Weekly Training Wrap - 11/07 – 11/13

My final hard training week of the season! Once again it was challenging.  "Advanced" marathon training is serious business and I have the utmost respect for those that do it consistently.  It takes discipline and determination to consistently follow paces and measuring heart rates to get the most benefit.  I'm glad I did it, and I think I'm a better runner for it.  That said, I don't see myself doing another cycle like this for a while.  I guess that is obvious since my entire 2012 will be built around LT100.  I won't rule out the possibility of running a marathon as a training run (or for fun), but I certainly don't see another Pftiz cycle in my 2012 plans.  Now that I've been through a cycle like this, I can honestly say I spent most of the year running at conservative, easy paces (probably 75% of my max HR or below).  It was probably a great way to build a huge mileage base without getting hurt.

I have been in "training" for one race or another since January of this year.  Technically I was supposed to start following an 18-week Pfitz cycle on August 1st, which was only two weeks after my 50 mile race.  In reality, I took the better part of a month to recovery and feel right before training hard again.  It wasn't until GTIS in mid-August that I began to feel like myself again.  Add it all up and I have been following a training plan for at least nine of the eleven months in 2011.  It's exciting to me to have some time off after Las Vegas RnR to do whatever I want and just enjoy running!  I am kind of hoping to get in some winter trail runs and just enjoy the mountains that we are so privileged to live near.  I won't get much of a break because I'll likely start building my mileage early in the New Year.  I'm looking at a 50 miler in April to start off the ultra season.

Day	Miles	Notes
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	7	Easy pace
Wednesday	11	2 x 3 miles: 6:43 avg for first 3, 7:15 avg for second 3
Thursday	11	MLR at an easy pace
Friday	5	Recovery pace
Saturday	20	Easy/LSD pace
Sunday	6	Recovery pace
Total	60	About 3800 vertical feet gained