Tam's training for 3:45:00" in Feb. 2008

January 2006

15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Austin,TX,USA

Member Since:

Sep 11, 2006

Gender:

Unknown

Goal Type:

Unknown

Running Accomplishments:

Paul & Tam at Congress Avenue Mile: 5:46" 2004. Marathon: 3:44'

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run AT&T Marathon (Feb.18, 2007) in 3:30:59" to qualify for Boston.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Being healthy at 59... like Paul!

Personal:

Married, 2 kids, boy and girl.

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
331.30	137.00	65.10	8.50	541.90

Mon, Sep 11, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	0.00	2.00	0.00	4.00

Monday night at McNeil HS

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Sep 14, 2006 at 21:53:54

Welcome to the blog! Are you related to Texas Paul?

From Tam Hoang on Wed, Sep 27, 2006 at 21:42:20

Hi Sasha,

Paul helped to set up my account. He is my running buddy and does have a great sense of humor! I really want to qualify for Boston this year. Your advices would be greatly welcome and appreciated.

Wed, Sep 13, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	0.00	0.00	2.00	4.00

Thu, Sep 14, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.00

8x200m hills plus 8x100m hills.

Temp=92 degree. 80-85% effort

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Sep 15, 2006 at 13:47:20

No warm-up/cool-down?

From Tam Hoang on Thu, Sep 28, 2006 at 09:13:58

You're right I should.

I ran the first downhill as warm up and a little short walk as cooldown!

Thanks.

Sat, Sep 16, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
14.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	14.00

T=81 degrees.

Ran 4 miles with Karen F. and Don S. and then another 10 miles with Rogue group. Picked up the pace on last 3 miles. Average=10"/mile

Sun, Sep 17, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

OFF

Mon, Sep 18, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	3.00	3.00	0.00	9.00

AM: Work out at YMCA.

Warm up 1 mile. Ran 3 miles @ 7:24" pace. Legs=91%, Heart=92%, Mind=95%!!! the 2nd mile is mentally hard. Comfortably hard but controlled breathing. I am ready to go to 7:18" 3 miles training run next week.

PM: T=95 degrees.

Warm up 1 miles. Drills. Ran 3 miles progressive run with Karen and Paul at about 8:00" pace at 85-90% effort.

Tue, Sep 19, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Morning work out at YMCA:

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)=(10x95 lbs)]. Plus 5x20 sit ups.

No running today.

Wed, Sep 20, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	0.00	0.00	2.00	4.00

Temperature = 92 degrees.

Warm up 1 mile. Drills. Ran 2 miles time trial at 6:50" pace at 100% effort. It's 22 seconds faster than last years 2 miles time trial.

Felt somewhat tired before the run (Was not 100% recovered from Monday double workouts).

I believe I could have run at 6:45" pace if I was fully rested. Andy dropped back after leading for 1 mile (not feeling well the last 2 days). Started leading Joe on last 300m.

Race predictor said 6:50" for 2 mile is potentially a 7:04" 5K or 3:36:08" marathon! Suddenly the possibility of running 3 miles at 7:00" pace is very real. Something that has never occured to me!!!

Very encouraging (=:

Thu, Sep 21, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

AM:Work out at YMCA:

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(10x95 lbs)]. Plus 5x20 situps.

PM: Temperature = 95 degrees. Ran 10 x (200m + 100m) hills at 80% of effort. Feel great.

Fri, Sep 22, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Morning work out at YMCA:

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)=(10x95 lbs)]. Plus 5x20 sit ups.

No running today.

Sat, Sep 23, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.00	4.00	0.00	0.00	14.00

Got 6.5 hours of sleep.

Run 14 miles toward Mt. Bonnel and back. Temperature = 82 degrees. Started with front group on first 4 miles at about 8:00" pace. Way too fast for a long run. Ran with Bruce about 9:00" last 10 miles. Heart OK, legs are still not 100% recovered from double workouts on Monday and 2 miles time trial on Wednesday. It would be very hard mentally and physically to run the last couples miles at MGP today. Overall, it's good 90% effort training run.

Comments

From Paul on Sun, Sep 24, 2006 at 15:42:06

Tam, way to go. You had a great week. Build on it. See you Monday at McNeil.

Sun, Sep 24, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Got 12 hrs of sleep plus 1/2 hr nap time in the afternoon.

Feel great. Relaxing day.

Mon, Sep 25, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	0.00	1.00	1.00	4.00

Got 5.5 hrs of interupted sleep

AM:Work out at YMCA:

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(6x105 lbs)]. Plus 5x20 situps.

PM: T=88 degrees, cooler, not as hot. Felt strong during 1 mile warm up.

Drills.

4 x (400m+200m) with 100m recovery jog in between. AVG.92"/400m and 42"/200m.

Effort level:90%, 92%, 94%, 98%

Kept up with Andy! Passed Joe and Bill. Feel great. Good but challenging workout!

Tue, Sep 26, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Morning work out at YMCA:

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)=(6x105 lbs)]. Plus 5x20 sit ups.

No running today.

Wed, Sep 27, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	4.00	0.00	0.00	6.00

Got 7 hrs of good sleep

AM:Work out at YMCA:

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(6x105 lbs)]. Did 8 repetitions on last 105 lbs. Plus 5x20 situps.

PM: T=95 degrees

Warm up 1 mile. Drills.

Hamstrings are sore from yesterday 20 plunges! Will start doing more of this after 10K race this Sunday.

Ran 4 alternate miles @8:22" and 8:12" pace with Andy. AVG=8:17" pace. 85-90% effort. Could have run 2 more miles easily but Andy, Paul, and Joe all stopped!

Warm down 1 mile.

Thu, Sep 28, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

Got 8 hrs sleep!

AM: Work out at YMCA:

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(8x105 lbs)] Plus 5x20 situps.

PM: T=87 degrees. Felt great!

Ran about 4 miles which covers 6[200m+100m] hills at 75-80% effort. Take it real easy for Sunday 10K race. Felt great.

Comments

From Paul on Fri, Sep 29, 2006 at 15:56:23

Tam, you removed the great picture from your blog site. Lets get the picture from Congress Avenue Mile and get it up on your blog.

Fri, Sep 29, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

AM: Work out at YMCA:

Jog and walk 1 mile.

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(6x105 lbs)] Plus 5x20 situps.

15 min. streching.

PM: No running today

Sat, Sep 30, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

OFF

Sun, Oct 01, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	0.00	2.50	3.50	9.00

IBM 10K race. T=73-76 degrees. Humid 75%.

Slept 7 hrs. Woke up 2.5 hrs before race time. Well hyderated. Good relax warm up for 2 miles. Drills.

Ran 6.2 miles at 7:36" AVG

Warm down 1 mile.

To qualify for Boston I would need to run a 3:30:00� marathon or for a 10K I would need to run at 7:12� pace.

My last 2 miles time trial at 6:50� pace suggests that I potentially could run a marathon at 3:36:18� or a 10K at 7:24� pace. And that was my goal for this 10K.

I did not have a watch on me so the first 2 miles I was running at about 90-91% effort which seems pretty comfortable to me. Everything works as planned. I felt like I could keep going at this pace for 6.2 miles. The official clock said 8:30� for the first mile but I had a late start so it doesn�t tell me much about my pace. I felt like I was running at about 7:20�-7:30� pace. I learned later I ran the 1st mile at 7:39" pace. Going into the 3rd mile, with a little bit of incline, my body started feeling the heat. My legs and my heart (rate) started working harder and harder to maintain the pace and keep up with the group that I had been running with. At about 3 mile mark, I was sweating a lots and my breathing became uncontrollably hard (95-98% effort). I was forced to slow down and take a 30 meters walk break during the water stops. I slowed down even more during mile 4th & 5th, forced to take some additional walking breaks beside the usual water stops and it was so painful that I was seriously thinking of quitting. However, running slower allowed me to recover a little bit. I also felt a little bit better mentally and start picking up the pace on the last mile (second wind?). The downhill plus the thought of finishing the race really helped to carry me on the last mile. I probably ran the last mile at about 7:10�-7:20�, thanks to the strong finish on the last 400 meters. I was totally spent at the end.

