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Richmond Marathon Training: Weeks 18 + 19: My Marathon Week Brain

It’s hard to believe that in four days, I’ll be running my second Richmond Marathon (and my third marathon in total)!

4 days until Richmond Marathon

I wrote an article for the Richmond Marathon event guide. I believe every participant gets a copy of this in their goody bag at the expo. Here’s the online version – my article is on pages 21-22:

The Magic of the Richmond Marathon

My thoughts are a jumbled mix of the race, my training and reflection on the last 19 weeks (seriously, how was it been that long?).

Before I expose you to the crazy insides of my brain, here’s how last week’s training went. I’ll recap this week’s plan later in the post:

Week 18: November 4 – November 10

  • Monday – 15 min w.u. 6 x 1000@MP with 1 min rest. 10 min c.d.  (6.3 mi)
  • Tuesday – Refine Method
  • Wednesday – 40 mins easy + 4 x 100m strides (3.6 mi)
  • Thursday – OFF
  • Friday – 40 mins easy (4.27 mi)
  • Saturday – 10 mi (1:47:46)
  • Sunday – OFF

Total: 24.17 miles

Most notable in week 18 are the 1,000 meter repeats at marathon pace (which ended up being a bit faster than MP). It was a very cold, insanely windy morning and I was glad I thought to wear my running wind vest. 1,000 meters is a strange distance, and I felt really great about my splits. Especially just two days after running 18 miles!

The other notable workout last week was Saturday’s 10 miler. My plan actually called for 10-12 miles, last 2 at MP. I always go for the top of my ranges, but by the second mile I knew this would be a 10 miler. Everything hurt. This run sucked.

My knee bothered me the entire time. This knee pain is strange; it started at the Portland Marathon as a sharp, outside the knee pain that I’d experienced many times before. While my knee hasn’t felt right since then, the pain’s been totally different. It moves around. Sometimes it’s in the front of my knee off to the side. Sometimes it’s right above or below the back of my knee. Sometimes it moves down to my ankle.

It doesn’t feel like an injury so much as it feels like super tight muscles that never fully recovered from Portland. I have a massage on Wednesday with my brilliant massage genius healer. I expect this, along with the insane amounts of icing I’m currently doing, to help a little. I even added “advanced methods of icing” to my Target shopping list on Sunday.

That brings me to Week 19:

Week 18: November 11 – November 16

  • Monday – 30 min easy with 6x100m strides (3.14 mi)
  • Tuesday – OFF (skipped tempo)
  • Wednesday – Scheduled: 30-35 mins easy +4x100m strides (Might skip)
  • Thursday – Scheduled: OFF
  • Friday – Scheduled: 20-25 mins easy + 4x100m strides
  • Saturday – RICHMOND MARATHON
  • Sunday – Mac and cheese

I skipped today’s tempo run. I’d been looking forward to this run for a few weeks now — 15 minute warmup, 2 mile tempo, 2 mins slow jog, 800 meters @10K pace, 3 minute slow jog, 2 mile tempo, 15 minute cooldown. This is unlike any tempo I’ve ever done and I love how varied it is. I probably would have been focused and never bored.

But I knew, especially after Monday’s 30 minute run, that I needed to skip this tempo. While Monday’s run felt so much easier effort wise than Saturday’s — I felt like I was flying! — my knee still felt off. And it continued to bother me for the rest of the day.

I emailed my coach Steph and she confirmed skipping this run was the right choice. I’m not losing any fitness at this point, she said. I’m also considering skipping tomorrow’s 30-35 minute run.

I will do my Friday shakeout run because I found it to be a really helpful strategy in Portland. I also have lots of foam rolling plans once I get to my hotel in Richmond on Friday. And I expect to be good to go on race day. At least, I hope!

And now, a peek inside my marathon week brain:

