Weekly Summary – 78 miles in 12 runs. Victory at the Vermont City Marathon to wrap up a fantastic spring season! Long recap below. Thanks for following and stay tuned for more.
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Twitter (@TylerCAndrews). And, of course, don’t forget to check out STRIVE’s 2017 Programs! You can come do service work and train with me in Peru or Kenya and for 2017, we’ll once again have programs for High School and College students, and even a 10-day trip for adults and families, so be sure to take a look if you’re interested in an amazing summer experience! Finally, I have a few spots open for athletes looking for custom training plans and online coaching. Check out my site and email me if you’re interested!
Lunes, 22 de Mayo, 2017 – 7am: Up early naturally again, before 5am. Ran later as I was doing laundry early. Ran on HAR loop two laps (18’30/17’38). Felt good. Rainy today and cooler today, only around 60F. Wore tights, 2x long sleeve, hoodie, jacket, hat/gloves. Felt good today. CHO depletion starts today so that’s probably the last run I’ll feel good on until Thursday. Total run 10km+, 6.5M in 41’.
XT: Back/hips (1x weight)
3pm: Ran with Mariana (hooray, she returns!). One lap on HAR loop very slow, 20’, and then to HT to finish. Did 6x strides on the road since grass was still soaked from rain this AM. Felt very good on those. Nice to have company and forced to run very slow. Total run 4.5M in 32’.
Martes, 23 de Mayo, 2017 – 6:20am: Up at 5am naturally. Ran with Mariana on HAR loop. Didn’t feel to bad yet with 24 hours of CHO depletion. 1 lap in 19’40 and then did 8x strides in tracers (last one about 200m) which felt quite good. Total run 6km, 4M- in 28’.
XT: p90x
3:15pm: Ran to GSM for session with Terrel. Felt pretty awful. CHO depletion starting to do it’s magic. Ran the normal route there (8.5k) in 40’ which is about 4-5 minutes slower than normal. Good full body session and then jog/metro home. Total run 6M in 45’.
Miercoles, 24 de Mayo, 2017 – Sparknotes: 5km in 15’58 w/ 3x1K @ 3’11/08/05, 500m rec @ 1’44 + 500m @ 1’20. Great!
6:30am: Last tuneup today before VCM! Drove to track with Mariana and did 2km warmup on grass infield. Felt okay, not too awful like yesterday PM. Took a gel after warm-up which seemed to (placebo or not) get me through this. Drills, a few strides, 200m very easy in 34.
Same old same old here. 5km w/ 1k at MP or faster, 500m mod recovery x 3, finishing with 500m fast. First one ran very relaxed for first 200m and split like 35.x. Woops! Slowed down a lot as I was shooting for around 3’15 and ran 3’10.9. All rec reps were 1’44.x
Next two 1000s were 3’07.5/ 3’05.3 and basically felt the same. Tiny bit more focused than the first but still pretty calm. One thing I noticed is that I was often running the first 100-200m of each “on” rep too quickly, like 17.x/35.x. Makes sense as that pace seems very slow and I haven’t run much there on the track. Good to know when thinking about gear shifting that it’s dangerously easy to shift 30sec/km.
Last 500m was very strong for 1’20.9 and was very even (16.x/48.x/1’20.x). Very good finish.
Total was 15’57.8 for 5km. Sub 16 for this workout is great, especially given how comfortable it should feel and how I’m usually quite depleted. Will be interesting to see how this pace feels in another few days!
Cooled down ~1km on infield, ethio, etc. as Mar was running.
Splits:
Time Split HR
1 km 3’10.9 (3’10.9) 166
1.5 km 4’55.3 (1’44.4) 169
2.5 km 8’02.8 (3’07.5) 175
3 km 9’47.6 (1’44.8) 169
4 km 12’52.9 (3’05.3) 175
4.5 km 14’37.0 (1’44.1) 173
5 km 15’57.8 (1’20.8) 178
2pm: Ran with Mariana down to KP fields. Felt very bad. Last run of CHO depletion thank goodness. Grey, drizzly, very tired. Stopped at HT on the way back to cash out last VGCs. Almost exactly 10 minutes slower for 5K than this morning – ha! Total run 5km in 26’.
