“A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. Nobody is going to win a 5,000 meter race after running an easy 2 miles. Not with me. If I loose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself.” – Steve Prefontaine

Pace, like most things in this universe, is relative. What is a fast pace for me, is a comfortable pace to my runner friends who can WIN marathons or an exhausting pace for some of my fellow mid-pack runner friends. Also, depending on where you are in training, a certain pace is untouchable without the proper training. So what does pace have to do with it? For finishing in a certain time… everything!

Most of us have delusions of grandeur, mainly because races these days make us put what our “expected time” will be on the race form. I’d LOVE to do some statistical analysis on the expected vs. actual time difference. Of course, I’d want some good variables for proper analysis (ooooo, a subject for a new blog post -YAY!). Sorry… SQUIRREL… back to the pace stuff:

Delusions of Grandeur… we “think” that we can run a race in a certain time and even put it down on our entry form. I know that I put down, by default, a PR time on the race form. After all, why not dream a fast dream. Seriously. As if, I have any clue what I am going to run weeks and weeks from now. I’ve even been there, on race day, before the gun goes off thinking that I could run the race in a certain time, but the reality was going to be much, much different.

So for my upcoming Publix Georgia Marathon (thanks to 26.2 Quest!) on March 18th, I’m pretty sure I put down 4 hours and 4 minutes to finish the marathon. A PR time of 3 minutes and change at a pace of 9:18 min/mile. I’ve included some pace calculators here… most just give you what the average pace for a certain distance and time.

Cool Running Pace Calculator

McMillian Running Pace Calculator

Marathon Guide Pace Calculator

Runner’s World Pace Calculator

My fave, is the McMillian calculator… this one gives you paces for various distances which is very handy for training. One great myth of distance runners is that we run the same pace, usually perceived to be something fast, every time we go out and run. Hardly, because there are different “types” of workouts with different “paces”. The McMillian calculator makes the math easy for you and lays out the pace range for certain types of workouts. By using these different pace ranges for the different workouts, you are unifying your training for the ultimate goal… the marathon finishing time.

However, there are some obstacles. Unless you are some ‘Robin Hood’ type runner, you aren’t going to be able to hit the pace accurately each and every time. Hills, turns, fatigue, traffic and the occasional lost person asking for directions are things that we encounter while we run that keeps us from hitting our pace each and every mile.

Another thing that I have noticed about trying to train and keeping a certain pace is that the fastest and slowest paces are the hardest to keep in check. The fast pace is obvious why it is hard to keep. We get tired. Running fast is hard. The slower pace, however, is more difficult to understand because why would it be harder to run slower. Slower doesn’t equate one-to-one with Easier.

Take my 9:18 pace for example. My most recent 5k race (1.1.12) was at a 7:50 pace. This is actually 13 seconds FASTER per mile then the recommended 8:03 pace (but I am not worried) for that distance. For my long distance runs, however, my pace should be between 9:49 and 10:49 which is pretty comfortable, but I can tell you that if I run ALONE, I will tend to have a pace that is around 8:50 or 9:00.

Whenever I can, I try to run with people who run at a slower pace, so that I can discipline myself to run that slower pace. I benefit from the camaraderie and the disciplined pace. Running isn’t all about trying to run as fast as you can, each and every run. It’s a symphony of organized runs which harmonize together for a grand finale on Race Day.

Here are my suggested paces to finish a marathon in 4 hours and 4 minutes:

Recommend Workout Paces

I put the anchor workout, the Long Run, on Saturdays. The placement serves two purposes: first, it gives a concrete event for the family on Saturday mornings to provide structure and second, it allows me to use the Knoxville Track Club’s Long Distance Races as part of my training without having to take any “extra” time away from the family. The other workouts are scheduled to fit with my work schedule, so that I can do them at lunchtime.

