Sunday, October 3, 2010

Marathon training...

for a Spring marathon has begun in earnest for me. I nailed every workout this week better than expected. Good long run and two hill specific quality sessions, one shorter Vo2 max intensity and one Tempo effort. One of my marathon choices is Austin which I ran in 2008. I ran 2:31 with several minutes spent in porta johns during the race. It was also a fairly hilly course.

It doesn't look that hilly, but holding sub 5:40 pace changes that perspective. In order to run truly fast up hills it takes specific focus on doing this. I was leaning towards Phoenix which is pancake flat, but I am looking more towards Austin simply to give myself some confidence that my training in the hills will pay off. Too much hill running for running fast on a flat course (I still believe) won't work. I will run Phoenix only if I can commit to driving down to the flats twice a week.

4 comments:

beth said...

Do Phoenix too!! I think I'm going to do it... JP said he's in too..maybe I can convince James too..

Lucho said...

15 weeks to Phoenix... that time frame makes me antsy but would be plenty.

J.P. Patrick said...

The old point-to-point "downhill" Austin Marathon had some nasty little hills in the last 10 miles. The newer Austin course looks to be slower, especially for us slow guys! Flat and fast in Phoenix is where it's at! ...and the weather will be pefect! Come with us!

Lucho said...

I don't think 15 weeks is enough time for my goal. Austin was surprisingly hilly!

New Orleans looks good also.