Chicago Marathon Training Week 10: Starting to Taper Down a Little

Ten weeks down. Two to go. And other than a tune up race tomorrow, it’s taper town from here on out.

With the end of last week, I wrapped up the hard part of the training cycle. The toughest things I had left this week were a 5k on Sunday and a shortened long run on Monday.

Once I made it through that, it’d be time to start easing up in anticipation of the big day.

And it couldn’t have come too soon. I was feeling ok through last week, but all of a sudden I’m exhausted. But I’m glad I’ve got a couple of easier weeks ahead to prepare for the race.

The Plan for the Week

Here’s the daily breakdown for the week:

• Sunday: 5k race, 10 miles with warm up and cooldown
• Monday: 16 miles, easy long run
• Tuesday: 8 miles trail
• Wednesday: 8 miles trail AM, 6 mile workout PM
• Thursday: 5 miles treadmill AM, 5 miles treadmill PM
• Friday: 6 miles trail
• Saturday: 6 miles trail

And here’s how it worked out.

Sunday: A Local 5k Charity Run

Sunday was the 14th annual Stop for Nikhil. It’s a local charity 5k for traffic safety, and I usually participate.

It’s not a very competitive race, so I wasn’t planning on racing it per se. I figured I would approach it as something of a tempo workout.

Usually, one of the local cross country kids takes first place, and the adults won’t finish until 20 minutes or so. So my plan was to beat out any of the adults who were there, and not challenge the kids too hard. If they were slacking, I’d give them a little nudge.

I woke up, went about my usual routine, and I jogged to the local high school for a warm up. Three miles.

After the pre-race festivities, we lined up to start. The course starts with a lap around the track, then goes out into the neighborhood for a looping out and back before finishing on the track.

I lined up towards the front, and I took off at a steady pace at the gun. About a dozen kids sprinted ahead, and I figured they’d drop off once they tired themselves out. I looped around the track, left for the road, and checked my watch around 30 seconds later. Pace was ~6:20 – about what I wanted. So I settled in.

Over the next mile and a half, we made our way to the turn around point. Most of the young kids fell back once they realized how far 5k was. The first mile ticked off in 6:14. As we approached the turnaround point, there were two or three people ahead of me.

They turned around, and the first looked like a high school kid. Good, let him go. Then I realized the guy behind him was a mid 20’s male. Target acquired.

I turned the corner about 50 meters back, and I slowly inched up the pace to reel him in. By the end of mile 2 (a quite relaxed 6:37), I passed him and I was in second place.

The kid in the lead seemed to be going a little slow, so I kept pushing the pace slightly. When I was a few paces back, he must have heard my footsteps because he sped up.

For the next half mile, this would continue. He’d speed up a little, I’d catch up. Rinse and repeat.

Then we were about a quarter mile from the stadium. He tried to pick up the pace hard, so I matched. I didn’t look at my watch, but we were really working at this point.

With around 100m to go, we were turning back onto the track. He started sprinting, and so did I. If I had pressed the pace a mile earlier, I might have been able to catch him. At this point, I was pressed to keep up.

But we sprinted to the finish, and I came in about two strides back. He promptly collapsed on the turf field. I tried to congratulate him, but I think he was too out of it to notice. The last mile was 6:13, but the last half mile was much faster – ~5:45 to 6:00.

Overall, my pace was ~6:20/mi. So on target for a tempo workout, although the end was a little faster. But it was fun to finish hard – instead of going out hard early on and fading in the end.

I drank some water, ate a bagel, and hung around chatting with people for a while. Eventually, I jogged the three miles back home. Took a shower, and my wife and I went to the diner for some chocolate chip pancakes. Then, it was nap time.

Monday: The Last Long Run

The real long runs were already behind me. But I wanted to do one last 16 mile long run this week before really tapering off.

So I got up early on Monday, and I set out around 7AM so I could finish up before my first meeting of the day. I didn’t have a firm pace goal in mind. Unlike some of the other 16 milers, where I wanted to finish under 2:10 and really push at the end, my goal was simply to take it easy and put in the miles.

Five miles up to Verona Park felt pretty good. My legs felt fine, so the effort at the 5k wasn’t too hard. I didn’t feel too beat up, but I did feel a little slow.

I turned around at the park and headed back towards the Reservoir. I hit a couple traffic lights and had to pick up the pace to speed through. So the speed was there – it just didn’t come easily. I came through 10 miles at 1:27, respectable for a recovery day.

Then, I got to the reservoir for the last couple of laps. I decided to pick up the pace a little bit – with a goal of 8:30 to 8:00. No need to get down below 8:00.

The first few were around 8:30. Then, 8:20. Two miles to go, and I tried to speed up a little. Pushed too hard at first, then settled in to a slower pace. 7:45. Final mile: 8:08.

Total time: 2:17.

One of my slower long runs of this training cycle, but I got the job done.

Tuesday: Eight Slow Miles on the Trail

Tuesday morning, I woke up and set out for eight easy miles on the trail.

Now, I started to feel everything. This was extra slow. My legs were stiff, and it took a little while to loosen up.

I felt a little more smooth in the second half, but I never really felt like I was moving. I finished up just over 1:20 – 10:00/mi. On the slower end of what I typically do.

Wednesday: Easy Trails and a Workout Double

Wednesday morning, I felt a little bit better. The legs loosened up quicker. Not quite as stiff.

I started out with an easy eight miles on the trails in the morning. Today, I finished up in 1:18. Not fast, but more typical of an easy, recovery day.

I planned on running a short workout in the evening. My car was in the shop, so I wasn’t sure if I’d make it to the track to run with the team or not.

