My treadmill at home is an older mid-grade Proform. But when I travel I get to run on other, often higher grade, treadmills. Today I went and worked out at a local fitness center. They had a couple Precor C956 treadmills and a couple other treadmills that didn’t look as heavy duty. Since I was planning on running at a 6:50 pace, I wanted a treadmill that could take a pounding. Fortunately the Precor opened up first.
If you have used one treadmill, most others are pretty easy to figure out. I liked the various displays on the Precor. Unlike some treadmills I have used, I liked the default displays. On some treadmills I have had to spend time getting the thing set up before I can even begin my run. But it defaulted to showing my pace as I adjusted the speed, the time I had been running, and the distance I had run. The running surface was nice, and absorbed the pounding of my feet. It was also pretty quiet, but was noticibly lound when accelerating or decelerating.
My training schedule had me running quarter mile repeats at a 6:50 pace with a 2 minute rest between each repeat.
I had to keep my finger on the speed up button until the speed finally reached a 6:49 (the closest I could get to 6:50). I wished that the Precor had accelerated a little faster. When the display reached .25 miles, I would hit the stop button, and it would pause. I would then watch the clock on the wall for the second had to go around twice. Then I would press the speed up button again. But the Precor would seem to reset itself shortly before my two minute rest was finished.
The Precor worked with my Polar Heart Rate Monitor strap, displaying my heart rate letting me remove the watch from my wrist.
There were what looked like 20 or more different programs on the C956. But I didn’t use any of these. It also allowed you to set the incline, but I didn’t play with this either. Overall it was a solid treadmill, and I would love to have one like it at home.
Keeping a training schedule can be difficult while on vacation. Most of my running at home is on my treadmill. I like the treadmill because I can go at a fixed pace. So if my training schedule says to run quarter mile repeats at a 6:50 minute per mile pace, I can set the treadmill to that speed and run at that pace for exactly that distance. If I am out on the road, I have a hard time knowing my exact pace. I can run a fixed distance, but I won’t know how fast I ran until I finish the distance.
I am currently on vacation, and am trying to keep up my training schedule. I have missed a couple days due to other activities. I did a hardcore karate workout that left me gimping around enough for a few days that I skipped my 12×400m repeats last week. But I have been doing my runs out on the hilly road, and have been doing pretty well.
This morning I was scheduled to do six quarter mile intervals at a 6:50-7:30 minute per mile pace. This would have been hard for me to do on the road. I considered trying to find a flat stretch of road and measure off a quarter mile distance and run back and forth on it. Another idea was to see if I could find a quarter mile track at a school in the area.
But I knew my mother in law goes swimming daily and I asked if they had treadmills where she swam. She pointed me to a local fitness club where they are members. My father in law called them and found I could workout there today for $5 plus tax if I brought his membership card.
So I went down there, paid my $5.43, and waited for a treadmill. Most of the people were older and walking. Nobody in the place struck me as an athlete. Anyway I got my treadmill and did a warm up run for 10 minutes at a 12:00 minute/mile pace. Then it was time to get started. Then I began my real workout. I cranked the speed to 6:49 which is the closest I could get to 6:50 pace. I ran six intervals of a quarter mile each with a 2 minute rest in between
I am scheduled for a 30 minute jog tomorrow, but I am going to skip it. But I have a reason for this. My next run is scheduled as an 8 mile run on Saturday. But I have made arrangements to run with an acquaintance on Friday afternoon. We will probably do 8 or 9 miles.
I have run two marathons now with several more on the horizon. In my first half marathon I ate Snickers bars. They were pretty good. In my first marathon I ate generic Jelly Beans. They were good but seemed to be lacking something. In my last marathon I ate M&M’s. I was pretty happy with them. But I have had it recommended to me that I try some gels, or other types of sports things. I have tried one GU, I think a strawberry/banana flavored one. But it was kind of gross. I tried a Snickers Marathon Bar and that was disgusting. I resigned myself to not liking any of the GUs, gels, etc. But I got some recommendations for some different types and flavors, so I decided to give them another shot. I visited the local sporting goods store, bought a selection. Among the stuff I bought, I bought a couple flavors of Jelly Belly Sport Beans. I bought Fruit Punch and Lemon-Lime. I really like the Fruit Punch flavored Sport Beans. I tried the Lemon Lime flavor Sports Beans, and they were good, but I prefered the Fruit Punch flavored beans. These would be doable in a marathon. They would give me some carbs as well as electrolytes. A 1 ounce bag cost $1.29, but I know I can buy a 24 bag carton for about $20 plus shipping. I might be able to find them cheaper.
