3 Weeks to Boston+After Hours Launch

Here we are now in the final stretch heading into my second marathon. When I last wrote we were still between marathon blocks, so there is a bit to catch up on from the last 10 weeks, previewing where my head is at leading into Boston, and also announcing my launch as a coach with After Hours Athletics.

13 Weeks Down

I’ll start by breaking down the first 10 weeks of this build. This looked a little different for my second marathon than my first. For New York we only did a 12 week build to make sure we didn’t cook things too early. But with that under my belt, I felt when I raced New York things were really just starting to click, so we extended this build out to 16 weeks.

The first 10 weeks have been smooth sailing. Much like the build for New York, the main focus is the marathon specific long runs. Everything else we do is to support these, as that is the most specific session you can do for racing a marathon. In these long runs we like to mimic the demands of the race we are targeting, fuel at the same intervals offered in the race with what we will drink on race day, and approach the 12 hours leading into the run similar to what we will do on race day.

The 25 mile long run route for this build changed to be net downhill, to mimic the course in Boston. The first 8 miles are rolling downhill, then from miles 8 to 18 it is very rolling net uphill, before finishing back down to hit 25 miles. On paper this route is faster than the one we did in our New York build, but the fast downhill start followed by the punchy uphills offers a different feeling we need to get accustomed to before opening up the stride again to finish downhill. At this point we have done 3 of the 4 planned 25 mile runs, with each one targeting a slightly higher percentage of marathon effort. The first was run in 2:20, the second 2:14, and the third 2:13. This quantitative progression in time is good to see, but the real importance of these runs is to learn to fuel, measure your effort, and develop the mental framework to race the entire 26.2 miles.

With the long run being the cornerstone of the build, next I will dive into everything else that is the support work. Without the support work, progress on the long runs would stall, holes in fitness would be obvious, and confidence on race day would waver.

The road for the first 16 miles before the Newton hills in Boston is net downhill, with some pretty dramatic drops that can have athletes running close to their half marathon personal records. Although the weather patterns in Boston are more likely to produce a headwind that time of year, which can slow things up. This is another reason why the build changes again from what we did for New York. The emphasis on speed is much higher. In New York I knew if I could run 26.2 miles at 5:00 per mile, I had a good shot of stacking up well against the field. In Boston, if I run the first 5k at 5:00 pace I may need binoculars to see the front of the race.

So in this build we have swapped a lot of the longer steady marathon pace reps, like we did leading into New York, for shorter reps at half marathon pace and faster. Some of the workouts in rotation have been 25 by 400 around a 64 second average, fartleks with an emphasis on shorter pushes of 1 and 2 minutes, and 5k to 10k VO2 focused track workouts. For me this is pretty familiar territory since a lot of this support work is similar to when I was racing 5k and 10k on the track. Workouts like sets of 1k, 600, and 400 at 10k to 3k pace were common. Bulk 400s at 10k pace were a staple, and fartleks are something that is in the mix for everyone on OAC. This work, similar to the long run, has indicated that fitness is trending in the right direction. Comparing these track workouts to when I was running low 27 minute 10ks and sub 13 minute 5ks, they are very similar. The main difference is being a bit more cautious on the shorter reps like 400s and 200s. In marathon training we cap those at about 58 seconds and 28 seconds, whereas on the track we would sometimes close sessions in 54 seconds and 26.

It’s crazy I’ve gotten this far into discussing the build without mentioning weekly mileage. But weekly mileage is not something that we focus on or discuss much. We operate on a cycle of the hard day, followed by a single run recovery day, then one to two easy double days. Hard days are 20 to 25 miles, easy single days are 6 to 10 miles, and easy double days are 15 to 19 miles. Following this schedule that worked well for me in New York, and has worked really well for Hellen to race two strong marathons a year, we average 115 to 125 miles per week. For now, this will not change much.

3 Weeks to go

With just over three weeks to go we are in the portion of the build where you still have 2-3 highlighted sessions or long runs you want to execute well, and other than that just get to the start line healthy. For our system that includes the last 25 mile run 21 days out. By this point we know what we want to do on race days: fuel concentrations, pre race meal and routine, race day shoe, etc… This long run serves as the last dress rehearsal before race day. Aside from the long run I just want to continue to brush up on the speed in the last few faster track sessions and fartleks.

Goals for Boston

With the majority of this build done and the experience from New York, I feel like I have really zoned in on what a successful day in Boston looks like. To start, by all metrics my raw fitness is much stronger than it was for New York. I can see this in workouts and long runs, and it is also backed up by my performance at the United NYC Half about 10 days ago. In my build for New York I finished fifth at the TC 10 Mile, running 46:43 on a warm morning on a moderately challenging course. At the United NYC Half I came through 10 miles in under 46 minutes and finished in 60:02 on a cool morning on a more challenging course. In the marathon, fitness is only part of the battle on race day, but this is an encouraging indicator. I like to write my goals in three parts. The bare minimum to be considered okay, the result I can be happy with, and being ready for the possibility that it could be the day of your career. In New York, the bare minimum to be considered okay was about 12th place. The result I would have been very happy with was around eighth, and if everything aligned for a career day, finishing third. With that experience, the goalposts have shifted a bit. In Boston, the bare minimum to be considered an okay day is top 10. The result I will be happy with is fifth, and if everything aligns perfectly, a podium finish would be a career day.

Joining After Hours Athletics

In other exciting news I am joining After Hours Athletics as a coach. After Hours Athletics was founded by my close friend Owen Hoeft. For those who don’t know Owen, he has his own strong running resume, as he was a Big Ten champion in the mile for Minnesota, holding a PR of 4:01. In addition to his own running his coaching resume is strongly support by his experience as a graduate assistant coach for the University of Minnesota and masters degree in exercise physiology.

It might seem like an interesting time to get into coaching since I am in the physiological prime of my career and am not planning a retirement anytime soon. However, I will have some more time on my hands since after 3 years I will be finishing my masters degree in applied biotechnology through UW-Madison. So I am excited to fill that time with something I am passionate about. I have coached some of my friends over the years and found it deeply rewarding to share joy in their achievements. If you are interested in working with After Hours Athletics, find more information here…(Web, Instagram)