Julie's PR attempt at Fox Cities

Julie wrote:
20 miler is done! It was not fast, it was 97% humidity or around there at the start, upper 70s, now 82 and down to 77% humidity feels like 88 and mostly sunny.

If there's a running god, we will all be rewarded with perfect conditions on race day. Way to tough it out.

Dave-O wrote:

Julie wrote:
20 miler is done! It was not fast, it was 97% humidity or around there at the start, upper 70s, now 82 and down to 77% humidity feels like 88 and mostly sunny.

If there's a running god, we will all be rewarded with perfect conditions on race day. Way to tough it out.

So it seems we are all working our butts off in this heat it better pay dividends come cooler weather!

Kenny B. wrote:

Dave-O wrote:

Julie wrote:
20 miler is done! It was not fast, it was 97% humidity or around there at the start, upper 70s, now 82 and down to 77% humidity feels like 88 and mostly sunny.

If there's a running god, we will all be rewarded with perfect conditions on race day. Way to tough it out.

So it seems we are all working our butts off in this heat it better pay dividends come cooler weather!

Great work Julie!! 20 miles is 20 miles no matter how it is done. And yes Kenny, hopefully all of this work will pay dividends in the fall...

Dave-O wrote:

Julie wrote:
20 miler is done! It was not fast, it was 97% humidity or around there at the start, upper 70s, now 82 and down to 77% humidity feels like 88 and mostly sunny.

If there's a running god, we will all be rewarded with perfect conditions on race day. Way to tough it out.

Thanks Dave! I've had several marathons with near perfect weather so let's hope for a repeat.

Kenny B. wrote:

Dave-O wrote:

Julie wrote:
20 miler is done! It was not fast, it was 97% humidity or around there at the start, upper 70s, now 82 and down to 77% humidity feels like 88 and mostly sunny.

If there's a running god, we will all be rewarded with perfect conditions on race day. Way to tough it out.

So it seems we are all working our butts off in this heat it better pay dividends come cooler weather!

I sure hope so!

Nick Morris wrote:


Great work Julie!! 20 miles is 20 miles no matter how it is done. And yes Kenny, hopefully all of this work will pay dividends in the fall...

Thanks Nick! Yes I hate to complain too much about the weather because it's been hot for almost everyone.

Today was 11 miles GA, I swapped days so I'll do my 800m repeats tomorrow. still humid although a little more bearable.

Great job on the 20 and the 11 GA miles, Julie!

Julie, how did the 11GA go?

Thanks Jim!

Alex - The 11 GA went well, still humid and I am drinking quite a bit of water. Towards the last 2 miles I was feeling tired but stuck with it.

Today I did V02max workout, 8 miles total with 800m at 5K pace x 5. I warmed up about 1.5 miles before I started the 800ms (90 sec recovery between).

4:11
4:03
4:04
4:02
4:08

then I ran the rest around 9:40-9:55 pace approx. 93% humidity, 74 degrees but really felt quite a bit cooler than it has been. I think by the weekend our lows are going to be in the upper 60s which just sounds so wonderful right now.

I don't want to admit this, but my left knee hurt just a bit yesterday and today. I couldn't feel it after a few miles but I don't want it to turn into something, either. I am about at my peak mileage and I know this is the real heart of the marathon training right now, before the taper and with several more weeks of quality workouts to make my goal. I don't want to back down too soon but at the same time I don't want to mess with an injury. I'm debating taking tomorrow off or maybe just run easy.

The schedule says rest or cross train but it calls for 2 days rest/cross train a week and I've typically been taking only one because my body typically does pretty well with just one day off/week. Any thoughts?

Julie wrote:Thanks Jim!

Alex - The 11 GA went well, still humid and I am drinking quite a bit of water. Towards the last 2 miles I was feeling tired but stuck with it.

Today I did V02max workout, 8 miles total with 800m at 5K pace x 5. I warmed up about 1.5 miles before I started the 800ms (90 sec recovery between).

4:11
4:03
4:04
4:02
4:08

then I ran the rest around 9:40-9:55 pace approx. 93% humidity, 74 degrees but really felt quite a bit cooler than it has been. I think by the weekend our lows are going to be in the upper 60s which just sounds so wonderful right now.

I don't want to admit this, but my left knee hurt just a bit yesterday and today. I couldn't feel it after a few miles but I don't want it to turn into something, either. I am about at my peak mileage and I know this is the real heart of the marathon training right now, before the taper and with several more weeks of quality workouts to make my goal. I don't want to back down too soon but at the same time I don't want to mess with an injury. I'm debating taking tomorrow off or maybe just run easy.

The schedule says rest or cross train but it calls for 2 days rest/cross train a week and I've typically been taking only one because my body typically does pretty well with just one day off/week. Any thoughts?

Good workout this morning, Julie...I can't believe the humidity is still that high. I was looking at the extended forecast here and it looks like we may finally start getting a break from it next week. Hopefully the same will be for you too. As for the knee, I would listen to your body and give it a couple of days to recover. You don't want it to be a nagging injury that ruins the entire rest of your training and race. You shouldn't really lose too much fitness at this point by taking off a couple of days. Rest up, get healthy, and attack the rest of your training.

julie, I would play it by ear, that is, see how you feel after one day off. I'd be surprised if one day of rest didn't do magic and you were up to a 6-8 miler on the second day. I'm assuming the shoes are not an issue as you mentioned a few weeks ago you were getting a new pair? Have you been doing any more running on a slope than normal lately? I agree, it's just because you are at peak weeks of the program, and you can probably handle pushing through it a bit, knowing you should back off if needed.

