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

S10H.

6 miles easy run around neighborhood.

S8H.

Noon @ YMCA

WU 1.5 miles

Ran 5K @ 6:58” pace (PR). It was a very tough challenging run.

I had all the reasons not to do it today: It was my lunch break; right knee was tender during warm up; 4 days off during the holidays; tomorrow is our weekly quality work out; 20 miles run at 8:00” pace this coming Sunday; last but not least the thought of running 3.1 miles under 7:00” pace seems SO intimidating (7:00” pace is my 1 mile repeats pace).

After 1.5 miles warm up, I took a short break, drank some water, did some serious soul searching and decided to do it.

It was a tough run even during the first mile. And it was getting harder as the run progressed. The legs were up to the task but not the heart and mind. Toward the end of mile two, I was breathing pretty hard and really wanted to stop. It was my pride that kept me going and finally finished.

At the end of the run, I felt like I could hold on to another lap at this pace if it was to qualify me for Boston. Mentally, that was all that I can take!

Time predictor said to run a 3:30:00” marathon I will need to run 5K @ 6:55” pace and 10K @ 7:12” pace. Will try it before Feb. 18, 2007.

S7H.

T=46 degrees, gray sky, windy, cold, and raining. Was thinking of going to YMCA for an easy run but could not bear the guilt so I ended up joining our group.

Warm up & Drills 1.5 miles. Cool down 1 mile.

Knee OK after a slow warm up and drills.

The rain and wind finally stopped; there was light on the track; and the cool temperature suddenly made it a very pleasant day to run.

5 x [400m @ MGP, 400m @ 10K pace, 400m @ 5K pace à 400m jog to recover] .

Ran MGP, 10K pace, 5K pace at about 7:40”, 7:20”, 7:00” pace with Joe and Scott, mostly at conversational/medium effort. Felt great. Good recovery from yesterday’s 5K run.

S8H.

T=61 degrees. Nice.

Ran 3 easy miles with Joe and Terry at local church in new shoes. Felt great.

Ran up the hills at steady moderate effort. Jogged slowly or walked down the hills (just want to be careful).

WU 1 mile.

9 miles at MGP --> Got side stich, walked and jogged the last 11 miles.

Total average pace 9:30".

WU, drills, and CD 2 miles.

2 miles easy run.

WU, CD 2 miles.

24 x100m, each with 100m jog to recover.

Noon YMCA.

WU 1 mile.

3.5 miles @ 7:13" pace.

Our run was cancelled due to severe weather condition. 

S7H. 

34-37 degrees.

10 miles easy run, faster on last 3 miles.

S8H.
6 progressive miles on treadmil. Started at 10:00" pace, finished at 7:00" pace.

S9H.

 T=31 degrees.

Ran 7 miles around neighborhood: 6 progressive miles then 1 mile cool down. Felt great.

YMCA noon.

WU 1 mile.

Ran 4 miles: 3 miles @8:00” pace then 1 mile @ 7:00” pace. Felt great.

S6H.

23 miles training run. 

T=38 degrees, sprinkling, and no wind. After 3 miles, ran with short sleeve tech Tee , tight, and double gloves.

Drank 3/4 gal of Gatorate on Friday and 1/2 gal on Sat. morning. Took 4GUs, 4 Cliff blocks during the run. There were also Powerade water stops at every 3-4 miles.

Started slowly then after 6 miles gradually picked up the pace. First 18 miles at 8:45" average running time. Faster on next 5 miles. Last 3 miles were at 8:00" pace or faster.

Felt great even toward the end of the run. Finished the run without any cramping or feeling exhausted. Definitely my best and fastest 23 miles training run. Very encouraging!

S7H.

T=45-42 degrees.

WU 2 miles. Next 8 miles at 7:43” average, mostly at threshold/controlled hard effort. Initially I was planning to run at 8:00” MGP.

Legs felt somewhat tired, still a good recovery from Saturday 23 miles run but definitely not 100%, very poor running form during the last 2 miles. I wanted to stop so bad at mile 6th when it got real dark and everyone started leaving (=:

It took a lot of mental effort to finish these MGP runs on Monday, especially after a 20+ miles weekend run.

Great training run.

S7H.

T=48-45 degrees.

WU, drills, WD 4 miles. Right knee was sore but OK after 3 miles warm up.

5 x 1,200m @ about 6:45” pace with 400m jog to recover. Ran with Andy, mostly at threshold/controlled hard effort. Great work out.

3 easy miles with Joe and Kerry. Knee sore.

S10H.

S5H.

T=38-40 degrees. Sunshine, calm wind. Ran in short, tank top, and gloves.

Drank 1 gallon of Gatorade on Saturday and ½ gal on Sunday morning. Took 4 GUs: 2 at starting time, 1 at mile 4^th, and 1 at mile 10^th.

