I suppose I have been in denial for about 2 weeks now, but after today's long run I am certain something is up. Over the last two weeks, starting with the medium long run I tried to do two Fridays ago where I ended up running 6:15/mi I have been struggling to breathe properly. I didn't really think it would affect me much but in retrospect it explains running slower than I expected in the last two 10k races, in addition to the reasons I gave before. The reason I have come to this conclusion is because on today's long run I was rested, my legs felt strong, but I had to breathe abnormally fast and actually quit the run at 19miles because I was struggling and didn't want to race the last 3 miles, which was what the run was turning into. I was able to keep a 5:45/mi average pace but it was much harder than it should have been given that I was rested. I always know for sure that something is wrong if I quit my long run. So what the hell is the problem? I don't recall ever having problems with my breathing before, other than some exercise induced asthma when I was a kid playing soccer, and only when I was sprinting. The only reason I can think of is that there has been little to no rain this spring where I'm living which perhaps has allowed more allergens to be floating around in the air than I am used to. This is purely speculation because I have no idea what the story is with allergies. So anyway, there's not much I can do except continue to train so I'll do that, but perhaps spot myself a few seconds per mile so I don't get in over my head early in workouts, and of course pray that things improve before May 25th.
Back to business. With three weeks of training to go I have hammered out the last details of training. Following recovery from the 10k this weekend I will have 5 focused workouts left: two 'over/under' workouts, two long run race simulation workouts, and one 30k run at 'speed 3.' I have picked these particular workouts for very specific reasons.
The over/under workout is just an easier term for a workout Renato Canova(Italian Coach of Qatari National Team I believe) calls a "specific intensive endurance" workout. Basically what this means is that it is a very marathon specific workout geared towards the athlete who has relatively greater development in the strength/endurance area rather than the speed/power/anaerobic resistance area. As I have noted previously, if there is one area I am weak in, it is faster paced work, and this type of workout is geared towards improving that in the final phase of training. The workouts consists of alternating over and under your goal marathon pace by about 3% with continuous intervals of 500m to 1000m. I will likely use a 1/2mile dirt track I have found, which I can only imagine was a dog track at one time.
The long run race simulation workout is a simple one where I will run 10-12 miles at a moderate effort and the final 10 miles close to goal marathon pace.
The final workout of the marathon build up will be a 30k run at 'speed 3.' The term 'speed 3' I have taken from an interview with Dieter Hogen, coach of the Kimbia-New Balance athletes. This term means a "hard mental effort," and will cap my preparations for Ottawa, save for recovery and supercompensation.
Because these workouts are very specific and very difficult I will be paying a lot of attention to recovery with three days following long runs, two days following over/unders, and massages following all workouts. Thats all for now.
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