CIM 26.2 Miles- December 2nd- Goal 3:34:59
I made a resolution last year to try to keep up with the "Doc" at this years CIM so she could qualify for Boston. She was a scant 35 seconds from qualifying at this race last year so I know she is quite capable. Her time to beat is 3:35:00. My fastest marathon was at last years CIM 3:57:50. That is a huge drop in time, and if my last couple workouts are any indication I'm no where near the shape I should be in to get the job done. I'm up in weight since Western States cause the running has gone down and the the eating has stayed the same. I've been keeping runs under 10 miles and just a comfortable pace, exploring and generally just having fun with no purpose what so ever. It's been quite enjoyable actually, but now is the time to put down the fork and shot glass, follow a routine and get this body moving efficiently again.
The Doc (and three other brave souls) crewed me exceptionally at States, put up with a couple of my temper tantrums, rain and a lot of waiting around for little ole me, so I am dead set on returning the favor. If I can get my fitness up to it, I'd like to pace her the first 20 then hang on for dear life the last 10k.
So I have 6 weeks to train hard for CIM, then a 10 or so day taper. I'm going to try to stick to a strategy that worked for States with some Marathon tweaks. 3 premium workouts a week with easy paced runs filled in between. Instead of hill days it will be speed work, which I can already tell you I'm going to have a rough go with. The long runs of up to 24 or so miles will be done at a pace that will be uncomfortable but not so fast it's a tempo run and the other workout is going to be an 8 to 10 mile tempo run. I'm going to shoot for one session a week of plyometrics, bounding and strength training, hopefully that will be enough. In any event it will be a much different type of fitness level after 6 weeks than I've had in years and I look forward to the results, but I'm a bit scared of the journey. This is going to be a much different type of pain than training for 100 miles. I've done that solely for 2+ years now, my body is accustomed to slowing down when it gets tired. Trying to redline it for 3+ hours seems like a tall order. A goal though, I am excited to go for. I do not see any 100 mile races on the horizon for a while, so I'd like to take this time off from them to get faster.
So on tap for this weekend is a 15-20 mile run to see where my long run fitness is at and develop some paces to train at to get me to the goal. Then come Monday morning, back onto the training wagon!
Side note...
I love Electronic music, it's 95% of what I listen to and always what I have on when I run. This set by Daft Punk from 1997 is one of the first times I ever heard music of this type, and it was all over after that. This is an absolute GEM from way back in the day.
Daft Punk Radio 1 Essential Mix