I am very disappointed that I ran my 10K at 7:36� pace, not at 7:24� pace as planned, or 7:12� as required for BQ.

The only little consolation is I usually ran at about 8:00� pace for a 10K in October then ran a February marathon at 3:45:00�.

Should I focus more on endurance/MGP/tempo runs and less on speed? Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Oct 02, 2006 at 13:06:50

You have plenty of speed for a Boston Qualifier, or even for a 3:30 marathon. Just need some base mileage.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 07:25:50

Your description of the race sounds like you do need higher mileage and tempo runs to get better. That is also consistent with my observation of your training. I suggest you start with a rule that the day does not end until you've run at least 6 miles. Do not worry about the pace. In fact for three weeks or so, run all of them easy just to get used to the routine. After than, start throwing in 2 mile tempo runs twice a week.

From Tam Hoang on Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 14:17:35

Thanks for your advices. I will try to do my best to increase the mileage and tempo runs.

What do you think my weekly mileages need to be at this point for a 3:30:00" Marathon training?

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 10, 2006 at 10:00:34

Tam - rather than talking about the mileage it would take to run a certain time in the marathon, I would rather focus on the ideal mileage. The reason being that I believe 3:30 is way below your true potential, and you will go past this goal quite naturally as you do quality training overtime.

Your ideal mileage is probably 70 miles a week based on what I've seen you do in your training so far and how you've responded to it. However, you should build up to it gradually. I suggest you start by never ending a day with less than 6 total miles 6 days a week unless you feel the threat of an injury or are tapering for a very important race. When you feel good, go a bit more. Go 10-12 miles, but no more than that for your long run, and run about 4-6 of them in the middle at 8:00 mile pace, the rest jogging. Do that for a month, and let's see how you respond to it. If you are handling your daily 6 mile runs fine, throw in a couple of miles at 7:45 pace in the middle, but do not do track speedwork.

From Tam Hoang on Fri, Oct 13, 2006 at 12:19:08

Hi Sasha,

I ran 7 Motorola Marathons in the last 8 years. After my first Marathon, I always want to run a 3:30:00 Marathon. I ran my first Marathon at 4:30:00� and second Marathon at 3:45:00� (3 Marathons at about 3:45:00�). During which I trained mostly three times a week: Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday. When it was getting close to the marathon, sometimes I ran 4 times a week (Averaged about 25- 35 miles a week). There is no cross training. I normally ran once or twice a week during the summers. I used to be a strong believer of Jeff Galloway Marathon training method until it repeatedly failed me.

I am trying to increase my weekly mileage and focus more on tempo/endurance runs and less on speed work this year.

There are several factors that could make it hard for me to increase my mileages but the biggest one is my wife; she believes 20 minutes x 3 times a week excercise is enough for me! And that's tough to overcome!

These are things that I do this year that is different from the last 8 years:

After the Marathon, consistently trained during the summer, mostly 4 times a week - I am in much better shape coming into this Marathon training program.

Ran 4 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday), occasionally five.

Started cross training 5 weeks ago to strengthen upper body and abdominal. Will do legs work out as well.

Try to meet the time predictor for 1 Mile, 2 Miles, 5K, 10K, 1/2M for a 3:30:00 Marathon before Marathon date. In May, once a week, I started by running 3 miles on the treadmill at 7:47� pace, then after about 3-4 weeks, try to lower it by 6�-7�. This week I should start doing it at 7:18� pace (I ran 3 miles at 7:24� three times in September). After I successfully lower my 5K down to 7:00� pace (I've never done it before), I want to do a weekly tempo run at MGP (8:00�) start at 6 miles and work up to 12 miles.

Run the long run faster, preferably at about 8:30-9:15� pace with some miles at MGP 8:00�. Jeff Galloway said I should run it at 9:30-10:00� pace with 1 minute walking break every mile! Last year, Donnie said I ran too slowly during the long runs.

Believe that I am capable of running a 3:30:00 Marathon and willing to train hard to get it!

Mon, Oct 02, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

Drills, then 2 800M @ 7:12" pace with 200M jog, then 4 400M @ 7:00" pace with 100M jog, then 1 mile cool down. Ran with Karen & Paul. Legs felt great. Best recovery after a race. 80-85% effort.

Tue, Oct 03, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Morning work out at YMCA:

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(10x105 lbs)]. Plus 6x20 sit ups. Plus 6x20 plunges. Strech 15 min. Good recovery from 10K race. Felt great. No soreness.

PM: Strech 15 min. Did power bench press 1 time at 135 lbs, and 145 lbs (my body weigh!) Very happy that I can finally do that.

No running today.

Wed, Oct 04, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	0.00	4.00	0.00	7.00

PM: T=90 degrees. Warm up 2 mile with Paul. Drills.

5x[400m@ about 7:00" pace --> jog100m -->600m @ 6:30" pace --> jog100m].

Ran with Joe. About 90-92% controlled hard effort. Good pace. Great work out.

Warm down 1 mile.

Thu, Oct 05, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

AM at YMCA: 45 minutes.

Slept 3hrs. Coudn't sleep but relaxing / resting.

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(10x105 lbs)]. Plus 6x20 sit ups. Plus 6x20 plunges. Took less time to recover between sets. Heart rate felt like running at 9:00" pace. Stretched 10 min. Felt great. No soreness.

PM: T=95 degrees.

Felt very tired. Right knee is very tender, especially running downhill. Had to walk going downhill. Decided to take it real easy today. Jogged 4 mile very slowly.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 07:27:31

What kind of exercise did you do with 65/85/105 pounds?

From Tam on Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 12:59:11

From Tam Hoang on Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 13:15:21

I started bench press about 6 weeks ago to improve my upper body strenght, especially my arms. Usually during the runs, my arms got tired first and I had to drop my arms down to relax, even in 1 or 2 mile time trial! I basically did not do any workout with my arms and abs for the last 20 years. My arms are my weakest links! I'm doing it now because I need all the help that I can get to qualify for Boston (=:

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 10, 2006 at 10:14:56

Actually, I think your arms are very strong for a woman athlete of any kind, and especially a runner. I cannot do three sets of 10x105 pounds, although my arm strength is a bit less than average for a guy. But still it is much higher than that of an elite female runner. My arms never get tired when I run. I suspect the reason yours get tired has more to do with the way you are holding them than with their actual strength.

However, bench press could help in other ways. Overall core strength is always a benefit as long as it does not add significantly to your weight.

Fri, Oct 06, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Morning work out at YMCA: Slept 7 hrs.

3x[(15x65 lbs)+(12x85 lbs)+(10x105 lbs)]. Plus 6x20 sit ups. No plunges today! Right knee is still tender. Hope it will recover in time for tomorrow 14.4 miles "run from hell" hilly long run.

No running today.

Sat, Oct 07, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Right knee is still sore. Not feeling well. Will do the long run on Sunday.

Allergy suffering: Sneezing, eye iching, sinus headache, body tired. Slept 8 hrs last night. Took another 3 hours nap at noon! Wake up and still feeling tired! Hopefully will feel better after the Sunday long run.

Sun, Oct 08, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
13.50	0.00	2.00	0.00	15.50

Slept 7 hrs.

T=68-73 degrees. So nice!

Survived the 14.5 miles "run from hell" (countless hills for a good 10 miles).

Warmed up 1 mile very slowly on flat road before the run. Right knee was still very tender even after the warm up. Body however felt much better compared to the last 2 days. Ran at conversational / medium effort pace 80-85% the entire run. Knee was OK going up the hills, very painful on the downhills. Had to really slow down or walked down the hills.

