I am feeling good!

I don't have a valid excuse for the lack of updates in my running blog.  My apologies!  As in all my previous marathons, excitement is building up by the hour.  With only 5 1/2 weeks to Berlin, I have reasons to think that I can have a great race there.  I am running great workouts and increasing the weekly mileage.  Consistency is the word that better defines my training this time around.  I am very motivated for this race. My workouts are not easy, painful sometimes, but that doesn't stop me from pushing myself harder and enjoying every single moment of them.  I have turned the corner for good, and I can finally see the finish line.  I feel good, I am going to race (not to run) this marathon.  My plan is different this time, I am not going to Berlin to jog on the roads. I am going to attack the course since the very first mile.  I am not going to save any energy, I will leave everything I have on the pavement.  If I stay healthy in the next 5 weeks,  I am going to go for it.  I am already qualified for Boston so no worries about hitting the wall in mile 21.  I have trained diligently and it's time to see if I have the 'talent' to run a sub 3 hour marathon.

My training in the past two and a half weeks has been very solid.  It included 2 speed workouts, three tempos, one long run, and a marathon pace workout.  I don't have neither the time nor the desire to write every single details about the workouts, but they have been good.  Below is a quick synthesis of all of them:

Speed
#1: 6x800 mts (400 mts. recovery). 3:03, 01, 03, 06, 00, 03. Really humid, good feeling.
#2: 8x800 mts (400 mts recovery). 3:05, 03, 00, 00, 2:59, 2: 57, 2:54, 2:48). Treadmill, hot and humid outside. 

Tempos
#1: 7x5 mins. @ Sta Rosa Beach Florida. Decent, only decent in a really humid place.
#2: 4x10 mins (2 mins recovery). 1.48, 1.52, 1.53, 1.55 miles respectively.  Fastest ever. Treadmill.
#3: 2x20 mins (20 mins easy running in between). 3 and 2.9 miles in each tempo.  Felt tired in the last 10 mins of the second one, but kept going. Treadmill.

Long Runs
# 1:  18 miles @ 8:20. Strong.Treadmill.
#2:  12 miles @ 7 min avg. 15.25 total.  An injection of confidence. Treadmill.

I have done 62 miles per week on average.  As you can see, the majority of my key workouts have been done on a treadmill.  The weather in New Orleans is just really bad and I don't want to kill myself before Berlin.

More updates soon, I promise!

Training update 7/31/2011 -64 miles

The heat and humidity don't leave me alone.  It's very sticky, and my lungs and heart just can't pump enough oxygen and blood to run my workouts as fast as I would like.  My race in Berlin is either going to be very good or a total disaster.  I feel very strong, but it's impossible to predict how fast I will go there.  I have 8 more weeks to go, and I am running lots of miles (in this heat).  Indeed, I logged 64 miles last week which is the highest weekly mileage of my life.  My legs feel great, my knee is not sore anymore, and I am eating a lot of ice cream and creme brulee to make up for all the calories that I burn in the workouts. I am not putting a limit on my weekly mileage this time (as I used to do).  Yet I am being very careful about my training loads, my nutrition, and  my hydration. If I want to run a sub 3 hour marathon, I need more than fast legs. I need to train with intelligence and passion. I need to believe that I can do it! 

A sub 3 hr marathon, I believe, is a true test of physical and mental endurance.  It doesn't matter how hard you train every day if your mind is not ready to take up on the challenge. I am super exited about running the fastest marathon course in the planet. In every single workout, I visualize myself running through the Brandenburg Gate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate), seeing the finish line for the first time, and picking up the pace to end three seasons of fantastic running. 

As mentioned before, I did 64 miles last week (3 quality workouts, 4 easy days, and no double sessions).

Mo- speed workout. 5x800 mts (400 mts recovery).  7.5 miles total.  I ran 3:07 average, not bad but slower than I wanted.  I felt good.
Tu- 8 miles, easy running.  Good run, legs fine, not feeling the effects of the 800s.
Wed- Tempo run. 1x20 mins; 1x15 mins; 10 mins recovery. 9 miles total.  The 20 min tempo was good, legs had good turnover.  I was supposed to do another 20 mins, but only did 15 mins, it was too hot and humid.
Th- 7 miles. Easy run. Not a very good one.  Legs were tired from the tempo.  Took it as easy as possible.
Fr- 6.25 miles, easy running.
Sat- 17 miles.  I did 14 miles outside, very slow (high 8's). It was 80F, 98% humidity when I left my place and it only got worse... needless to say that I didn't have any fun.  So I finish the run on the treadmill.
Sun- 6 miles, easy running.  Legs felt great, no effects after the long run.

I will travel this week so I may need to make some adjustments. The plan is to do 60 miles and have Sanday off, yeeeah!

Cheers