pretty solid. The last three workouts in particular have been good efforts. Shout out to the 6am Fleet Feet / Nike Racing Team crew!

My long runs on the other hand have been a bit of a struggle. I've made some dietary changes, moving away from consuming as many grains in order to become a little leaner/lighter. This along with my return to running coinciding with warmer weather/poor hydration habits have resulted in my early long runs ending with me jogging or walking home. Lately, the weather has been a bit more tolerable and my long runs have been a bit more encouraging.

Looking ahead, the next three weeks feature my peak mileage for the cycle (I'll average ~95/mpw over these three weeks) and my hardest long runs and race specific workouts including a planned 24 miler at 90-95% marathon pace (which may need to be adjusted) and Oak Brook Half Marathon on Labor Day (9/7). I'm looking forward to these harder efforts as training seems to be going in the right direction.

How is your training going? What is your goal for the fall?

Have you ever made dietary changes while training? What differences did you notice?

Thanks for reading!

Boston 2015 Specific Period (Training 2/2-4/5)

Since this is a recap of nine weeks of training (catch up on the previous 11 weeks of "global" training), I thought some data visualizations would be a helpful starting point.

First off, here's a mileage bar chart of my last nine weeks of training. I'm still working out using Google Sheets for these visualizations (I also tried SAP Lumira, but Sheets was easier for these basic visualizations, I should probably just use Excel but it isn't currently installed on my home computer) so the key weeks are missing data labels, but here are some details:

Total for the Period - 673.2 miles

Average - 74.8 miles/week

Maximum Week - 88 miles

Minimum Week - 65.4 miles (race week, I ran terribly)

I've dealt with tightness/pain in my left quad for much of this training cycle. This really began to effect my training about 7 weeks out from Boston, a very critical point of training, when workouts really start to get long and more marathon specific. I decided to go see Dr. Ryan Verchota who practices out of Active Body Chiropractic in the South Loop and Edge Athlete Lounge. My teammate, Ian La Belle, had recommended Dr. Ryan and after treatment, I felt much better, and was able to run the next 4 weeks without taking a day off! Tapering healthy feels great! I haven't gotten through my training without feeling banged up since 2010.

I segmented this mileage over the last nine weeks using Strava's Run Type field. Strava allows you to categorize your runs by four basic "types." This isn't the most accurate as some workouts were as long or longer than long runs and sometimes to adjust for GPS or user error generic "runs" were logged, but it does outline the mileage I've been logging.

Mileage Run Type

This chart shows the Run Type breakdown of the miles logged during this period. Below, I will cover a few thoughts on each Type for this cycle.

My Best Run in Barrington Ever?

Long Run -119.5 mi

Long runs this cycle were fast! It makes such a difference to go into a training cycle healthy! In 2014, I started the cycle swimming on my easy days to keep my shins happy. My Barrington long runs were more about surviving and making sure I got in good time on my feet. This time around, I knew I had to really hammer my legs on the downhills to prepare for what I might feel like in the later half of the course in Boston. It also makes a big difference having a group of faster guys hammering along side me on these runs.

While I say the long runs this cycle were fast, I was also trying to shift my mentality a bit around long runs and pace. While training for the Chicago Marathon, I did one 22 miler with 18 miles at about 95% marathon goal pace. I thought this was a "fast" long run. This cycle, many of my long runs were done at a similar average pace with the mentality that for a faster marathoner, 6:00-6:10 pace isn't that "fast."

I take a lot of confidence from hammering almost every long run, but at the same time, I think I really sacrificed some of my Wednesday workouts, but we'll get to those later. I plan on running a faster long run every other weekend versus every weekend in the future.

Must beat Manpri

photo credit: Eric Baum

Race - 20.6 mi

It's hard to believe I'll be racing more miles on April 20th than during this entire 9 week period. The highlight was probably the 16:18 I ran at UW Parkside on February 7th, 11 weeks out from Boston. This race was supposed to cap the "global" or general fitness phase of my training. Coming from a year where I never broke 16:20 in the 5k, the Parkside race was a nice confidence builder. That said, I bombed my next race, a terrible 16:45 at UChicago.

The other two races I ran, the Shamrock Run 15k in Portland, OR (my BibRave Review) and BoA Shamrock Shuffle 8k were ambiguous gauges of Boston fitness as I ran both prior to the Marathon last year. Shamrock Run 15k is hilly and I was about 20 seconds faster than the year prior. Shamrock Shuffle is fast and I was about 20 seconds slower than last year.

I believe I'm in much better shape than at last year's 2:42 in Boston. I may not be able to race fast (in relation to my PRs) over shorter distances, but I'm confident in my ability to run reasonably fast over the marathon distance.

A Typical Run Commute

Run - 430.9 mi

I'd say close to half of these miles were done to or from work and quite a few of these with teammate, Eric Baum, who is also training for the Boston Marathon this year. This was the first time I really ran consistently with a pack which I fabricated myself (more on this another time? Comment below if you'd like to learn about my pack).

I feel like every runner has a distance that is their "perpetual run distance" or PRD. This is the distance they can cover without much effort almost every day. It is the ideal distance for easy days during marathon training. For me, in high school, this distance was probably 6-7 miles. Since then it's crept up to 8-10, but really settled around 8 miles after dealing with years of injury. Enter the run commute of 9 miles door-to-door. Forced to extend my PRD by necessity, I slowed down and took my time, ultimately adapting well to this new distance.

Workout - 99.1

As I alluded to earlier, I feel that my workouts were significantly hampered by the fact that I hammered virtually all my long runs averaging under 6:20 for pretty much all of the major long runs. It's not a great feeling to bomb mid-week workouts, but that's kind of been my story now for the last 18 months. Healthy and strong, but completely lacking speed. I tried to take this in stride as much as possible, focusing on my key workouts and performing decently when I prioritized them.