Mondays are my Tempo Runs, Wednesdays are the Strenuous Runs (Hills, Speed and Track workouts), Thursdays and Fridays are Easy Runs. This leave Tuesdays and Sundays as Rest Days. Probably the workout that gets the most response, usually in the realm of “What The…”, is the ‘Easy’ workout out. For most, an ‘Easy’ run workout would be walking the distance or even sitting on the couch imaging walking the distance. Nope, an ‘Easy’ workout has it’s own unique goal.

Remember that I said earlier that training programs are plan of the ‘WORK’ a person should do to have the endurance and fitness to complete a marathon, hopefully at some desired level. That is, we hope to finish with a specific time or maybe just finish at all. To figure out if the training program is working, sometime has to be observed and/or measured. Most runners will use Heart Rate or Pace as a measure of how they are doing in their training. For super geeky runners, they’ll use a variety of gadgets to measure both, at the same time. Elite Runners can even be fitted like lab rats (in a lab) to have even more bodily functions measured, such as the amount of oxygen needed.

The premise is that the more you run, the easier it gets. The easier it gets, the more fit (maybe) you are. A 1 mile run at the beginning might make us heave lunch onto the ground, but as we workout more and more, the one mile run becomes easier and we keep our lunch. We can look at a heart rate monitor that our heart rate at the beginning was higher then after some training. Also, the time that it takes to reach a heart rate where we don’t hear the pounding in our head is reduced. Therefore, if we can reach a certain level of fitness then we should be able to complete the race in a certain time and the training program helps map out what we need to do. This requires at least the basic or entry level heart rate monitor and we are able to measure our heart rate, in real time, and can make immediate changes to the level of effort in our workout.

The other way to measure our level of fitness is pace, or how fast did I complete that distance. Like the 1 mile example above, the more that we train, the faster – at least in theory – we can run the mile at the same pace. By running the same routes, we can estimate a level of fitness based on perceive effort in conjunction with the amount of time that it takes. This method doesn’t give us immediate feedback (unless we have a GPS on us) and we have to rely on perceived effort which can either be a stepping stone or a stumbling block to our workout. This is the methodology that I use for measuring the level of success of my workouts. I do have a heart rate monitor that I could use, but I am not a huge gadget person when it comes to my running.

Okay, so what is missing from my training program? Drum roll please… It’s the mid-distance runs. These are runs that are usually between 6-8 miles and are run in between a Tempo and Easy pace. Since the max that I can do at lunchtime, my more reliable workout time, is 5 miles I had to make a decision to either (1) use vacation time to cover the extra time required for the additional distance if ran on a work day, (2) Run the distance at night, which cuts into family time or (3) Not run that far. I chose #3. Now there is a (4) option which I am beginning to entertain the possibility of doing it and that is to do a “two-fer” or a “Two-A-Day”. That is, I could run, say 4 miles at 5am before the Morning Routine, and then run again at lunchtime which I would be able to get in the 6-8 miles in one day, for that workout. I used this technique in 2008 to get my “High Mileage” training days completed.

Now, I know the runners out there are still not satisfied because I have not shared a crucial element. I wrote about it earlier in the post… my pace. The next blog will be about my target paces for this training plan.

I had to enter in my estimate for my finish time when I register. Since that is the driving force for my training program, I’ll share that next post. I’ll also, free of charge, highlight the target paces, not only for race day, but also all for all the workouts. Yes, even an Easy workout has a range of where your pace “should” fall. And let me tell you, sometimes trying to get an Easy workout at the prescribed pace is hard!

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Here’s a PDF version of the whole training program, my plan is to periodically upload it with updates with my actual workouts.

A training program, unlike the question of poor Schroender’s Cat, is not a reductio ad absurdum, it is something dynamic that has been thought out by someone at some level at some point in time and probably has some real life data to back the reasoning. There’s a good probability that it will work, if followed. But following a training program is so much harder to do and even if two people follow the same program results could vary.

If a training program is a predetermined written plan of what to run and when, how Terry can it be… ‘dynamic’. Easy, add a human. A training program becomes dynamic when a runner commits to running that program. That is, a runner takes something factual and makes it actual and we’ve seen that when humans interact with things, all bets are off!