Warm up and drills about 1 mile.

Ran 3M half marathon at 7:27” pace average (PR). First half at 7:33” pace and second half at 7:22” pace.

It’s a fast course with a lot of gradual down hills. My previous half marathon PR was set at the same course 5 years ago when I ran at 7:45” pace. It was brutal the entire run and I thought I would collapse at the end. That year I also set my marathon PR at 3:44:45”.

This year it felt differently. I ran mostly at medium-hard to controlled comfortly hard effort. The pace that I felt I could sustain without breathing too hard and going into the oxygen debt. There were a few times during the first 3 miles that I started breathing heavily due to trying to keep up with someone who was running faster than I could. I chose to let them go, slowed down, and focus on maintaining my even running effort. Without the pressure of the pace group, I walked about 10-15 yards during water stops at every 2 miles, running up hills or down hills at my preferred speed, or speed up or slow down any time that I feel like it. At mile 10, since I have a lot of energy left, I was thinking of picking up the pace but decided not to. I was so content with my pace and my effort level that I do not want to risk it. At the end I believe I could run 3 more miles at this pace/effort level. Great run. Very encouraging!!!

This 3M half marathon is a fast course and it was part of the Freescale Marathon last year. This year, however, they had changed the Marathon course from a point to point to loop course. It is now a much hillier course. Most of the hills are from mile 7^th to 17th.

S7H.

Warm up, drills.

Legs felt fine, no ache or pain. Great recover from Sunday run. Was tempting to do MGP run but decided to reward myself by running with the group.

3 x 1000m at 5K pace with 200m jogs to recover.

Cool down.

S7H.

T=50 degrees.

WU, drills, CD for 2 miles.

12 x 300m @ 6:45” pace with 100m jog to recover.

Ran with Andy and Josh. The last 2 were hard due to lack of recovery.

S9H.

4 easy miles with Joe, Angel, and Kerri. Felt tired the last 2 days.

Took 2:30' to finish this run!

S8H.

WU, drills, CD for 3 miles.

16x100m with 10 situps in between as recovery.

S8H.

WU, drills, and CD 2 miles.

12x [200m @ 6:40" pace then 200m @ 8:00" pace]. No recovery between sets.

Felt much better compares to the last couple days.

7 miles easy run.

8x300m at medium effort with 100m jog in between to recover.

WU, drills, and CD for 2 miles.

3 progressive miles @ 8:12", 7:45", 7:30".

4 miles on treadmil. Knee OK after 2 miles easy warm up, ran 1 mile at 8:00" then cooldown.

Ran 26.2 miles in 3:45' .

After the 3M 1/2 marathon which I set a PR at 7:27" pace, I know I was in shape to run a 3:30:00" marathon or close to it. Unfortunately I was not feeling great 3 days after that. The following weekend after the 3M, it took me two and a half hours to finish our 13 miles long run! I ran the first 4 miles at about 8:45” pace then really slowed down after that. At the end I was running at 15-20 minutes per miles, almost at walking speed! My running buddies said after waiting for almost an hour they were about to drive back to look for me! During that run, I felt extremely fatigue and all my joints aches. It was not painful but just moderate aching. I still do not know why other than may be I was sick, over training, or something… But normally when I got sick it must have something to do with my allergy problem like sneezing, coughing, sinus headache, or fever. I had none of those symptoms this time. The 2 1/2 weeks before the marathon I knew something was wrong when I failed to keep up with my running buddies on every single work out! The 3M half marathon was the last “good” work out that I had before the Marathon. I tried to give myself a break by running every other day and was hoping that I would recover in the next 2 weeks for the marathon but I did not. On Marathon day, I felt OK but not great. I ran the first 2 miles at 8:43" pace, almost 1 minute slower than recommended (the first mile was very hilly). On the next 8 miles the course is flat and I ran at about 8:12" pace. Physically I felt OK but somehow the “fire”, competitive spirit, and energy level were just not there. At mile 9^th, I was 3 minutes behind my MGP and the hills are just begun. They are from mile 9^th to 17^th. I knew then it was not my day. From there on I stopped looking at my watch and just run to finish. It was mentally then physically very hard running through those 8 hilly miles with no hope (qualify for Boston). The thought of quitting, go home and come back another day did cross my mind – several times.  The course elevation finally reached its peak at mile 17^th. Still 9 more miles to go! At that point I was getting tired and I started taking a 20-30 yards walk break at water stops. The last 5 miles was hard but they are not as hard as some other work out that I had done in training. I was able to run the last 5 miles without taking a walk break, passed many people, and felt very good about it.

Somehow I did not feel too much disappointed about my 3:45:00 result because down deep inside I know I could have done better. My running buddy finished in 3:37’ which I think is fair given the difficulty of the course. I will have to come back and try it another time (=:

Speed work.

