Knowing that the peak weeks of training are here, and there isn’t much longer to go before the taper begins, and the training cycle ends, has me feeling good.
But what arguably has me feeling even better – cooler temperatures! It’s no secret that I (and many others) have struggled at times in the heat and humidity this summer – especially on the longer and more intense workouts.
A lot of people say, ‘Once the lower temperatures come, you’ll reap the benefits of training through the summer’. Or something to that effect at least. But it can be hard to keep that in mind when the summer weather never seems to end or if you are going through a particularly tough stretch of training, which is how I felt a few weeks ago.
Fortunately, the temperatures are mostly lower now, and I’m starting to notice a difference in how I feel on most of my runs. Yes, the humidity is still around some mornings, but that is much more manageable when temperatures are lower.
The humidity can still cause some problems though, as you’ll see if you keep reading!
Hopefully, over the next couple of weeks as we get closer to raceday, the temperatures and humidity continue to fall. I know that I’ll be looking at the early forecasts as soon as they are available!
Here is a breakdown of the training for Weeks 10-12 of training, including how I felt before, during and after most of the tougher and longer workouts:
Week 10 (69.9 km; 43.4 miles)
Monday 29.5km (18.3 miles) Long Run – This was originally supposed to be done yesterday, to end Week 9, but having looked at the weather forecast, this looked like the better day to complete this run. The sun was still shining, which made it feel a bit warm about midway through the run, but the lower humidity helped. I took a different route than my normal long runs to change things up. And I even ran 7km on the track at once! This allowed me to get a big chunk of the distance done, pace evenly and not have to carry my water for a little while. I used this run to make sure I was good with all of my fueling for race day also – breakfast, hydration and gels/chews on the run. Everything seemed to work out well enough and, aside from slightly tired legs, I felt good in the second half of the run!
Wednesday Easy 5km – Because of my races this upcoming weekend, it was an easy run today.
Friday – Bird-In-Hand 5km – With the plan to run tomorrow’s half marathon at marathon pace, this 5k was basically an “unsanctioned race” to my coach. But because of how the event weekend is set up, it only makes sense to arrive on Friday evening. And if there’s a 5k happening, I’m almost always going to run it as part of the weekend. It was a really nice evening for a run and I listened to coach (as always!) by taking it nice and easy.
Saturday – Bird-In-Hand Half Marathon – Then, came the main event. I have done this race two times previously and have always really liked it. The course is around and through Amish farms and is described as having some ‘rolling hills’. One or two of the hills are more than rolling (ultra/trail runners might disagree), but I actually enjoy the hills on the course for some nice variety.
The plan for the race was to start slightly slower than marathon pace – between 4:55 and 5:05/km (~8:00/mile) – for the first few kms and then get into marathon pace – about 4:50/km (7:40/mile) – for the remaining 17-18 kms (11+ miles).
After my warmup jog I was feeling ready to go, but you still never quite know how things will pan out once you get going in a race. It was cloudy/overcast but there was some humidity in the air, which was a little cause for concern as the race started. Things got started comfortably enough and once I got into the marathon pace the kms began to pass fairly quickly. Even though I was still going strong and felt like I could go a little bit faster for certain parts, I held back. With very few places to hide on the course and the sun coming out, I wanted to make sure I still had energy for the final kms.
So I stayed on schedule, taking my gels or chews as planned and taking a cup of water at each water stop, and kept ticking off the kms. For the most part, I was finishing each km a few seconds faster than planned, so with 5k left I made a conscious effort to pick up my pace and keep my stride strong with the incentive of passing a few runners on the way to the finish line.
Having done the race before and remembering the course, I knew that I could push myself to the finish strongly. Finishing in 1:41.54, while not my fastest half marathon time, it gave me a nice confidence boost that I could maintain the marathon pace for a good amount of time.
Sunday Recovery 5km – Just a 5k to get some blood flowing through the legs after yesterday’s race.
Week 11 (83.5 km; 51.9 Miles)
Tuesday Intervals 19km total (15 Minute Warmup; 5 x 1600m @ 4:10-4:20/km (~6:45/mile) with 2 minutes rest/jog; 5 x 200m @ 3:35-3:45/km (~5:55/mile) with 1 minute rest/jog; 2 minutes rest; 1600m @ 4:50-4:55/km (~7:40/mile); 15 minute Cooldown) – After the 15 minute warmup, and once I got into the 1600m reps, I knew that I was going to finish each rep in the planned paces. Since these were longer intervals, I decided to do them on a neighborhood loop instead of the (dreaded) track. As I worked my way through the 1600m reps though, I kept the upcoming 200m reps in my mind to make sure that I didn’t overextend myself before I got to them.