The capstone workout was 3 x 3 miles with a half mile recovery run between reps. I was very pleased with this workout and couldn't have done it without the help of Kyle, Austin, and Mark. We did this run sort of in the place of a long run (I ended up covering just over 19 miles total), warming up to Fleet Feet Sports - Old Town then running the first 1.5 reps south. I ran 16:50, 30, 30 or so for about a 5:33 average. When I performed this workout last year prior to Grandma's Marathon, I averaged about 5:40 so this is a big improvement from that effort. For Grandma's this ended up being about 10 seconds per mile faster than goal marathon pace. Now, I'm not convinced I'm in 2:30 marathon shape (5:43), but I am happy with the effort as it shows that I am developing some decent fitness.

 Strength Training

I would be remiss to leave out the final (new) piece of the training puzzle that Eric and Lyndsey Baum introduced me to: Dr. Yessis' running specific resistance band exercises and the 1x20 Program developed by their friend Amber for their marathon preparations.

I had been doing Coach Jay's Pedestal and MYRTL routines, but I hadn't really lifted regularly since high school (I was also injured less in high school so there's that...). While I didn't really log this activity in Strava, I lifted a total of 6 times during this cycle, typically on Tuesdays, run commuting from work with Eric. This additional stimulus has helped develop much needed stability and general strength which I believe has helped keep my healthy. I really do notice this on my easy days as well as workouts and races. I even noticed the difference riding my bike! That said, my legs are usually trashed after doing squats and Romanian dead lifts, yet another contributor to my less than stellar Wednesday workouts.

Summary

This cycle featured:

-Professional prehab/treatment of a nagging minor injury (+1 for taking care of one's body)

-Consistent, moderate, and (mostly) healthy mileage

-Faster group long runs (6:20 pace and faster)

-A good indoor 5k among otherwise mediocre race results

-Run commuting

-Perpetual Run Distance (PRD) extended to 9 miles

-Generally bad faster workouts

-A good 3 x 3 workout

-Sport specific and general strength training

-Support from teammates and others

Overall this has been one of my most successful marathon cycles ever. I have learned a lot and become much more consistent. I'm still not where I was in the fall of 2010, but I believe I'm well on my way to a successful and healthy 2015!

How has your training been going?

What new stimulus have you introduced recently and what has its effect been?

Leave a comment or question below!

Shameless plug: I'm running the Super Sunny 5k on June 6th which benefits Garden Center Services, a Chicago-area agency that serves people with developmental disabilities. You should join me!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I'll write a real post soon, but in the mean time check out this update on by other blog, Two-Something!

One of these two guys could be your pacer at your next marathon!

photo credit: Lyndsey Baum

STRAVA AID: Viewing Lap Splits

By popular demand, I'm putting together a guide to viewing manually split laps on Strava's desktop web-interface. Before I start, I want to show the hardware and software I'm using:

I'm using the Suunto Ambit 2S with Moveslink 2 v 1.2.13

I have my Suunto Movescount account synced with my Strava account. So that's how my data is getting into Strava.

Strava's interface doesn't make it too clear how to view manually taken splits as it automatically calculates moving pace and mile splits in its overview tab:

A 4 x 2 mile workout is a great example of a workout where mile splits and moving time/pace aren't relevant.

The "Laps" tab is right there in front of you, but it is unclear what data lies beneath.

This is actually exactly where you'll find the information (assuming you properly took manual splits) you're looking for (repeat distance/time/pace, recovery interval).

I was pretty indignant that this feature was so "difficult" to find and I've talked to more than one user who was having trouble viewing this information so I decided to create this 3rd Party documentation.

Questions or comments?

hansei-kai 2014

In studying for my CPIM certification exams, I have come across the concept of hansei, one of the twelve pillars of the Toyota Production System (TPS, a structure of management philosophy and practices) and more generally a characteristic of greater Japanese culture (or so I've read).

hansei –“reflection,” or "self-reflection," becoming aware of and acting on opportunities for improvement.

Photo Credit: Michael Martineau

In the TPS, both successful and unsuccessful initiatives are followed by a hansei-kai or reflection meeting. The UK Toyota blog elaborates a bit on this:

"An inability to identify issues is usually seen as an indication that you did not stretch to meet or exceed expectations, that you were not sufficiently critical or objective in your analysis, or that you lack modesty and humility. Within the [h]ansei process, no problem is itself a problem."

Lest we become fixated on our failures (even to exceed expectations), it is important to note that the end goal is ultimately to drive positive change. Let me restate this, the goal of hansei is to improve.

For me it can be easy to get stuck in the first step of uncovering and accepting responsibility for failure, but miss the end goal of positive change. One western blogger living in Japan describes hansei in action. He notes how that the goal was not to place blame or make apologies, but, after accepting responsibility for failure, to improve the team.

All of this is a long way to introduce this latest blog post reflecting on my running in 2014 and my preliminary plan for improvement.

I want to keep this initial, annual reflection short as I already include periodic reflections (this of course being one of the purposes of blogging one's training/racing), and I want to emphasize the changes in place and planned. Since the focus of training is racing, I will focus on racing performance.

Early in the year, I started on par with a decent (for me) 3k indoors and my fastest Shamrock Shuffle to date. With these exceptions, I struggled a lot at races that weren't marathons, failing to run faster than 16:27 in the 5k, posting a mediocre 56:17 at 10 miles, and running only marathon pace for the half-marathon. At this juncture, it is important for me to post some faster times at shorter distances both from a physiological as well as psychological standpoint. My result from the Chicago Marathon underlines this point, every mile split was between 5:40 and 6:00. My aerobic strength pulled me through. To capitalize on this strength in 2015, I need to get comfortable running at faster paces.

My plan to get myself to run faster paces features several key components:

1) Establish race goals at non-marathon distances.

In the near term, I am focused on getting into the best 5k shape possible for a 5000m race at Lewis University's Illiana Invite on January 16th. This involves using long runs for aerobic maintenance (instead of race-specific training) and introducing 5k pace and faster repeats, a bit more on this later. Looking further out, I would like to break 26:00 at Shamrock Shuffle. As the season progresses I will set more specific goals, but I plan on running the Soldier Field 10 Mile, the Big 10 10k, and the Bix 7 later in the year.

2) Support faster pace running with a stronger chassis and safe environment.