XT: Massage – good work on left calf/ankle which was a bit tight after track.
Jueves, 25 de Mayo, 2017 – 8am: Slept much better than usual this last night of CHO depltion thanks to nyquil. Slept more or less until around 2:30am and then got up, had some pretzels, and fell back asleep for a few hours. Woke up and ate a bunch and then waited/digested and ran later solo.
Grey and drizzling still, but felt great. Ran to HAR loop and 1 lap in about 17’30. Very good. Ran half loop and then back to Buchanan, changed into tracers and did 6x strides which also felt good. Overdressing still for another few runs… only about 60F and wore tights, hat/gloves, 2x long sleeve, hoodie, jacket. Total run 6M in 36’.
3:30pm: Ran same loop as yesterday PM to grass, 2km there and back via HT. Ran 19’ as opposed to 26’ yesterday and felt much better. Ha! Total run 5km, 3M+ in 19’.
Viernes, 26 de Mayo, 2017 – 6am: Slept well and woke up early around 4:30a. Had NV bar and coffee and saw Mar off to airport for her early flight before heading out to run around 6am. Ran comfortably but quicker out the door <4’00/km down to 1km loop for 5k 18’30 (3’54, 50, 40, 37, 33). Stopped and did a few strides and then 1km on loop w/ 400m ~ MP and then gear change every 200m: 77.8, 35.4, 34.1, 31.0 = 2’58.3. Very good. Jogged home easy w/ lap around block to round up to 8km. Total run 5M, 8km in 30’.
XT: Hips
3pm: Made it up to Burlington, VT! Smooth sailing here and met up with the VC and then drove into town. Ran a loop around the streets which was more or less the first 5km of the course. Cool 50s and drizzly. Finished with 5x strides + 200m on roads. Felt good. Total run 4M in 26’.
Sabado, 27 de Mayo, 2017 – 7am: Slept in! Almost 5:30 when I woke up. Nice. Ran very easy from the college down to the water and then out/back on the bike-path by the finish area. Looks like the finish is in a slightly different spot, so it’ll be good to confirm that at the meeting. Holding back a LOT and still running 4’20s. Trying to just jog today – harder when solo! Did 4x strides and then 200 or ~35 sec pickup. Jogged back after. Legs feeling great. Beautiful day. Ready to go. Fired up. Total run 4M-, 6km in 26’.
Domingo, 28 de Mayo, 2017 – Sparknotes: Vermont City Marathon – 1st, 2’19’40. Ran for the win, not for time, and got it with a move around 23km and then solo to the end. Great race and great end to the season!
6am: Woke up naturally around 3:50am. Got up, had black coffee, half a nature valley bar, and hung around, read some infinite jest with Mariana, until go-time when we met Jon at 5:50am to head to the start. Scouted out the start area and waited to warm up until about 6:20am. Ran easy 2km out/back from the elite tent. Forgot my training shoes, so just warmed up in flats. No biggie.
Back and used the bathroom, did drills, got into singlet, etc. Already starting to feel warmer in the sun and I knew it was going to feel quite warm once we were out there and the sun kept getting higher. Got to the line in plenty of time for a few strides but mostly just standing around, talked to Morse who seemed friendly and then got ready to roll. In a great mood. Beautiful day and feeling great.
The gun went off and I got off the line well and within like 15 seconds was well clear of the field. The start of the race is kind of odd as there’s a 90 deg left turn like 80 (downhill) meters after the start line, so I wanted to get off the line quick enough to be able to make that turn without worry about collision. I was surprised to see everyone else so far back, so after that turn I basically jogged until every caught up. There was a dude in a taco costume who had sprinted out and was running with the lead pack for the first few minutes. Ha.
