CIM Training Journal #4: Just keep doing the math & rationalizing

This continues CIM Training Journals #1, #2, and #3 .

September 25, 2017
If only rationalizing and "perfect scenario" math would get me a marathon PR!  I felt really good about my 20 mile training run at 6:49 average pace on Sep. 23.  I felt nice and relaxed on all of it except for the 5 x 1:00 pick-ups to 6:00ish pace (so 2:11:15 relaxed running, 5:00 hard).  Although I need to average 32 sec/mile faster for 6.2 miles farther on race day, hopefully I can count on getting 10 sec/mile from ideal weather, 10 sec/mile from a fast course, 10 sec/mile from a taper/being at peak, and the other 2 sec/mile from running with a pace group.  The additional 10K can come from this training run not being a race effort run, and race day being, obviously, a race effort run.  Too bad hypothetical math rarely translates into real-life settings...  I looked up my first 20 miler in my Mesa-Phoenix marathon build, and I averaged 7:21 pace for it (with 4 progressive fast finish miles, meaning more time pushing the pace than my recent 20 had, and in much cooler weather), so in theory I am pretty far ahead of where I was then.  Too bad theory is just theory!  One of my worst marathon-related fears is running slower at CIM than I did in Phoenix.

September 26, 2017
Although 400 m repeats are certainly not a key marathon workout, nailing my 12 x 400 m workout today was a nice confidence boost!  My coach steadily sneaks down my goal split range on these, and it was 1:20-1:22 for this workout (the last time I ran 400s it was 1:21-1:23, and it used to be 1:25-1:28...don't think I haven't caught on!).  These are probably still relatively slow compared to what others running around my race times are doing for 400s, but I just don't have the speed.  I was pretty intimidated by this goal, but decided to try it and see what happened.

Success was what happened -- I ran 8 of them in 1:21, 2 in 1:22, and 2 (including the final rep) in 1:20!  Clearly, being able to nail a 400 m workout in no way translates into a successful marathon, but it showed me that I am improving and that speed comes with mileage.  The last time I ran 400s I had 8, and 4 were 1:21 and 4 were 1:22, so doing 4 more reps faster made me very happy!  I also enjoyed the workout, which is perhaps the biggest victory of all, because typically 400s are my least favorite workout.  This was also my first time back to the track after my failed 1600 m repeat workout on August 22, so I am happy to report that the track and I are back on speaking terms.

September 29, 2017
Tomorrow I'm going to race somewhat rested for the first time in months!  The morning low is 49*, so hopefully I am also going to race in ideal weather conditions for the first time in months (the wind may be the X factor).  I am excited for this checkpoint and to see what 12 consecutive weeks of mileage in the 60s-70s has gotten me, but I am also so very intimidated because what if this race tells me that I am not on track for my marathon goal?  I have learned, though, that I can't pressure or bully myself into being any faster or giving more than I've got on any given day, so I am going to aim to enjoy the race and to do my best, and also to (at least try to) be satisfied with whatever my best is and to thank God for it.  Regardless of what time I run or how I place, I am absolutely thankful for the opportunity to get on the starting line and try.

October 2, 2017
All in all, the Indy Women's Half was a good step.  I am happy to have a new PR that shows my training is working.  I wish I could have run faster (we all know I am chasing a sub-80 in the half), which I know sounds greedy, but the more I think about the race the happier I am with it.

The big successes in relation to marathon-training were:

