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| Spring is here! |
I've been noodling on how to maximize my chances for a BQ this year. I asked a bunch of people on an internal newsgroup at my job what do they think of Hanson's marathon plans. The results showed that many people got a large benefit and everybody got some benefit. I also got a lot of good advice also from Jill:
I decided make a big hike in mileage this year.
I like the idea of Hanson's as it does resonate with Arthur Lydiard's methods...he kinda started us all on the right track. I've been injury free for a long time, despite some pretty hard running and so it seemed the right time to try some much higher mileage training ....
So, to see what I'm in for, I dropped my pace to MP + 1 min/mile (about 9:45) and boosted my miles over the last three weeks. Like one of my coworkers did, I decided to cut out all speedwork, run 6 days per week, and stop modulating the miles in a hard / easy fashion ..i.e. run about the same amount each day.
Here's my weekly totals for the last three months:
| Date | Miles | Pace | BPM | WHR% | Elev+ | Elev- | YPB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-12-30 Mon | 36.6 | 9:23 | 126.7 | 66.2 | 803.2 | 864.3 | 1.533 |
| 2014-01-06 Mon | 38.3 | 8:40 | 126.8 | 66.3 | 318.9 | 318.9 | 1.612 |
| 2014-01-13 Mon | 49.2 | 8:57 | 125.8 | 65.4 | 245.6 | 250.9 | 1.569 |
| 2014-01-20 Mon | 24.4 | 9:00 | 125.6 | 65.3 | 92.7 | 93.9 | 1.561 |
| 2014-01-27 Mon | 37.4 | 9:13 | 133.9 | 72.1 | 515.5 | 509.7 | 1.438 |
| 2014-02-03 Mon | 24.0 | 9:07 | 122.5 | 62.7 | 395.5 | 398.5 | 1.584 |
| 2014-02-10 Mon | 33.8 | 9:14 | 129.0 | 68.0 | 214.3 | 220.5 | 1.477 |
| 2014-02-17 Mon | 35.4 | 9:37 | 117.0 | 58.2 | 585.0 | 588.2 | 1.577 |
| 2014-02-24 Mon | 10.2 | 9:56 | 117.0 | 58.2 | 73.3 | 72.4 | 1.541 |
| 2014-03-10 Mon | 20.2 | 10:03 | 115.0 | 56.5 | 2374.7 | 2314.0 | 1.544 |
| 2014-03-17 Mon | 42.9 | 9:47 | 117.7 | 58.8 | 3706.2 | 3677.7 | 1.561 |
| 2014-03-24 Mon | 60.4 | 9:45 | 118.9 | 59.7 | 818.2 | 820.7 | 1.533 |
| Summary | 412.7 | 9:22 | 116.9 | 58.1 | 10143.2 | 10129.6 | 1.543 |
Some days starting out I felt pretty good and some days beat up but after running for 2-3 miles I got limbered up and did ok. I have had some stiffness in my calf muscles in the mornings (threatening Achilles Tendonitis, "AT") but using the stick in the morning and also 'plucking' the lower muscles in the calf (and of course foam rolling after every run!) is keeping it at bay.
I did the 8 to 11 mile runs with no GU, 12 milers I would take 1 GU. I would only take water for the 12 milers. (It's been nice and cool weather here)
Here's the 60 mile week:
| Date | Miles | P ace | BPM | W HR% | Elev+ | Elev- | YPB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-03-25 Tue | 9.2 | 9:45 | 119.9 | 60.6 | 368.6 | 368.3 | 1.530 |
| 2014-03-26 Wed | 7.5 | 9:46 | 117.9 | 59.0 | 134.9 | 133.8 | 1.539 |
| 2014-03-27 Thu | 12.7 | 9:48 | 119.9 | 60.6 | 65.6 | 67.4 | 1.504 |
| 2014-03-28 Fri | 8.4 | 9:44 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 76.1 | 75.1 | 0.000 |
| 2014-03-29 Sat | 10.2 | 9:44 | 123.3 | 63.4 | 95.7 | 97.1 | 1.494 |
| 2014-03-30 Sun | 12.4 | 9:44 | 114.0 | 55.7 | 77.2 | 79.0 | 1.591 |
| Summary | 60.4 | 9:45 | 118.9 | 59.7 | 818.2 | 820.7 | 1.532 |
The last mile of the Sunday run I finally opened up my stride and cranked out a full MP run..it was hard but not too bad..and boy did it feel good to stretch out.
From here I will notch back to 45 miles and then try a buildup like this: 55, 65, 50, 60, 70...and 70 will be the max.
70 will take 12 miles/day 6 days a week..gak!..that will take about 12 hours of running! For a young'un that would be 100-120 mile week I guess.
If I can do that and adapt to it I have a hope that I can mix in the faster running back at the relatively lower miles in the Hansons's advance program. I will probably run 18 mile long runs (3 hours) rather than 16 milers and I'll also probably sneak in a 20 or two.
As for races I'm thinking Half Moon Bay, Chicago (if I get in) and CIM.
