18 Seconds, Winter/Spring Plans, Taper Madness

"Congrats on qualifying for Boston!  But you needed to be 18 seconds faster..."

That's pretty much how the last three weeks began for me.  I didn't think I had much of a chance with my modest BQ time under the new registration system, but I was so close to getting in that I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.  I'm sure I let plenty of opportunities to get work done slip away as I poured over the data being displayed on the Runner's World forums wondering if I was going to slip in, but unfortunately, it was not to be.

Surprisingly, the disappointment really hasn't lingered.  All along I had a backup plan for the Winter and Spring and now I'm getting excited about that rather than crying in my coffee about Boston.

KPH, Ultramarathoner

I threw out the idea to run an ultra a month or two ago, and now I am fully committed to doing it in 2012.  Just today I ran a 13-miler at Waterfall Glen in Darien, IL and I couldn't help but just admire the fall colors, breathe in the clean air, and enjoy the soft footing of the trails.  It reminded me that I am really ready for a change in thinking about my running.  For most of 2011 I've worried too much about running.  Am I running too fast?  Not fast enough?  Am I doing enough volume?  Is this workout appropriate for my marathon preparation?  Am I doing the right things to get faster?  Will the weather cooperate for my goal race? Granted, I've certainly enjoyed certain aspects of having a strong focus and I've gotten much stronger, but I now believe I need a new focus and a new mentality.

So I am developing a race schedule for 2012, and it's going to include my first 50-mile ultra in Wisconsin, the Ice Age 50.  As a warm-up to this big jump in distance, I'm planning to run the Green Jewel 50k near Cleveland in early March and the Kal-Haven Trail Run, which is a 33.5 mile run from Kalamazoo to South Haven in Michigan.  I'm also planning on a couple of marathons in April as training "fun-runs".

I'm starting to map out a loose plan for mileage, but really I'm just going to spend the first part of 2012 just building a lot of endurance and running a lot.  I'm actually really getting excited for this shift away from intense marathon training. Strangely enough even though the goal is to run a very long way, I think the training might actually be a little easier, as I'll be cutting back on "quality" significantly.  I'm just going to go out and run.  A lot.  The more I think about it, the more I love this concept.

Oh Yeah, There is a Goal Race for THIS Year...

Not to be lost in all of this talk about things happening 5-7 months from now, is the fact that my fall goal race is coming up, the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.  My wife picked this as a fall race (I had originally planned on running Grand Rapids) due to a visit we had in Hamilton and Toronto in the Spring of 2010, and also because we just love Canada.  We also have both run Chicago and although we love our hometown race, the weather has not cooperated for us to run it to the best of our capabilities, and so we felt that skipping it and focusing on another fall race would be a good idea (and this might turn out to be a good decision, as it is expected to be warm again in Chicago for the race tomorrow).  

I'm about to start the final week of my 3-week taper, and although I am trying to fend off the mental gremlins that are trying to create doubt and worry, a check of my logs from where I was at in the Spring, my results from that race, and then seeing where I am at now makes me feel very well prepared for this race.  I had a workout this past week where I ran three one-mile repeats at 5:59, 5:56, and 6:03, so my speed is definitely better now than when I ran this same workout in May (6:06, 6:14, 6:05 then).  I've logged six weeks at or near 70 miles, and averaged in the low 60s for the last three months or so.  I've done a ton of good running near LT (Lactate Threshold) pace, and the pace of those runs has steadily come down in the last 2 months.  The weather forecast for Toronto for next weekend is looking good.  So I am hopeful for a good result.

I am going to try my best for a time in the 3:03-3:04 range.  This basically boils down to 7 minute miles, so it keeps things simple.  The course is very flat so I am thinking of doing 7:15 in the first mile as a "warm up", 7:05 in the second, and then 6:58-6:59 from miles 3-20.  This plan will have on pace for around 3:03:30 by the 20-mile mark (2:20 or so).  At this point, I could fade to 7:05 pace for the last 10k and still hit a 3:04:xx pretty comfortably.  But if I'm really feeling it, I can drop down to 6:55 and try to eek out a high 3:02.  Or just hang on and hit a mid-3:03.  I think this plan provides some good flexibility in allowing for an off day while at the same time being aggressive enough to see what I am made of.   Of course the shit could hit the fan and I could struggle just to PR.  Hopefully that won't be the case.

The Taper in Review

Two weeks ago, I ran my last 20, and I decided to do the last 5 or so at GMP (~7 min/mi).  I just felt like I needed some race pace miles after a 70-mile week on some tired legs to give me a taste of what it felt like, and it went well.  I ended up doing the last 7 pretty quickly, 13 easy, then 7:16, 7:07, 7:02, 6:56, 6:59, 6:58, 7:03.  I was having to slow myself down to hit these times, and it felt pretty easy, I was kind of surprised.  I think this was a good sign.

The first week of the taper started out with a bang, as I did 5 sets of 600m as part of an 8 mile run at paces ranging from 5:36-5:53 and it wasn't bad at all, my legs were really feeling good.  Later that week I had an 10 mile run with 5 at LT pace where I progressed from 6:36 down to 6:16 pace which was followed immediately by an easy 17 miler.  Mostly I was just happy to be running fewer miles I think; I did 58 miles in the first taper week.

This week has been a bit of a mixed bag.  As I mentioned earlier, I had a quick mile repeat workout, but I was really wiped out after the third set.  I was really glad to have that out of the way.  And I really enjoyed my 13 miler today, but I felt sluggish for the first 8 miles or so.  I guess this is normal for me, I felt the same way on my last medium-length run leading up to Green Bay.  44 miles this week.

So it's all very easy stuff from here on, save for a dress rehearsal run on Tuesday where I will run 2 miles at goal pace in the context of a 7 miler.

And Finally...

Good luck to everyone running Chicago tomorrow.  Run smart in that first half and don't get carried away with the crowds; the second half will be much tougher with the lack of shade and the smaller crowds.  I'll be out on the course just past the halfway mark with my wife wearing a clown wig.  Should be easy to spot.  ;-)