Just going to apologize now: Molly and I haven’t taken any photos during recent runs, so I am resorting to clip art to illustrate this post.
When it comes to marathon training, I don’t look very far down the road. I don’t literally run with my head down (well, okay, maybe when I’m burnt out), but I do metaphorically. My coach usually lays out my training schedule a week at a time, yet once I see what day the long run lands on, I don’t study the workouts like vocab list I’m cramming for the SATs. Instead, I rarely look more than a day or two ahead.
Like last week: No use fretting midweek about Saturday’s double runs (prep for next month’s Ragnar Relay!). The week’s long run fell on Wednesday (given that I work from home and it was summer vacation, my schedule has some bend and give…) so I needed to keep my focus on it. Coach wasn’t asking me to run all the workouts at the same time, so why even think about them at one time?
And even within that Wednesday workout, I didn’t dwell on the whole picture. I knew the complete distance was 17 miles, yet Coach Bri had cleverly divvied it up: 3 miles to warm up, then 1 mile of alternating 30 seconds light pick up with 1 minute back to comfortable pace until the mile was up. The main set was 4 x 2 miles at roughly marathon pace, then a 1/4-mile build to 10K feel with 3/4 ease off to warm-up pace. Finish with 8 x 100-meter strides (short pick-ups emphasizing quick feet), then half-mile easy. (Oh, and let’s not forget the lunge matrix running partner, Molly, and I had to complete before even setting out.)
In a way, this make-me-laugh comic illustrates Dim’s sage refrain of, “Be where your feet are.”
The two miles at marathon pace were challenging, but attainable–and short lived. On the first one, Molly was about two steps ahead of me and to my left. Instead of fretting about not quite keeping up with her, I reminded myself I take longer to warm up. On the quarter-mile at 10K feel, Molly and I had agreed in advance we’d each run our own pace. I took off, then circled back to her for the 3/4-mile trot.
We gave thanks those reprieves lasted longer than the blink of an eye, so we were able to physically and mentally regroup. (Not to get all woo-woo West Coast, but as we ran along a road overlooking the Willamette River, I actually uttered out loud to Molly, “This break is giving me a chance to gather my chi for the next 2-mile segment.” Oh, geez, it sure reads a lot flakier than I think it sounded at the time!)
By the third set of repeats, we needed more than chi to propel us forward: We each took a GU sooner rather than later, and I turned on a Spotify playlist to blare boombox-style from the pocket on my Ultimate Direction hydration belt. Macklemore and Robyn can always get me going, so I was able to nail the paces and effort for the rest of the workout; Molly’s marathon goal isn’t as aggressive as mine, so she dialed back her speed a bit.
When Molly and I re-convened on a pathway around a well-shaded park, we high-fived each other, proud of our efforts–and in disbelief we’d covered nearly 17 miles. Only when we uttered the number did my legs get a bit wobbly; the 3/4-mile back to our houses seemed the longest stretch of the run.
If we’d thought about the 17 miles the whole way, they’d seem like they stretched to the vanishing point on the horizon.
As a result of this keeping-my-head-down outlook, I don’t always tally my weekly mileage. I didn’t do the math until Jack, the kids, and I were enjoying a rare day at the Oregon coast, and I was semi-dozing on the soft sand beach. With Daphne continually asking me to check out the hole she was digging–“Mom, it’s got water at the bottom!”–and John lamenting about not bringing a kite, I added up my six runs. I checked my math three times, but even with the kids’ distractions, I kept coming up with the same number: 40 miles. Somehow, without ever lifting my head, I’d run 40 miles in one week.
I’d love to hear from you: What do you do to keep your training plan in perspective?
I’m struggling some with perspective right now, looking at the race date, number of weeks, where I feel like I am/should be in my self-designed and self-coached training plan. But I do repeat Dimity’s “be where your feet are” to myself!
I may try that clever workout pattern your coach gave you. I have different ways of working on goal pace mileage and speeding up my long runs, but haven’t tried the 30s/1m to warm up to the pace yet, and finishing a hard day with strides is a different approach for me (easy runs I will finish with strides).
Congrats to you and Molly on all your great hard training efforts!
I’m training so differently for my 2d attempt at the Chicago marathon. The first time around, I used a traditional plan aka Hal Higdon’s Novice 2. I felt well prepared physically, but the heat and humidity of the day were too much for me mentally. This time around, since I’ve started working with a crossfit coach, I decided to let her train me. Because this training is so different and so fun, it’s been easy to keep everything in perspective. I’m not running high mileage but I do have a lot of long runs–my longest is an 18 miler. Instead, the training focuses on endurance (I have a lot of speedwork and I do crossfit intervals on the rower weekly) and strength–really tough weight workouts. Both of these push me to my limits and make me want to quit, but I push through them and feel pretty darned good when I’m done (altho very sore the next day!). I’m looking forward to seeing how this translates to the marathon, but I have no expectations, time-wise. I just want to feel strong when I’m done, and I think this plan will help me achieve that.
Great post! I never look that far out on my plans, it tends to scare me. I focus on the week at hand, but more for scheduling runs than OHMYGAWD I have an XX miler coming up. I have to break it into segments or I’d be to nervous to finish my plan. A 20 miler looks scary in week 1, much less so after the week you run an 18. And during runs? I’ll always envision finishing, but it end to get lost in my thoughts out there. I usually break it up by landmarks I’m running by, the park, the swamp, that person ahead of me walking their dog.
I must say that first this workout is dizzying! I have such trouble actually remembering things of this nature. I almost always have to do complicated workouts on the treadmill so I can have a sticky note!
I have learned to be quite similar this training. The workouts are daunting and rather then spend so much of my time freaked out, I just check what I need to do for the next day. It makes life so much calmer and, well, surprising!
Way to go!
Unfortunately, I am prone to focusing on the ‘trees’ versus the ‘forest’ in a training plan. I marry that plan…to death (or injury) does it part. It takes flirting seriously with an injury (nagging achilles currently) and thankfully BRFs to bring me back to my senses to say that sometimes modification is still “good enough”. Let’s just say I’m a work in progress!
I’m really struggling with being “where my feet are” during this training plan. I’ve set a pretty healthy PR goal for myself and of late I’ve been getting all hung up in the “where I am vs where I should be” mind game. Must trust the training!
I’m too much of a planner to not look ahead but I do use the motto “Run the run you are in!” It helps when I’m slumping mid-week and feeling negative about an upcoming long run. It helps in a lot if areas of life.
I use notecards on the treadmill too!! Can’t remember complicated workouts at all!!
I am a planner by nature so I track my miles daily. I do count my long runs backwards in quarters, which helps me a lot.
Last week for my 18 mile run I broke it up and found it worked great! I started out with 5 out and 5 back…then headed back out from my starting point to do 4 out and 4 back in a different direction. Mentally it was just so much easier to handle then thinking about 18 all at once!!
That is a great idea Beth!
What a timely post! I read it as I was getting ready to head out the door for my 10 miler. I’ve been feeling tons of anxiety about my training lately, though I’m not sure why. I’ve trained for, and run, two other marathons. For those, I followed fairly typical plans (a few regular runs, 1 speed/hill run, and 1 long run per week) and though I sometimes got nervous for an upcoming long run, that feeling disappeared once I started running. For my upcoming 3rd and final marathon, I wanted to give it my all, so I decided to hire a trainer. All of my workouts have a purpose, they are almost all tough, and each one makes me nervous. What to do? I try not to look too far ahead, try to keep it all in perspective, but I’m almost ready to give up! The workouts themselves usually go very well, with me hitting all of my target paces, times, distances, etc. I wish I knew why this is freaking me out so much!