When evening rolled around, I didn’t have a ride to the track, so I just did a quick workout by myself. With the half marathon coming up on Sunday, I probably wasn’t going to do the main workout anyway.

I decided to warm up, do a mile at race pace, take a mile easy, and do a second mile at race pace. Not a hard workout by any means, but just enough to get the legs moving and work in a little race pace for Sunday.

The warm up felt good. I jogged down to the Reservoir loop, and I felt good. No sign of the fatigue from the last couple of days. In the second mile, I worked in a few strides.

When my watch buzzed to mark the end of mile 2, I picked up the pace. My goal was ~6:30, and I didn’t want to push it too hard. I ended up going out a bit slow for the first part of that rep. About a quarter mile in, I was only averaging ~6:45 or 6:50, so I picked it up a little.

By the end of the mile, my watch buzzed and showed a 6:35 split. A little slow overall, but that’s only because I started out slow. I checked the pace in Garmin Connect, and the last three quarters of the mile were right on target.

Jogged the next mile easy. As I came around, one of the local cross country teams passed by going the other way. Seemed like they were doing some kind of time trial, and I heard them bragging to each other about their paces afterwards.

The next rep was right on target: 6:31. I started out a titch fast, settled in, and more or less hit the goal pace. And I felt good at the end, which is important.

Jogged the final mile home and called it a day.

Thursday: Oversleeping and Running Doubles

Throughout this training cycle, I’ve done a midweek long run of 16 miles on Thursday or Friday. But it’s taper time, so I cut that out and planned to run 10 miles on Thursday.

I didn’t have an early morning, so I didn’t set my alarm. Usually, that means I’ll get up around 7AM, give or take a few minutes. Not today. I vaguely remember my wife leaving for work, and the next thing I know it’s around 8:30.

After I fully woke up and took in some coffee, I weighed my options. I was obviously tired, so my ten straight miles wasn’t the best idea. And it was getting late, and taking 90 minutes for a run would mean I’d be starting work later than I wanted to.

So I called an audible, and I switched the ten mile run into two, five mile doubles on the treadmill. I headed downstairs, jogged 45 minutes, and watched two episodes of Star Wars: Rebels. Felt ok. A little tired at first, and my heart rate was a little high, but not bad overall.

Went about the workday. Then, around 6PM, I went downstairs for the second round.

I felt better this time around. It also may have helped that I emptied the dehumidifier and let it run all afternoon. Although it doesn’t get too warm down in the basement, it can get humid, and even if the temps are in the 60’s that’s uncomfortable.

Friday: Dropping the Mileage

Like deja vu, I went to sleep without setting an alarm on Thursday night. My wife left out early for work, and I remember rolling over after she left. And the next thing I know, it’s after 8AM.

Yikes. Sleeping in two days in a row.

But luckily, today is just 6 miles. An easy trail run. The mileage from here through Chicago will be more manageable, and the mornings won’t be so long.

I went about my morning routine, and I hit the trails. It was warm and humid overnight, and the dew point was in the high 60’s. I’m not sure if it was the fatigue or the humidity – or both – but the six miles felt harder than it should have.

I finished up just fine, but my overall time was just over an hour. 10:00/mi again.

Saturday: Another Easy Trail Run

Why not try for three days in a row?

Yup. Another late morning. We went to the local high school football game Friday night, and I spent a little too much time standing on the sidelines. We had ramen afterwords, and by the time I walked the dog and got in bed, it was 11.

I ended up sleeping in again until after 8:30.

But there was no rush. It’s a Saturday, and I had no real plans for the day. I woke up, drank my coffee, took the dog for a walk, and eventually I hit the trails.

It was a little cooler today, and the humidity was lower. So I felt a little better on the trails, and my heart rate was lower. My legs loosened up fairly quickly, but my pace was slow throughout.

Ended up finishing in 59:43 – so just under 10:00/mi. But still very slow.

Reflections and Looking Ahead

Clearly, I’m worn down. But that’s to be expected at the end of a tough training cycle.

The good news is that I’m not injured, and my legs still work fine when I need to push them. Maybe I just needed to sleep late a few days and catch up on some sleep. It’s been a rough couple of weeks, especially with the travel last week.

Tomorrow, I’m running the Jersey Shore Half Marathon. It’s my final big task before Chicago, and after this is strictly taper time.

I don’t plan on running the race at 100%, but I do plan on running a PR. In May, I finished the Brooklyn Half in 1:28, but I still think that was slower than I was capable of. I was only five weeks out from running the Jersey City Marathon, and I don’t think I was fully recovered.

My plan is to finish in 1:25, which I think is a conservative goal at this point. If this were a goal race, and I was going all out, 1:23 would probably be reasonable.

The plan is to start out easy. The first three miles should be somewhere between 6:30 and 6:45/mi. Resist the urge to go out too fast.

From there, settle in to a pace of 6:25-6:30. This should be a very comfortable half marathon pace, 5 or 10 seconds slower than what I should be capable of.

In the last three miles, if I’m feeling good, I’ll push the pace a bit. Try to finish strong with each mile a little faster than the last. Get down to 6:00 or 6:10 for the final mile.

But if it’s not there, I’m not going to push it. I’d much rather leave 30 seconds on the course than push too hard and wear myself out with just two weeks to go.

The weather looks ok tomorrow. Not great, but mid 60’s with light rain on and off. If it was sunny, it’d be a little warm and humid. But hopefully the rain will keep me cool enough that I’ll be ok.

Check back in a few days for a race report. And regardless of the outcome, I’ll be anxiously counting down the days until Chicago – only two weeks later.