Brad's Micro questions
Hi Coach P!
So I know you've read my post regarding a BQ attempt in mid-Oct. As you know, I am one week post IMMT. I have a couple of easy swims and some short runs under my belt in the last week. I think I can even bring myself to spin on the bike now too :
Your points (as well as teammates) were well taken by me in response to my post in the forums about being ready for a BQ marathon attempt. In retrospect, I probably didn't give myself enough time to ramp up for that after IM. Regardless, I think I'll give it a go, and if all else fails, I'd hopefully walk away with a PR.
Can you give me any guidance on how I can approach this quest? I'd thought I can jump back into the thick of things asap, but after reading your post, maybe this isn't a good idea? As a reminder, I am pasting my running backround from my original post here:
Running background: Only 1 standalone marathon, 4 years ago - I was much slower and undertrained. I just broke 4 hours. 2 years ago I ran a couple Half Mary's at 1:34. I was in good run shape. Last season I topped out with a 50 VDOT, but never got to use it after crashing my bike one week before IM. I estimate my current VDOT at around 48. My long training runs this year leading up to IM (16-18 miles) were at 8:10-8:20 paces. I did not push these runs until the last couple of miles and worked to keep in the TRP zone. I ran 4 miles yesterday - HR was a bit elevated, legs still tired, and I was a bit gassed.
At my age (46), I'll need at least a 3:25 time (7:49/mi pace) to qualify. Realistically, it's more likely like a 7:45/mi pace to be safe.
Thank you!!!
Comments
Week 1: Recovery, no running (but you did run, so stop it).
Week 2: Recovery part two. Add in some bikes (2) and do a few 30' runs (3). Please give me details of what you are thinking here. your top goal in this section is the tracking morning resting heart rate everyday. just wake up and test it, give us a baseline.
Weeks 3 to 6: in the section I'd like to focus on running frequency versus any specific long run. This means building up to six runs a week.
3= 4 x 30, 1 x 45
4 = 5 x 30, 1 x 60
5 = 4 x 30, 1 x 45, 1 x 75
6 = 4 x 30, 1 x 60, 1 x 90
Let me know what you think...more to do for sure!
~ Patrick
1 - I signed up for masters swim. Ok to throw this in 2-3 days a weeks? It is supposed to begin this week. I find swims good recovery, but these workouts may end up being more cardio work. Is this ok?
2 - What type of pace should I be running? I assume through week 2 it should be easy, but do I incorporate speed work after and to what level? There is no way I will be able to run the paces I'll eventually need without working at this.
3 - You have me doing a max run of 90' and that is not until 6 weeks out. Wouldn't I lose my ability to run longer if I do not have longer runs than ^this^ going into the marathon?
I'll get you some baselines on resting HR after getting some readings this week. I'm guessing that they may only be slightly elevated if at all.
Thank you again! -Brad
1. If the swims are really hard, I would keep it to twice a week.
2. You can start working in race effort in the 30 minute runs (think 10' warm up, 20' race effort); the longer runs should be done 30" slower than that goal pace. So 7:30 race target means 8:00 pace for example.
3. Brad, you JUST DID AN IRONMAN. AFTER MONTHS OF TRAINING. You have run 820 miles this year, averaging 25.6 miles a week since January. You've run a marathon every week since January. Please tell me how you will forget how to run long.
All caps aside, there's running long and then running long and hard after this season and an IM. It's almost impossible without compromising what you hope to do on marathon day...it's kind of a leap of faith in some sense. Let's do this...get through weeks 2, 3 and 4...then we can talk about manipulating your runs based off your data (wear that HRM!)...deal?