Felt better and better as the run progressed (less painful on right knee). Took 2 GU at mile 7th. Picked up the pace for the last 2 miles. Felt like I could run the last 3-4 miles at MGP today but decided to stay with Stacy (3:41:00) and Becky (3:45:00) who had been so supportive to me through out the run.

Great training run! Felt much stronger than last year when running this hills. Still under the weather (allergy) but it's getting much better now. Will need to take it really easy on Monday run.

Mon, Oct 09, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

Ran 4 miles easy with Paul and Andy. About 8:30" pace with a quick water breaks after each mile. Right knee felt much less painful than before Sunday run! It's still a little bit tender but OK after warming up. Good recovery from Sunday 15.5 miles run. Muscles feel great (no tighness or sore). Very encouraging!

Tue, Oct 10, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

S3H.

AM:4 miles easy at 9:00" on treadmil. Felt great. Right knee tenderness is almost gone.

Wed, Oct 11, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	6.00

S7H.

PM: T=92 degrees.

Warm up, drill, cooldown 3 miles.

1600m @7:17" --> jog 400m.

4x400m @44" AVG. --> jog 200m in between.

1600m @7:10" ---> jog 400m.

Ran with Paul, Joe, and Andy.

Right knee felt OK. All allergy symptons are gone. Felt strong. Controlled comfortly hard training run. Mostly at 90% effort except when picking up the pace on the last lap.

Thu, Oct 12, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

S7H

PM: T=76 Cool!

Running hills with Joe, Angle, and Kerry. Steady up the hills at medium 80-82% effort. Ran up some hills with Angel. Had to walk on downhill. Right knee is tender even when jogging down the hill slowly.

May need new shoes.

Fri, Oct 13, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

AM at YMCA: 45 minutes.

3x[(15x65)+(12x85)+(10x105)]lbs bench press.

9x20 sit ups.

9x20 plunges.

Right knee is tender when walking! Applied sport cream on it.

No running today.

Sat, Oct 14, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
1.50	8.50	0.00	0.00	10.00

S5H.

T=68-72 degrees. So nice!

Ran 10 miles. Started first 1.5 mile real slowly to warm up, about 10-11:00" pace. Right knee seems uneasy but not hurting. Ran at medium/decent effort while carrying short conversations, 83%-85%. Stop 2x1 minutes for water at mile 4th & 6th. Total time was 1:26:00". Average pace the last 8.75 miles is about 8:05"-8:10" pace. Thanks to the cooler temperature. Great training run. Felt strong the whole way. Catched Angel and Andy at the end. It looks like all the 100 degrees plus summer training runs start paying off. 8:00" pace now seems much easier compares to last year. Very encouraging.

Mistakenly took and ran in wife's new shoes, 1/2 sizes maller. Toes got jammed and hurt the whole 10 miles run. Removed insole at mile 6th. Still got blister afterward. Took 1 hour nap at noon. Felt great.

Comments

From MikeBro on Fri, Oct 13, 2006 at 16:54:19

Tam--Thanks for the comments on my blog. Remember that you have an extra 59 seconds about the BQ times to make the cutoff, so 3:30:59 will do it for you. Already having one or more marathons under your belt should help you, as the Flying Pig was my first and I lost it around mile 22. Good luck! --MikeBro

From Tam Hoang on Fri, Oct 13, 2006 at 19:36:26

Thanks Mike. I'll probably need every single second that I can get. They just changed the Austin Marathon course this year and it's really hilly!

Sun, Oct 15, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S10H.

Day off. No running today. Good recovery from Saturday run. Knee OK.

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
5.00	3.00	3.00	0.00	11.00

S6H.

AM @ YMCA: Warm up & down 2 miles.

Ran 3 miles @7:16" pace (PR).

Legs=90-91%; Heart=93-95%; Mind=95-98%.

Tough but great work out. First 1/2 mile was pretty hard mentally. Next 1 1/2 mile was controlled hard effort. Last 1/2 mile heart rate went up higher 94-95%?). Breathing was not out of control yet but it was pretty hard. Still had some energy left at the end. Could have run the last lap at 6:00" pace if want to.

PM: T=81 degrees. Easy run.

Warm up & down 3 miles easy.

Ran 3x1 miles with Paul @ AVG 8:00" pace.

Felt great. Knee OK.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 17, 2006 at 07:42:54

Good work! You got both the distance and tempo in. Keep it up.

You probably need a couple of easy days - 6 -8 miles of jogging before the next hard workout. Another tempo run like this on Thursday might be a good idea if you feel recovered. On Saturday, warm up 2 miles, then go 8 at about 7:50 pace, and then cool down 2 miles.

The 3 mile tempo runs are more of a threshhold pace than a marathon pace.

From Tam Hoang on Tue, Oct 17, 2006 at 15:49:55

Thanks.

Tue, Oct 17, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
6.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	6.00

AM at YMCA: 35 minutes.

3x[(15x65)+(12x85)+(10x105)]lbs

bench press.

9x20 sit ups.

9x20 lunges.

Knee is OK.

PM: Easy 6 miles on treadmil. Walked then started at 12:00" pace to warm up. Right knee seems uneasy but not painful. Averaged about 10:00"/mile. Felt very relaxing running at this pace for an hour.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Oct 18, 2006 at 12:42:10

Good training this week.

From Tam Hoang on Wed, Oct 18, 2006 at 16:13:03

Thanks.

Wed, Oct 18, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	6.00

AM at YMCA: 45 minutes.

3x[(15x65)+(12x85)]lbs bench press.

6x20 sit ups.

6x20 lunges.

Felt awefully tired today! Reduced workout. Stretched for 20 minutes. Felt a little bit better afterward.

PM: Run 6 miles.

Felt very very tired during 2 miles warm up. Was breathing hard at 10:00" pace!

Ran 3 miles at medium-hard pace 90-92% effort (24x100m with 100m jogs in between to recover. Fast 100m at about 6:00" pace then jogged 100m at 10:00" pace to recover). Averaged 8:00" for 3 miles. Felt stronger and stronger as the run progress. Stayed with the front group all the way until the last 2 laps. Great work out.

Feel so much better afterward.

Thu, Oct 19, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

AM at YMCA: 40 minutes.

3x[(15x65)+(12x85)+ (10x105)]lbs bench press.

8x20 sit ups.

8x20 lunges.

Felt somewhat tired. No running today.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Oct 19, 2006 at 20:26:08

Tam: You will feel tired as you increase the mileage. That is very normal. Do not let that stop you from getting some running in. Decrease the pace if you need to, but not the distance. Consistent daily mileage is critical for building the aerobic base you will need to run a good marathon. The only reason to cut down the distance of your run is if you feel you are about to get injured.

From Tam Hoang on Fri, Oct 20, 2006 at 17:52:27

Thank you so very much for your sound advice.

Sun, Oct 22, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	10.00	0.00	0.00	14.00

T=48-52 degrees. 10 miles race. 5 miles out and back. Need to run at 7:30" pace to run a 3:30:00 Marathon.

Warm up 2 miles. Warm down 2 miles.

Gutsy head wind in the first 5 miles!

Ran 10 miles at 7:51" AVG at medium to medium hard effort 90%. Heart and legs felt great but couldn't go faster due to painful side stitches in the last 9 miles! Need to hydrate well and eat better the day before the race.

Felt like I could have run at 7:40" pace today if not for the side stitches. Right knee was not perfect but felt fine during the entire run.

This year 8:00" pace definitely feels much easier than last year. And that's very encouraging.

Mon, Oct 23, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	4.00	0.00	0.00	8.00

S7H.

T= 70 degrees. So nice.

WU easy 3 miles. Drills. 4 mile at MGP. Warm down 1/2 mile.

