Josh's Quest for the Boston Marathon Part #4
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This past week of training was the best I have felt yet. The progression I have been going through has helped me gradually increase my mileage each week while still maintaining a pace of seven minute miles, or faster. This reminds me of an article from USA Track and Field titled “Run slowly Race slowly” that I read saw earlier this week. It went on to talk about how the speed at which you train directly affects the speed at which you are going to be able to perform.
This article was talking about 800 meter runners, but I think the main idea they were trying to communicate is applicable to all styles of running, including marathon training. When you think about it it’s really a very simple idea, which makes total sense. If you train at the pace you need to run, then your body will adapt to that type of stimulus. Different speeds represent various amounts of motion in the hip. In the training program we are building for you we will make sure you are training for total range of motion of the hip. During the training runs however, we want to e sure you will be able to run that same pace when you race as well. This is exactly what I am trying to do as I train for the Portland Marathon.
No matter what distance I am going to run I run it at the same pace. I was really able to test this out during my eighteen mile run that I did just yesterday. When I started out on mile one I ran with the same aggressiveness and power that I did when I went for my seven miler earlier that week. The results were better than I could have hoped for. Because I had been training my body at a faster pace regardless of the distance I was able to hold my pace for the majority of the run. I dropped off slightly around mile fifteen, but I was mentally tough enough to keep pushing through to the end.
I have reached a point in my endurance where the first eight miles were no problem at all, I was only at 50 minutes at that point. I was then able to back that up with another eight miles in 54 minutes. My pace slowed somewhat in the second eight but I was able to cut down some time running the last two miles in 13 minutes. In the end it only took me 1 hour and 57 minutes to run 18 miles. It was easily the fastest I have run so far and I am extremely excited to see how much I can improve as I continue to train for the Portland Marathon and the ultimate goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.
Only 56 Days left until the Portland Marathon!
3 Comments on this post
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Eric said:
josh, could you explain how those "endurance circuits" that you do contribute to your success while running. A lot of people seem to think that if you want to run a marathon you should just run and run and run but changing the workouts and the styles of them appears to help quite a bit.
August 10th, 2009 at 10:48 pm -
Platt said:
Well Eric, the reason i do the endurance circuits is essentially the same reason i do warm-ups and cool-downs before and after my runs. The endurance circuits help to maintain and increase my muscular efficiency. The greater muscular efficiency i gain from the various types of stimulus i get from the circuits help keep all of the muscles in my body working together, in an active state.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:35 am -
Coach Cory said:
You have got to be kidding me…….. what does having bigger biceps have to do with marathon training? In all seriousness, what does full body muscular efficiency have to do with marathon training? Pretty sure we all watch the Olympics and the World Championships of Track and Field and see every long distance event being dominated by some tiny Ethiopian that probably hasn't done anything in his entire life other than run. Which leads me to the point of the age old training method: If you want to throw better – go throw, if you want to swim better, go swim, if you want to run better………. GO RUN! I know countless people and friends of mine that have competed in high levels of running and the closest thing they've done to incorporating any workouts beyond running are a few pushups, pull-ups, and tons of abs, but other than that they just run – and they're GOOD!
Why would you desire to incorporate movements, actions, and training that won't directly relate to your specific sport or event (in your case – a marathon)? Why wouldn't you want to stick to movements that are going to be required and demanded of you within your race? It seems to me that you are overtraining and adding extraneous demand to your body and neglecting that in which is most important – running. This is just my 2 cents. Feel free to respond.
Thanks,
Coach CoryAugust 14th, 2009 at 6:58 pm