CIM Training Journal #6: Hello self-doubt my old friend

This continues CIM Training Journals #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5.

October 24, 2017
My friend Amy ran with me on my second run at lunch today.  When she was waiting by the door at work someone asked her who she was looking for, and when she replied "Sara", that person asked, "Marathon runner Sara?"  I work for a huge organization, and found it humorous and awesome that the person knew I was a marathon runner but didn't know my last name (I am sure it helped that Amy was dressed in running attire).

I'm still on a bit of a trip from the Kansas City half marathon, but I'm trying to remind myself that what it all boils down to is that I ran 12.9ish miles at an average pace of somewhere between 6:15-6:20 (which is marathon goal pace), with uneven workout pacing, on a course with nearly 800 ft of elevation gain, when it was 68* with 25+ mph wind, during a 71 mile week.  I think in the big picture this is promising, and prior to other marathons I'm not sure I could have done the equivalent (prior to Phoenix I averaged 6:35ish pace for the comparable part of a similar workout on a much easier course in cooler temps, then went on to average 6:27 pace for that marathon). Even though I don't have my workout splits I know the effort was there, but I'm just still upset about how it all played out.  In comparison, though, I ran a little faster than I did at Rock the Parkway in April, and at RtP the wind was comparable, the temperature better, the course easier (280ish ft of gain), I was a more rested, and I was racing all-out...so I have made progress.  I just going to keep rationalizing away until I get over it!

Also, at least it wasn't a goal race and a situation in which I thought I broke 1:20 only to find out I ran 1:21!

October 25, 2017
Right now I'm stuck on 2:47 for CIM.  This feels like a realistic goal.  I just don't think I'm quite ready for 2:45 unless this course is just ridiculously fast and being at sea level makes a dramatic difference.  I'll see how my half goes at Bass Pro on November 5, but I also don't anticipate great things there because I expect to have no one around me and the course has a million turns (also I do not expect to be rested for it).  The upside is that Bass Pro nearly always has perfect weather, and I get to sleep in my own bed and eat at home pre-race!

October 26, 2017 (my birthday)
The most exciting thing about turning a year older is that the Missouri state half marathon record for age 37 is currently 1:23:11.  I told my husband that all I wanted to for our anniversary and my birthday this year was a trip to CIM, so guess what, I'm going to CIM!  :-)

October 28, 2017
During every long run I think about CIM, and today's 22.4 miler was no different.  I continue to feel really good about going for a 2:46-2:47, but to not feel so good about trying for a 2:45:00 or better!  I don't know why those extra couple of minutes feel so insurmountable, but I think it is because maintaining 6:20-6:24 pace seems do-able, but maintaining 6:17 pace or faster doesn't!  Those 3-7 seconds/mile make a huge difference in my head.  I wish the standard was 2:51:16 like it was in 1984, 2:50 like 1988 and 2000, 2:48 like 2004, or 2:47 like 2008 - but I am also thankful it is not 2:42 like in 1996!! What was going on in 1996?!

October 30, 2017
I did some math on my mileage today.  Details are coming, but what I found is that in the 24 weeks leading up to CIM, my average weekly mileage will be about 14 miles per week (mpw) more than I averaged in the 24 weeks leading up to Phoenix (65 mpw vs. 51 mpw).  I've done the math on the 12 week lead-ups and the 20 week lead-ups to marathons before, but I wanted to look at 24 weeks this time since the week of June 19 was really when I started running more mileage to prepare for this focused marathon build.  I feel like this is a substantial increase, while at the same time not being too risky.  But 65 still seems awfully low (how perspective changes!), so this math simultaneously made me feel like I am ready for a marathon PR and like this is not good enough.  Surprise!

November 1, 2017
Marathon training can feel like a silly pursuit of believing, doubting, wondering, and hungering.

November 3, 2017
The weather is forecasted to be horrible for the Bass Pro half on Sunday, so I am not going to better my half PR before CIM (I am actually not sure I can even hit my marathon goal pace in the conditions we are supposed to get).  This kind of terrifies me, because I definitely don't feel like I should try for a 2:45 having not yet run under 1:20, but I also believe I am in 1:18-1:19 shape under ideal conditions on a fast course.  I'm trying not to worry too much about those comparisons; after all, the time I ran for the second half of the BMO Phoenix marathon was also my third fastest lifetime half at that time, so trying for a similar result at CIM (given ideal conditions and peak) isn't completely unreasonable.  I just want to whine a little bit about Bass Pro's weather (more whining coming post-race) and then I'll move on!

Follow-up:  I did 6:20 pace at Bass Pro in the awful weather, which is about or slightly under realistic marathon goal pace, but not quite big dream goal pace of 6:17.  At this time I remain stuck on around 6:22 pace as my most likely target for CIM.

November 12, 2017
I was too busy running 80.7 miles (!!!) this week to add to this journal, but Lemony Snicket said it well below!  I'm not ready for a 2:45 attempt, but I probably never will be.  I'm going to go to California and begin the race aiming for a 2:47.  A 2:47 would be a great PR and a fantastic step for me.  Maybe I can get hit with the same magic I was in the marathons where I tried for a 2:52 and ran a 2:49, when I tried for a 3:05 and ran a 3:03, or when I tried for a 3:10 and ran 3:08.  The extra time is always in the second half and especially in the final 10K!  If I can't run a given time going out conservatively and then picking it up later, then I can't run that time that day.  No one ever says, "Man, I lost that marathon goal time by running too slow in the first 10K" (MANY lose it running too fast in the first 10K, whether they admit it or not).  All I know for sure is that even if I DNF CIM, this training cycle was great for my development and even in the worst case scenario would not be for naught...not to mention it's been a fun training cycle!