Injury has been one of the primary factors preventing me from achieving the best of my ability. I am implementing Jay Johnson's now famous Pedestal and MYRTL routines in an effort to strengthen my core and hips, the "chassis" that allows you to take advantage of your aerobic "engine." [This analogy appears in Jay Dicharry's Anatomy for Runners].

I am also going to spend some money and time doing key workouts indoors at DePaul's Rec Center, purchasing the 10 Visit Package (for $110). After experiencing soreness after running sub-7 minute pace earlier this week while it was 15 degrees outside, this plan is only further validated. It is difficult to get fully warmed up when the temperatures drop leading to additional muscle soreness and potential injury.

3) Establish a plan for running faster.

I've not been a huge subscriber to laying out a week-by-week season plan as I've felt like incorrectly calibrated, these types of plans have contributed to disillusionment and injury. That said, I have received benefits from following a rigid schedule when participating in the Boston 365 program (which I'll be co-coaching for 2015!).

Here's the plan I've outlined (based on a Jack Daniel's program) for the following weeks (weeks start on Mondays):

11/24 - 5k cross country (Turkey Trot)
12/1 - easy running w/ strides and chassis
12/8 - 7 x 1200 @ 5k pace w/ 400 jog recovery, 8k road (Rudolph Ramble)
12/15 - Fartlek, 6 miles (hopefully it will be warm in Memphis for this one)
12/22 - 3 x 1600 w/ 4 min recovery, 3 x 1000 w/ 2 min recovery, @ 5k pace
12/29 - 20 min @ tempo, 3 x 400 @ mile race pace w/ 400 jog, 2 x 1 mile @ tempo w/ 1 min recovery, 5000m time trial(?)
1/5 - 2 x 2k @ tempo, 5 x 1000 @ 5k pace, 4 x 200 at mile race pace
1/12 - 4 x 1200 w/ 2 min jog, 4 x 200 @ mile race pace, 5000m indoors (Illiana Invite)

What actions are you taking to make 2015 better than 2014?

Also don't forget, the fourth installment of Two-Something: The Backgrounds, Beliefs, and Secrets of Sub-Three Hour Marathoners comes out tomorrow!

Race Recap: 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon

Since I'm going away for the weekend, I want to make sure I get some thoughts written down about this race.

"To enjoy the streets of Chicago you need to smile. 

With all these people you need a big smile." 

- Eliud Kipchoge, winner of the 2014 BoA Chicago Marathon (among other things) via LetsRun.com

photo credit: Ruben Gonzalez

First off, thanks for your support!

There is no experience like running your hometown marathon, the crowd support is amazing. I was perhaps more acutely aware of this as my last couple marathons were away from home (Boston and Grandma's).

Running the streets of Chicago this year was like a stroll through my running past as I saw and heard supporters from my earliest years as a runner to the present. My family of origin, my parents and youngest brother, have spectating the Chicago Marathon down to a science. I started running in 2002 when my dad was training for his first and only Chicago Marathon. High school teammate Danny Garcia and coach Humberto Gutierrez, two of the few people I knew who had run the Chicago Marathon in my earliest running years were on the course cheering.

Moving on to my friends from undergrad, there were tons of guys from the Illinois Cross Country and Track Club cheering (Aaron Silver, I needed that pick up in those last couple miles) and racing. Congrats to my former training partner Declan McDonnell for pulling what Matt Newman called a "Kittaka" and debuting in 2:35 as well as throwback racers Matt Peharda and Ryan Tripicchio! I also saw some former River to River Relay buds including JMac (dude, someone else was totally racing in a NBA jersey this year), Kyle Somerfield, and Brent Chatham.

My description of supporters from my Fleet Feet days could probably go on for several paragraphs, but I will say it is always a pleasure to run through mile 10. I enjoyed seeing Catherine Moloznik, Cole Sanseverino, Shawn Lucas, Krissy Czapanskiy (and Bill!), Matt Curley, Peter Mone, and of course Mark Erspamer. Thanks for the pics, Ruben Gonzalez and Lyndsey Baum!

Heh, this is getting long but it's a pretty interesting, at least for me, to review how running is defined by the folks you share it with. It was great to have Bana Negash out there on course. Thanks to TTAU's Michael Martineau for some sweet pics and Mark Wehrman for the company. And finally, thanks to the crew from Bootleg Runners Coalition for the Rainbow Dash, helium pick me up and Jeff Edmonds and crew at the BibRave cheer station for the encouraging words!

I've undoubtedly left more than a few names off the list, but you get the point. I mentioned this in my BibRave review of this year's event, but it bears repeating, 2014 had the best crowd support in the toughest areas of the course in my four years running the event (2010, 12, 13, 14). This of course could all be my distorted memory as 2014 was my fastest Chicago Marathon of the bunch, but I think there is still some truth in there somewhere.

Now onto the actual race itself.

If you want to run low 2:30s, run with the ladies as they tend to be smarter racers than men!

Also: Twin Anchors!

photo credit: Michael Martineau

I started a bit quick. I'm not sure how I missed the first mile split, but I ran what felt like a relaxed split with my teammate and fellow pretzel aficionado, Kyle Larson who was guiding vision impaired athlete Aaron Sheidies. From there things got rolling pretty quickly as I keep the pace under 5:50 through the first 10k, splitting 35:52. The wind was out of the south so things felt pretty relaxed and I dropped my gloves when I saw my folks near LaSalle and Chicago (mile 4).

After turning south at Addison, I could feel that the legs weren't too happy running 5:45s into the wind. I let the pace sag a bit to let my body relax remembering that there was still 19 miles remaining in the race! At this point, I was caught by a group of women including Hansons-Brooks' Melissa White (see Michael's photo). They were probably running high 5:40s while I kept things controlled and stayed comfortable, biding my time until after the half-way point. I was relatively comfortable, but not feeling particularly smooth which was concerning considering the hot early pace and bad memories from previous years. I recalled my general race plan to stay relaxed through mile 15, then reevaluate my goals for the remainder of the race.