16x100m with 100m rest in between at controlled hard effort.

9 easy miles plus 1 last mile at sub 7:00" pace.

1500m, 800m, 300m with 100m rest in between at controlled hard effort.

3x400m @1:44”, 1:45” , 1:45” with 200m jog to recover in between.

800m @ 3:24” with 400m jog to recover

1,600m @ 7:01” with 800m jog to recover

800m @ 3:26” with 400m jog to recover

3x400m @1:36”, 1:34”, 1:26” with 200m jog to recover in between

Ran at controlled hard to hard effort.

15 miles easy run

WU&CD 2miles

6.2 miles at 7:31” pace

t=60 degrees

2 miles WU & CD.

3 miles progressive run @ 7:35" AVG (8:01", 7:50", 6:55") . Last 800m was hard!

T=70 degrees.

WU 2 miles. 2.5 miles of 30" fast then 90" slow. 2.5 miles tempo. Medium effort.

Last 20 miles at about 9:00" pace. Some miles at or below 8:00" /mile. Legs felt tired the last 5 miles especially in the last 2 miles.

WU&CD 3 miles. 6x700m @ about 7:00" pace with 100m slow jog to recover in between. Ran at medium effort. Legs still felt tired from Saturday 23 miles run.

10x200m @ 50”-40” with 125m jog to recover. Relax, enjoyable run. Ran mostly at medium efffort. Worked on form and turn over. Knees sore during warm up. OK after the warm up.

10 miles easy run. Knees sore.

WU&CD 4 miles. 10 x 200m at around 42"-45" with 50m recovery in between. Ran at controlled hard effort. Knees OK after warming up.

3 x 2,000m @ 6:58" pace with 400m slow jog to recover.

Ran 1st, 2nd, and 3rd repeats at comfortly hard, controlled hard, then pretty hard effort (at the end). Cool temp. at 68 degrees really helped!

T=70-85 degrees.

Ran with Paul as a long training run. Took 4 hours 15 minues. Ran the first 13 miles at about 8:30" pace then really slowed down (side stich). Took a lot of walking breaks in the next 10 miles. Ran the the last 3 miles (slowly) without walking.

WU&CD and 8 x 350m with 50m jog to recover. Ran at medium effort. Focus on form.

WU&CD 2 miles. 4 miles of 90" fast then 30" slow. 

WU&CD 3 miles. 6 miles at 8:05" AVG.

WU&CD 2 miles then

8x400m: [100m medium-> 100m fast -> 100m medium -> 100m slow}

WU&CD 2 miles.

3x1100m with 100m recover. Ran at controlled hard effort (6:40", 6:40", and 6:53" pace). Could not keep up with Joe after the 2nd set --> Ran with Paul.

WU&CD 2 miles.

5x [600m -->recover 200m -->400m -->rest 2 minutes].

Ran with Jeff at controlled hard to hard effort. For 600m ran faster than 7:00" pace. For 400m ran at around 5:30" pace.

Easy 8 miles around the neighborhood.

12 miles easy.

WU&CD 3 miles. 4 miles at 8:00" pace.

Cycling for 30 minutes.

5 x 2000m with 200m (90") jog to recover. Ran at comfortly hard effort. Average about 7:17" pace for those 2000m.

8 easy miles around the neighborhood.

T=70 degrees.

"Run to the Heaven": 18 miles run on the toughest most hilly course in Austin. Some of the hills look more like small mountains to me! Took 3:10:00" to finish. Ran at strong pace on the last 3 miles. Totally exhausted but it was a great training run.

2 miles WU and 4 miles at 7:55" pace. T=45 degreees. Legs were not fully recovered from Saturday 18 miles run. Knees a bit sore during the run but getting better after 2 miles warm up. 

WU & CD 3 miles. Fast 100m-200m then slow for 50m for 3 miles.

8 miles around the neighborhood.

18 easy miles

WU&CD 3 miles.

Ran 1600m, 800m, 400m, 200m @7:03" , 6:40", 6:10", 5:20" pace with 100m recovery in between. Ran at medium to comfortly hard pace.

WU&WD 2 miles. 3 sets of [600m, 400m, 300m, 100m] with 400m, 200, 100m jog respectively to recover. Ran at 7:00" for 600m and at 6:00" pace for 400m. Medium to comfortly hard effort. Felt great.

16.5 easy miles around Georgetown park with Paul, Karen H. and Donie O'neil group. Great run.

Joe ran 20 miles. Mae, Jill, Jim, James, and Angle ran 30 miles!!!

Progressive run. Last 12 miles from medium to comfortly hard pace.

T=55 degrees.

WU & CD 2 miles. Ran 2 miles at 7:05" average. First mile was comfortable. Second mile at controlled hard effort to very hard effort toward the end.

Quit after 2 slow miles around the neighborhood.