Like I said in my last update, I've made a few adjustments in my training. I have 3 races left for the 2011 year and we'll see if the training adjustment will come to fruition. Regardless of the outcome of these final 3 races, 2011 has been a great year. I've seen improvement like never before and I've been able to increase the training load from years past. I've adopted some of the training that Renato Canova has his athletes focused on which is progression runs. I've been doing that for my hard days as well as my easy days. I might start my recovery run at 7:30 pace, but by the end of the run I'm going to try and hit my marathon race pace for the final mile, two, or three. Below is what I've done since my last update:
Sunday, 10/16 - Endurance Run with Chris Barnicle (21 miles total), Ran 45 minutes easy in the evening
Monday, 10/17 - Easy run for 90 minutes (No PM run)
Tuesday, 10/18 - 3 mile w/u, 5 x 2k Bear Creak Loops (6:25 - 6:28), 2.5 cool down - (Jack Quinn's run in the PM)
Wednesday, 10/19 - 80 minutes at Woodland Park w/ Chirlee, 40 minutes easy in the PM
Thursday, 10/20 - 80 minutes very easy on the Monument Valley Trail (No PM run)
Friday, 10/21 - 3.5 mile w/u, 3 x 2 mile repeats (9:58, 10:01, 10:19), 2 x 1 mile (5:15, 5:05), 3.5 mile c/d
(45 minutes in the PM)
Saturday, 10/22 - 1 hour 50 minutes easy on the Monument Valley Trail
Week Mileage: 121 Miles
Unfortunately, I will be no longer be with the Army WCAP program effective November 4th. It was a great opportunity and a great experience. Their standard for me was to break 1:05 for the half marathon or 2:22 for the marathon. When I ran my 1:05:32 half marathon back in June, my coach at the time, informed me that it was an equivalent standard. I knew I still needed to run under 1:05 for a half or 2:19 for a full to get the Marathon Olympic Trials standard, but in terms of WCAP, I thought I was good to go. A week before the Philadelphia Half Marathon in September, I was informed that I had to break 1:05 or I would be off the program. Not sure if it was a lack of training or just mental, perhaps both, but I ended up running over 30 seconds slower in Philly than I did in Seattle.
It's unfortunate that the people who govern WCAP are not distance runners. When I had entered the program back in July 2010, my personal best for the half marathon was 1:09:39 and I've lowered that time by over 4 minutes. In basically less than a month's time as well, as I was out for 3 months last year due to a random disease (Rickettsia Typhii) that I ended up getting while traveling to the 2010 Army 10-Miler.
After the 2011 Army 10-Miler, I've been able to hit the reset button a little bit, not focus on running for WCAP, and just focus on what is best for me. Here are my last upcoming races for the 2011 year:
Training in Colorado Springs has been great and I'm excited that I'll be here for at least another year until I have to attend the Military Intelligence Captain's Career Course in Fort Huachuca, AZ starting November 2012. After that, Christie and I are hoping to relocate back to Colorado, possibly even Colorado Springs. I'm hoping that training for the 2016 Olympics will be much better in the sense that I'll have a consistent group of people to train with. Below is a video I just saw recently of the Hansons-Brooks training video for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials. I've heard mixed reviews about running for Hanson's, but I think it would be a perfect fit for me if only this group would be at altitude.
Plus I wish I had moves like this dude!
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