Passing half-way in 1:16:17, I tried to stay optimistic. Based on how I was feeling, it would probably not be possible to negative-split the way I had intended. Not only that, but the miles following were exactly where my races the past two years completely unraveled. I found confidence in my ability to continue running (relatively) relaxed 5:50s. Over the summer, I had been bike commuting pretty much everyday, logging 3-5 hours of easy riding per week. This additional aerobic activity helped keep me healthy while maximizing my aerobic capacity however it also introduced more muscle fatigue as my rides and runs often butted up against each other. During training and racing leading up to the marathon, I noticed that it was difficult for me to maintain fast paces, but my ability to run 5:50 pace was nearing the level it was at when I set my marathon PR nearly four years ago in Dallas.

Mile 15 came and went and while I didn't feel great, I also wasn't blowing up. Modeled after Dan Daly's segmentation of the Boston Marathon I used in April and again at Grandma's, miles 15-22 or so are run by feel, focusing on staying relaxed and maintaining the effort. For Boston, this section is comprised of the Newton Hills, culminating in the legendary Heartbreak Hill. For marathons in general, these represent some of the toughest miles for a variety of physiological and psychological factors that I don't have space to discuss at the moment. I ultimately decided it was easier to think about the segment as through mile 21 (where I'd be taking the last of my three GU energy gels, I take one every 7 miles in case you wanted to know).

I honestly don't remember much about this portion of the race with the exception of feeling my form breaking down and slowing slightly. The steps no longer came easily. They were labored and there was nothing I could do to loosen things up. I felt like the Tin Man with no oil. In fact for about 30 seconds or so the arches of my feet cramped up.

Despite all this, I was able to get past miles 21 and 22. I believe it was at this point that I did the math and calculated that as long as I didn't blow up, I'd be able to clock in under 2:35. This quick calculation lifted some of my anxiety. I did not feel very good and couldn't run any faster, but I also felt like the pace I had been more or less maintaining could be maintained through the finish. With this and the wind from the south in mind, I decided to make a go at a faster finish once I turned north on Michigan Avenue. Of course seeing my family near 33rd and my friend Mark Erspamer on the 33rd Street Bridge also helped keep me motivated.

Struggling to maintain pace on 33nd Street.

Also this photo proves that this is in fact the Chicago Marathon.

photo credit: Mark Erspamer

While I told myself turning onto Michigan Avenue would be a relief, in fact it was just the opposite. This nearly penultimate mile and a half long stretch would determine the result of the run. Anxiety mounted. I wasn't sure I could hurt all the way to the finish. I did my best to pick up the pace, but I was probably just maintaining if not just slowing ever so slightly. To battle doubt, I verbalized a few times, "I can do this" and tried to accept the shouts of encouragement. Corny, I know. In my head, I knew my body could run 5:59 pace or whatever for another 10 minutes, but my body was trying to convince me to relax and slow down.

I ran a terrible Mt. Roosevelt as my form had deteriorated into a wavy mess and the race was over.

I finished just 15 seconds off of my time at Grandma's Marathon. I thought I was in slightly better shape this time around, however as I mentioned earlier, I've been having a difficult time running faster paces (5k and half-marathon pace). The improved running economy at marathon race pace that comes along with running at faster paces was one of the biggest limiting factors of my Chicago Marathon performance in my analysis.

Ultimately, I am very happy with my 2014 marathon season. I started in the Lincoln Square Athletic Club pool way back in January after not being able to run most of October, November, and December 2013. Boston snuck up on me, but it was also the first marathon in three attempts and three years where I arrived on the starting line without major lower leg pain. Grandma's Marathon reinforced the marathon segmentation strategy I had applied to Boston and resulted in my second fastest marathon ever and my first marathon negative split. Finally, this run in Chicago redeemed the past two years where I wasn't within 9 minutes of my best. My run in Chicago set a new standard of marathon performance consistency.

My goal for 2014 was to get in a full year of healthy running and racing, building a platform on which to break 2:30 in 2015. I feel like I got much more than I expected as I developed a better support structure (thanks, friends), learned an effective way to segment and execute marathons, and broke 2:34 twice. Looking ahead, I am hopeful for success and excited to find my speed again.

For the curious:

Check out my splits here.

I don't have Strava data because I don't use a GPS watch for marathons.

Thanks again for your support! 

What are your goals for 2015 and how do you plan on achieving them?

Dan's Race Finish Calculator

Hi all, have you ever broken a race in to segments in order to run your best?

My calculator takes all the arithmetic out of segmenting a race by pace. Simply entered the distances of your race segmentation (in miles or kilometers!) and the pace in minutes per mile you'd like to run each segment and the calculator does the rest! You'll get a segment split time as well as your total time.

This allows you see how running difference paces based on course conditions and other factors effects your overall total split times and finish time.

Here's a copy of my Race Finish Calculator that you can save off for yourself.

What do you think?

7 Weeks in Infographics (Training 7/7-8/24)

It's hard to believe that it has been almost 10 weeks since I ran Grandma's Marathon! I've been pretty busy with work and moving apartments. I've still been thinking about blogging and have number of posts floating around in my head. For now though, I'll just be posting some pretty, Strava generated summaries of my training since Grandma's.

If you want to see more frequent (daily?) updates on my training, feel free to follow me on Strava. I've migrated from DailyMile to Strava for a variety of reasons the most important probably being better data management in particular upload/download capabilities. I also started logging my regular bike commutes to give better visibility to all of my aerobic activity. I believe these commute minutes played a key role in developing aerobic capacity during my build up for Grandma's Marathon.

Feel free to ask questions via the comments section below or on twitter. Here are three images summarizing the past 7 weeks of training:

Nothing fancy here, just consistent miles with a workout (in yellow) and a long run (dark green) each week. This segment is capped by a 56:17 10 mile at the Crim 10 Mile in Flint, MI (red). 

I will say that some of my long runs were actually workouts. I did a pretty nice 2-3-2-3-2 (mile segments) workout with Kyle on August 16th. We also did a good 4-3-2-1 (mile segments) workout on August 2nd.

As I mentioned, one reason I started using Strava (and the Suunto Ambit2 S) was to track my cycle commutes which I believe is a key factor to aerobic development and injury prevention. More on this at some later time...