Larry Gary space heater

  • Larry Gary really loves the space heater
  • I have to get my bangs trimmed before I leave for Richmond
  • Why doesn’t this wraparound ice pack stay cold for longer than 5 minutes?
  • Why doesn’t this new cold wrap get cold at all?
  • WHAT KIND OF “ADVANCED METHOD OF ICING” IS THIS?!
  • Am I doing it wrong?
  • How do people foam roll for more than 30 seconds without dying of boredom?
  • Why do no foods ever appeal to me at lunch, resulting in my consumption of multiple Picky Bars as lunch?
  • How many other people spend over $50 on coconut water during race week?
  • My goal is unattainable. 4:05 is for fast people.
  • I really wish there was a 4:10 or 4:05 pace group.
  • Maybe my goal is conservative and I am actually faster than I think!
  • But then why are my “easy” runs so slow?
  • My goal is probably somewhere between slightly ambitious – completely doable.
  • My watch GPS is always off in real time (but correct at the mile split). How am I supposed to pace myself?
  • I can’t believe the new Garmin I ordered, that was supposed to arrive by November 7, still hasn’t shipped.  So much for having it on race day. CANCEL.
  • At least now I can take advantage of the Garmin trade-in program and get the new watch now that I don’t need it right away.
  • This marathon can be the last hurrah for my weathered Nike+ GPS Sportwatch.
  • Maybe I can find someone else with the same race goal and stick with them?
  • I WANT MAC AND CHEESE.
  • Why did I make this arbitrary “no dairy during race week” rule? I don’t even know for sure if dairy bothers my stomach. My stomach is almost always bad regardless of what I eat.
  • I didn’t eat any dairy the week of Portland and my stomach was still a mess that day.
  • I chose not to blog about that part of the race.
  • Maybe just a little mac and cheese?
  • Maybe mac and cheese can be my post-race meal!
  • But what about the pancakes??
  • I need to buy ShotBloks at the expo.
  • I hate all lunch foods.
  • I hope I don’t spend too much money at the expo.
  • I wonder if they sell Richmond Marathon dog shirts at the expo?
  • I wonder if they sell macaroni and cheese at the expo?
  • THEY SHOULD SELL MACARONI AND CHEESE AT THE EXPO!
  • Who can I talk nonstop about the marathon with?
  • I’m sad I missed out on a chance to get my favorite running tank top in bright purple.
  • My daily eBay checks failed.
  • I hope Andy can easily spot me in my ugly mismatched race outfit.
  • At least my shorts are orange.
  • I love the race day weather forecast! It’s perfect! I hope it sticks.
  • I hate being cold.
  • I should pack a hat in case the forecast changes to rain.
  • What if the race feels easy and I can beat my goal?
  • What if the race feels easy at first and I think I can beat my goal but as a result I injure my knee worse and then the race sucks and I sabotaged it for myself?
  • Why do I only remember bits and pieces of the course? Is my brain non functional? Did I black out mid-marathon?
  • No, I actually remember a lot now that I see the course map. I remember most of it! I remember specific turns. I remember being at mile 18 thinking “this is when I had to drop out of NYCM.”
  • How will I find Andy after the race? I am not running with my phone. We need to pick a meeting spot! I wish I knew what vendors would be there so I could say “meet in front of X vendor…”
  • It’s OK  that my last long run before the race sucked because I was due a bad run. Now there is less of a chance the marathon will suck.
  • But that 10 miler depleted most of my confidence. Why did it feel so hard to maintain 11:30 miles? Why did my marathon pace effort miles at the end feel like I was huffing and puffing and sprinting and still going so slow?
  • STOP IT. I thrive on race day. I thrive on race day. I thrive on race day.
  • I need to pack my neon green with pink tye dye headband. And maybe I will buy a new one at the expo too.
  • I wish they made orthopedic UGGs.
  • I hope Larry enjoys spectating for over four hours.
  • Larry is a boy.
  • We should bring a space heater with us to the hotel for him!
  • I AM SO SMART.
  • I know I didn’t think the Richmond Marathon hills were bad at all two years ago. What if I was wrong??
  • Whatev. I killed that hill in Portland. I’m awesome at hills.
  • Having bangs means I can wear my hair in a bun and not look a balding boy.
  • Do people still shop at Esprit?
  • Why am I completely unable to foam roll even when I know it is the only thing that might save me?
  • What is wrong with me?
  • Ugh.
  • I’m looking forward to training being over so I can take lots of Refine and fit back into the jeans I wore last December for my engagement photo shoot.
  • I’m looking forward to start marathon training again in March when I am stronger from lots of Refine, and not coming off injury like this cycle.
  • I am glad I was smarter and didn’t gain as much weight this time around as the last time I trained for a marathon. That sucked.
  • Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon Marathon
  • I LOVE RICHMOND.
  • My knee is the only thing getting in my way.
  • Running the Portland Marathon as a training run was totally worth it, despite the lingering pain (a risk I was willing to take)
  • GOAL RACE GOAL RACE GOAL RACE GOAL RACE GOAL RACE GOAL RACE GOAL RACE
  • I am so happy we made our hotel reservation in February and are staying right by the race start.
  • I am so happy the hotel allows pets.
  • Why do I sing “Ice Ice Baby” to myself every time I get out an ice pack?
  • I am excited for pre-race dinner with Danielle and Amelia. I am excited for them to meet Larry. I am sad alcohol cannot be involved.
  • I AM GOING TO BRING THEM A COPY OF MY WEDDING SONGS CD FAVOR!!!!
  • That will make them like me. Also, cookies.
  • I already brought my packing list home. I will begin a supplemental packing list on smaller paper so I can copy the items over to my main packing list.
  • NOTHING GETS CROSSED OFF THE LIST UNTIL IT GETS PACKED.
  • Adding “foldover sandwich bags” to the supplemental packing list! This is what I forgot to bring to PDX and it sucked!
  • This giant robe my coworker gave me months ago will be perfect to bring for before the race!
  • I can’t believe this race is the only thing I’ve blogged about for 18 (soon to be 19 and likely 20) weeks.
  • What will I blog about after?? Do I even have anything to say? I am not interesting.
  • A major perk of the Richmond Marathon is that I don’t have to go to work on Friday. Four-day week FTW.
  • Saturday will be awesome. The Richmond Marathon will be awesome.
  • I hope to be able to say to the Ander mid-race, once again, “I AM LOVING THIS!”
  • I am running a marathon on Saturday!!!!!!!!