Once I started the 200m reps, I knew that I just needed to get up to speed and then I could maintain that for what was left of each rep. These were so quick that they went by with very little trouble. Then, all that was left was 1600m at about 4:50/km to complete the interval portion. No trouble here either, which meant it was time for the 15 minute cooldown after completing a tough session!
Wednesday Easy 10km – After some intense kms/miles recently, it took a few minutes for my legs to warm up, but then everything felt good.
Thursday Easy 11km – Legs felt better today and have me feeling ready for the long run on Saturday!
Saturday 31.5km (19.6 mile) Long Run (2 tempo/MP blocks of 11km/~7 miles @ 4:50/km (7:40/mile) – With a long run, a marathon-paced half marathon and a tough speed session in the last twelve days, I could have approached this long run in one of two ways – the heavy load has been very demanding and this will be extra tough or the confidence gained from a really good couple of weeks will push me through this workout. Luckily, it turned out to be the latter!
Still humid, but with lower temps I was able to start easily and I was feeling so good/confident that I decided to do the first tempo block on the track. All 28 laps of it! Running 28 laps of the track at 4:50/km (7:40/mile) might seem tough, but it allowed me to lock into the pace and tick off the laps. An extra bonus was that the track was completely covered in fog, so much so that I couldn’t even see the other side of the track! I also knew that if I got through the first tempo block on the track, I would have a much better chance of getting the second block done in the way I wanted to.
After leaving the track, I had 2 kms (1+ mile) at a little slower pace, which I used to get to one of my go-to loops in time to start the second and final tempo block. Only 4.5 laps of this loop were necessary to get the 11km done, but these were a little more challenging as this loop has a few smaller hills. As my legs tired some, I was able to find a little reserve energy to finish the last few kms a few seconds faster than planned.
Finishing one long run with marathon pace blocks mixed in is a big confidence boost, but having finished the last four now exactly as planned, has me in a completely different place then just a few weeks ago.
Sunday Recovery 12km – A rare recovery run where my legs felt good from the beginning.
Week 12 (80.9 KM; 50.3 Miles)
Tuesday Intervals 17km total (4 x (1200m @ 4:15-4:25/km (~6:55/mile); 2 mins rest/jog; 400m @ 3:45-3:55/km (~6:05/mile); 75 secs rest/jog) – When I saw the workout on the plan, I knew that the pace for the 2km reps would be manageable, but I wasn’t sure how the pace for the 400m would feel in general, but specifically after each 2km rep. With that in mind, my aim was to do the first rep a little conservatively to make sure I knew I could handle what was coming. As it turns out, the 400m pace felt hard but comfortable. And by the time I realized that, I only had one or two reps left to finish the workout.
Wednesday Recovery 12km – A recovery run made a little more difficult due to the heavy rain at he beginning.
Thursday Easy 12km – Nothing of note on this run. Easy paced to get ready for the long run on Saturday.
Saturday 22.8km (14.2 Miles) Long Run (Including two blocks of 8km at marathon pace (4:50/km; 7:40/mile) – This was supposed to be the longest run (33.5km; 20.8 miles) of the training plan. The last longer run with blocks of marathon pace. I focused on hydration more than usual the day before and felt good as I went out the door. I knew that it might get tough by the end as most of the longer runs do.
It was a little bit humid, but the temperature was low enough, so I didn’t think much of it. But I still started out conservatively for the first block of marathon pace and was on top of my normal fueling of SIS gels and Clif Bloks. But just like a couple of other long runs during the training plan, I very quickly lost the energy in my legs. So, as I was coming to the end of the 2nd marathon pace block, I made the decision to cut the run short.
As frustrating as it was in that moment, it still felt like the right thing to do to keep from anything worse happening.
Sunday Recovery 17km – One of the good things about running is that the next day is a chance get back on track. We extended this run by several kms to make up for coming up short on yesterday’s distance. Even though this run didn’t include any marathon pace, it was still good to get right back out there and put yesterday’s run behind me.
RunPatRun 
nice post! 🙌
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Thanks Bobby! 👊🙌
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