• Running a half PR without having perfect conditions.  The faster anyone's PRs get, the more we need ideal conditions to beat them.  The circumstances for this race were average -- not bad by any means, but also not perfect (I elaborated plenty on that here).  The circumstances for my previous PR at Rock 'n' Roll Phoenix were pretty much perfect; I even mentioned in that race report that the biggest blessing was not feeling like I needed to list ways in which things could have gone better, which is clearly rare for me (the White River Half was that way too though).  Basically, it's helpful to know that I am in good enough shape to PR without having everything align.  I feel that way about CIM too; that I could run a PR marathon without everything going perfectly (it just would not be a 2:44:59, just as Indy was not a 1:19:59).
• Pacing evenly by feel.  My splits were all within 11 seconds of each other (within 8 seconds if you throw out the 2 outliers), and I did not use my Garmin to pace after the first 2 miles.  I used it early to ensure I didn't get out too fast, but once I settled into tempo pace I was in the zone. When considered with the wind and elevation, the splits were even more even than this.
• Grinding it out solo.  A half marathon is a long way to run on your own, but after the lead pack gapped me before the 1 mile I went at it alone the rest of the race, although being able to see and try to pull in another lady during the final 5K was helpful.  This built mental-toughness for the marathon!
• Holding my own in a competitive field.  Although I was never in the thick of things for the lead in this race, I am happy with my place of 5th among such talented ladies.  I will be around many more talented ladies at CIM.  I did not get intimidated by my competitors, and I also did not get drawn into anyone else's race and stuck to my personal pace plan.  I certainly cannot go out fast at CIM, and plan to go out conservatively and not get drawn into anyone else's pacing.
• Success with pre-marathon nutrition.  The night before the race I ate my pre-marathon dinner, and the morning of I had half of my pre-marathon breakfast and my pre-race fluids.  I also used the same gel pre-race that I will use before and during my marathon (I took half of the gel right before my warm-up, and the other half about 10 minutes before the gun).  I don't take gels or fluids during halves unless it's hot, because I don't need anything running less than 90 minutes, but in retrospect I should have tried a gel during just to practice running hard with it on my stomach.  There will be opportunities in long run workouts for that though!  All of the nutrition I had set perfectly.
• I recovered quickly.  My recovery from this race was so good that it made me think I did not run it hard enough.  My easy pace the day after the race was a typical easy day; the day after some other halves I've barely been able to run a few miles 8:30 pace the following day.  I had 6 miles the day after and my easy pace was 7:18.  I had no soreness and my legs didn't feel any different than after any long run or workout.  This may be because I'm used to higher mileage, but maybe I just couldn't quite push as hard running alone.

The not-encouraging component in relation to marathon training was:

• I did not run a 1:19:59.

 The true miracle:

• I liked a couple of my race photos, which is harder to come by than a PR.

Focus

October 3, 2017
My husband is researching flights and hotels for CIM, and just sent me a text that said, "Can we cancel the hotel and flights if it's over 60*?"  I don't think any further explanation is needed on my reaction to this question.  I responded with a single emoticon.

October 4, 2017
I had a big confidence boost today, wrapped up in the package of a PR mile repeat workout.  I averaged 5:37.8 for 5 x 1 mile on the road (splits below), which is a better average than I've ever run on any mile repeat workout, including 3 or 4 x 1 mile.  Ironically, the last time I ran mile repeats it was a major hit to my confidence (details under August 26 here - but basically I quit the workout the first time then 2 days later rallied to finish it with 3 x 1 mile a bit slower than my goal times).  Although my fitness has improved some since then, the main difference was today I didn't stress about the workout beforehand and just went out with the goal of doing my best and seeing if I could hit the upper end of the pace range my coach gave me (5:38-5:42).  Last time I convinced myself before that I wouldn't be able to hit my splits.

The slight downside was that I really questioned if I'd pushed hard enough in the Indy Half, since I was able to do this workout 4 days afterward.  I suspect that part of the reason I'm feeling so good this week, though, is because I cut back to 51 miles last week, but maybe I couldn't quite go to that extra level due to running so much of that race solo.  Regardless -- onward and upward!

I couldn't really believe it either

October 5, 2017
I've been been in a good place on my runs lately, which leads me to start worrying that I hope I am not peaking to early!

October 8, 2017
Wrapping this one up one long run closer to my goal (with color coordination from my shorts to my socks to my Garmin - which never happens!).  I watched/tracked the Chicago Marathon today, and I was so excited and inspired I don't know how I am possibly going to wait 8 more weeks to run a marathon myself!  On the other hand, 6.5 more weeks to make fitness gains doesn't seem like enough!  But I suppose waiting until you're completely ready to run a PR marathon is like waiting until you're completely ready to have children; the completely ready day never comes, so you just use the best timing you know how.