From there, I tucked in behind Morse and another runner in white who seemed happy to set the early pace. It felt extremely slow, even for the big uphill in the first mile (about 100 ft), but we were VERY slow, like 5’45-50 at the 1M marker. From there, Morse picked it up and he and I were clearly setting the tone of the race.
Once you top out at 1 mile, it’s a rolling downhill for the next 4-5M and we were running much quicker (3’13/3’13 for km 3 and 4). This brought us on our first lap through the center of town which was a lot of fun and then out on the second loop, the long, somewhat dull out/back on the highway.
I actually wasn’t feeling very good at this point. Maybe the sudden change in gradient and pace, but it just took me a while to relax into it. We ran a 3’08 in there but that was a huge downhill, so I wasn’t worried about it. There were a surprising number of guys in the pack still, but I knew that there were probably only 3 guys who would stick around: Morse, Kauffman, and Sincalire.
We passed 5km in 17’00 and then 10K in 33’18 (33’23 according to the Rossi mats – 3’19.8/km, 5’21.5/M). I was mostly ignoring splits, though they had clocks at each mile marker, so I had a basic idea of how we were running. Took a first gel at 10K and seemed to feel a bit better after that. We also had a lot of energy from the crowd as we ran back and the masses were running out. That was nice.
Around 8M we had the second big hill on the course (of 3). I was actually kind of looking forward to these landmarks in terms of just getting them done with, especially since they were all in the first 25km. I honestly barely even noticed hill #2 and was feeling great and amped to come back into town.
I really like running through town as it definitely gives you a big rush for a few minutes each time. Really fun and a lot of people lining the streets and screaming. Definitely got a little boost there.
At this point, I think there were only 3 of us – me, Morse, and Sinclair. I was still trying to do as little leading as possible, but often found myself in front just because I’d come off a corner well or was letting my stride open going downhill. Sinclair seemed to be falling off a few steps every once in a while, so I figured he would be the first to go.
The 3rd loop is my least favorite as there’s a long straight approach and then a whole bunch of winding, hilly streets with a lot of turns around this neighborhood south of the city. Again , I felt kind of crappy here but I’ve done enough of these now to know to just tuck in and wait for it to pass. So, that’s what I did.
En route, we passed the 10 mile Rossi mat in 53’24 (5’20/M, 3’19.1/km), so we’d sped up a small amount but were mostly running quite even as that first 10K was slowed by the turtley first 2km. Not much changed during the loop from 10-13 miles.
Right before the half, we entered this park and ran through a giant cloud of pot smoke. Ha! Oh Vermont!
The half was 69’48 (5’19.5/M, 3’18.5/km).
After, it seemed like Morse accelerated a bit, and I began to wonder if he had also just been biding his time patiently and was now making a move. We ran through a winding park/bike path section and then back out onto Pine street for the long approach to the Big Hill at Battery Park.
I was actually feeling very good here – finally in a groove, the acceleration feeling more comfortable if anything, and enjoying the nice straight shot for a while as opposed to all the turns of the last few miles. And, but then all of a sudden I looked behind me (or to the side really, to check out shadows) and I could see that it was just me and Morse. I knew Sinclair would fall off first, so I decided to hold this pace a bit longer just to make sure we established a gap and it would be a two-man race.
Jon and I had planned to try to not lead the race until 30km, so this was a bit early to be pressing, but it felt right and good. The suprise was when I looked down what felt like just a few seconds later and saw that Morse was now quite a bit behind me. I now had a big decision about whether to stick to the plan and slow back down, let him catch up, and then wait until 30km or else just go now, but run the next 19km solo.
I decided that I felt very comfortable and the gap was already large enough that I thought it would be mentally harder to slow down and then make another move at 30km. So, I just tried to stay very relaxed all the way to the base of the hill. The Big Hill was really not so bad and again, I had been kind of looking forward to it, as after that there’s not really anything scary left on the course. I just ran by feel, kept the effort consistent, etc.