Ran with Paul & Andy 4 miles @ 8:00" pace at medium 85-87% effort. Could easily ran a couple more miles at this pace. Body recovers real well from 14 milers Sunday. Probably because I didn't race hard yesterday. Heart and legs feel great. Right knee a little bit sore during warm down.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 24, 2006 at 21:58:08

Good work!

From Tam Hoang on Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 07:18:55

Thanks.

Tue, Oct 24, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

Recover run. Ran 4 easy miles at 10:00" pace on treadmil. Wonder if this is considered to be "junk miles" since it's real slow.

Right knee felt great, no pain.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 24, 2006 at 21:57:25

10:00 pace is just fine. Beats doing nothing. That is the whole idea of distance training - better to recover while building your aerobic system than to recover doing nothing. Active recovery is more effective than passive recovery.

From MikeBro on Tue, Oct 24, 2006 at 23:21:52

Hey -- re your post a couple of days ago about your required marathon pace. You only need to run 8:00 pace to qualify for Boston. I think an 8:02 pace will put you right at 3:30:50-ish. It's not gonna be as hard as you think, certainly easier than 7:30 pace.

3:31 = 211 minutes; 211min / 26.2mi = 8.05 min/mi = ~8:03 pace.

From Tam Hoang on Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 07:25:09

Thanks. I wonder if I am behind on my training. This weekend I will be running 12 miles at 8:00" pace as a training run. That will be a true test of my fitness against my goal.

From MikeBro on Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 10:06:35

Tam--I happened to spot the conversation you and Sasha had in the comments with your Oct. 1 post and would like to add something. I wondered where you were getting the 7:12 pace for a 10K as a required element for a 3:30 marathon and I finally realized it must be from an equivalent pace calculator. I checked McMillan's and saw it.

I'm much closer to your range than Sasha is, so I thought I'd pass along a brief bit of my experiences. Sasha's advice is better than mine, but here's where I am. Looking at the equivalents for a 3:30:59 marathon, for a mile it's 6:15, 5K is 21:40, 10K is ~45:00, and half-M is 1:40. My PRs (over the last couple of years) are ~5:15 mile (time trial), 18:58 5K, 41:40 10K, and 1:34:45 half-M. So I'm well below the equivalents even up to a half-M, but I got only a 3:31:45 for my first marathon. What I'm lacking are the long runs I need to give me the endurance (and perseverance) to keep on pace over the last 10K or so of a marathon. If you plug my 5K time into the calculator and see what 10K, half-M, and full-M times I should have (39:25, 1:27:40, and 3:05, respectively) the fall-off becomes much more evident. I have all the speed I need, but I have to start getting in ~15mi mid-week runs and 18-22mi long runs if I ever hope to get close to the long-race times my 5K time predicts.

As I said, Sasha has much better advice for you, but I wanted to tell you my situation and what I think I need to do to improve it, just in case this might help you out.

From Tam Hoang on Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 15:26:20

Thanks Mike. I do appreciate your feedback.

Wed, Oct 25, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
7.50	0.00	0.00	0.00	7.50

S7H.

T=72 degrees. Hills work.

WU & WD 3 miles.

Ran 4.5 miles which covers 6 steep 100m hills with Joe and Peggy.

Easy to medium 70-80% effort. Saving energy for this Saturday MGP run. Right knee is tender when jogging down the steep hills. Otherwise it's OK. Felt somewhat tired the last 2 days.

Thu, Oct 26, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
5.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	5.00

S7H.

T=90 degrees.

Ran 5 miles real easy with Joe and Angel on mostly flat road. Right knee is tender if going downhill. Not 100% yet but feeling much better than yesterday.

Fri, Oct 27, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S7H.

Hydrate well.

No running today. Knee feel OK.

Sat, Oct 28, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
5.00	12.00	0.00	0.00	17.00

T=50-53 degrees. Sunny. Humility=60%. Wind=5 MPH. Great weather to run!

WU 3 miles. WD 2 miles. Ran 12 miles @8:00" pace in training for the first time! Could have run 3-4 miles more at this pace today.

Ran mostly at conversational medium effort on the flat and downhills; medium-hard effort on the slightly low grade inclines; and as fast as I could on the last mile.

Andy was helping to pace the first 8.5 miles at about 8:00" pace. Felt great. There was only a mild side stitch starting at mile 5 but it only last a couple minutes. Run with Mat the last 3.5 miles at about 7:43" pace (27 minutes). Still feeling great after 11 miles so I decided to run all out on the last mile and it hurt. I wonder if it is better for me just to maintain the same speed and comfortable effort level to finish this run rather than running all out on the last mile to chop 45-50 seconds off but feeling terible afterward. After all, it's only a training run. Left calf wanted to cramp but went away after 2 miles easy warm down.

Since I couldn't run this training run at 8:00" pace in the last 2 years so I prepared for this as I would with a race: Taper, hydrate, and eat well days before the run. Woke up early to have plenty of time to warm up. I even placed my own energy drinks on the course. The weather is so nice to run and I have no excuses. Everything finally worked beautifully as planned! What a great training run. I am so happy. They said third time is a charm and finally the BIG monkey is off my back!

NOTE:

8:00" pace for first 7.5 miles.

7:50" pace from mile 7.5 to 8.5.

Last 3.5 miles in 27 min or 7:43" pace.

Total 1:34:50 for 12 miles.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Oct 30, 2006 at 16:21:25

Tam - it is great that you've been able to hold 8:00 pace for 12 miles, and could run hard at the end. However, you should not taper for training runs. Although it allows you to run a bit faster on that particular day, the reduced training hurts you in the end. If you cannot run it at a goal pace without tapering then your goal pace is too fast, or you are trying to hold it for too long. Just be patient and take what your current fitness will give you. In a month or two, the goal pace will become a lot more manageable naturally.

From Tam Hoang on Mon, Oct 30, 2006 at 21:06:02

Thanks Sasha. I did take it easy on that week's Wednesday run which is the day that I normally run hard. Now that I've done it, I will not taper for my training runs again.

Mon, Oct 30, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	5.00	0.00	0.00	7.00

S6H.

WU&WD 2 miles.

Ran 5 MGP miles with Paul. First 4 miles @ 7:45"-8:00" pace then the last mile at 7:07". Mostly at 85-88% effort. Legs are not fully recovered from Saturday run. They felt tired and heavy. Heart rate is great. Knee is OK.

Wed, Nov 01, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	7.00

S7H.

T=60 degrees.

WU&WD = 3 miles.

5x1000m with 200m jog to recover.

Ran 5x1000m @ 7:07",6:58",6:32",6:12", and sub 6:00" pace. Stayed with Josh, James, and Mae until the last 150m. Ran at controlled hard 92-94% effort except in the last 1000m at 100% effort.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Nov 02, 2006 at 11:53:04

Good work this week so far. Intervals at this point are OK to run if you feel inclined as long as they leave you feeling fresh.

Your performance in this workout demonstrates that you have plenty of speed to run a sub-3:00 marathon. We just need to work on the endurance.

From Tam Hoang on Fri, Nov 03, 2006 at 17:15:18

Thanks Sasha. All I hope to do is to run a 3:30:59" marathon. To run a sub 3:30', I have to be born again (=:

I am doing my weekly MGP runs on Mondays. Hopefully I can gradually build it up to 12 miles (Next week is 6 miles MGP).

Next Sunday 11/12/06, I am planning to run the Motive Half Marathon at MGP. This time I will not taper since it's a very hilly course and I just run it as a MGP training run.

Thu, Nov 02, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

S7H.

T=65 degrees. Ran 4 miles easy with some hills with Joe, Angel, and Kerry. Knee was uncomfortable jogging down the hills but not hurting. Ran uphill at medium hard pace and easy on flat.

Fri, Nov 03, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S9H.

Sat, Nov 04, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
17.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	17.00

S7H.

T=55 degrees.