I created this schedule by modifying the 4:00 schedule from the book 4 Months To A 4 Hour Marathon by Dave Kuehls. Great book! I recommend it highly! But to qualify for the 2009 Boston Marathon when I will be 45 years old, I need to run a 3:30 marahton after September 29th, 2007. So I put this together. I have no idea if it is workable, or if I am capable at this point of doing it whether it is workable or not.
3:30 Marathon
Marathon pace=8:00
Race pace=7:50
Jog pace=10:30-11:00
Long run pace=9:30-10:00
Tempo run pace=7:35-7:40
Week 1
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed Six x 400m @ 7:10-7:50
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Cross train 30 minutes
Sat 7 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 2
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed Eight x 400m @ 7:10-7:50
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Cross train 30 minutes
Sat 9 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 3
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed Ten x 400m @ 7:10-7:50
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Cross train 30 minutes
Sat 11 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 4
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed Twelve x 400m @ 7:10-7:50
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Cross train 30 minutes
Sat 13 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 5
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed Six x 400m @ 6:50-7:30
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Cross train 30 minutes
Sat 8 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 6
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed Fourteen x 400m @ 6:50-7:30
Thurs Jog 30 minutes
Fri Cross train 30 minutes or rest
Sat 15 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 7
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed Sixteen x 400m @ 6:50-7:30
Thurs Jog 30 minutes
Fri Cross train 30 minutes or rest
Sat 17 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 8
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed Sixteen x 400m @ 6:50-7:30
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Cross train 30 minutes
Sat 10 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 9
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed 4 miles @ 7:35-7:40
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Cross train 30 minutes
Sat 19 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 10
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed 6 miles @ 7:35-7:40
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Rest
Sat 21 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 11
Mon Rest
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed 3 miles @ 7:35
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Cross train 30 minutes
Sat 10 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 12
Mon Jog 20-30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed 7 miles @ 7:35-7:40
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Rest
Sat 23 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 13
Mon Rest
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed 8 miles @ 7:35-7:40
Thurs Jog 30 minutes or rest
Fri Rest
Sat 14 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 14
Mon Jog 30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed 8 miles @ 7:35-7:40
Thurs Jog 30 minutes
Fri Rest
Sat 24 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 15
Mon Rest
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed Jog 30 minutes
Thurs Cros train 30 minutes
Fri Jog 30 minutes
Sat 10 miles @ 9:30-10:00
Sun Rest
Week 16
Mon Jog 30 minutes
Tue Cross train 30 minutes
Wed 5 miles @ 7:50 pace
Thurs Jog 30 minutes
Fri Cross train 30 minutes
Sat 8 miles @ 7:50
Sun Rest
Week 17
Mon Rest
Tue Jog 30 minutes
Wed 4 miles @ 7:50
Thurs Rest
Fri Jog 20 minutes or rest
Sat Rest
Sun Marathon
I ran the Chase Corporate Challenge (3.5 miles) yesterday in about 30 minutes. It works out to be a 8 minute 35 second pace. And this is after running the Buffalo Marathon 4 days earlier averaging a 9:59 per mile pace. Not blazing fast, but I have only been running for 10 months. I keep getting faster.
I was just running some numbers. For me to qualify for the 2008 Boston Marathon, I would need to run a marathon in 3 hours 20 minutes. But to qualify for the 2009 Boston Marathon, I would only have to run a 3 hour 30 minute marathon! The 3:20 marathon works out to a 7:38 pace. The 3:30 marathon works out to a 8:00 pace. I don’t think I will be running a 3:20 marathon before April 2008. But I think the 2009 Boston Marathon might be achievable.
My next marathon is in September. I am targeting a 4:00 marathon. And all my past races, I have run them faster than what I was targetting. So I maybe be able to run a sub 4 hour marathon.