Week of 8/23/2010 – Miles with Myles – Back at It
I don’t know about you, but after taking it easy last week, I’m definitely ready to get back in to the swing of things with a tough week. This week we’re going to increase the mileage covering nearly 50 miles. This will be the most miles covered to date in training and is undoubtedly going to be a difficult, trying week. Nonetheless, after an easy week with considerably less mileage than the previous week, you should have fresh legs and be ready to go. If you are struggling in the middle of the week, definitely take Wednesday off and then tailor your mileage accordingly. Be sure not to sell yourself short, though as these are the weeks where things are going to be painful. Embrace it and rest assured that these are the weeks that will prepare you for the later miles of the marathon.
Monday:
7 miles at a comfortable pace. Definitely take it easy on this run so you have fresh legs for the Tuesday tempo.
Tuesday:
This, aside from your endurance run, is the most important run of the week. Go big and don’t hold back. 50 minutes at an uncomfortable pace. I am going 6:30 pace on the treadmill and am going to slow it down at certain points during the run as needed, but won’t go below 6:39 pace. Be sure to hold a strong pace for at least the first 30 minutes before breaking your pace at all. You want to be pretty flimsy by the end of this one. If you’re really hurting during the run, remember that you have Wednesday off!
Full body work out focusing on biceps, triceps, chest and core.
Wednesday:
Rest!
Thursday:
10 miles at an easy to medium pace. I will probably go around 7:30 pace and am really going to try to hold back from going any faster than this. We want Friday’s speed work to be solid so don’t want to be burned out for it. We’ll be sore, but we want it to be a manageable sore( :
Full body work out focusing on biceps, triceps, chest and core.
Friday:
Speed work! Today we are going to do chop downs. Chop downs are similar to your 800 repeats, but they incorporate negative splits and instead of doing 800s, we’re going a mile on each leg. Separate the mile legs with a 400 at 45 seconds slower than your projected marathon pace. I am planning on doing the following: 6:20, 6:10, 6:00, 5:50…my 400s are going to be very slow, around 8:30 pace. Optional: Sitting the 400s are definitely acceptable. I personally like to keep my legs going, but also stop a few seconds to drink some gatorade/water during them.
Saturday:
20 miles at an easy pace. I plan on taking some GU with me and will probably pop it at mile 16. In general, you want to emulate the marathon as much as possible. If you plan on taking GUs during the race, take them on your endurance run. If you plan on drinking gatorade, take one with you on your endurance run. We don’t want any surprises come race day, so be sure to stick with the tried and true.
Sunday:
FINALLY…chill out and rest the legs.
Tags: endurance, endurance blog, marathon training, midwest fit, midwestfit, midwestfit.com, miles with myles, running, running blog