Woke up at 5AM. Ran 6 miles real easy alone then joined Rogue group for another 11 miles. Ran with Mae, jame, and Josh the first 2 miles at 8:00" pace, too fast. Got side stitch for the rest of the run. Ran with Andy next 7 miles at about 8:30-9:00" pace. Could not keep up with Andy in the last 2 miles. Really struggle to finish. Physically felt tired the whole run.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Nov 07, 2006 at 21:29:08

I think at this point 17 is too long for a long run. Keep it down to 13-14, and only if you feel good. However, the Friday before you should go for at least 6.

Sun, Nov 05, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
5.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	5.00

S9H.

T=73 degrees.

Biked 15 miles around neighborhood. Same effort level as running at 10:00" pace.

Arms and back hate this excercise! Heart rate stayed low most of the time but legs do get tired. Good strenght building for quads and hamstrings. Knee is fine.

Wonder if it's true when they said for every 3 miles of biking is "equivalent" of 1 mile of running. If that the case, I guess I'll take credit for it (=:

Comments

From Ethan Grinnell on Sun, Nov 05, 2006 at 18:28:42

Hey Tam, Paul convinced me to start a running blog. This way I can keep track of my mileage and let everything be online so EVERYONE can see my progress.

Mon, Nov 06, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	5.00

S7H.

Noon @ YMCA. WU 1.5 mile, WD 0.5 mile.

Ran 5K @ 7:13" pace (PR).

Legs = 90%, heart = 93-95%, mind = 95%.

Finished in much better shape than three weeks ago when I ran 3 miles at 7:16" pace (I was totally exhausted at the end of that run). Legs & heart just seems a little bit stronger this time, and that made it easier on the mind (Less negative thought). Ran mostly at controlled hard/threshold effort. Could speed up on last 400m but chose not to. Good recovery from poor Saturday run. Very encouraging.

Hopefully in 3 more months I can run 3 miles at 6:55" pace.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Nov 07, 2006 at 21:34:23

Congratulations on a PR. Nice to see that your endurance is alreay improving. You could probably do close to 7:00 pace now if you felt you had a kick left at the end. Try it again Thursday to see how long you can hold the 7:00 pace for. Ideally, see if you can find a faster friend that could pace you.

From Tam Hoang on Tue, Nov 07, 2006 at 22:05:50

Thanks Sasha. I do appreciate your comments.

From Tam Hoang on Tue, Nov 07, 2006 at 22:06:07

Thanks Sasha. I do appreciate your comments.

Wed, Nov 08, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	2.00	4.00	0.00	8.00

S7H

T=85-75 degrees.

WU 2 miles with Paul @ 8:00� pace AVG, too fast! Drills.

Ran 4 progressive miles with Andy, Joe, and Bill at average 7:37" pace: 8:20�, 7:55�, 7:20�, 6:55� pace. WD 2 miles.

Ran mostly at medium to medium-hard effort except in the last 600m when speeding up to catch Joe in the last 200m.

Good training run.

Thu, Nov 09, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

S9H.

T=85-80 degrees.

4 miles recovery run with Joe, Angel, and Kerry. Right knee seems uneasy (but not hurting) going down the hills.

Good recovery from yesterday run.

Fri, Nov 10, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

S8H.

Ran 4 recovery miles around neighborhood.

Sun, Nov 12, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
5.00	13.10	0.00	0.00	18.10

S6H.

T=45-52 degrees.

WU 4 miles.

Ran 13.1 miles @ 8:01" pace.

WD 1 mile.

Right knee survives many steep downhills. Going down the hills at low speed, it was uncomfortable and a little bit painful but not too too bad (=:

Finished this race in much better shape than last year when I ran all out and finished at 8:11" pace.

My plan was not to race but running at a good decent effort (8:00" MGP) for 13.1 miles.

Ran first 12.5 miles at medium to medium-hard effort. Felt very comfortable at this pace/effort. Mild side stitch between miles 5 to 8 but it's not a factor. Ran conservatively up the hills and jogging down the hills. Immediately got back to MGP after the hills. Could have finished at 8:00" pace have they put up the 12th mile mark. And that broke my spirit. Discouraged and start slowing down in the last 0.5 mile.

Overall, an excellent training run (until I learned Jame have run this course 30 seconds faster than last year (=:)

Pluses:

Adequate sleep.

Plenty of time to warm up.

Ran hills properly.

Passed 93 person in the last 6 miles.

Minuses:

Did not hydrate enough the days before.

Forgot to take any GU during the race.

Started at midpack --> Very slow first mile.

Comments

From Ethan on Sun, Nov 12, 2006 at 21:31:08

Way to go tam. A half marathon at your MGP.

It looks like James ran it 30 seconds faster per mile huh? He is definitely having a good year.

How is your knee feeling after this race? This was the race where I started having issues with my TFL and ended up with the ITB pain. All the hills tear the heck out of you.

Take a nice ice bath or just ice your knee. Take some anti inflammatory drugs. You will kick butt in the marathon.

From Paul on Sun, Nov 12, 2006 at 21:32:41

Tam, great race. Sorry we didn't see you. It will be good to hear your story on Monday. We started out way back at the back of the pack with 2,000 runners in front of us. You can imagine the bodies we had to wade through for the first couple of miles. See you at McNeil.

From Tam Hoang on Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 10:37:01

Ethan,

Thanks for asking. My knee feels fine after the race. I'll know for sure after today's work out.

Mon, Nov 13, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	8.00

S7H.

T=75 degrees.

8 miles recovery run.

Left calf a little bit tender. Right knee soreness went away after 2 miles warming up. Overall, good recovery from Sunday run.

Comments

From Ethan on Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 21:11:28

Howdy Tam,

I think its funny that we run 8 miles as a "recovery run" most people would drop on their faces running 8 miles at any pace!!

Awesome job Tam, I know you are going to get your 3:30 goal. Keep it up man.

From Tam Hoang on Tue, Nov 14, 2006 at 07:21:15

Thanks Ethan.

Wed, Nov 15, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
5.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	8.00

S7H.

T=55-50 degrees.

WU 1 mile, Drills. Knee OK after warming up.

3 X [3 min @10K pace, recover 3 min; 2 min @5K, recover 2 min; 1 min @ 1 mile, recover 1 min].

Ran with Joe and Peggy on the first two sets at faster than recommended 10K and 5K pace.

Ran last set with James, Mae, and Donnie at medium-hard to hard effort: 3 minutes at sub 6:30� pace, 2 minutes at sub 6:00� pace, and 1 minute at sub 5:00� effort. Managed to keep up with the group thank to the long recovery time.

WD 2 miles.

Comments

From Ethan on Thu, Nov 16, 2006 at 11:46:26

Wow...you guys are running fast!! I have been doing some speed work but only going to paces around 6:50 that I can maintain for 800 meters....You guys ran sub 5:00 paces for a minute? Feeling like I need to run some faster speeds when I do my speed work. Here I thought I was doing good :0

Awesome Tam!!

From Tam Hoang on Thu, Nov 16, 2006 at 19:56:01

Ethan,

Thanks. It's kind of fun running fast for a couple minutes but I know better. I may outsprint them but they could easily leave me in the dust any time in 1 mile or a Marathon by a wide margin.

I believe these work out are not nearly as important as the MGP and the long runs.

Thu, Nov 16, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	5.00

S7H.

WMCA noon.

WU 1.5 miles. Knee sore but alright after warming up. WD 0.5 mile.

Ran 3.1 miles @ 7:08� pace (PR).

Ran mostly at controlled hard effort.

Legs 93%: Felt a bit tired during the run. May not 100% recover yet?

Heart 91%: Controlled hard effort. Breathing was fast but steady on last mile but never out of breath. Feel like it�s getting a little bit stronger compares to the last 5K run when I ran at 7:13� pace 10 days ago.

Mind 92%: More confident and relax going into and during the run. Had less negative thought.

Could have run faster on the last 400m but chose not to. I believe I could have run 3.1 miles at 7:05� on the treadmill today!

I can hardly wait until I am able to run 5 K at 7:00� pace. Looks like the body is adapting to the new speed faster than the mind.

Comments

From Ethan on Thu, Nov 16, 2006 at 21:36:35

Great job Tam.

You crack me up with your numbers....how do you quantify your mind and come up with a value of 92%?

No...its not 92, its 91, Duh...

From Tam Hoang on Fri, Nov 17, 2006 at 08:26:37

I do not wear a heart rate monitor but I do want to record my effort level along with the time/pace that I was running at. Sorry but it was intented for my own personal record. Anything from 95% and up is considered to be a hard effort for me.

Fri, Nov 17, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S7H.

Sat, Nov 18, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
16.00	0.00	4.00	0.00	20.00

S5H.

T=45-56 degrees. Great temperature to run.

Progressive long run. Started slowly. Body felt very sluggish. Started feeling better at around mile 10th --> Pick up the pace. Ran at controlled hard/threshold pace with Jeff and Angel in the last 4 miles (Jeff thinks it's about 7:15"-7:20" pace).

Best finish of any long runs over 20 miles. Was running fast the last 4 miles with supprisingly less effort. Everything seems so smooth! Could have run at that pace for another 2 miles.

Total average about 8:30-8:40" pace.

Great training run. Hydrated well on Friday. Drank 32 oz. of gatorade before the run. Also took 4 Gu during the run.

Comments

From Ethan on Sat, Nov 18, 2006 at 22:05:53

Awesome Tam,

My long run last week I only ran 18 miles but by the end all I could do was a mile at just better than an 8 minute pace.

You got 4 miles at 7:15. That rocks. Keep up the good work Tam.

I have a 19 mile run planned tomorrow. I want to keep it average 8:00 pace. We will just have to see how it goes.

From Ethan on Sat, Nov 18, 2006 at 22:06:40

I meant to say 4 miles out of 20 miles at 7:15 pace, Yeah, that rocks

From Ethan on Sat, Nov 18, 2006 at 22:06:51

Awesome Tam,

My long run last week I only ran 18 miles but by the end all I could do was a mile at just better than an 8 minute pace.

You got 4 miles at 7:15. That rocks. Keep up the good work Tam.

I have a 19 mile run planned tomorrow. I want to keep it average 8:00 pace. We will just have to see how it goes.

From Ethan on Sat, Nov 18, 2006 at 22:08:20

Uh....technical difficulties there...I guess I posted twice....sorry about that. But good work anyways.

Sun, Nov 19, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S10H.

Mon, Nov 20, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.50	8.00	0.00	0.00	10.50

S6H,

T=60-55 degrees. Nice!

WU 2 miles, CD 0.5 mile.

Ran 8 miles at 7:44" AVG(1:01:51")

First 7 miles at about 7:50" pace. Last mile at about 7:10" pace.

Ran mostly at medium to medium-hard effort except on last mile at controlled hard effort. It seems a little bit easier than last year when doing 8:00" MGP runs in training.

Good recovery from Saturday 20 miles run.

Knee OK after 2 miles warm up.

Tue, Nov 21, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S8H

Wed, Nov 22, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
5.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	5.00

S7H.

9PM:5 miles recovry run around neighborhood.

Outer thighs are still sore from Monday run.

Knee OK after warming up.

Thu, Nov 23, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
1.00	0.00	5.00	0.00	6.00

S7H.

T=55-60 degrees.

WU 1 mile.

Ran Turkey Trot 5 miles at 7:19" pace (PR)

My planned was to do it as a daily training run but when the race started I got excited and raced it.

Knee is great! This is the first time in 5 weeks that I could run down the hills (fast or slow) without any pain.

Breathing was very hard going up the hills even at much slower speed. Being passed by most of the runners going up the hills --> Need more hill works.

Learned to slow down to recover before heart rate went over the edge.

Legs were going strong even at the last mile. However, it was very tough on the mind and heart.

PM: Rode my bike 15 miles around neighborhood.

Comments

From Ethan on Fri, Nov 24, 2006 at 16:32:42

Way to go Tam. You rocked the 5 Miles, AND got a PR. Keep it up.

Using some race prediction tools if you can run 5 miles at 7:19 pace your predicted marathon pace would be 3:30:22 according to several prediction methods all averaged.

Awesome Tam.

From Paul on Fri, Nov 24, 2006 at 18:37:27

Tam, great race!! That should be a great confidence builder. We just got back from Colorado this morning. I drove all night until 5:30 this morning, took 1.5 hour rest, and then drove the rest of the way home. I'm going to bed early and sleeping in late Saturday. Probably no run.

From Tam Hoang on Fri, Nov 24, 2006 at 18:42:44

Thanks Ethan.

It's very encouraging for me. Since I did not plan to race, I went out and ran 5 miles the night before (I normally took 1-2 days off before the race). I also got to the race late and had only about 5 minutes warm up. I was thinking of running about 7:50"-8:00" pace as a training run. Since I did not have my watch so I just ran base on how I feel.

Now I start wondering what if the course was flat, and what if I taper properly, how much faster could I have done?

One bad thing: I decided to sprint the last 50 meters just to pass a guy who was in between me and the photographer at the finish line! I did pass him on the last 2 yards but it sure hurts my knee.

Fri, Nov 24, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S10H.

Comments

From Ethan on Sat, Nov 25, 2006 at 22:38:42

I gotta ask, Whats with the code Tam? Please share!!

From Tam Hoang on Sun, Nov 26, 2006 at 20:56:40

It means "Sleep 10 Hours".

Sat, Nov 25, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.00

10 miles recovery run. Took it real easy.

Body still feel very tired from Thursday's five miles race.

Knee a bit sore going down the hills.

Comments

From Ethan on Sat, Nov 25, 2006 at 22:40:18

What was the pace when you sprinted at the end of the 5 Mile race?

From Tam Hoang on Sun, Nov 26, 2006 at 21:34:15

I was sprinting as fast as I possibly could. Since I did not wear my watch, I do not know for sure what pace it was.

From Tam Hoang on Sun, Nov 26, 2006 at 21:35:32

I was sprinting as fast as I possibly could. Since I did not wear my watch, I do not know for sure what pace it was.

Sun, Nov 26, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Wanted to ride my bike 15 miles around neighborhood but ended up with 10 miles. Still feeling tired. It sure take a long time to recover from the 5 miles race on Thursday.

Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	6.00	0.00	0.00	9.00

S7H.

T=68-60 degrees. Humid.

WU, Drills, and CD for 3 miles.

Ran 6 miles @ 8:00" MGP. Ran with Bill and Stuart first 3 miles and with Bill last 3 laps. It took a real effort to finish the run.

Legs and mind felt very tired the whole run. Ran mostly at comfortly hard effort. This 6 miles at 8:00" pace felt even harder than last week 8 miles at 7:44" pace!!! I was very happy when it's finally over.

Today 8:00" pace definitely felt hard. Wonder if it's true when they said for every mile that you race it will take 2 days to recover?

Tue, Nov 28, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S7H.

Wed, Nov 29, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	8.00

WU 3 miles with 4 x 200m @ 39". Drills. CD 0.5 miles.

Ran 4 miles with Joe and Peggy at easy to medium effort.

Physically and mentally felt much better today than Monday, but it's still not 100% recover yet.

Thu, Nov 30, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	0.00	3.10	0.00	5.10

WMYC @ Noon on treadmill.

WU 1.5 miles, CD 0.5 mile.

Ran 3.1 miles @7:03� pace (PR).

Ran mostly at controlled hard/threshold effort.

First mile went by fast at medium-hard effort. Somehow it was getting tougher mentally toward the end of 2nd and 3rd miles.

Legs and heart finished the work out in pretty decent shape, better than the last time when I ran 3.1 miles at 7:08� pace.

