This is the tenth 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. I’m keeping with the Star Wars theme for calling out the weeks, but plot twist: the 11 mile + 12 mile + 20 mile runs struck back before a new month!
Monday: 7 miles + 6 strides. Ran this in the park and the subdivision next door AND crossed over to the other subdivision by running on the gutters for the connector (see last week’s ‘Mind the Gap’ for a better explanation). It was a little cooler this morning and some light rain started about halfway through. Overall, 8.01 miles in 1:10:13 (8:46 min/mile pace).
Tuesday: 11 miles with 7 at M pace. Ran in the park and the neighborhoods next to it (which are soon to be connected). Warmed up slow, but held it to an average of 8:14 min/mile pace during the M pace portion – the goal range is 7:50 – 8:15, so given the heat, it’s all good. Overall, 11 miles in 1:34:46 (8:37 min/mile pace).
Wednesday: 12 miles. Ran this at East Fork to get my hills on. It was a foggy warm morning, but mostly uneventful except the moron that lives in a city-sized lot and can’t be bothered to control his dog. 12.26 miles in 1:52:42 (9:12 min/mile pace).
Thursday: 5 mile recovery. What a recovery this was! It was in the mid-50s outside, so I wasn’t an overly sweaty mess when I was done. I ended up starting this from the other side of the park because they sealed the rear parking lot where I normally park. That being said, I didn’t even go all the way around the park because I was unsure if I could cross the driveway to that lot. Glad they’re taking care of the place, though, and this wasn’t any sort of an inconvenience. 5.3 miles in 47:07 (8:53 min/mile pace).
Friday: 20 miles. The fake fall from yesterday didn’t last… at all. The run was hot and sticky, not as bad as some of the others, but not good, either. Stayed in the park and the subdivision next to it, having to make a pitstop about 5 miles in. Fueled with Gatorade Endurance Gel at 7 and 13.5 miles, hydrated with water and Gatorade Endurance Lemon-lime. 20 miles in 3:01:27 (9:04 min/mile pace, although I fast-finished the last mile with an 8:34 mile split).
That’s it for the week and the month. The week finished at a tough 56.6 miles, which is the highest week of the plan. The month finished at 230 miles, most of which were run in tough heat.