I did see Mariana at the base of the hill who said I had about a 30 second gap. I found that hard to believe as it had only been like a mile, but I then saw my folks at the top of the hill and they reiterated that it was quite significant. Okay, here we go!
I knew that the next few km would be relatively important because they were flat and so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t slowing down too much. I was running 3’13-17 for those first few km on the long, straight post-hill section and I knew that was perfect. At that point, I did look behind me and couldn’t even see Morse and Sinclair, so I knew the only way I’d lose would be if I really screwed up and went too hard and blew up.
Thus, as we entered the winding neighborhood loop around 30km, I actively backed off a bit, letting myself feel like I was running a bit easier, making sure I got my gel in (29km) and got some fluids. I was having a bit of stomach distress, but nothing that seemed crazy or terminal. But I was drinking less than I would have otherwise to try to not exacerbate the “sloshy tummy” feeling.
I decided I would wait until 35-36km and at that point try to push a bit if I still felt good. Mostly, I was just concerned with preserving the win. At the 20 mile Rossi mat, I was 1’46’40 (5’20/M, 3’18.8/km). I figured I should be able to run in the mid 2h19s, sub 2h20, assuming things didn’t get much worse, which is very good on this course.
The next few miles I felt pretty decent and before I knew it, I was on the bike path and heading back toward the finish. Here, I actually did really begin to feel the tummy issues. There’s a very steep short downhill leading onto the bike path and that seemed to really loosen some stuff up and I was just not feeling good in stomach-way at all. Still each km and mile that passed was one more closer to the finish and I wasn’t slowing down, even if felt a bit wonky.
I did try to accelerate a bit around 35-36km, but honestly the stomach was the limiting factor today. I took several longer looks behind me and could not see Morse, so I almost thought about taking a quick bathroom break, but decided against it.
It wasn’t until 25M (40km) that I really let myself begin to push and open up. I had a LOT left in my legs, as the last 10km or so had been pretty controlled due to my concerns over my stomach and wanting to be conservative. I ran 3’10/3’10 for km 41 and 42 and then the last 200m in 32 sec (3’07/km or 5’01/M for that last 2.2k). It was definitely an instance of having way more in the tank left than I’d thought.
Really enjoyed the last km or so. Once I got to the part where I’d done my shakeout run the day before, I knew I was quite close. I pictured myself doing strides on that part of the road the day before and just kept turning over faster. People started to show up with about 500m to go and used the energy of the crowd to keep pushing. Really just soaking it in. Still no sign of anyone behind me so I knew I was going to win at this point and was very excited.
Came around the final corner and ran through a big crowd and down the grassy last 30m or so o the tape. Almost tripped on it as the dropped it right as I was going through and had to do a weird little hop thing. That would have been something.
Finish time was 2’19’40 (3’18.6/km, 5’19.6/M). The last 10km+ was 33’00, so overall, this was a surprisingly even run (halves 69’48/69’52) despite the hilliness of the course and some changes in effort.
Mostly, this was a fantastic way to end what has been an odd but great season. I basically only had 8 weeks of training and in that time I ran 5 races in 5 different states in the last 6 weeks (really 36 days). I ended up with two 1st, one 2nd, and then 6th and 8th and the super competitive Cleveland 10K and Broad Street 10 Mile. None of these races were super fast due to pretty consistently awful weather (very hot and humid and Nashville and FL, strong headwind and Broad St.) and running on more challenging courses (Nashville, VCM, Cleveland), but basically all of them were great races from a pure racing perspective. I really enjoyed this season as I just got to practice racing for the sake of racing, which, in marathoning, we often don’t get to do if we’re chasing a time.
I also had some great (and different) workouts: a lot of faster speed work on the track than I’ve done before, consistent short hills, and more moderate mileage. This was a great new stimulus to try out and gave the body a break from the mega-mileage and marathon workouts which have been the focus over the past few years. It’s interesting to note that this race went very well (including the last 10km) even with almost no marathon-specific work this block. I think mostly this is due to leftover fitness from the LONG previous strength period, really from June 2016 to March 2017 where I was focused on 50K and marathon training.
