AEROBIC BUILDER
We had an awesome turnout this morning for the aerobic builder: Ken, Jason, Dave, Ben, Bryant, Bret, and me. Bryant and I ran together and did a 5:14 average for 8 miles. Bryant and I were surprisingly conversational on the run, which is also a great sign that this is a manageable pace for long distances.
WARNING: If you don't want to read a long ramble about my history of aerobic builders over the last year stop reading now. It's probably quite boring for most people.
I've looked back over my training for the last year or so and these aerobic builders have really taken me to the next level. After a disappointing St. George Marathon last year, I took a hard look at my training and realized I didn't have any marathon-specific training at all. I had several interval sessions and quite a few 4-mile tempos at HMP, but basically nothing at MP (or even at like a tinman pace).
So, I came up with the idea that I had to have at least one run a week where I was building aerobic endurance. I wanted to start with something that I knew I could easily handle and go from there. I started the aerobic builders on 23 Oct 12 with 7 miles at 5:56 pace (and that also included a break at the turnaround at 3.5 miles; which now I do them without stops).
I gradually dropped the pace by 2-5 seconds a week. By 8 Jan 13, the week before St. George Half, I was down to 8 miles at 5:26. By 19 Feb, the last one before Phoenix Marathon, I was down to 5:20 pace.
After Phoenix I kind of went away from the aerobic builders a bit and I had some good races in April off of what was likely residual fitness and then by the time May rolled around I was really struggling and kind of back to the level I was running at last year. I only did two builders between Phoenix Marathon in early March and USA Half in late June. I ran poorly at USA's and it did not sit well with me at all!
In July I started back with the aerobic builders, again starting from a place I knew I could handle and have been doing them almost weekly since. I have now jumped my fitness to the best half-marathon (and hopefully) marathon shape in my life (I even think I could get a 10k PR if I attempted it at sea level).
Here is a table of my recent builders since USA half and these are all on the exact same course. Miles 1, 7, and 8 are slight uphills. Miles 2 and 3 are slight down. Miles 4-6 are pretty flat, but mile 5 has a pedestrian bridge that goes over I-15 and really sucks your pace. But, for the most part this is about as flat of a 13-mile loop you can get in Utah.
| Date |
Mile 1 |
Mile 2 |
Mile 3 |
Mile 4 |
Mile 5 |
Mile 6 |
Mile 7 |
Mile 8 |
Average |
| 2-Jul |
5:38 |
5:33 |
5:32 |
5:32 |
5:35 |
5:31 |
5:32 |
N/A |
5:33 |
| 9-Jul |
5:31 |
5:29 |
5:27 |
5:27 |
5:32 |
5:23 |
5:26 |
N/A |
5:27 |
| 29-Jul |
5:30 |
5:23 |
5:26 |
5:22 |
5:32 |
5:27 |
5:29 |
5:21 |
5:26 |
| 6-Aug |
5:26 |
5:22 |
5:21 |
5:17 |
5:25 |
5:20 |
5:25 |
5:17 |
5:21 |
| 13-Aug |
5:20 |
5:14 |
5:17 |
5:17 |
5:21 |
5:16 |
5:13 |
5:15 |
5:16 |
| 29-Aug |
5:17 |
5:13 |
5:17 |
5:13 |
5:16 |
5:12 |
5:14 |
5:10 |
5:14 |
| Avg |
5:27 |
5:22 |
5:23 |
5:21 |
5:26 |
5:21 |
5:23 |
5:15 |
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As you can see I try to challeng my fitness each time out. The body has an amazing ability to adapt. If you continue to challenge it, it can usually continue to respond with results.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought maybe this could help some runners to see. The thought of weekly 8-mile runs at MP can sound daunting, but if you start with something you can handle and go from there, I think these are very beneficial (and really I need to start extending these to 10 miles at the same pace and then continue to drop the pace after that).
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