Finally, I really like this view. It is essential that you wear some sort of time keeping device and log your workout time regularly (this is where an endurance sports watch comes in handy as Strava can automatically be updated with this information), but it provides a really good top level view of your overall training. I will add that Strava uses your GPS data and only credits you for moving time. This will hurt your overall time spent but help your average paces as they calculate average pace based on moving time only. 

I disagree with using moving time, but I'm not sure if you're able to present the data in another format on Strava. I'll also say that I don't like that Strava doesn't show any of the splits you take during an activity. It will only show mile splits. This adds an additional couple steps if you want your Strava record to include splits for segments not run mile to mile. For example, the splits I took during our 4-3-2-1 workout aren't reflected in Strava as the segments didn't start exactly on a mile split. I could be just a Strava n00b, but this lack of inclusion seems to me a rather annoying omission.

How has your training been over the last 9 weeks?

Are you using Strava?

Read more about logging training in this guest post by Dan Clay McDowell titled "Logging in the Pacific Northwest."

To Inform and Inspire (Training 6/2-6/22)

Here's a recap of remainder of the training cycle prior to my 2014 Grandma's Marathon. If you'd like, here are links to the plan I outlined after registering for the race and a recap of the first four weeks of training.

To begin, I'd like to reiterate the goals of the cycle:

1) Stay healthy. By prioritizing workout/long run quality over volume, I hoped to stay healthy. I ran too much the in first week of the cycle. Unlike in other cycles, I realized my behavior was not moving me towards my stated goals and adjusted for the rest of the cycle. I was able to complete the cycle healthy which gave me a lot of confidence going into the race.

2) Practice running Marathon Pace, again by prioritizing quality over volume, I hoped to run Marathon Pace more comfortably than in Boston. I was able to execute some key workouts that I believe really helped contribute to my ability to handle Marathon Pace. Executing these workouts successfully required me to focus on being properly recovered then properly recovering afterwards. For me this meant eliminating "junk" mileage. Though I did supplement my running volume with cross training (more on this below).

Week 3

Training at this point was starting to really become tiresome. My body was tired and I was burning out mentally. I remember desperately looking forward to my 10 day-ish taper. It is in these moments when it becomes necessary to lean on your teammates and support structures.

Monday, I decided, due to lacking motivation and a later than usual run start time, that I would swing by Fleet Feet Sports in Lincoln Square for the weekly 6:30pm "Fun Run." Typically Angelica and/or Brian attend these runs and are usually up for a nice 8 miles to/on the lake. Fortunately for me, Angelica and I were able to get some good miles in.

Nice weather on Tuesday prompted an impromptu double with strides.

Wednesday was my opportunity to really nail a hard mid-week workout. Sort of unintentionally, I ended up racing quite a bit during this cycle. A couple of these races fell on Thursdays so they sort of became my mid-week workout. Despite being registered for 13.1 Chicago the following Saturday, I decided that I had to get in a pretty high volume workout at just faster than marathon pace a pace I could live with.

After a string of races where I felt I had significantly under performed, my hope was that my legs were fatigued and that the strength I had built with all of my consistent running would eventually lead to faster running and racing. For Wednesday's workout, I drew on memories of comfortably running a three mile segment of a workout well under 16:00. If I could get close to 16:00 on my last rep I would be content (all this despite the fact I wasn't running much faster than 16:00 through 3 miles during races at this point).

Though I didn't manage to quite hit 16:00, I was pretty happy with how the workout played out:

"I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get any brutally difficult marathon type workouts in during this cycle. I did 3 x 3 miles on the lake half into the wind and half out of the wind, taking 4 minutes between reps: 17:01, 16:45, 16:19. I was very happy with this workout though it left me very tired."

Just to be safe, I took the day following completely off.

I've run a half-marathon in June for four of the past five years. I use this run as a barometer of my fitness going into the big summer training months. 13.1 Chicago as served as this barometer for three of these tests thanks to a couple free entries. This year's edition featured very tolerable weather (I ran my slowest half marathon ever here in 2011), but my big Wednesday workout and general fatigue prevented me from running very quickly:

"Wasn't 100% sure how the legs would respond after my very hard effort on Wednesday. Ended up just sort of running 5:45-55 pace for the whole race. One gear. I'm hoping since I did it on dead legs that this is pretty close to marathon fitness."

These words read as somewhat prophetic as I ended up running nearly exactly double my 13.1 Chicago finish time in Duluth (1:16:47 at 13.1, 2:33:26 at Grandma's). I like to think that it wasn't so much premonition as finally understanding what marathon pace is supposed to feel like. Previous cycles, I had gotten too much confidence from fast, hard workouts. A 17-18 miler with some very fast running mixed in is good training stimulus, but these runs made me overconfident when going into a marathon and didn't provided the appropriate aerobic stimulus necessary to run my intended marathon goal pace without blowing up. I'm pretty sure, easy to moderate 20 milers would have been more beneficial in retrospect.

Week 2

After one of the hardest weeks of the cycle, I was very happy to be done with workouts long, marathon type workouts. That said, two weeks is a long time to just sort of run aimlessly. Workouts (that you're slightly scared of) provide a very nice stimulus with intermediate goals and a mini recovery cycle. As you can see I didn't get too creative (I think I ran the exact same route 3 times this week). My goal here was to rest from marathon pace running while continuing to run somewhat consistent volume. I ran 2 hours for my final long run. This was probably a bit too long in retrospect, but I took off the day following so I don't feel too bad about this one.

I also did a mid-week 6 x 1k which went pretty well:

"Did 6 x 1k with Strubbe, Javier, and Andrew: 3:21, 3:15, the rest were around 3:10. Pleasantly surprised to feel decent during this one. Pretty cashed after the 6th one though. 2 min recovery between reps."

After so much running at or around marathon goal pace, I thought it might help break the week up and be good to do a bit of running at 5k pace.

Finally, due to additional rest/fitness coming around/boredom, my runs became much faster on average (let's say from ~7:45 average pace to more like 7:00).

Week 1

The first half of this week was an extension of the previous week. I was sick of running 8 milers, but I was also afraid that if I didn't run at least 8 miles, my body would stiffen up and not feel very good. I was very relieved to make it to Thursday prior to the race as I more or less let how I felt finally dictate how I ran. I was sick of running so I basically just warmed the legs up.

