In pursuit of my goal of running the Chicago Marathon by qualifying by time, I’ve been training for Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN, which will be the fourth marathon I will have trained for and the third I will run, assuming it isn’t canceled like the last Twin Cities Marathon. To this point, my best marathon time has been 3:21:38 and, for my age, a Chicago Marathon qualifying time is under 3:20:00. I just need to shave two minutes off last year’s time. Having run a couple marathon’s though, I know there are many reasons why this is by no means “in the bag”.
Weather and injury are the most obvious factors that could affect my performance, but I’m also starting to question whether I’m doing enough this year compared to last year. The way this training block has been going, I’ll string together two solid weeks of training, but then for one reason or another these will be followed by a week of significantly less running. I took a few days off one week due to some inner ankle tendonitis and another I was traveling for work. Another was affected by a weekend I was out of town with my son for a soccer tournament and in another couple of weeks we’ll be on a family vacation.
More doubt has started to creep in as the marathon grows closer, but for the most part, I haven’t been too worried about this. Cutting volume every third week isn’t a bad thing and is recommended by many training plans. It gives your body time to absorb what you’re putting it through. I’ve been strictly adhering to the rule of not increasing my volume by more than 10% per week also applying this to individual sessions like my long runs. A few weeks ago though, I realized that I wouldn’t both be able to follow this rule and at the same time hit the same peak as I did last year with all the down weeks I had. I’m a little less than 4 weeks out and I’ve gotten in a couple 20+ mile long runs and have had a couples weeks where I’ve run ~55 miles. Last year I had gotten in a couple 65 mile weeks and one 70 mile week by this point, but especially for me, there may be diminishing returns with more volume since I’m starting to feel like I may be injury prone so we’ll see if I’m really worse off for running less volume. I think for a lot of marathoner’s 55+ mile weeks would be considered enough to be ready and that’s why I’m trying to remind myself. Also, I’m planning to put in a couple of 60+ mile weeks this week and next so I think I’ll feel ready.
Another fun, but potentially challenging twist is that I will be in Yellowstone National Park on a family vacation right in the middle of my taper. Normally, during a taper you decrease your volume, but keep your speed an intensity high for your harder workouts, but this may be difficult in Yellowstone. I have never been there and so don’t know exactly what to expect, but I imagine either crowded trails that are difficult to run on, or slightly more technical trails where it may be harder to maintain a consistent pace. Elevations in Yellowstone are considered high altitude at around 7800 feet at its lowest areas so I will get my first opportunity to see what it’s like running at altitude. It likely won’t be enough time to provide much benefit before my marathon, but I’m going to tell myself it’s making a difference.
I mentioned to a co-worker who’s an avid hiker that I was planning to do some trail running in Yellowstone and he recommended I bring bear spray. This has sent me on a downward spiral of researching bear spray and ultimately repeatedly watching bear attack videos on YouTube. Unfortunately, I have a newfound fear of bears. We’ll be in Yellowstone right in the middle of bear mating season and there will be mothers wandering with their cubs. I am comforted by the statistics that suggest being attacked by a bear is extremely unlikely especially if I follow the generally accepted wisdom of keeping my distance. Also, my bear spray is in the mail.
I seem to be continuing the trend of being slightly heavier this year than last. I’ll admit this is at least in part due to my diet at least up until a few weeks ago, but I’ve been really trying to dial it in. I always eat decently heathy foods, but am around 20% body fat. I know that if I could healthfully lose some weight it would likely benefit my running to a point and it seems like I have some weight to lose. Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth as well and I think that has always been my downfall. A few weeks ago though I signed up for Hungry Root meal and grocery delivery service. During this time I’ve lost about 5 pounds without feeling like I’m consuming less food. I’ve tried some other meal services, but so far like Hungry Root because I can swap out individual ingredients I don’t need, the meals are extremely quick and easy to prepare and everything seems very minimally processed. I definitely feel like I’m getting more fiber and plant based foods and am overall feeling healthier. Even before this I’d generally eat a salad everyday or have a green smoothie, but I’m getting much more variety and protein in my diet with Hungry Root. Even so being about four weeks out, I’m still about seven pounds heavier than I was last year on race day.
Comparing similar runs on Strava from this time last year with now suggests I’m at least as good of shape as last year. The routes weren’t exactly the same, but this year I seem to be doing long runs with about 50% more elevation gain at similar paces as last year, but with a much lower average heart rate. I’m hoping this means that the time I spent doing very easy aerobic base building runs over the winter has paid off and I do have a bigger aerobic base now. The one thing that hopefully works to my advantage this year is that I’ve been able to keep running very consistently for almost two straight years. Though I’ve run on and off for most of my life, I don’t think I’ve ever run this consistently or with such a plan or purpose. If everything aligns on race day this June, I won’t hesitate to attempt a PR and qualify for Chicago, but I’m really viewing the peak of the season to be this fall so don’t feel too bad about feeling behind. This gives me more time to build fitness and hopefully peak for the Twin Cities Marathon.