London Marathon: Week 8 and 9

The past two weeks have gone excellent! I increased my iron intake (which was low a few weeks ago) and have been able to hit some key workouts since. Looking back to my previous training workouts, the 16mile tempo was over 90 seconds faster than I did it in 2014. I've made significant improvements even within this block as I averaged 5:12 for the 3x3 miles on Feb 25, then 5:15 for the 3x4 miles on March 25 and now 5:09 pace for last week's 3x5 mile (April 9). The 3x5 mile MP interval set was the fastest I have ever averaged for any MP intervals. In 2014 I was able to manage 5:15 pace for 4x4 miles and ended up having a great race 3 weeks later. With all the reps, I've also payed close attention to my average and max HR to make sure I'm not over training and staying within my aerobic ranges. I've kept my AHR around 158 for most of the intervals and tempos. Looking ahead, in the next week, I will take a bit easier on training as there really isn't much fitness that can be gained in the final 2 weeks leading up to race day. The focus will shift to maintaining current fitness and freshening up all systems for race day. I will put a bit more emphasis on making sure I'm getting the proper recovery (sleep, nutrition, PT, massages etc) and paying close attention to all little things. Thanks for reading and your continued support.

Week 8
Mar 28  Mon AM 5 miles PM 13 miles + normatec recovery
Mar 29 Tue AM  5 miles PM off (rest)
Mar 30  Wed AM 5 miles   PM 14 miles w/ 1-2-3 fartlek (On at 5:00/mile, Off at 7:00 per mile), 1:26min
Mar 31 Thu AM 5 miles 29:49 PM 14 miles (1:28)
Apr 1 Fri AM off (rest) PM 5 miles
Apr 2 Sat  AM 5 miles  PM 18 miles w/ 16 mile Tempo at Marathon Pace (1:23:21/5:12.5 per mile) 5:20-5:20-5:19-5:19-5:18-5:18-5:15-5:16-5:15-5:14-5:11-5:08-5:05-5:03-5:01-5:00 , AHR = 158
Apr 3 Sun  AM 10 miles (63min) PM 12 miles (1:17min)
TOTAL 111 miles

Week 9
Apr 4  Mon AM 5 miles PM 10 miles
Apr 5  Mon AM 5 miles PM 10 miles
Apr 6  Wed AM Physical Therapy PM 13 miles w/ 10 miles of uptempo (6:09-5:49-5:42-5:52-5:31 = 29:04) straight into 5 mile tempo (4:50-4:53-4:56-4:56-4:51 = 24:29) via GPS, AHR =159, MaxHR  = 180
Apr 7 Thu AM 5 miles (31:43) PM 14 miles (1:36)
Apr 8 Fri AM 5 miles PM 5 miles
Apr 9 Sat  AM 5 miles (31:29) PM 20 miles (1:49:47) w/ 3x5miles at Marathon Pace, AHR = 159, MaxHR = 169
5 mile (5:19-5:16-5:15-5:12-5:10=26:12)
1 mile recovery (5:51)
5 mile (5:16-5:13-5:11-5:08-5:04=25:51)
1 mile recovery (5:51)
5 mile (5:12-5:07-5:05-5:02-5:00=25:25)
Apr 10  Sun AM off (rest)  PM19 miles as easy as possible (2:15min, AHR = 128bpm) + normatec recovery
TOTAL 116 miles  

Pictures from past 2 weeks:

 Tested out the full uniform (shorts and singlet)I will wear in London to see how it holds up with sweating and chaffing. I was very pleased, thank you Brooks!

Physical Therapy at Pinnacle, continuing to do the little things to stay healthy