It’s been a while since my last blog post, and part of the
reason for that is due to being busy with training. The other reason is that I have
been trying to decide which direction I want to take with my training before I
gave an update.
I have decided to put Ultra Training on hold for the next
9-10 months or so, unless I choose to run Weymouth Woods again in January, in
order to focus on the Marathon. As such, I did not decide to run the Black Mountain
Monster, which I ended up being too sick to do anyway, as well as the Dusk to
Dawn 50 Miler and the Grandfather Mountain Marathon. I have a passion for long.
ultra-distance running, but the idea of putting in a solid year of uninterrupted
training to improve my marathon time seemed to tempting to pass up.
Instead, I registered for the Lehigh Valley Marathon in
Allentown, PA which will take place on September 11th, 2016. The
bulk of my summer thus far has been spent training for this race. In addition,
I got into the New York City Marathon on November 6th, 2016 via my
time qualifier in the Half Marathon. Finally, I will also be running the Boston
Marathon for the first time in the spring after qualifying with a 2:53:16 at
the Thunder Road Marathon last November.
Summer Races:
Despite starting Marathon training I did manage to crank out
a PR of 16:36 and a 2nd Place Overall in the NoDa 5K in Charlotte. This
race was during the middle of June and the temperature was probably approaching
90 degrees. I’m confident that I could run sub 16 in the 5K if I trained
specifically for the race and had a nicer day. I also raced the Summer Track
Series 5K at Marvin Ridge High School at the end of June, and while I did not
PR I did take the win and run a strong solo race for a time of 16:45.
NoDa 5K! New PR. |
Most of my races this summer have been at the U.S National
Whitewater Center, about 25 minutes from Charlotte. Here, I was able to still
fulfill my love of trail running without competing in an ultra-distance event.
My first race of the summer was the Memorial Day Trail Race 8-Miler which ended
up taking place in the pouring rain and was my first race after being sick for
almost two weeks. I took 2nd Place Overall and also met some new
running buddies in Ed Schlichter, who won the race and would continue to beat
me at pretty much every USNWC race I went too, and Caleb Denton, an Ultra
Runner from TN who placed 2nd in the 68 Mile Georgia Death Race! I
finally was able to take my first win at a USNWC race at the Brew Dash 6K in
mid-June which I led start to finish and held a 5:59 average pace even on the
trails.
Brew Dash 6K Victory! |
I also competed in the River Jam Run Race Series 6.5 Miler which is
held on the second Thursday of every month at 6:15pm. It’s been great to come
run a fun, hard race during the middle of the week without the pressure of a
normal weekend race. The July version, which topped 95 degrees, was not quite
as fun as the June version! My favorite race of the summer, which I had been
looking forward to for months was the Tread Nightly and Tread Brightly Half
Marathons. Tread Nightly started at 8pm on July 22nd, and Tread
Brightly was the next morning at 8am on July 23rd. I signed up for
both races as the USNWC was offering an awesome custom made “Treadmeister Award”
to the top five men and women who received the most points in the weekends
race. First place in each race received 37.5 points, then 36 points for second,
34.5 points etc.
Tread Nightly & Tread Brightly: Done |
These races were much tougher both physically and mentally
than I expected. There was the added challenge of not knowing whether someone
was doing both of the races and whether or not you needed to stick with their
pace or not. I ended up finishing Tread Nightly in 6th place in
1:55:53 after only going off course and adding on distance during the fourth
mile. It was 12:30 in the morning before I finally got to bed and I was back up
at 6am to head back for Tread Brightly. I knew this was going to hurt, and by
mile five I felt ready to be done. I was pretty strong on the flats and
downhills all things considered, but the uphill’s were at a cripplingly slow
pace. Still, I held on for 5th place in 2:00:17. I ended up being 4th
out of the possibly five to receive one of the “Treadmeister Awards”, which
were awesome hand-made pottery mugs! Also left the race weekend with two
medals, two new shirts and a new running hat! Nothing better than racing 30
Miles on the USNWC trails in only 12 hours!
Summer Training:
As far as Summer Training goes, I have been building up my
mileage for the Lehigh Valley Marathon. My goal is to aim for a sub 2:45
marathon (6:18 pace), and so far my training indicates that I should be capable
of this. Right now, I am entering my last training phase where I will be
peaking at 100 miles a week for the next three weeks. Typically, my workouts
each week have included running an interval or hill workout with Tri-Yon Performance
in Charlotte, coached by Jamey Yon, on Wednesday mornings at 5:30am, a 8-14
Mile Half Marathon to Marathon Pace Tempo on Friday, and a long run with a fast
finish on Sunday. Building up for the Marathon I have run training weeks of 62,
61, 69, 73, 80, 85, 90, and 87 miles. I will run weeks of 100, 100, 100, and 75
to close out my training before tapering.
Typical 100 Mile Week:
Week of August 1st, 2016 to August 7th, 2016
100 Miles
13 Runs
Average of 7.69 Miles Per Run
Runs:
Monday: 15 Miles (12 @ 6:47 Pace, Moderate)(4 @ 7:17,
Recovery)
Tuesday: 14 Miles (11 @ 7:17 Pace, Recovery)( 3 @ 7:28 Pace,
Easy)
Wednesday: 18 Miles (4 WU, 4 @ 6:30 Pace, Hill Workout)( 7 @
7:22 Pace, Recovery)(3 @ 7:06, Easy)
Thursday: 10 Miles (7 @ 7:35 Pace, Recovery)( 3 @ 7:39 Pace,
Recovery)
Friday: 17 Miles (2 WU, 12 @ 6:14 Pace, MP Tempo)( 3 @7:09
Pace, Recovery)
Saturday: 5 Miles @ 7:13 Pace, Recovery
Sunday: 20 Miles @ 6:55-7:00 Pace
Conclusion:
As of right now, I am debating hoping into the News &
Sentinel Half Marathon in West Virginia on August 20th, or the
OrthoCarolina Classic 10K on August 20th in NC. If I do not do
either of these, I will instead run a 16 Mile Tempo/Time Trail around the same
date. I will also be posting more regularly in the future now that I have some
bigger races coming up. Finally, I am also now on Strava! I post all of my
training with paces on the app or website! Thank you for checking out my blog
and following up on my training!