Boston Weeks 10 and 9 Training Recap

These two weeks of training featured some pretty tough workouts. My feet and legs are definitely feeling the strain. Left foot soreness on the bottom part of the foot, some fatigue and soreness in the left hip flexor, and general soreness/tightness in the leg muscles and knees. For the foot issue I've been doing a couple of exercises and stretches that help treat and avoid plantar fasciitis, including using a belt to pull the foot toward me while sitting. Additional stretching and several body weight squats were added in and seemed to help me recover. I've been at this training plan for quite a while now, in pretty good shape, and remember thinking that there is still a long way to go until race day.

The long runs each week were a real highlight, including a first ever "double session" in week 9!

Week 10:
M: 5 miles - progression run with mile splits 7:30, 7:17, 6:49, 6:37, 6:22
T: 7 miles - intervals: 8-12 x 400m with 200m jog in sets of four at half marathon, 10K, 5K and 3K race pace. I'm not perfectly tuned into the various pace groups but am happy with the quality of the workout:

• 6:32/mi , 6:07, 6:09, 5:33
• 6:22/mi, 6:11, 5:49, 5:50
• 6:11/mi, 6:10, 5:47, 5:46

W: 11 miles, 1:22:41 - on snow covered roads! Training partner Joe Loureiro and I have been contending with various weather challenges on recent wednesdays including snow storms, ice and snow covered roads.
T: 6 miles; 6 x 150m strides after run, 49 minutes
F: Off - and good thing, since this was the day of the Blizzard of 2013 in the northeast! My family actually went skiing this day in Waterville Valley NH where the storm was not as bad as in Massachusetts.
S: 2 miles - treadmill workout and first time trying my new Saucony Kinvara 3 running shoes that I'm planning to use as my race day shoes
S: 20 miles - 5x 5k at marathon pace with 1k rest between intervals.
I had been looking forward to this run for several reasons including the challenge of running in the mountains, the very cold weather, and the fact that I ran this same workout last year and had to call it off and get a ride after completing 17 out of 20 miles and 4 of the 5K intervals. This time I also called to get a ride home, but after completing all 5 5K intervals, and hitting my target pace on each one (approx 6:52/mi)!
Running log entry for this monster run

Week 9:
M: 4 miles - another treadmill workout due to ice covered roads - second workout in the Kinvara 3 shoes that are getting gently broken in at room temperature, dry conditions.
T: 8 miles, then 6 x 200m at a fast effort - this one was fast and not by design! Probably because I ran at mid day vs. my usual early morning training schedule and I wanted to get back to work quickly. Started out at marathon pace and just kept it rolling from there.

• mile splits: 6:47, 6:49, 6:42, 6:41, 6:50, 6:21, 6:32, 6:38
• .13mi (200m) interval times: 37 sec, 41, 40, 43, 44, 42

W: 11 miles - I enjoyed the post-run reaction from my friend Scott Graham

T: 4.75mi including 4 x 2 minutes at tempo pace with 1-2 minutes of easy running in between. Interval paces were 6:28/mi, 6:28, 6:15, 6:04.
F: Off
S/AM (with Joe): 16.6mi tot in 1:57:18 - 3k warmup, 10k at fast pace (turned out to be 6:47/mi with long uphill streteches), 4 minutes jog, 10k at marathon pace (6:54/mi), 3k cooldown
S/PM (with Will Swenson): 5.2mi tot - 1k warmup, 3k at fast pace (6:17/mi), 90 seconds recovery jog, 3k at marathon pace (6:39/mi - a bit fast)
S: OFF - figured I earned this unplanned day off with yesterday's double session. And it was conveniently timed with a snowstorm and howling winds outside.

Summary after 14 weeks of training for Boston: