Another tough week of training down! In fact, considering the weighted average speed of my miles, this might be the fastest week of running I've ever done. There were three very tough runs in this workout: Tuesday was an aggressive paced MLR, Wednesday was one of my faster tempo runs ever and then Saturday with the MP miles. Saturday's run in particular gave me the confidence that I am marathon ready. My mind is starting to think in terms of 3:15 rather than 3:20. And if the altitude is as much of an advantage as I hope it will be, then maybe even a few minutes lower than that. My average pace for the MP miles was 7:27 and that translates into a 3:15 marathon. And even running half of those into a stiff breeze, I did not blow out my HR (average 162 or so for MP miles). Altitude calculations suggest that I could take as much as 18 seconds per mile off that 7:27 pace to account for the 4,000 foot difference on race day. That would be up to 8 minutes! Now I don't think that is going to be quite right for me for two reasons. The first is that I suspect Saturday's MP miles were a touch faster than MP. And the second is that I have not consistently trained for a sub 3:15 marathon on my workouts. Plus, altitude math is somewhat theoretical in nature. Nonetheless, I'd say a 3 - 5 minute cushion on race day sounds about right.
This week will be a bit slower in pace (on aggregate) as I focus a bit more on endurance and wrap up this final week of Pfitz training! I have my final 20 mile training run (maybe for the year?) and I have not quite decided how I will approach it yet. It's getting tough not to let my focus drift to Leadville, but I am confident the work I am doing now is preparing me for Leadville. And I am so late in training, that I can see this race coming together beautifully.
Before wrapping up this post, I have to mention my new marathon shoes, the
Saucony Fastwitch. I tried them out Saturday having only worn them an aggregate of about 30 minutes before my MP run. They performed well. I think that anyone looking to get some of the benefits of a minimal shoe (light weight, very little heel-to-toe drop) while still maintaining some support should really consider them.
| Day | Miles | Notes |
| Monday | Rest |
|
| Tuesday | 11 | MLR at GA pace |
| Wednesday | 8 | 5 tempo miles: 7:18, 7;13, 7:08, 7:03, 7:03 |
| Thursday | 6 | Recovery |
| Friday | Rest | |
| Saturday | 18 | 14 MP miles averaging 7:27 |
| Sunday | 7 | Recovery |
| Total | 50 | About 2000 vertical feet gained |
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