Friday, I alternated fast/slow 200s on the track for 1600m with a mile warm up and cool down. I wanted to get the blood flowing a bit faster as I knew I'd be sitting on the plane. Little did I know I'd be driving!

I was pretty happy with how my taper played out. I'm not a fan of cutting mileage significantly since I don't feel like I'm running too much mileage to begin with, however I did feel like reducing intensity 10 days out while keeping volume consistent, then slowly dropping volume until you're just relying on your body seemed like a good way to taper down for a goal race.

Unlike my first two marathons where I feel like stumbled on success, my previous three less successful cycles  (four if you count failing to even start in 2011) along with this mini-cycle taught me a lot about what sort of training I need for low 2:30s fitness:

• Appropriate recovery, typically incomplete recovery in order to simulate the fatigue of the marathon distance, prioritizing recovery before and/or after key workouts in order to stay injury-free. I think Luke Humphrey does a pretty good job describing this in Hansons Marathon Method, he calls it "cumulative fatigue." I'd also lump in self/preventative care. I've been able to find a routine that has kept my lower legs from preventing consistent training so far.
• Longer (hard) long runs (I count my 2:42 in Boston as one of my key long runs as well as my 2:49 in California). Now this idea is very Canova-esque as my Boston run was about 95% of my Grandma's effort for 100% of the marathon distance.
• Some running at faster than marathon pace, 5k pace for me (including a few races). This will not feel very comfortable or build your self-confidence much, particularly if you're used to running faster at shorter distances.
• Regular cross-training. I didn't really included this in my earlier write-ups as I've never viewed bike commuting as training, but I certainly spend enough time on my 11 mile round-trip bike commute to count these efforts a significant aerobic stimulus. I plan on starting to log these consistently for my next cycle. I realize now that when I was running well in the marathon, I was also doing a pretty decent bike commute on a regular basis.

Finally, I also drew a lot from Matt Flaherty's 2:25 at the 2013 Napa Valley Marathon which occurred after he was sidelined for much of 2012. Taking off the final two months of 2013 and spending January 2014 splitting time between the pool and the roads, I had my doubts about getting into low 2:30s shape this calendar year, but it certainly helped me to review Matt's record and not put too many limits on my own running. I also took a lot of ideas as well as inspiration from Rich Heffron's build up to the 2013 Grandma's Marathon where he posted a nice 2:31:21 PR. Rich started his build up in 2013 at nearly the same time I did in 2014 so it was very helpful to track my own progress against his. My hope is that someone else will be able to use these blogs to join Rich and I in the Chicago-area low-2:30s club! Thanks guys!

What resources have informed and inspired your running?

Race Recap: 2014 Grandma's Marathon

I'd be remiss if I didn't begin with a thank you: thanks for reading, and for the kind, supportive texts/tweets/posts/photos/tags/etc!

I ran my final long run 7 days prior to the race, an easy-ish 2 hours (17 miles). The week of, I forced myself to run a couple 8 milers despite being pretty tired of running/training (I ran 3-5 easy on the other days). I also forced myself to stop biking to work on Thursday. Thankfully I only had to take CTA to/from Niles Thursday as I was able to work a half day from home on Friday before leaving for the airport.

After rushing to O'Hare (I'm usually late-ish), my flight was canceled shortly after arriving (late) to my gate. This was about 16 hours prior to the 7:45am start of the 2014 Grandma's Marathon.

Standing in the customer service line at O'Hare, I decided that my best course of action was not to find another flight but to drive. Even if I was re-booked on a later flight, how could I trust that it wouldn't also be cancelled? On my shakeout earlier in the day, I came to the realization that the time had come to be stubborn. Training without injury is a dance of compromise, changing or shifting plans in favor of consistency. Racing when the fitness is finally present is about courageously/stubbornly pursuing your goals: maintaining the pressure and not backing down or changing course when things get uncomfortable. It was a shift I was not so sure I had prepared to handle. That said, the first challenge came much earlier than expected when my travel plans fell through.

I felt good about driving, but I could not have done it without help! My parents kindly shifted their weekend plans in order to allow me to use their second car to make the drive to Duluth. Meg and Bess who were already in Duluth were able to pick up my race packet and room keys as I'd be arriving much too late to do either.

Arriving around 1am, I ate some food (two bags of microwavable rice if you must know, should have just done one bag), prepped my race gear, and rolled out my legs in an effort to mitigate the effects of 8 hours of sitting in the car. Getting to sleep at 2am, I was happy to finally be in Duluth. Having done the first portion of the drive up to Duluth many, many times driving to/from Carleton College where my sister, Rachel, and brother, Jonathan, went to school, the drive it self didn't really bother me too much. I knew I was capable of making the drive solo. The lack of sleep didn't really bother me either as my sleep as been somewhat inconsistent of late and prior to my fastest marathons I hardly even slept the night prior due to nerves. They say it is two nights prior that really counts.

5:00am came quickly, but I still felt good (not groggy or tired) when I woke up. I went for an easy 10 minute shakeout on the St. Scholastica campus where we were staying (I'd stay there again, it was great!). The legs felt pretty good, not great but good enough. We took the 5:45am bus to the start which picked us up from just outside the dorm where we were staying. Once in Duluth (haha), pre-race logistics were pretty painless.

We were fortunate to have a cool, but not cold day which made the pre-race waiting much more tolerable. That said, I can't believe I forgot any type of throwaway garments and warm-up tights for the start line. It ended up being totally fine, but in the moment I could have used a little something.

On the start line, they dropped the men's and women's elites in front of us normal folks so there was about 60-70 (?) runners already a head of me. Which was more or less totally fine. I hoped would help me stay controlled over the first mile or so.

When the race finally started, I started slowly, keeping in mind the task at hand, but not as slowly as in Boston where I split a 6:35 first mile. I split 6:10 with an approximate 6 second delta between gun and chip times. So I was just about perfect, pace-wise. The first portion of the race, I was just trying to run as comfortably as possible, as close as possible to 5:55 pace. 6:10s, 6:05s, 6:00s, were permissible as long as I was comfortable until at least mile 20-ish. I was trying to replicate my memory of cresting Heartbreak Hill feeling good aerobically (unfortunately that day, my muscles were totally trashed and were the limiting factor).