Breathing was consistent throughout the work out at controlled hard effort but the mind so often needs to be motivated! I was thinking of how tough a runner Paul was during his many successful races. My mantra was �I want to run like Paul�.

I could have run these 3.1 miles today at 7:00� pace by speeding up on the last 400m but decided not to. Lately my body has been delivering every single time that I've asked it to do and I don�t think it�s fair to raise the bar after the goal had been set.

I guess now I can say I am fully recover from last Thursday 5 miles race (=:

Comments

From Ethan on Thu, Nov 30, 2006 at 20:40:25

Awesome Tam. 3:26 predicted marathon time. Your rocking hard.

When you are running do you alter your running cadence? I find that if I want to maintain a pace and feel like I need a rest I just take bigger steps and take fewer steps and its like a rest. Then I take smaller steps. Does that work for you? It sure does for me. If you don't do that maybe you can give it a try.

From Tam Hoang on Fri, Dec 01, 2006 at 07:17:34

I did that too. Big steps, small steps, heel to toes, toes only.. you name it. Same for the mind: relax, combative mode, focus, distraction... I tried everything and every ways that I could think of to help myself during these tough runs.

Fri, Dec 01, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

S7H.

4 miles easy run around the neighborhood.

Sat, Dec 02, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S10H.

Comments

From Paul on Sun, Dec 03, 2006 at 17:43:56

Tam, after all that sleep I thought you would be running Decker today, but I don't see you in the results.

I took the weekend off after getting home so late (1:45 AM Saturday morning).

I wrote Ethan and told him about my ailments and what a wooss I am. See you Monday night.

Paul

Sun, Dec 03, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.60	12.40	0.00	0.00	15.00

S7H.

20K Decker Challenge.

T=34 degrees. Very cold and windy.

WU&CD=2.6 miles

Ran 12.4 miles @ 8:10" pace.

My plan was not to race but do it as a training run at 8:00"-8:30" pace. Hopefully I will be recover in time for next weekend 18 miles MGP run.

Ran with Karen Hatley & her friend at relax conversational pace on the first 10K at 8:37" pace.

Ran next 10K alone at 7:43" at medium to medium-hard effort. Ran up the hills slowly as recovery --> Picked up the pace immediately after the hills.

Total 20K AVG=8:10" pace.

Very good training run.

Comments

From Ethan on Sun, Dec 03, 2006 at 21:01:34

Great work Tam. You really took off the last 10K. I didn't see you listed in the results. Are you still in the challenge?

Actually I think I see you listed in the results as an

'unknown chip"

328

Unknown Chip: DK5TGXZ

450

26:08.5

8:26/M

397

51:49.3

8:37/M

357

1:15:12.7

8:16/M

328

1:39:43.9

8:10/M

1:39:43.9

From Tam on Mon, Dec 04, 2006 at 05:29:33

Great race. When I was driving into work this morning I thought about how it would have been good for you to run with Karen Hatley, and now I can see you did for half the race. If you keep this up I'm thinking you may be ready in February to give the 3:30 a real good shot. You are not there yet, but you are on your way. See you tonight at McNeil. Paul

From Tam Hoang on Mon, Dec 04, 2006 at 07:18:15

Thanks Ethan, Paul.

Yes I am listed under "Unknown Chip: DK5TGXZ"; probably because I registered on race day.

Paul, knowing me for 8 years, this is the first time that you said I have a shot at 3:30 Marathon. That really means a lot to me. THANK YOU.

Now that I believe I could run 5K at 6:55" pace, my next target will be training to run 10K at 7:12" pace before Marathon day.

Today my body seems recovering well from Sunday run.

Mon, Dec 04, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	6.00	0.00	0.00	8.00

S7H.

T=50-45 degrees. No wind.

WU 1 mile, CD 1 mile.

Legs a little bit tired from Sunday run.

Ran 6 miles @ 7:45� pace at controlled medium-hard effort.

Was planning to do it at 8:00� MGP. Ended up running faster due to colder weather.

Could run 2 more miles but it�s getting late and didn't want to push it.

Excellent recovery from Sunday run.

Comments

From sp on Tue, Dec 05, 2006 at 11:35:27

Good work. Sounds like the consistent training is paying off. I think 3:30 in a month is very likely barring injuries and other unforseen events. However, be warned that a marathon is a long way to go, and the probability of trouble is much higher than in a shorter race. To offset that, you often need to try more than once to reach your full potential.

I'd say once you can hold 7:40 pace for 10 miles, a 3:30 marathon is pretty much in the bag for you.

From Tam Hoang on Tue, Dec 05, 2006 at 14:19:04

Thanks for your input. I do appreciate it.

Tue, Dec 05, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S8H.

Noon YMCA: cycling class for 40 minutes.

Planned to run 4-5 recovery miles but the treadmill shutdown; ended up joining YMCA cycling class for 45 minutes.

Pretty intense exercise. Feel like doing speed intervals. Good cardiovascular work out. It�s all because the instructor asked �Are you�kind of new to this?� (=:

Since Tuesday is normally a recovery day, I will need to do it at moderate effort instead.

PM YMCA: Lift weights, squats, ab and back excercises, and stretch for 45 minutes.

Wed, Dec 06, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.00	0.00	4.00	0.00	6.00

S7H.

T=70-65 degrees.

WU 1 mile, drills, CD 0.5 mile

5x1000m @ Goal 10K pace with 200m jogs to recover.

Ran first 3 sets with Mae and James at 6:45�-6:50� pace. Felt too hard. 200m jog was not long enough to recover. Normally I should be able to finish the work out at this pace but not today. My legs still feel tired from Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday hard workouts. Felt back and tried to hang with Andy and Stuart at 7:00� pace for the last 2 sets. Pretty tough workout!

It was not a good idea to go hard on Tuesday cycling work out.

Sat, Dec 09, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.00	12.00	0.00	0.00	20.00

S5H.

T=45 degrees.

Jogged slowly alone for 2 miles.

Ran 18 miles group run with water stops at every 3 miles:

First 3 miles at 8:30� pace (too fast for warm up pace). Next 12 miles at MGP 7:50�-8:00� pace. Mostly at 7:50� pace.

Jogged very slowly the last 3 miles to cool down.

Pluses:

Good long training run.

Ran the last 18 miles of the new Marathon course. Mostly flat, some down hills.

Finished 3 miles warm up and 12 miles MGP work out with the group.

Ran with 3:30� Marathon trainees. Met Colin who is the official pacer for 3:30� Marathon group.

Minuses:

Poor preparation both physically and mentally:

Didn�t take the run seriously. The original plan was to run 18 continuous MGP miles but then they changed the plan to 3 miles warm up, 12 miles at MGP, and 3 miles cool down with 1-2 minutes water breaks at every 3 miles. And I thought it�s an easier run since I�ve done some harder runs than this.

Didn�t get enough sleep.

Didn�t hydrate well the days before the long run.

No GU.

Four hard workouts in a row from Monday to Wednesday. I've never done that before! I was not fully recovered even after taking Thursday and Friday off.

The first 11 MGP miles was mostly at medium effort, legs felt a little bit tired but not too bad. The last mile of the 12 MGP miles was pretty hard. It was hilly and everyone was speeding up. I was breathing hard, my legs felt dead tired, and I really wanted to slow down. Most of the people in 3:30� group seems doing extremely well compared to me. And I can't wait for another rematch (=:

I ran the last 3 miles cool down by myself since it was painfully slow. I was SO glad that I didn�t have to run the last 3 miles at MGP.

I promise to myself that next time I will treat any 20 milers with proper respect!!!

Comments

From E/than on Mon, Dec 11, 2006 at 19:25:04

You talk like your running so slow and it was a failure of a workout. You did Awesome Tam. 20 miles averaging faster than MGP. Rock on TAM!!!