Lastly, this was not a solo effort! I was so excited to cross the line first but moreso because I ran into the arms of my amazing partner, Mariana, who has been supporting me in my journey (on a quotidian basis) for as long as we’ve been together. And from there I ran to my amazing parents who had made the long trip up to Burlington (in addition to countless others over the last decade) to cheer me on and support me in any way they can. Even my amazing Aunt Ceil made the multi-hour (early!) drive from NH the morning of the race – thank you so much for coming. And then, there was my long-time coach, friend, and mentor Jon Waldron, who has been a consistent figure in my life for almost 10 years now, as long as I’ve been running, really. I can never thank him enough for all that he does and has done to help me become the athlete (and person) that I’m happy to be today.
Thanks as well to all of my amazing sponsors, especially HOKA ONE ONE – it was great to spend some time in the booth and meet some awesome runners and reps – as well as Nuun (who keeps me hydrated!) and Run Gum (who keeps me caffeinated) and STRIVE Trips (who keeps me inspired).
And of course, all of my friends and fans who have supported me over the years. I heard a ton of “Go Ty” and “You got this, Tyler” out there on the course and each one of those really does help. Thank you to everyone for sharing in this journey.
Surrounded by loved ones, the sun shining down on battery park, it was finally time to take a rest and get some Ben & Jerry’s. Next stop: Peru!
Time Split HR
1 km 3’33.0 (3’33.0) 159
2 km 7’11.3 (3’38.3) 167
3 km 10’24.7 (3’13.4) 166
4 km 13’38.3 (3’13.6) 166
5 km 17’00.3 (3’22.0) 168 (17’00.3)
6 km 20’12.4 (3’12.1) 168
7 km 23’20.4 (3’08.0) 164
8 km 26’39.0 (3’18.6) 166
9 km 29’57.0 (3’18.0) 167
10 km 33’18.2 (3’21.2) 166 (16’17.9)
11 km 36’37.0 (3’18.8) 167
12 km 39’53.6 (3’16.6) 167
13 km 43’11.7 (3’18.1) 169
14 km 46’36.6 (3’24.9) 172
15 km 49’55.1 (3’18.5) 168 (16’36.9)
16 km 53’06.1 (3’11.0) 164
17 km 56’22.9 (3’16.8) 165
18 km 59’46.0 (3’23.1) 166
19 km 1’03’08.2 (3’22.2) 165
20 km 1’06’27.3 (3’19.1) 164 (16’32.2)
21 km 1’09’49.0 (3’21.7) 164
22 km 1’13’09.0 (3’20.0) 162
23 km 1’16’20.4 (3’11.4) 165
24 km 1’19’37.0 (3’16.6) 166
25 km 1’23’03.1 (3’26.1) 167 (16’35.8)
26 km 1’26’16.1 (3’13.0) 166
27 km 1’29’30.0 (3’13.9) 164
28 km 1’32’47.2 (3’17.2) 162
29 km 1’36’03.5 (3’16.3) 160
30 km 1’39’29.4 (3’25.9) 160 (16’26.3)
31 km 1’42’51.5 (3’22.1) 159
32 km 1’46’09.3 (3’17.8) 161
33 km 1’49’28.3 (3’19.0) 162
34 km 1’52’45.0 (3’16.7) 160
35 km 1’56’00.5 (3’15.5) 160 (16’31.1)
36 km 1’59’26.0 (3’25.5) 157
37 km 2’02’49.3 (3’23.3) 158
38 km 2’06’07.2 (3’17.9) 159
39 km 2’09’27.8 (3’20.6) 158
40 km 2’12’47.9 (3’20.1) 158 (16’47.4)
41 km 2’15’58.1 (3’10.2) 160
42 km 2’19’08.4 (3’10.3) 163
42.21 km 2’19’40.8 (0’32.4) 165 (6’52.9 – 3’07/km)
