Sunday, January 18, 2009

Marathon Training Update- Jan 16,17

Jan 16- Long hours today on little sleep- no run. I'll go for a long one tomorrow.

Jan 17- 1 mile jog with Sumo, then 17 miles in 2 hr 06. I did this loop in 2hr 20 min last week, so I am very happy with this workout. A nice confidence booster after a 2 day recovery.

Years ago I used to routinely race in South Florida against Tom Redding, who now designs shoes for Nike. I was a few years older than Tom, but we weren't that far apart in most races. I even beat him at the Disney Marathon as I recall. One year in the 7-Mile Bridge run in the Keys, we came off the hump at 3 miles together and finished 1-2. Tom eventually moved to Tampa and began training with Canadian Olympian Peter Maher. It was a year or so later that Tom, a 2 hr 30s marathoner, ran 2 hr 19 in the 1996 Olympic Marathon Trials. I ran into Tom at Boston one year (Peter got 15th that year in 2hr 15) and got a chance to ask him about his training. One of his secrets was an every other week very hard 20 miler on the grass with Peter. They were doing other stuff, i.e. 21-22 mile runs but as I recall he felt it was that really hard run that made the most difference.

With 6 weeks to go before Napa Valley, I think I will stick with this 17 mile course and see if I can get it under 2 hours in the next 2-3 weeks.

Note: At the USA Masters T&F Championships, I met Kevin Paulk (winner of the 45-49 800 meters), another Nike employee, who informed me that Tom can no longer run due to a severe achilles tendon injury. Be careful!

Total for the week = 67 miles

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