The 3rd time's a charm!

I'm running Chicago for the third time this year. The first year it was 30 degrees at the start, last year it was 80 at the finish, and I'm hoping this year we'll find some nice middle ground. This will also be my second attempt at a BQ, and while I fell 44 seconds short in my last attempt, I doubt that would have gotten me in for 2012 anyway. I haven't picked a specific time goal for Chicago other than getting in under 3:10 to most likely guarantee me a spot at the line in Hopkinton in 2013.

I'll be training under the watchful and experienced eye of Dave-O again, so I suspect I'll be seeing lots of 10 mile tempos followed by a sort of long run in the middle of the week. Probably the most dreaded workout I'll see are the 16 w/12 at MP and 18 w/14 at MP, but really the rest of the workouts themselves don't ever seem that bad, but the accumulated fatigue from all the miles gets to me here and there.

I haven't done anything earth shattering since the end of the last cycle, but did get in some solid speed work and finally got back under 20 for the 5K. I haven't gotten past the 40 mile mark, but assuming I get in my last 2 planned runs for this week, I'll get to 45 this week and have a decent foundation for whatever Dave throws at me.

Happy running everybody and I'll see a bunch of you in Chicago!

I'll be pulling for good weather for everyone in Chicago this year, you deserve it given the weather historically.

Have fun training this summer, I'm sure with Dave by your side and the goal of BQ, you'll have no lack of motivation to get you through

Congrats on sub 20 5k. Always good watching your blog motivates me to catch you. 3:10 seems reasonable especially with coach Dave.

Sub20 5k

mul21 wrote:I'm running Chicago for the third time this year. The first year it was 30 degrees at the start, last year it was 80 at the finish, and I'm hoping this year we'll find some nice middle ground. This will also be my second attempt at a BQ, and while I fell 44 seconds short in my last attempt, I doubt that would have gotten me in for 2012 anyway. I haven't picked a specific time goal for Chicago other than getting in under 3:10 to most likely guarantee me a spot at the line in Hopkinton in 2013.

I'll be training under the watchful and experienced eye of Dave-O again, so I suspect I'll be seeing lots of 10 mile tempos followed by a sort of long run in the middle of the week. Probably the most dreaded workout I'll see are the 16 w/12 at MP and 18 w/14 at MP, but really the rest of the workouts themselves don't ever seem that bad, but the accumulated fatigue from all the miles gets to me here and there.

I haven't done anything earth shattering since the end of the last cycle, but did get in some solid speed work and finally got back under 20 for the 5K. I haven't gotten past the 40 mile mark, but assuming I get in my last 2 planned runs for this week, I'll get to 45 this week and have a decent foundation for whatever Dave throws at me.

Happy running everybody and I'll see a bunch of you in Chicago!

Jim, as always, you're in good hands with your coach. Those long runs with huge chunks at MP (along with lots of tempo runs) are still, for my money, the most important workouts in a marathon training cycle.
As you mentioned over on my blog, the hope is that we'll both being lining up in Hopkinton in 2013.

Jim, looking forward to seeing you in Chicago. Seems like you finished your last training cycle with a strong base, so you've got something good to build on for this one. I forecast you'll be in great condition to get the numbers you want, I just wish I could accurately forecast that the weather will cooperate to let you (and the rest of us) do so!

Jim the 30 degree year was that 2006. If so yes it was cold and windy that year, that was the year I got my first BQ. Anyway I don't think you have come close to your best marathon time. You ran an awesome race at the Illinois Marathon under not such great conditions. So with another Dave-O training cycle and good weather this year I think you should be in good shape to burn up the streets of Chicago. I would go as far as saying that if everything lines up you could be anywhere from 3:02-3:08.

Hope you are in for another post party at our places this year. Looking forward to seeing you!

Neil Ruggiero wrote:I'll be pulling for good weather for everyone in Chicago this year, you deserve it given the weather historically.

Have fun training this summer, I'm sure with Dave by your side and the goal of BQ, you'll have no lack of motivation to get you through

There are definitely days down here in St. Louis that are so hot and humid (not to mention the occasional trips to Memphis) where having that external motivation is necessary to get out the door and sweat my arse off!

