< back

Fort Worth Marathon II

biblically accurate marathon route (tattooed on leg)

ONE WHOLE YEAR since my last marathon...FOLLOW US ON STRAVA

GOAL TIME: 3:45:00

CHIP TIME: 3:41:56

I stuck (more or less) to a training plan? And it worked? What is this power?

Well, I went on reddit a while (12 weeks) ago and found the Pfitzinger 12/55 plan (12 weeks with a 55mi peak week). I don't know very much about marathon training plans, but it is said that this is an intermediate plan with a good mix of speed and distance workouts. One of the biggest challenges was nearly breaking my ankle in week 2; more details to come on that. But first, an HTML table of the training plan vs what I actually logged. Tot is total for the week, Acc accumulates each week. Each pair of rows shows planned and actual mileage. Hover for specific workout details.

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Tot	Acc
8/18	-	8	-	9	-	5 ez	13	35	35
		8.11		9.39		5	13.11	35.61	35.61
8/25	-	11	-	8	-	5 ez	15	39	74
		11		8.14		5.05	15.27	39.46	75.07
9/1	-	8	4 ez	11	-	4 ez	16	43	117
		8.08	4.04	4.37		0	0	16.49	91.56
9/8	-	5 ez	10	11	-	5 ez	17	48	165
		5.56	10	11		5.34	12.07	43.97	135.53
9/15	-	-	12	-	9	5 ez	16	42	207
			12		9.03	5	16	42.03	177.56
9/22	-	5 ez	10	12	-	6	15	48	255
		5.43	10.02	10.63		7.04	14.18	47.3	224.86
9/29	-	6	12	-	12	5 ez	20	55	310
		6.75	12.07		12.24	5.26	20.02	56.34	281.2
10/6	-	8	11	-	4	9-13	17	49	359
		8.16	11.01		4.34	10.07	17	50.58	331.78
10/13	-	7	10	-	11	4 ez	20	52	411
		7.22	10.26		11.01	4.02	20	52.51	384.29
10/20	-	8	6 ez	-	4	9-11	16	43	454
		8.1	6.22		4.78	10.09	16.19	45.38	429.67
10/27	-	7	8	-	5	-	12	32	486
		7.04	8.42		6.69		12.59	34.74	464.41
11/3	-	6 ez	7	-	5	4ez	26.2	48	534
		6.27		7.05	6.13	4.33	26.2	49.98	514.39

Remarks

Never had to run on Monday, that was nice
In the third week, I hurt my ankle pretty bad
- Tried an unfamiliar route in abject darkness
- Had to take the rest of the week off (probably should have taken another full week off)
Several long runs were cut short due to overheating
FOLLOW US ON STRAVA
I focused a lot on heart rate, forcing as much zone 2 as possible

This plan definitely made me level up as a runner. Before August, I considered anything over 8mi a Long Run; Pfitz had me doing 10+ mi semi-long workouts on consecutive days. I have become comfortable in the 10-15mi range, and pushing 20mi is no longer a scary prospect. At the outset, I assigned 8:34/mi to maration pace, 8:00/mi to half marathon pace, and 7:30/mi to 5K pace. Strides were typically around 6:00/mi.

I was really bad about cross training. By November, I was definitely scraping by with minimal strength training as evidenced by extremely tight hips and hamstrings. I think this allowed the ankle injury to have downstream effects, like pain in my right hip as it worked harder to favor my left side.

It is likely (~97%) that my ankle was not broken, since I was able to put some weight on it within a week of the injury. However, it still isn't fully healed as I write this in November, with slightly limited range of motion and some pain under certain weight conditions (namely, sitting with my legs crossed). For the first couple weeks after injury, I would give myself a B+ on the ice, elevation, and compression regime. Most nights I would apply at least one session of ice and fall asleep with it elevated, and I even did a couple runs wearing a brace. It's still difficult to put all my weight on it while sitting on top of my feet as in a child's pose; I do this nightly, alternating with a deep squat, to open up the range of motion, and it appears to be slowly getting back to normal.

While running I almost always listen to music. 80% house/techno, 10% rock (I got into Fugazi in September), and 10% rap from the 90's (Nas, Gang Starr). I worry about music becoming a crutch, but every once in a while when circumstances necessitate silence (like dead/forgotten headphones...), the run still goes well. I find that my mind wanders to similar ruts of rumination regardless.

Though I saw meaningful improvement in my heart rate control—essentially, what pace I could sustain while keeping in zone 2—I am still extremely impressed by several runners I follow who seem to have average HRs 15-20bpm lower than mine. I consider this a superpower and am pursuing it.

Future

This was my third marathon and far from my last. Seeing such an improvement in my abilities embues me with a sense of control of my destiny, as though I can actually change if I'm disciplined enough. It reminds me of the feeling of being offered a spot in the Blue Devils: I've proven to myself that I'm capable of X by receiving from feedback from the real world, but this is only the beginning of the journey.

Future is stay in the gym, get better sleep, and try to shave 10min off the PR at the Cowtown Marathon in February.