Also, I ran 24.5 miles today!  I did 21 relaxed (these were pretty much all 6:5X, except for a few 7:0X at the beginning and a couple 6:4X), then 3 progressive fast finish in 6:35, 6:16, 6:10 (grade adjusted paces were 6:27, 6:14, 6:08; I did not pick the easiest route, especially for the first of those 3 miles).  Then I ran to 2:48 so that ideally I will not be running for a longer duration this season!  Just need to fit 1.7 more miles into that duration, or in a perfect dream world 1.7 more miles into 3 minutes faster.  My average pace for the whole pop was 6:50, which I felt really good about.  I averaged 7:11 for this same run before my last marathon, so I hoped to be sub-7:00 to show that I'm possibly ready to take 10 seconds/mile off of my PR pace on race day.  I have only run 24.5 miles faster 3 times, in my 3 best marathons, and in 2 of those it wasn't much faster than this run but I was working much harder during those races (although I was working very hard in the last 2 miles today!).  The course I ran had 725 ft elevation gain, i.e. waaaay more than CIM (CIM has 350+ ft net elevation loss, also).

The miles went by really quickly and I'm not sure it could have gone any better really.  I did not stop my watch at any point during the run, meaning that I grabbed my fluid bottles from various random places, including the ditch, without stopping -- so I lost a little time each time I did that, but the clock doesn't stop on race day (however, I also do not plan to be bending down in a ditch to collect my race day fluids; if I am we have bigger problems!).  I didn't have to stop to pee, a change from my other 20+s but something I've always worked out for race day, and the key to that seems to be getting up earlier, because I got up an hour before starting this run instead of my usual 30 minutes.

I drank 4 tabs worth of nuun energy before and during the run, and took 2 gels (I will take 3-4 during the marathon), and also drank Ucan before the run.  On race day I will also eat a solid breakfast 3 hours before the race, but I didn't want to get up at 3:00 a.m. to do that for this one, but this just basically means I'll be better fueled on race day.  If you are trying a new pre-race meal or running a marathon for the first time, I highly recommend you don't be lazy like me and practice it beforehand, but this will be my fourth marathon with exactly the same pre-race and during-race nutrition so I feel really good about the combination that's worked for me previously.

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I was going to post this in a separate post, but decided to include it here and get this puppy posted:

I did the math on my mileage this marathon build, because I knew it was more than I'd ever done before but I wasn't sure how much more...and as per usual, I have been feeling like I'm not doing enough!  Here it is:

24 weeks pre-race CIM:

1. June 19 - 56.8
2. June 26 - 58.2
3. July 3 - 60.8
4. July 10 - 62.4
5. July 17 - 64
6. July 24 - 65
7. July 31 - 64.7
8. Aug. 7 - 62.4
9. Aug. 14 - 66.4
10. Aug. 21 - 68.4 (should've gone the extra 1.6!)
11. Aug. 28 - 62.5
12. Sep. 4 - 63.7 (Plaza 10K race week + Run for a Child 10K tempo)
13. Sep. 11 - 71.5
14. Sep. 18 - 71.3
15. Sep. 25 - 51.6 (Indy Half race week)
16. Oct. 2 - 70.1
17. Oct. 9 - 77.1
18. Oct. 16 - 71.6
19. Oct. 23 - 76.7
20. Oct. 30 - 70.2 (Bass Pro Half race week)
21. Nov. 6 -  80.7
22. Nov. 13 - 64
23. Nov. 20 - 53.3
24. Nov. 27 - estimated at 50

• Total miles run:  1563.2
• Average miles per week:  65.1
• Weeks in the 80s:  1
• Weeks in the 70s: 7
• Weeks in the 60s: 11

24 weeks pre-race BMO Mesa-Phoenix (I forgot to write down the dates when I went through Strava for this data and I was too lazy to go back and get them):

1. 61.3 (Prairie Fire peak mileage week)
2. 53.9
3. 41.5 
4. 45.7 (Prairie Fire Marathon race week)
5. 33 (Prairie Fire recovery)
6. 51.5
7. 50
8. 45.7 (Bass Pro Marathon race week)
9. 29.1 (Bass Pro recovery)
10. 43.5 (White River Half race week)
11. 45.1
12. 50.6
13. 55.7
14. 65
15. 60.3
16. 57.1
17. 62
18. 54.7 (Rock 'n' Roll Arizona race week)
19. 64.2
20. 61.3
21. 67.6 (Phoenix peak mileage week)
22. 56.7
23. 48.2
24. 48.2 (BMO Phoenix Marathon race week)

• Total miles run: 1242.9
• Average miles per week:  51.8
• Weeks in the 60s: 7

I'm happy with my increase and I think it will pay off.  My CIM build was longer, since Phoenix was also my third marathon within 20 weeks.  The tapers and recoveries from Prairie Fire and Bass Pro reduced my pre-Phoenix average mileage some, but I also felt like I'd recently run a marathon, whereas now I feel like it's been ages since I've run one!

I am prepared to up to week after week of mileage into the 80s for the next one, provided I'm staying healthy.  Whatever it takes!  I'm not confident that CIM 2017 is going to earn me a spot on the Trials starting line in 2020, but I am going to keep pursuing a performance that does before the qualifying window closes in January 2020.