Kenny B. wrote:Congrats on sub 20 5k. Always good watching your blog motivates me to catch you. 3:10 seems reasonable especially with coach Dave.

Thanks Kenny, I can't imagine your sub 20 5K is too far off!

Jerry wrote:Sub20 5k

Yeah, it hurt a lot more than I remembered unfortunately.

Seth Harrison wrote:

Jim, as always, you're in good hands with your coach. Those long runs with huge chunks at MP (along with lots of tempo runs) are still, for my money, the most important workouts in a marathon training cycle.
As you mentioned over on my blog, the hope is that we'll both being lining up in Hopkinton in 2013.

I couldn't agree with you more Seth. I really think the biggest improvement came from those tempo/long run combos, especially that second long run in the middle of the week that got up to 14 miles for me.

Tom H wrote:Jim, looking forward to seeing you in Chicago. Seems like you finished your last training cycle with a strong base, so you've got something good to build on for this one. I forecast you'll be in great condition to get the numbers you want, I just wish I could accurately forecast that the weather will cooperate to let you (and the rest of us) do so!

Here's hoping Tom! It seems like it's a rare occurrence anymore to get ideal weather on race day, but I guess we'll take what we get and do the best we can.

Schuey wrote:Jim the 30 degree year was that 2006. If so yes it was cold and windy that year, that was the year I got my first BQ. Anyway I don't think you have come close to your best marathon time. You ran an awesome race at the Illinois Marathon under not such great conditions. So with another Dave-O training cycle and good weather this year I think you should be in good shape to burn up the streets of Chicago. I would go as far as saying that if everything lines up you could be anywhere from 3:02-3:08.

Hope you are in for another post party at our places this year. Looking forward to seeing you!

Definitely looking forward to the post race gathering!

The cold weather was 2009. I've only run the 2, 2009 and 2010. And you certainly have some ambitious goals for me!

I love the start of your blog and I'm looking forward to watching your journey to a BQ. I hear you on hoping for a happy medium.... 30 degrees your first Chicago and 80 your last....for me in 2007 with the heat.....I have a good feeling we'll be happy with what mother nature gives us come October 9th! Looking forward to seeing you again and hopefully you can hang out again after the race!

mul21 wrote: The cold weather was 2009.

2009 was butt cold! My mother in law and I FROZE our tuches' off walking around....yeah, I'll take an in between of the cold and hot

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

mul21 wrote: The cold weather was 2009.

2009 was butt cold! My mother in law and I FROZE our tuches' off walking around....yeah, I'll take an in between of the cold and hot

Huh I don't remember 2009 being that cold. I guess I have ran to many of them to remember.

Good luck this training cycle, Jim. You've improved a lot recently and I see no reason for you to stop getting a lot faster. I'm sure you'll toe the line in Chicago ready for a great race. Don't worry about the weather, I won't be in Chicago this year, so I'm sure it will be nice since it was hot in 2008 and 2010 when I was there.

Matt W wrote:

Good luck this training cycle, Jim. You've improved a lot recently and I see no reason for you to stop getting a lot faster. I'm sure you'll toe the line in Chicago ready for a great race. Don't worry about the weather, I won't be in Chicago this year, so I'm sure it will be nice since it was hot in 2008 and 2010 when I was there.

....wish you were here!

It's cold when you're not!

Matt W wrote:

Good luck this training cycle, Jim. You've improved a lot recently and I see no reason for you to stop getting a lot faster. I'm sure you'll toe the line in Chicago ready for a great race. Don't worry about the weather, I won't be in Chicago this year, so I'm sure it will be nice since it was hot in 2008 and 2010 when I was there.

I think you're probably right about my continued improvement Matt. As long as I can manage to stay healthy (and at our advanced age, that's always a challenge! ) I think I can continue to see significant improvement, even on less mileage than Dave probably wants me to run!

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

....wish you were here!

It's cold when you're not!

And no offense Matt, but if you not being in Chicago for the marathon means cool weather, then stay the hell away!

mul21 wrote:

And no offense Matt, but if you not being in Chicago for the marathon means cool weather, then stay the hell away!

We love ya Matt, but have to agree with Jim on this one!

Okay, on to some actual running, which I managed to do a bit of this week!

