I signed up for M2B on Dec 7th 2021, a month after the Golden Gate Half. First thing in my mind is to choose a training plan. I was a novice when it comes to marathon training so did a lot of research and reading between Pfitzinger (AM), Hansons, Daniels, Hal Hidgon marathon plans. I like Pfitzinger plan mostly because it is very popular on running forum like r/AdvancedRunning or letsrun.com. Also because I like its format. Daniel's plan on the other hand is very loose in that it only describes 2 quality workouts and leave the rest to you.
Later I realized that AM is not really for beginners, even the 18 week/55 miles version. Never ran a full marathon before, I foolishly picked the 18 weeks/70 miles plan. The rationale was my base pre-Golden Gate is 50 mile per week (base is defined as your 3-month average weekly mileage). I figured I could start ramping up my volume (mostly easy miles) to 50-60ish starting mid-Nov. By the time the training plan starts in late January, I will have ~10 weeks of ave 55mpw, a good enough base to embark on a 70-peak-mile plan. Note, typically in any training plan, the mileage quoted refers to the peak mileage hit during the plan, not the average mileage. The pre-requisite for any plan is that the mileage for the first week of the plan should be at your base level, i.e. you should be able to finish the first week's training relatively comfortably. That's the why we need to first build the base specifically for the plan you chose.
After picking the plan, I started scheduling the training, aka putting the daily training on calendar. I counted from the race day and back to determine when the training starts. For me, the M2B 5/29 means the 18 week plan starts on Jan 23rd. The next task is to determine my training paces. For the AM plan, there are primarily 5 paces: general aerobic (easy), long run and medium long run, recovery, lactate threshold, and VO2Max interval. GA/easy pace is about 15-25% slower than the marathon pace (MP), LR/ML 10-20% slower than MP; LT is about your half marathon pace (HMP); and interval at your 5k pace. Recovery usually should be based on feel not pace. Then how do I determine my MP? I used my last Half Marathon Race result (1:31 from Golden Gate), entered it to the VDOT calculator, and it spit out MP is about 7:15 min/mile. Keep in mind the training MP is not your goal MP. It just reflects your current level of fitness. We should train at the intensity determined by our current fitness, not our target fitness. So for a 7:15 MP, my easy run is around 9 min/mile, my LR/ML pace is around 8:30 min/mile, and my LT pace is my HMP pace 6:55. Through training the fitness level improves and we should re-assess your fitness level with races/time-trials, and the training paces evolve accordingly.
As mentioned earlier, the AM plan is pretty aggressive and I need to make some modifications to "dumb" it down to my level. For example, a key characteristics of the AM plan is the medium long run (11-15 miles) in the mid-week, often time the day after an LT workout (the idea is to start the ML with pre-fatigued fast-twitch fibers). Some weeks there are two ML separated by a day. This is quite tough both logistically and physically. So I decided, as a novice, I will run those MLs mostly at easy pace. And my easy pace, instead of following the 9 min recommendation, I will follow my heart rate. My easy heart rate is typically between 130-140 bpm. In fact as shown later, most of my easy runs are on the easier end of the zone, ~130-135 bpm. My recovery runs are done at very relaxed HR, which is below 125 in general but most often below 120 bpm. So for easy/ML/recovery runs, which make up bulk of the training mileage, my effort is about 120-130 bpm. This later on proves to be key for injury prevention.
To maintain the quality of the training, I did a second modification to the plan. Since I slow down the ML and easy runs quite a bit, to maintain the quality of the training, I added intensity to the weekend long runs. Now this is risky and I have to admit I didn't quite know what I was doing. In AM's long runs, the pace is supposed to be 10-20% shy of your MP. You are supposed to start the long run at the slow end and finish at the fast end of the pace bracket. I started my long runs with easy/slow pace, and after 3-4 miles I move to a steady/moderate pace, which is around 7:30. At the last 6 miles, I threw in a tempo section at HMP. Later on I knew adding speed to the end of a long run could be risky and could cause injury. But have to say it effectively combines two workouts into one. So every week I get 3 workouts: an LT run, a long run and the tempo within the LR. You can see why I slow down all my easy and ML runs in order to prepare for the weekend's long. There are only two MP runs scheduled in the plan (15 w/12MP and 17 w/14MP). I added two more 20 w/14MP. Again this is just an example of how I modified the weekend long run to meet my intention. I also cut out the 22 mile long run and replace that with harder effort in it. I did not think 22-mile easy-moderate pace is as helpful as a 20 miler with workout mixed in it, although the former one is safer.