From Tam Hoang on Mon, Dec 11, 2006 at 21:04:11

Several persons in our group were casually chatting for the ENTIRE 18 miles run!!!

My real test will be the 20 miler at MGP on Jan 7th.

Sun, Dec 10, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

S10H

Mon, Dec 11, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	6.00	0.00	0.00	9.00

S7H.

T=70-65 degrees.

WU 2 miles, CD 1 mile.

Ran 6 miles at 8:00" MGP at medium-hard effort. Legs were not fully recovered from Saturday 20 miles run. They felt very heavy and tired. However, it was mentally more challenge than physically to finish the work out. Ran with Stuart last 3 miles and it really helped.

Comments

From Paul on Tue, Dec 12, 2006 at 18:41:25

Tam, you looked pretty strong Monday night. It was good to see Stuart. He looked strong during the accellerations at the end of the drills.

Hey, be sure to work in some "easy" weeks once and a while to give you some recovery. RunnersWorld reminds us that you can't keep running further and harder every week, because sooner or later it will wear you down. Typically every 3rd week you ought to work in a shorter long run and get some recovery. The latest RunnersWorld has some great articles about running and recovery. Keep up the good work.

Paul

From Tam Hoang on Tue, Dec 12, 2006 at 18:47:00

Thanks Paul. We get 1 easy week after 2 hard weeks. Next week will be an easy one.

Wed, Dec 13, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	2.50	0.00	6.50

S7H.

T=75-70 degrees.

WU & Drills 2 miles. CD 2 miles.

10x[300m @7:00" pace then 100m @8:00" pace].

Ran with Joe, Andy, and Mae. Joe stopped after 8 sets. Andy and Mae ran 12 sets.

Ran first 8 sets at medium effort. Last 2 sets at medium-hard effort. Could go another 2 sets with Joe and Mae but decided not to.

Legs felt pretty good; almost fully recover. Overall it's a good workout.

Thu, Dec 14, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

S8H.

YMCA noon.

Warm up 2 miles, cool down 2 miles.

Legs felt a little bit tired but getting better as the run progress.

Right knee a bit tender.

Sat, Dec 16, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
18.20	4.00	0.00	0.00	22.20

S5H.

T=68-75 degrees. Warm & Humid. Not enough water stops (one every 4-5 miles). Took 6 GUs.

Hydrated well the days before.

Ran 22.2 miles, mostly at 8:45�-9:00� at medium effort. Last 4 miles about 8:00" MGP at threshold/controlled hard effort. A lot of hills in the first 12 miles.

Ran all the way to the top of the hardest hill in Austin: � mile uphill Ladera Norte but had to walk on the downhill since my poor knee couldn�t handle the steep slope. Wearing double sox seems to help a bit.

Legs felt very heavy and tired toward the end of the run, similar to how I felt during the last 4-5 miles of the Marathon. I decided to tough it out and push myself to the limit. I was running like my Boston Qualifier is on the line in this last 4 miles! There was a tremendous sense of pride when I finished it. I need to do this more often, especially at the end of any 20 miles plus long run.

My 1 mile recovery jog was extremely slow and painful; calves, toes, and everything else wanted to cramp up!

Tough run. Great training workout.

Comments

From Steve-masterhunter on Mon, Dec 18, 2006 at 07:25:10

Hi! I am a marathoner from Salt lake City.

I saw your entry and really admire the time and effort you put into this workout! You have obviously have good forethought by hydrating well in the days before. Keep up the good work! By the way I'll trade you a foot of snow for your warm humid temps any day...

From Maria on Mon, Dec 18, 2006 at 08:44:29

Great workout, Tam! Runs like these are a major confidence builders. When you're in the last 5 miles of your marathon, you'll remember this run, and that you already were able to push the pace at the end of a tough workout, and you'll know you can do it again, no matter how tired you'll be. Recover well and do another one in couple of weeks.

From Tam Hoang on Mon, Dec 18, 2006 at 09:25:54

Thanks Steve, Maria for sharing your thought with me. I really appreciate it.

On January 7th, I will attempt to run 20 miles at my Marathon Goal Pace (MGP). I got butterfly in my stomach whenever I thought about it.

Mon, Dec 18, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	6.00	0.00	0.00	9.00

S7H.

T=78-70 degrees.

WU, drills, and CD for 3 miles.

Legs felt tired, were not fully recover from Saturday's run. I was tempted to take it easy and run with the group instead of doing MGP run by myself.

Ran 6 miles @ 7:47" pace average, mostly at 7:50" pace except on last mile. First 5 miles at medium to medium hard effort; last mile at controlled hard effort.

It was mentally more challenge than physically, probably because I do not have anyone to run with. To motivate myself, I made believe I am running the last 6 miles of the Marathon.

Knee felt OK after warming up.

Good work out.

Comments

From Tam on Tue, Dec 19, 2006 at 14:31:11

I ran the first 5.5 miles at about 7:50" pace. I picked up the pace on last 0.5 mile, probably at about 7:20" pace. Total time for 6 miles was 46:38".

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Dec 19, 2006 at 14:39:52

How fast did you run the last mile?

From Tam Hoang on Tue, Dec 19, 2006 at 14:49:13

Please excuse my math (=:

If my first 5.5 miles at 7:50" pace, then my last 0.5 mile was at 6:56" pace.

Wed, Dec 20, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.50	4.00	2.00	0.00	9.50

S7H.

T=65-58 degrees. Nice.

WU 2 miles, Drills, CD 1 mile. Knee felt OK after 2-3 miles.

We supposed to do 1 mile @ 10K pace (7:20”) then 4 miles @ MGP 8:00” then 1 mile @ 10K pace (7:20”).

Ended up running faster due to Andy, Murry, Joe, and cooler weather.

7:15”, 7:36”, 7:54”, 7:46”, 7:44”, 6:53”.

First mile felt pretty comfortable, at medium effort. Good pace.

Second mile felt pretty tough, at controlled hard effort. I was wondering if I could keep up with the group. Turned out that we ran 24 seconds too fast on this mile.

Recovered then steady next 4 miles at medium hard effort.

Progressive run on the last mile. Started first lap at 7”24” pace, finished last lap at sub 6:00” pace.

Good solid training run.

Sun, Dec 24, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.00

S10H.

4 miles easy and work out for 1 hour.

Tue, Dec 26, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
5.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	5.00

5 easy miles around neighborhood.

My scale is malfunction, it said I gain 5 lbs!

Wed, Dec 27, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.00	0.00	4.00	0.00	8.00

S7H.

T=65-55 degrees. Nice.

WU 2 miles, Drills. Hamstrings still sore from lunges; OK after warming up.

2 miles cooldown.

3 sets of [3 min @10K pace, recover 3 min; 2 min @5K pace, recover 2 min; 1 min @ 1 mile pace, recover 1 min].

Ran with Joe on the first two sets at medium effort.

Ran last set with Murry at medium-hard effort. Muscles felt great toward the end of the work out.

Thu, Dec 28, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
1.00	4.00	1.00	0.00	6.00

S8H.

YMCA noon.

WU 1 mile.

Mentally was not ready. Perhaps because I normally don't do MGP run the day after a hard run.

Ran first 4 miles at 8:00" MGP at medium-hard effort! Felt terrible so I decided to speed up the pace to 7:00" on the 5th mile. Felt great!

Need to do 5K at 7:00" pace much more often.

Sat, Dec 30, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
16.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	16.00

S7H.

T=50-55 degrees. Nice.

Ran 16 miles with Joe and Karen H. at very relax easy pace. Hydrated well. Took 2 GUs and 3 Cliff's blocks. First 12 miles are on first half of the Marathon course. It has many rolling hills with equal or longer downhill portion after each hill; good for recovery. Most of the hills are fairly short and gentle incline. Not as bad as many people think.

Felt like I could run at this pace for another 16 miles today!

Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
331.30	137.00	65.10	8.50	541.90

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