Without the elevation profile of Boston, I wasn't sure how to segment the Grandma's, however after being pleasantly surprised after feeling out the first few miles, I decided that the segmentation that Dan Daly had suggested for Boston was probably still applicable to Grandma's Marathon (and perhaps most marathons now that I think about it). Specifically this entailed:

1. Starting conservatively
2. Running goal pace, strong and steady through mile 17 (in Boston this is where the Newton Hills begin)
3. Surviving miles 17-22 (the Newton Hills, typically my mentally toughest miles regardless of the course)
4. Unleashing the kraken on miles 23-Finish

Miles 2 and 3 were 5:50 and 5:52. It was here that I began to trust a bit more in my intuition that my run at 13.1 Chicago was probably pretty close to marathon pace (I ran 1:16:47 (5:52 pace), but only had one gear the whole race). I was still cautious and backed off a bit, hoping to run 5:55s through mile 13-17.

I ended up splitting 6:01 for the 4th mile, but then put together a nice string of mid 5:50s: 5:54 and 5:54 for miles 5 and 6 then 11:53 (5:57 average) for miles 7 and 8. It was here that I got to chatting with Adidas Running Rep, Ben Kampf. Having a full blown conversation during a race is a weird experience, but I enjoyed it immensely. It took my mind off the miles for a moment, and kept me relaxed and hopeful I hadn't gone out too aggressively.

We slowed a bit in mile 9, splitting 6:00 and I broke away from the group I had been running with at an aid station and forged on. I was still pretty focused on running 5:55s, telling myself that I needed to stay as comfortable as possible through at least 15 miles. Mile 10 came pretty quickly and was the first time I really started to feel a bit of fatigue. Splitting 5:44, I pushed any irritation at my inconsistency out of my mind and backed off a bit.

Miles 11, 12, and 13 were a bit slower than I would have liked, but I found myself still clicking off sub 6 minute miles despite a very aggressive 10th mile so I couldn't be too upset. Splitting 5:58, 54, and 59, I found myself crossing the half-way point feeling pretty comfortable in 1:17:45. I was on pace to even split a 2:35:30 which was just a bit off one of my goals of running the sub-2:35 Fleet Feet / Nike Racing sponsored athlete qualifier. I figured with how I felt, I could find 30 seconds over the next half so I was encouraged a bit though still plagued with doubts as I've gotten to half-way in every marathon I've run still on or around my goal pace. The carnage usually ensues within just a few miles.

I told myself at half-way to hang tight and run comfortably for another couple miles to mile 15. Then revised my thoughts and told myself to chill until mile 17. Then mile 20. I've had too many races become death marches in these middle miles.

That plan went out the window when I was passed just after half-way by a guy running just a bit faster than my planned mid-5:50s. We ended up running 5:45 for the 14th mile. At that point, I decided to back off a bit, but to try to start running 5:50 pace. I was still feeling good and I figured that had I shot myself in the foot by running the earlier miles too fast, there was nothing I could do about it at this point in the race.

The next few miles went by pretty quickly as could see a pretty big group a couple hundred meters a head that I told myself I wanted to catch by mile 20. I hit 5:50, 5:47, 5:51, and 5:49 for miles 15, 16, 17, and 18. Then split 11:31 (just off 5:45 pace) for miles 19 and 20. I managed to catch up with the group I was trying to run down that included the top American woman as well as a couple guys from Lincoln Running Company Racing.

I had managed to survive to mile 20 without hurting too bad (it wasn't easy, but I wasn't totally suffering).I kept on telling myself that after I took my last gel at mile 21 I just had to run a sub-30 minute 5 mile tempo. Then I decided to break things up a bit more, using other runners on the course to motivate myself. I selected my next target and told myself to push slightly to catch him by mile 23.

The final miles contorted themselves in time seeming both short and long. I ran no slower than 5:50 over the last 10k, splitting a 5:38 for mile 25, my fastest of the day. I was able to pick off a few more runners over these final miles and received some well appreciated cheers from bike-mounted Chuck of Brooks Running and Dan and Allie Walters (if you're on Facebook and like running you should follow Dan Walters Running)!

Crossing the finish line less than two minutes off of my PR felt great, I laughed with relief and joy. I hadn't come closer than within nine minutes of my PR over the past three years and it was beginning to be difficult to believe I'd ever be able to achieve my goals. The marathon can be a cruel event and apparently I have been slow to learn my lessons.

I hope to follow up this race recap with a bit more of a dive into the last few weeks of the training cycle and the race itself to pull out some of the principles I think others can apply to their training and racing. Check out my race review on BibRave. The short review is that Grandma's Marathon is a must-run American marathon. In my opinion it is up there with Boston, particularly if you want to run fast as the field up front is very deep. They did a great job producing the event.

At Grandma's Marathon, my expectations aligned with my fitness/reality. Can you share a time when this happened for you? What were the key factors driving this alignment?

Is Dan Sticking to the Plan? (Training 5/5-6/1)

With just three weeks to go before Grandma's Marathon on the 21st of June, I'd like to provided a bit of an update on how the execution of my plan has progressed.

Goals of the Cycle
I designed the cycle to revolve around workouts and hitting specific paces over mileage and cumulative mileage. In general, I like to think of the goals of the cycle as:

1) Stay Healthy, by prioritizing workout/long run quality over volume, I hope to stay healthy.

2) Practice running Marathon Pace, again by prioritizing quality over volume, I hope to hone in on running Marathon Pace more comfortably.

Week 7

Some nice mileage in week 7 but lost focus on the goals of the cycle*

I was clearly very eager to return to training. Unfortunately this meant probably extending my self a bit far during Wednesday's 1600, 4 mile tempo, 1600 workout, and running back to back long runs. 

Wednesday's workout took quite a bit out of me: 20-ish minute w/u, then 1600m in 5:10, 4 miles in 22:30 (5:38), 5:09. 20 minute-ish c/d. I was also still dealing with some lingering soreness from Boston. Driven by previous performances in this workout, I hit my rather arbitrary, "feel good" standards of 5:40-ish pace on the tempo and 5:10 or better for the 1600s.

