tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744198919800580693.post2357217623185618778..comments2023-10-24T02:10:18.540-07:00Comments on kayry - running engineer: Houston Marathon Part 2 of 4 - FAQskayryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14546047982491086253noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744198919800580693.post-66463535118082632362008-01-20T16:47:00.000-08:002008-01-20T16:47:00.000-08:00What I mean by AAA is that your not in the majors,...What I mean by AAA is that your not in the majors, but your performance has put you at a high level. So decide whether you want to do it for fun or whether you want to see how fast you can be if you focus. Nothing wrong with doing it for fun. I don't think one can run at a consistently high level when one runs too many marathons. 3 may be OK, see, Geb, but I tend to think 2 preferable, particularly now that you're 40. Up here in New York, the serious runners tend to do 2 at most, often Boston and New York.<BR/><BR/>Recover and then do some shorter races. Try to get your other times comparable to your marathon on a age-graded basis. Try to get the A-G up over 80% consistently across distances.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744198919800580693.post-54790101551843748972008-01-20T13:48:00.000-08:002008-01-20T13:48:00.000-08:00Thanks for your comments - I do this for fun and o...Thanks for your comments - I do this for fun and of course getting faster is a big part of the fun.<BR/><BR/>I don't know what it means to move up to AAA.<BR/><BR/>I had considered running a couple/few more marathons before the heat comes to Houston but I think your advise to limit the number is good advise - don't think I'll limit to 2/year - but I do think 4 in a year may have been 1 too many. I do have my radar locked on a next race - put I'll put that into a new post.kayryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14546047982491086253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744198919800580693.post-86645902020743758662008-01-18T18:53:00.000-08:002008-01-18T18:53:00.000-08:00I tend to view Tempos as speedwork. My last time ...I tend to view Tempos as speedwork. My last time out, I pretty much followed Daniels and did many Tempos and Repeats, and not so many intervals. But you're finding what works for you, and I leave the training that led to the poor times of the past, including at the shorter distances, behind.<BR/><BR/>Your Houston time suggests that you've moved up into, say, AAA, and people at that level don't do 3 or 4 marathons a year if they want to do those marathons as well as they can. Plus doing lots of marathons will break you down over time. My suggestion is that in light of that you cut down on the number of marathons you do, to two a year. Give yourself the chance to train properly, 6 weeks of building a solid base and then 18 weeks of increasing the intensity (and as you've learned, sticking to one approach).<BR/><BR/>I am 51 and am limiting myself to one a year. I've only finished 2 so far, one at 27, one at 50, so I'm no expert, but that second one did get me an age-group award (3rd) in NY in 2006. For the Spring I'm focusing on shorter stuff with an eye towards getting a good base of miles before beginning my training for NY 2008.<BR/><BR/>Good luck.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744198919800580693.post-52095022518130773482008-01-17T16:42:00.000-08:002008-01-17T16:42:00.000-08:00In training for NYCM - I started with Pfitzinger's...In training for NYCM - I started with Pfitzinger's 18 week 70 miles plan but early on found I wanted more challenging quality workouts so I started swapping the quality workouts for workouts I found is similar weeks away from the Daniels Elite plan. I didn't realize it at the time but Daniels workouts have more Speed work earlier than Pfitz (intervals at varying distances typically at 5k pace). In mixing the plans I ended up actually doing speed work both early per Daniels and then after a while I decided the Daniels workouts were too hard so switched back to just using Pfitz and so did the speed work the Pfitz crams into the last 6 weeks too. Overall I had around 35 miles at 5k pace during the cycle vs Pfitz I think has 6 workouts * 3 miles each so ~18 miles at 5k pace - so I did double the speed work vs the plan.<BR/><BR/>Result of this overfocus on speed I think was I peaked too early both physically and mentally.<BR/><BR/>For Houston - somewhere I recognized my error in focussing too much and figured endurance and strength were my key areas of focus anyway - so I cut out the intervals from the workout program.<BR/><BR/>So with the success of Houston I am left wondering if:<BR/><BR/>1) Speedwork should be before the strength/endurance work - as it happened to work out with my NYCM cycle getting the speed work than 10 weeks focused on MP/Tempo, OR<BR/><BR/>2) Speedwork is unnecessary.<BR/><BR/>I tend to think toward #1 but some lean toward #2.kayryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14546047982491086253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744198919800580693.post-11244445135876296952008-01-17T13:38:00.000-08:002008-01-17T13:38:00.000-08:00Congrats. Very nice run, particularly so soon aft...Congrats. Very nice run, particularly so soon after NY. Welcome to the world of becoming obsessed with where you stand in your age-group.<BR/><BR/>You make a big point about having dropped "Speedwork." What speedwork are you talking about. Intervals? Repeats?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com