The third modification I made to the AM plan is I dropped most of the tune-up races. The plan called for 3-4 8k-15k tuned up race at about 2 months out from the race day. The idea is to sharpen your speed. But again out of the goal to minimize injury, I dropped most of them but added a tuned-up half-marathon race (Modesto Half) on 3/27, roughly about half way of the plan. The HM race proved to be a good step: it gives me an update on my fitness so that I can re-assess my MP and all my training paces; and it injected confidence to my training. I ran a 1:23 in that HM race (8-min PR from the last HM 4 months ago).
The last modification I made to the plan is I replaced the last two interval sessions with LTs. The last two intervals, scheduled around 4 and 2 weeks out from the race, are 6x1200m and 3x1600m at 5k pace. When I ran an earlier version of this workout, 6x1000m@5KP, I felt very tired and even a bit injured after that. So I knew that was about my limit. Considering at this phase of the training, avoiding injury is the key so I promptly replaced them with 6-mile @LT and 3-mile @LT workouts.
Now let's talk about the data analytics (graphs).
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The next three graphs are about my heart rate. I rely heavily on heart rate instead of pace to gauge training effort. From Figure 4 we can see the heart rate is highly correlated with pace, provided that the running condition, such as temperature, humidity and elevation gain, is consistent. Figure 5 shows my intensity vs distance. As I mentioned earlier, for most of my EZ/RC/ML I ran mostly at low heart rate whereas in 16+ miles long runs I tend to run fast. From Figure 6 you can see the distribution of my training effort, and bulk of them are low heart rate running of <140 bpm.
Some words about my training progression. I started the training on Jan 23rd with a MP of 7:15 and HMP of 6:55. But actually not long after the training start, I kept searching for my lactate threshold based on heart rate, and at around 170-175 I found that I could run 6:20 or less in mid Feb. So I adjusted my LT pace to sub 6:20, and long run final miles to 6:40. For LT runs, the AM plan only calls for 4LT, 4LT, 5LT, 5LT, 6LT and 7LT within the entire 18 weeks. I added a 5LT, 6LT and 3LT at the end. The paces for the LTs runs are: 6:16 (4 LT), 6:12 (4 LT), 6:10 (5 LT), 6:15 (6 LT), 6:18 (7 LT), 6:12 (6 LT), 6:20 (5 LT sick), 6:10 (3 LT). From the LT paces that I can hold for 5-6 miles, I can roughly estimate my HMP is +7-8s, which is 6:20-6:22, and my goal MP is HMP + 15 sec = 6:35 - 6:37. Considering these paces are for a straight flat course with perfect weather, the actual MP at M2B is then targeted to be 6:40 - 6:45.
Some final words on my MP long runs. In AM program, there are only two MP long runs: 15 w/12MP and 17 w/14MP. They were planned on 10 and 6 weeks out from the race. Somehow I did not feel secure with only two MP long runs, so I added two more: a 20 w/14MP in 8 weeks out, and 21 w/14MP in 4 weeks out (this one is my peak long). The progression of my MP paces: 15 w/12M (6:45), 20 w/14M (6:37), 17 w/14M (6:32), and the last 21 w/14M (6:36). This proves my earlier estimation from LT pace is correct and also the effect of the training is evident.
What I would change or keep for the next training cycle:
1. I really like the medium long run mid-week although it is a bitch to schedule them in. I will definitely keep them and maybe run them a tad faster (may be progression style from easy to steady);
2. I will see if I can finish all the VO2Max workouts.
3. For MP, I will try to mix them in most long runs instead of just relying on one or two key long runs. But I will mix them in in an interval style. Daniels' running formula has a lot of good M/T workout templates that I can use.
4. For easy and recovery runs, I like what I am doing today. In fact, with workouts and LR being hard, I don't mind dropping the so-called general aerobic or easy runs altogether, and running all of them in RC effort. And I don't mind at all running RC runs in 11 min pace or even slower. The purpose for those runs is to promote blood circulation and we should feel better after the runs, not worse.
5. For LTs, AM's plan looks good and it works for me.