But know that a training program is dynamic at the beginning is a good thing. When we miss a training run, it does not mean that it is the end of the World. Unless it is, literally, The End of the World, a missed run or a reduced mileage will not make trying to run the race futile. Why we missed that run is WAY more important and might be an indicator of something that needs to be addressed more seriously then missing a mid-week 5 mile run. It could be an injury, sickness or a psychological issue that is causing us to feel negative about our performance and those ARE issues that need to be addressed sooner, rather than later!

Change comes with the territory. If you are able to follow a training program from start to finish without missing any workouts, that is so totally awesome. I have learned that, I’m guessing here, probably 99.999999% of all runners training for a marathon have to change their training program to some degree.

So what do you do if you have to change your program for some reason? The answer to that is easy, just ask. There are TONS of experienced runners that are extremely helpful and have probably been in that situation more than once who can offer suggestions on what to do. The bonus is that these runners have gone through the same situation under their own trial and error making them more than willing to share what worked and definitely what didn’t.

I can’t say it enough that you learn SO much more from a less than stellar, or just down right horrible, experience than with a good one. Let me be clear, good experience are essential, but we LEARN so much more from bad experience which, in turn, increases our good ones.

My next post, probably on Monday Dec 5th, will have my Georgia Marathon training program, and I’ll pick it apart.

So what about the training program. What is it good for? What is it not good for? Can you do with out one? Which training program is best? Can you miss a day? The answer is “Yes, No, Maybe So… (Can you repeat the question)” and I am going to explore the training program on a somewhat shallow level. I’m not really wanting, at this time, to get into an in depth philosophical debate on things like VO2 levels or frequency of 20+ mile runs.

That was MY plan (cue evil laughter)

Just like a plane doesn’t take off with a flight plan, a runner should have a some form of training program. It provides the basic structure a runner should follow in order to be at some level of training on race day. Ideally, we’d like to have some sort of goal on the level of training, but in the beginning of a running career, being too specific is a disaster waiting to happen. So we find a plan, or have someone lead us to one, to follow that we think will work. The core of it being: I am here at point “A” with physical condition “X” and I would like to be at Point “B” with physical condition “Y” at time “T”.

A training program is not something set in stone but more like a guideline or a best case scenario. I’m guessing here, but for most, the training program is as much as a “Work in Progress” as the actual training. Life happens and that causes us to tweak it, usually pretty frequently.

Training programs can be very simple and straightforward to highly technical with the need for some electronic gadget attached to the body. In the end, a runner does what scientist call “Work”, which is the running part and it “teaches” the body, if we things correctly, how to handle the rigors of running. Some training programs concentrate on different ways of measuring the “Work” being done on the body and this will result in feedback on how things are progressing (or regressing). I’m thinking I will touch on some of the different ways of measuring “Work” in an upcoming blog post, but for now it is just about “The Plan”

The experienced runner may not use one particular training program but rather create their own hybrid program consisting of the core components shared by almost all training plans. Of course, the danger in making your own is that it becomes so complicated or so bloated with technical mumbo jumbo that it is ineffective and gives you a big fat DNF (Did Not Finish). But I bang on the pulpit that you will learn so much more about yourself from a DNF then any completed race. (Ooooo, a post about DNF… more ideas for future articles are being birthed).

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My original idea to write about the Training Plan, since I was in the process of making my own, has started to morph into something larger. I’m now to at least 2 other blog posts about training programs (changes and components) but there may be more… who knows my own training plan for the Georgia Marathon might end up being a post by itself.

Originally this was going to be one post highlighting my running for August but:

1) I am to longwinded on my descriptions of certain generally gross stuff that I do

2) I keep getting interrupted from my blog to help troubleshoot problems of someone else blog

Therefore, this is Part 1 and as logic would dictate there will be a Part 2 sometime when I can get some time to blog, like at work or something.

