July 20-26:
M- AM: 9 miles with Jerry/ PM: 3 miles
T- AM: 15 miles with Brian/PM: 3 miles
W- AM: 5 miles/PM: Hill Repeats/9 miles
Th- AM: 18 miles(14 with Brian)/PM: 4 miles
F- 8 x 200m strides with 200m jog, 9 miles
S- AM: 12 miles @ Beach Drive, hilly: 1:09(5:45 pace)/PM: 3 miles
S- 20 miles
Total: 110 miles
July 27-August 2:
M- AM: 5.5 miles/ PM: 5.5 miles + drills
T- AM: 15 miles/PM: 5 miles
W- AM: Hill Repeats(8.5 miles)/PM: 6 miles
Th- AM: 10 miles w/ 8 x 200m strides/PM: 7.5 miles
F- AM: 18 miles(6:30 pace)/PM: 3 miles
S- AM: 3.5 miles/PM: 7.5 miles
S- 22 miles: 2:18(6:15 pace)
Total: 117 miles
August 3-August 9:
M- AM: 4 miles/PM: 5.5 miles + drills
T- AM: 5 miles/PM: Track(5:00 pace): 800m: 2:31, 1600m: 5:01, 2400m: 7:30, 9 miles
W- AM: 4.5 miles/PM: 8.5 miles
Th- AM: 12 miles/PM: 4 miles
F- AM: 10 miles/PM: 4 miles
S- AM: 4 miles/PM: 8.5 miles
S- AM: 15.5 miles quick on road: 1:25(5:30 pace)/PM: 4 miles
Total: 100 miles
August 10-August 16:
M- AM: 8 miles/PM: 5.5 miles
T- AM: 9.5 miles/PM: 6 miles
W- AM: 14.5 miles(6:25 pace)
Th- AM: 16 miles(6:30 pace)/PM: 4.5 miles
F- AM: 10.5 miles/PM: 7 miles
S- AM: Track(4:40 pace): 600m: 1:45, 800m: 2:20, 1200m: 3:32,
800m: 2:20, 800m: 2:21, 600m: 1:45, 9 miles/PM: 5 miles
S- 24 miles: 2:27(6:07 pace)
Total: 120 miles
August 17-August 23:
M- AM: 3.5 miles/PM: 6 miles
T- AM: 9.5 miles/PM: Track(4:22 pace): 12 x 300m, 9 miles
W- 18 miles
Th- 16 miles
F- AM: 12 miles/PM: 5 miles
S- AM: 11 miles/PM: 8 miles
S- AM: 18 miles quick on towpath: 1:39(5:30 pace), out and back: 50:00/49:00/PM: 4 miles
Total: 120 miles
I got into the elite section of the Va Beach Rock n Roll Half Marathon, which is on Sept 6. My coach and I agree that there should be no reason why I shouldn't have a shot at winning, or at the very least go with the leaders. I don't really get scared of thinking about 5:00 pace anymore, but I am not focused on time of this race, rather running strong and getting in a very good fast pace, and to race others. This race will sharpen me up, and then the real target is the Chicago Marathon on Oct 11. What kind of shape am I molding into this fall I am starting to get an idea of but still cannot say exactly, but I CAN say that I will train and run my own best race possible. One thing I learned TODAY: If I had continued running the pace I was running today for another 45 minutes(and I felt like I could have), I would have run a 2:24 marathon. And I wasn't racing, it was a workout-off of 120 miles/week. For those that have followed this blog, despite all of my leaps in nearly all distance races and accomplishments, there is one gorilla on my back still. My very, very weak marathon pr from 2012. I actually really enjoy the doubters/critics of my sub-par marathon performances in the past, because I think eventually there will be an entire connection of all these pieces to a bigger picture that people(and most importantly, that I) will see. You work on one part, then another. There is a very consistent progression where all the distances I have raced connect to each other, and that I have begun to apply to my coaching. What I have learned is that progression takes time and patience. I think most runners are impatient(including myself), we want results, results, results! You need to improve little things at a time. When I ran my debut marathon at age 21, my 5K PR was 16:17, and I ran a 2:38 marathon. I actually thought I would never break 16 for a 5K-I had the hardest time doing so in college. People were puzzled why I couldn't. My 5K now? 14:49, and it's probably one of my softer PRs compared to others! In 2008, I was 60th+ place in the twilighter 8k. I almost won this year. For a while, at one time, I thought I would never run faster than 1:13 for the half marathon. Then I popped a 1:10, and then a 1:08 in the same year. In 2014 I ran 1:07. I look forward to tackling Chicago.
Persistence. The Trials of Miles, Miles of Trials.
-C. Sloane
