I’ve signed up for the Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio, and I’m on week 6 of 18 in my slightly modified Pfitz 18/55 plan. The marathon is on April 28, 2019. This post-polar vortex week has been interesting, since it started with warm temperatures. I’ve also shifted from the endurance phase of the plan to the lactate threshold + endurance phase, so there’s going to be a lot more speed work, which will not just include pace portions and strides, but also some interval training.
Monday: 10 miles with 5 @ HM pace. I had intended to run this in the township park, but when I went to start my truck, I heard the starter solenoid click and… nothing. I then went out on my driveway and started the watch, which didn’t have the workout setup. So I knew the plan – I ran once around the subdivision and then down the main road to another subdivision and ran around it twice before returning back to my subdivision and doing 3 or 4 laps. Overall, 10.03 miles in 1:23:20 (8:19 min/mile pace). I don’t have a measurement for the HM portion, but in hindsight, I should have pressed the lap button at 2.5 to get that.
Tuesday: Recovery 4 miles. Despite my truck’s starter going out (after many tries, it will start), I drove down to the park and ran in the foggy mist and somewhat gusty conditions. The temperature was nice, mid-50s, so I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeve shirt. Since I made sure I synced the calendar on my watch, it crashed when I saved. 4 miles in 35:05 (8:46 min/mile pace).
Wednesday: 11 miles. It was rainy and I kept it in the park and the two neighboring subdivisions. Hydrated using Gatorade Endurance. Other than the rain, it was a decent run. 11.09 miles in 1:37:50 (8:49 min/mile pace).
Thursday: 7 + 8 strides. Ran in the park, again, and in dense fog. The problem with fog is it also fogs my glasses, and the inability to see slows me down. It was mostly uneventful until after the 6th stride – I looked at my watch and thought it said 6, so I was turning towards my truck when it alerted me for another stride. 8.01 miles in 1:11:07 (8:53 min/mile).
Friday: 18 miles. A long run after a long 8 mile run that was preceded by an 11 mile run? This plan is SERIOUS. I’m fairly certain I’m not going to be moving very fast on Saturday. I went up to East Fork using my wife’s car (she offered… yeah, she’s a keeper!) The area is hilly because it is a valley, and temps dropped from 55F on Thursday to 27F on Friday. Ran from the camping parking lot to Williamsburg where I was going to run around a park… but the park was flooded. Ran back past the parking lot and to a boat ramp before going down and back on the other side of the Batavia-Williamsburg Path. Fueled with Gatorade Gels at miles 6 and 12, hydrated with Gatorade Endurance. 18 miles in 2:48 (9:18 min/mile pace).
That’s it for the week. FIFTY ONE MILES. I’m pretty sure my previous highest week was 47 miles and that included a 20 mile long run. This isn’t even the highest week. By April, I’ll be ready to crush this marathon.