Dori-Richmond-finish line

What’s your craziest pre-race thought?

Richmond Marathon Training: Week 16 – Race Goals

Hello from the middle of peak week! I’ll discuss this week in detail in next week’s blog post, and I have lots to say about it.

Today’s blog is about two things.

(1) Last week’s workouts
(2) My Richmond Marathon goals

It is not about my sweet caterpillar pup on the left, as much as I would love to write a post all about how smushy and sweet he is. It would probably bore you just like hearing how smushy and sweet your dog is would bore me.

Let’s get started.

(1) Last week’s workouts

Week 16: October 21 – October 27

  • Monday – 15 min w.u. 6 mile tempo, 3 mins rest 8 x 30 secs on, 1 min off 10 min c.d. (9.4 mi)
  • Tuesday – 50 mins easy + 4x100m strides (5.08 mi)
  • Wednesday – 49:09 mins easy + 4x100m strides (5.01 mi)
  • Thursday – Refine Method
  • Friday – 40:55 mins easy (4.11 mi)
  • Saturday – 16 miles with last 15 minutes at marathon pace effort (2:43)
  • Sunday – OFF

Total: 39.6 miles

I conquered Monday’s tempo miles, which is really the greatest feeling. Every week my hard weekly workouts (tempo, interval) scare me, especially as they increase in length and/or intensity. This was my second longest tempo of my training. My goal was to keep my pace and effort somewhere between half marathon and marathon pace — and I did just that, with my six miles averaging a 9:02 pace.

The short intervals after felt tough since my legs were tired but I’m proud of my work on these more challenging days. My 16 mile long run went well too, especially my last 15 minutes at marathon pace effort, which ended up being a bit faster than what I expect my marathon pace will be.

(2) My Richmond Marathon Goals

Speaking of marathon pace, I had “the goal talk” with my coach Steph last night.

I’ve been waiting for this day for 16 weeks. While I had an idea of what my goal would be, I didn’t know if I was completely off base. I didn’t know if I was overestimating or underestimating my own ability. I ran my “marathon pace effort” runs with an idea of where I wanted to be, even though effort is different than pace.

Steph waits until a few weeks before race day to have the talk so she can review my training up until this point and help me make an informed decision on a goal. She asked me what marathon time I had in mind first, and when I told her 4:10 she said she was glad I said that because it shows we are on the same page as far as my ability.

All good stuff. So, what is my actual goal?

Once I say it on the internet it can’t be taken back. I am accountable, whether or not I succeed. And what fun would a goal race be without a goal?

OK, here I go.

My Richmond Marathon time goal is . . . 4:05 – 4:10!

And I feel really good about this! I thought 4:10 would be my reach, but Steph said that based on my training and past race times (this year I ran a 24:19 5K and 1:53:38 half marathon, along with a marathon training run at 4:23:12), she thinks I should start the race at a pace that would have me finish in 4:10.

If, when there are 8 miles to go and I still feel strong, I can speed up and go for the 4:05.

Dori looking strong at 5K race

If I feel as badass as I look here, I am ALL IN for 4:05.

Basically this will mean I keep around a 9:32 pace for the first 18 miles and then increase my speed after that. Knowing me, if I’m feeling awesome the speed will creep up sooner.

Almost all my training runs had a range (ie, 40-50 mins, 5-6 tempo miles, 14-16 mile long run) to account for the unknown. I like this method and I really like that my coach thinks I have a time in me faster than I thought I could do on my own.

Because now I have more confidence.

I had originally signed up for the 4:15 pace group, but I’m no longer planning to start with them. I wish there was a 4:10 but there isn’t, so I will be on my own trying to maintain an even pace. I actually need to change corrals at the expo because when I  signed up for this race last year, I must have put an estimated time slower than 4:15.

I’ve actually been unhappy with my speedwork paces. I’m running 30 second and 60 second intervals at slower paces than I run a full mile in a 5K race! But Steph reviewed my paces and said they are right in line for this goal. And, I tend to thrive on race days and can never replicate race paces in any training runs. It helps to remind myself of this.

Dori finishing Richmond Marathon 2011

Crossing the finish line at the 2011 Richmond Marathon

Aside from the whole “anything can happen on race day” issues (which caused me to DNF my first marathon), the only major problem I might encounter is my knee. It hasn’t felt right since the Portland Marathon — a risk I was willing to take by using a marathon as a training run — and I’m hoping the taper period, foam rolling and lots of ice will resolve it by Richmond. TWT (time will tell).

And really, I can’t believe I am writing a post all about a marathon I WILL RUN that includes the words FOUR-OH-FIVE.

How is this possible?? Two years ago my goal was to finish under 5 hours — mostly because I had no clue what my potential actually was — and ended up running a fun, easy race in 4:33:29. Then I ran PDX as a training run, kept it easy and finished in 4:23.

This will be my first time racing a marathon and I am nervous and excited. The Richmond Marathon will be a challenge, and one I am looking forward to taking.

Basic math says I can run this time.  We’ll just have to see what happens on November 16!

What was it like the first time you raced (not just ran) a marathon?

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