This is the sixth week of my marathon training plan for the Columbus Marathon. The marathon is October 20, 2019. I’m following the Pfitzinger 18/55 plan again.
This week is the return of the triple-doubles – what I’ve been calling the weeks that have three double-digit runs in a week.
Monday: 10 miles with 5 @ HM Pace. Ran this in the park and the neighborhood next to it. The HM pace portion ended up being 3 seconds faster than the upper/slower goal pace range at 7:47 (goal range is 7:30 to 7:50). The warm-up was a little slow, but it’s just a warm-up. Hydrated with Nuun. Overall, 10 miles in 1:23:30 (8:21 min/mile pace).
Tuesday: 4 miles recovery. It was expected to storm today, and I arrived at the park to see a light show with no sound or effects 😎. Ran my 4 miles slow because I had a race scheduled this evening. 4.06 miles in 36:26 (8:59 min/mile pace). Followed my run with squats, one-leg squats, single-leg deadlifts, and six pull-ups (increased by one!).
Tuesday Evening: got to the race parking lot and wondered how I could get such a good parking spot and also wondered why they didn’t have a tent up. Well, they cancelled the race due to weather.
Wednesday: 11 miles. Ran this in East Fork park. It was a foggy morning. They are working on adding better drainage to the path, which is good, and they had the equipment out of the way while they weren’t working. My legs felt sore (🤬 leg day!), so I ran on the slow side until the last mile. 11 miles in 1:41:47 (9:14 min/mile pace).
Sometimes these orange signs are not good. 
This is not bad. There were places where the bad drainage was leaving mud across the road. 
Foggy!
Thursday: Supposed to be 7 + 8 Strides, did 8 Recovery. I didn’t check the schedule or anything, so I thought that the 8 miles was just 8 miles. Ran this in the park, and was sore from Tuesday’s weights and Wednesday’s 11 miles. Also, the park’s blacktop is closed because they just laid tar, so I ran most in the neighboring subdivision but finished up part while running on the grass next to the path. 8.11 miles in 1:13:46 (9:06 min/mile pace).
Friday: 18 miles. I put the slow in “long slow distance.” This was a tough run – my legs were still rough from the prior two days, plus I mowed the lawn Thursday evening and I woke up at 3:45 AM to get this run in. I ran this in downtown, and stopped around mile 11.5 to refill my water bottle (I had a bottle of Gatorade Enduracnce and a bottle of water). Fueled with a Gatorade Endurance Gel at mile 9. Overall, this run is why I decided my first two marathons would be in the spring – I’d rather run in 40-50 than 65-75 degree weather! 18 miles in 2:52:27 (9:35 min/mile pace).
July ended during this week, and I made it through with only one missed planned run (not counting the cancelled race). 187 mostly-tough miles in July. August is already shaping up to be a tough month too.
Coming up:
Another tough week
Next Tuesday PM: Brian Rohne XC Championship 3.2k off-road race
Saturday 8/17: Bulldog Blast 5k
Saturday 9/21: Hudepohl 14k Brewery Run
Sunday 10/20: Columbus Marathon