Nick, thanks, yes I plan to take tomorrow off!

JohnP wrote:julie, I would play it by ear, that is, see how you feel after one day off. I'd be surprised if one day of rest didn't do magic and you were up to a 6-8 miler on the second day. I'm assuming the shoes are not an issue as you mentioned a few weeks ago you were getting a new pair? Have you been doing any more running on a slope than normal lately? I agree, it's just because you are at peak weeks of the program, and you can probably handle pushing through it a bit, knowing you should back off if needed.

John, thank you. I did change my shoes the next day and they did help but now in the last few weeks I have had little pre-injury/niggles in various places, Achilles one day, knee a few days. I don't think I've done any more slope running, mostly the same paths every day. I will take tomorrow off especially since it's in the program and maybe stick with 2 days off/week for the next 6 weeks just to be conservative?

I hate to over do the rest but resting is usually my weakness in that I tend to push through things and would probably be better off resting. Then again I see some runners here take 0 rest days a week and also run doubles many days. I never run twice in a day and my overall mileage while somewhat higher than normal isn't that much higher than my typical (maybe 5-10 miles/week more average than it was earlier in the yr).

Yes, if you have multiple aches (even sequentially), extra rest will be helpful. You've reached a high state with all the miles you've put in so the extra day should only help. I hope everything heals up!

That was a great workout today Julie, especially with that humidity.
Do not hesitate to back off and take an extra rest day to let the knee heal. Just remember, the goal is to get to race day in as best shape possible, not to necessarily nail every single workout. No matter how good it feels to look at your training log with every workout filled in, if you end up hurt, all those great workouts were for naught!

Julie, I hope the rest day takes care of that knee, and don't feel bad if you take an extra day. It will be worth it in the end.

I was surprised at how nice it felt out yesterday morning, but yet it was still pretty humid. The difference between 78 and 68 in the morning must have made it seem so much better! We also had a breeze which felt nice. I sweated a bunch but my clothes didn't stay as wet as usual.

You are hitting some huge miles! Expect to be tired and a little niggly, but keep listening to the body!

Grat job on the 800s!

No doubt this break from the extreme heat will be encouraging. Hopefully your knee will get settled down quickly. Not sure how running with temps in the 60s will feel, but it should be much better than what we have become accustomed to this past month.



Keep it up and if you have to rest a day it will not impact your level of fitness obviously.

Julie, great job on the 800's. As for the knee don't be afraid to take the rest day. As Seth mentioned the most important thing is getting to the starting line healthy.

Seth Harrison wrote:That was a great workout today Julie, especially with that humidity.
Do not hesitate to back off and take an extra rest day to let the knee heal. Just remember, the goal is to get to race day in as best shape possible, not to necessarily nail every single workout. No matter how good it feels to look at your training log with every workout filled in, if you end up hurt, all those great workouts were for naught!

Really good running Julie - long run and the 800s you accomplished nicely, but Seth makes a great point. I've never really thought of it like that, but absolutely true - if we push ourselves to an injury in training, none of the aerobic fitness training we have done will even get to be tested. Since your plan calls for one or two days a week and you have been taking only one, it seems prudent to go ahead and take the second day in light of some things your body seems to be telling you. You won't lose anything in an extra day I wouldn't think....

I hope that your knee is feeling better today...any update??

Julie - please be prudent with your runs. Niggles should work themselves out pain or continous pain might need that 1-2 day rest period. Don't be afraid to adjust your runs accordingly either. Maybe less mileage but keep the intensity or vice versa. In times like this we really need to listen to our body (and soul) if you fighting it then your working against it and that is when problems can occur.

Thanks all, yes I need to listen to my body and back off, I agree with keeping the intensity and the good quality runs. I took today off so we'll see how tomorrow goes. I don't feel really injured (yet) but I don't want it to turn into something more serious.

Thanks again for the sound advice. I didn't update today since I didn't do anything (at least running related). I might just keep the 2 rest days/week from here on out, I guess just play it by ear.

Some of my best marathons have been when I caught a cold a couple of weeks before and had to take a few extra rest days. I know that's not a good strategy but I am guilty of not taking enough rest days.

Feel better. Rest is best and I know it's hard. You'll be back to crazy 20 milers in no time!

Thanks Chas and thanks again everyone else who responded the last couple of days.

This morning was 5 miles recovery with 6x100m strides, just following the program, I didn't know people typically combined recovery with a little speed but I did it. I could feel my knee, not quite painful but I could feel it, the first mile and then things were fine. My legs still felt tired but not quite as bad.

Tomorrow calls for 8-15K tune up race. I work tomorrow and there isn't a race anyway so I guess I'll go out and run 6 miles around 10K pace or that will be my goal at least. Sunday is a 17 miler.

Still humid here but we got rain which started about halfway into my run.

I guess my plan will be to stick with the training plan as closely as possible. Rest days and all. This is definitely the closest I've ever followed a training program and I am hoping it pays off in 6 weeks!

At this point considering how things have been going, I don't think there is any reason your training won't pay off. Just get to the starting line uninjured and you're golden!

Isn't that the point of a training program I am glad that your knee is feeling a little better. Just remember to listen to your body and take a day off when needed. That way, you will make it to race day...which is the reason you are training.

Julie good luck with your runs this weekend. If you're feeling it tomorrow drop the hammer and go if the schedule called for a race and you don't have one. If you're not feeling it then just run whatever feels right.