The good news is that I actually listened to my body and didn't run much the days following the workout.

There isn't anything inherently wrong with back to back long runs, but when neither long run meets the planned goal (20 miles easy) and the cumulative effect prevents you from executing subsequent workouts, they become an issue (see next week).

It was good to get on the trails out in Palos for Sunday's run. I've definitely noticed better ankle strength and stability after just a couple of trail runs over this cycle.

Week 6

Since Monday was pretty warm and I was pretty beat from back to back long runs, I decided to push my planned 10 miles at MP to Tuesday. Tuesday morning I warmed up and felt awful. I ran 4 miles at 6:12 pace (my actual MP in Boston) before calling the workout.

I had planned on running from Fleet Feet on Wednesday, but ended up doing a course ride for the Fleet Feet Sports Soldier Field 10 Mile. I organized and led the bike marshals for the event. Let me know if you're interested in volunteering as a bike marshal as I'm sure I'll be roped into this role for more events as the year progresses.

Thursday, I spent 4+ hours traveling on Amtrak to run a 5000m on the track at North Central College. Based on my workout from the previous week I thought I could run about 16:15 (which would be right about my track PR). Instead here's how the race played out:

"Eeked under 16:30 with a 16:29.96. Went 5:10, 11:07 for 3400m, 5:23 for the last 1600m. Running on the track is hard on your body... Thought I was in 16:15 shape, but I guess not."

So a bit disappointing considering I split a 16:32 at Shamrock Shuffle and accelerated through the finish.

All that said, things turned around on Sunday as I got in a nice, hard 21 miles (as planned) with Kyle (and Matt) averaging about 6:30 pace:

"Jogged to LS, then ran 20 with Kyle and Matt. From 15.7 to 18.7 (3 miles) we pushed a bit (17:07 for a 5:42 average). from miles 11-18.7 we averaged just about 6:06 pace. Ran easily back to LS. A very good run."

Week 5

Noticing a pattern with Sunday long runs and considering I would be racing Chase Corporate Challenge on Thursday, I decided to scrap my Monday workout in favor of recovering.

After last week's skipped Monday workout and disappointing race, I decided to use the planned Fleet Feet Racing Wednesday night speed workout to do some (hopefully) relaxed speed work/pace practice. Brian R, Kyle and I did:

"1.77 mile w/u then 5x1 mile starting at Diversey w/ 2 min recovery, focusing on running a slow first half and a fast second half goal pace was MP - 10 sec: 5:50 (even), 5:41 (even), 5:47 (2:57, 2:50), 5:43 (3:00, 2:43), 5:38 (2:58, 2:40). 3 mile c/d."

My first Chase Corporate Challenge, representing Team Shure was a blast as I got to see a lot of Chicago-area running friends as well as meet a bunch more fellow Shure Associates!

The race itself went about as expected based on the previous week's race and my workout from the day before:

"18:55 (5:24 pace) for the 3.5 mile race. A bit disappointing but still a lot of fun. Particularly to meet and run with my new Shure coworkers."

The course was a lot of fun though the first two mile markers seemed misplaced.

On Friday, I ran a nice easy (8 min pace) medium long run knowing that with the bike miles for Soldier Field 10 and flight to LA I'd be hard pressed to get any running miles in.

Sunday's goal was to spend 2:45 running which I accomplished by getting lost while attempting to circumnavigate Griffith Park:

This run wasn't fast (I only averaged 8:26 pace) that said the first 90 minutes I only averaged about 9:30 pace so the second half which was primarily on the roads was quite a bit quicker.

I was pretty sore for several days after this one as there were some pretty significant long descents I believe. The good news is that unlike Boston where my left quad really took a beating, this soreness was symmetric.

Week 4

Monday, was another travel day and I was pretty sore from Sunday's run, however in addition to a short run, I did get another couple hours of hiking in before flying back to Chicago.

Malibu Creek State Park is where they filmed MASH.

The rest of the week was decent. Shout out to Tim of Team BibRave for sticking with me on Wednesday night's Lincoln Park Lumberjack:

"4x400 in about 76-77, 10 minute tempo (~5:30 pace), 4x400 in 76-77. 10 minute tempo (~5:30 pace), 4x400 in 76-77 w/ Tim M. The tempo sections felt awful the 400s felt great. 45 seconds between 400s, 3 minutes between 400s/tempos."

I had trouble catching up on sleep all week after getting home Monday night at 1am. An early wake up for airport pickup for my parents didn't help at all on Friday. I eeked out the bare minimum, hoping I'd feel better on Saturday for the Original 5k.

The event itself was awesome, but I never really felt good while racing:

"Ran 2.5 W/U. Then 16:32 or so (haven't looked at my official time) [I was 16:31 officially]. Disappointing but never felt great. Changed shoes and stuff then warmed up into 3 min, 2 min, 1 min with equal rest (2x) with Blume, Dan G, Kyle, and Javier. Happy to get a bit more quality running in despite feeling pretty crappy during the race itself."

It was nice to get a bit of extra quality after getting some junk in the legs.

I hadn't really intended on running the hard 20 miler as planned. Instead I opted to try to run a relaxed but fast long run which eventually turned into a 20 miler. I was averaging well under 6:40 pace until about mile 13 when the heat, lack of hydration early in the run, and birthday party the night prior kicked in. Virtually jogged it back home, but still managed to average 6:44 pace. This will most likely be the last of my long runs (20 miles+) as next weekend I have 13.1 Chicago which will sort of function as my last really hard workout before tapering for Grandma's.

All in all, I've been pretty happy with this build up. Though I haven't really spend a lot of time at MP (6:00-5:55). That said, my long runs have been executed as planned and I've felt good for most of them. I hadn't intended on racing so much (with 13.1 it will be 4 weeks straight), but I do think there is good value in racing one's self into shape. The results have yet to reveal themselves, but I continue to hope that sometime soon, I'll start to feel like my "normal" self again.

How has your training and racing been going?