Mon-6 easy @ 8:53 (and for you Mark, I did this in my Free Runs)
Tues-7 w/5 mile progression (8:03, 7:50, 7:43, 7:40, 7:38) and 2 mile cool down
Wed-off
Thu-off
Fri-10 @ 8:13
Sat-7 @ 8:48 (another Free Run day, I'm going to try to do all of my recovery miles in them)
Sun-15 @ 8:28

Week-45 YTD-1066

I haven't gotten in as many miles or days of running as I would have liked the past few weeks because of work related time/fatigue issues, but I'm happy that I was able to get in a solid week before my actual cycle starts to help get my legs underneath me a bit. I can already tell that this summer of running is going to be a challenge because of the ramped up training I'm doing and the weather that is typical in the St. Louis area. Today's 15 was absolutely brutal and I'm going to have to be diligent about getting out the door plenty early for my long runs the rest of the summer.

This was a solid week before you start. I like the mid week progression run something I have never done during the mid week. Run smart if it is hot adjust pace accordingly. I think for that takes discipline.

Kenny B. wrote:This was a solid week before you start. I like the mid week progression run something I have never done during the mid week. Run smart if it is hot adjust pace accordingly. I think for that takes discipline.

That wasn't exactly the workout I had planned, but after 7 hours in a car and not getting to my hotel until 8:15 that night, that was about all I had in me. It was still a good workout, especially considering how hot and humid it was that night.

Just got my first four weeks of Chicago training from Dave and nothing unexpected in there. 50+ miles every week with a double sprinkled in here and there.

Also, I'm posting this from my work laptop even though the site is blocked by wonderful websense. I'm using a workaround that Chris suggested and I'm logged onto my personal laptop using logmein.com. Pretty cool!

mul21 wrote:

Just got my first four weeks of Chicago training from Dave and nothing unexpected in there. 50+ miles every week with a double sprinkled in here and there.

No reason not to jump right in! Good luck, and hopefully the third times the charm!

A very strong "pre-cycle" training week. You're ready to smash this cycle, and I expect a strong adjustment to the higher mileage.

mul21 wrote:

Kenny B. wrote:This was a solid week before you start. I like the mid week progression run something I have never done during the mid week. Run smart if it is hot adjust pace accordingly. I think for that takes discipline.

That wasn't exactly the workout I had planned, but after 7 hours in a car and not getting to my hotel until 8:15 that night, that was about all I had in me. It was still a good workout, especially considering how hot and humid it was that night.

Just got my first four weeks of Chicago training from Dave and nothing unexpected in there. 50+ miles every week with a double sprinkled in here and there.

Also, I'm posting this from my work laptop even though the site is blocked by wonderful websense. I'm using a workaround that Chris suggested and I'm logged onto my personal laptop using logmein.com. Pretty cool!

Maybe it should be.

Dave-O wrote:A very strong "pre-cycle" training week. You're ready to smash this cycle, and I expect a strong adjustment to the higher mileage.

I don't see any reason it'll be a problem if this stupid work thing doesn't get in the way!

Kenny B. wrote:

Maybe it should be.

You know, it was a nice little workout to get the legs moving but not too tough that I was killing myself when I wasn't feeling that fresh. Not a bad option under the circumstances.

Ken Mello wrote:

mul21 wrote:

Just got my first four weeks of Chicago training from Dave and nothing unexpected in there. 50+ miles every week with a double sprinkled in here and there.

No reason not to jump right in! Good luck, and hopefully the third times the charm!

Thanks Ken!

What's really strange is that after just one training cycle working with Dave, 50 doesn't seem like a big number anymore. Now, 60+ is still work for me, but I think that won't seem as bad as I continue to get faster (I hope!).

mul21 wrote:

Ken Mello wrote:

mul21 wrote:

Just got my first four weeks of Chicago training from Dave and nothing unexpected in there. 50+ miles every week with a double sprinkled in here and there.

No reason not to jump right in! Good luck, and hopefully the third times the charm!

Thanks Ken!

What's really strange is that after just one training cycle working with Dave, 50 doesn't seem like a big number anymore. Now, 60+ is still work for me, but I think that won't seem as bad as I continue to get faster (I hope!).

If you can manage 50 well 60 is just a bump and the motivation to kick ass will easily get you over it.