Thanks all for your well wishes. The ankle has gotten a little better, but still gets sore after a run. I bought some new running shoes since I think the old ones may have contributed to the ankle thing and I ended up going with the Sauconys Grid Omni's that I found so comfortable last year. They didn't last that long, but I think they were the perfect shoe for me.
I did 5 miles with some strides on Tuesday and did 12 miles with 7 at LT pace yesterday. It was a bit windy and I managed the 7 miles continuously, but wasn't happy with the pace. I ended up averaging about 7:15 pace for the LT portion. I kinda was hoping I'd be able to do these at least at 7:00. When I did this run, last fall, I was able to also average about 7:15 but managed negatives splits and my HR was a bit lower, so I definitely think I'm not in as good a shape as last time.
| Lap | Lap Time | Avg |
| 4 | 07:09.2 | 168 |
| 5 | 07:16.7 | 174 |
| 6 | 07:16.7 | 176 |
| 7 | 07:15.6 | 177 |
| 8 | 07:22.0 | 176 |
| 9 | 07:18.0 | 176 |
| 10 | 07:10.0 | 177 |
Considering that my Boston pace is 7:15, this basically means that a Boston qualifying attempt just isn't in the cards for this spring. There's no way I could maintain that pace for 26.2 miles. I'm not even sure I would be able to maintain that for a half marathon which I was also able to a week and a half later last fall after the LT workout.
Looking back in hindsight, I think it was a mistake to do 2 months of low HR training in January and December. I think it basically killed my LT pace and speed. The only real reason to do low HR training is to build endurance, and I realize now that my endurance was already pretty good considering that my marathon time was actually faster than what my shorter race times predicted. I needed to work on speed, not endurance. With the relatively mild December with no snow on the ground, it would have been perfect time for me work on speed at the track Oh well, live and learn.
I'm now thinking of maybe avoiding a marathon in the spring and concentrating more on short races now to build up the LT and speed again. I will probably continue on the marathon training for now since I'm entering the speed phase of the Pfitz training plan which requires me to do track workouts anyways.
Looking back in hindsight, I think it was a mistake to do 2 months of low HR training in January and December. I think it basically killed my LT pace and speed. The only real reason to do low HR training is to build endurance, and I realize now that my endurance was already pretty good considering that my marathon time was actually faster than what my shorter race times predicted. I needed to work on speed, not endurance. With the relatively mild December with no snow on the ground, it would have been perfect time for me work on speed at the track Oh well, live and learn.
I'm now thinking of maybe avoiding a marathon in the spring and concentrating more on short races now to build up the LT and speed again. I will probably continue on the marathon training for now since I'm entering the speed phase of the Pfitz training plan which requires me to do track workouts anyways.
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4 comments:
If you haven't already signed up for anything, it would probably be a good idea to wait and get fully healthy before ramping up your mileage. There are plenty of good fall marathons where you could go after that BQ once you get your mojo back.
Of course if you wait 2 more years you'll get to add 5 minutes to your qualifying time. But maybe running the spring one at a workable pace with low expectations and then kicking butt in a fall marathon might be best.
Just Your Average Joggler
Fran I can't speak from any experience but I get the same feeling. Speed in the spring and endurance after to build towards a BQ. I would not rule it out for you in the fall especially if you can fit in big miles this summer. Good luck.
I'm sure you're disapointed...
But I agree with the others. Hold off until fall.
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