I finished August with 69.3 miles, which wasn’t the highest August ever, but still a good amount on mileage. I even busted out a 12 mile run at the end of the month as I move forward in my training for the Rutledge and Flying Monkey Marathons this fall. Let’s take a look at some of my more memorable runs:

August 4th: Treadmill
I got back into the groove of running on the treadmill of all places. I can’t remember the exact reason, but I managed 3 miles despite my last run. I did blog a little bit about this run.

August 7th: Concord Hills
Wanting to take advantage of every opportunity to run, I ran my 5 mile route in the neighborhood. It’s a hilly course and I can tell by my time, in what kind of shape I am in. I finished the course, but my time wasn’t all that great 52:50, when a 49ish would have been a much more encouraging time.

August 9th: The Stroll to Tyson Park
On Saturdays, I either have the kids all day or I have them in the afternoons. Regardless, I take them to Tyson Park and let them play for about 30 minutes until they either soil themselves (The Younger) or start to throw rocks (The Elder). The catch is that we get to the park via 3rd Creek Greenway and the kids are in the double stroller. This isn’t something new. I did the inaugral Worldwide Half Marathon with the kids in the stroller. In fact, I contribute the resistance training of the stroller to my PR time at the Chickamauga Marathon last year. It’s a 5mile course with plenty of shade and hills.

August 16th: Scholar’s Run 5k
5K Road Race 24:58

August 19th: First Long Run
Had my first long run of my marathon training,coming in at 8.2 miles. I explored the new(ish) extension to the 3rd Creek Greenway. A western extension called the Bearden Greenway. It’s pretty darn sweet because when I ran from Volunteer Landing to Farragut in 2001, I had to run on the sidewalks and it SUCKED. So this is a much safer way to make it Northshore, but from here there still is a little work to get to the other West Knoxville Greenways (Weisgarber and Jean Teague)

[ed. okay, here is the end of Part 1]

Here is legend for the table:
Date/Day/Note – pretty obvious
Name – chronological identifier for the week. I prefer a 12 week training program, but I think that I should commit to a 16 week (standard time period) but you will notice that I have added 5 weeks called Base. This is the “I'm not in official training” but rather getting some mileage in to start official training already [insert pun here] a leg ahead
Day – This is the general classifications for my “Day”. Cross – Crosstraining, Easy – Runs at a comfortable pace, Long – runs that are 10 miles or more, Repeats – aka Intervals – run a distance fast recover run 1/2 distance repeat, Speed – 5k race pace, Tempo – Tempo Workouts something faster than easy but slower than intervals
Type – Short, med, Long and interval number which dictates the speed at which I should be running given the “Day” I am supposed to have
Mileage – The amount of distance that I am schedule to run
Distance – Same a Mileage, only in Repeats is the number of total meters to run at pace
Recovery – Repeats only, the amount of distance for the recovery runs between intervals
Total Mileage – Distance + Recovery
Faster End Pace / Slower End Pace – This is the window of pace that I should be running given the “Day” this pace was calculated from my last 10k run of 50:02 where my pace was 8:03 mile. I expect this to change as my training increases. Either way, the slower end of my “Long Run” is 9:18 a PR pace for me, but in most cases my Marathon pace (based on “Long” run pace) would be a 9:48 to 10:18
Weekly – Total Mileage for the week. By most standards, the mileage (20-30 miles per week) is not adequate for running a marathon. But to be honest, I have completed with very little mileage, so it will not be new territory

Most of my running will be done during my lunch time, but some will be after work. If I tutor this fall, I will have one day a week that I will be on campus until 9 or so. As a result, I will have an hour or so where I can run before having to go to tutoring. So those days will be a Twofer. Also, on Tuesdays I will be bringing Eric to preschool, so I will go in late, this will give me a chance to run in the am where I could get in as much as 5 miles, then at lunch can get the rest of mileage, another Twofer. Saturdays will be for long runs, which is nice because I can accommodate some KTC races on those days.

Comments? Suggestions? Leave a Comment!