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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Reverse Taper

You won't find this in a marathon training schedule:

My ramp-up for Pineland training has transmogrified into a reverse taper for Boston. After today I've now got long runs of 16, 11, and 10 miles since October 1st! While everyone else is tapering, I'm just trying to get back into some kind of running fitness (which seems to be working well enough). My focus has been on hills including a short, fast hill climb up Hatchet Mountain in Hope ME:

10 hill repeats up the Skillins Tree Farm off Blackstrap Rd:

And 8 hill repeats up the first bitch (same ridge as above but about 1/2 mile south of Skillins):

Now I'm ready to just cruise this week with about 35-40 miles of easy runs. I don't know my Boston Strategy other than not race it. My original plan was to run it in 3:30 but since the M45-49 qualifying time is now 3:25 I think that will be my goal. Probably run every 5th mile (starting with the first) in 7:30 and everything else around 8 min/mile. But talk is cheap...even for a training run.

4 comments:

  1. Nice plan! You're looking prime. Really glad you decided to do Boston, even if you're not racing it. Think that the race excitement might make you go faster though?

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  2. I think going into your first Boston without a plan to race it and to enjoy the atmosphere is a good one. Course knowledge makes racing it much easier down the road and it really is a spectacle.

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  3. That chart is genius, Jeff. You should send it in to Runner's World - seriously.

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