The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 6 Update

For the 2:49 Project Week 6 update, I'm pleased to say it was good to build on what was a positive week 5. This week, I completed every session and hit most of my targets. It's important to remember that targets are just that, something to shoot for. At this point, it is more about putting in the effort and giving it what I have on the day. There were plenty of solid efforts in week 6. It is a story of respectable results regarding weight, strength and conditioning, sleep and overall well-being. As always, there will be things that I can get better for the upcoming week, but I'm loving how it is going so far.

By the way, if you are following along with the training, I'd love to hear how your training went last week. Even if you are following your own plan, I'd appreciate seeing your progress. Please comment at the bottom of this page or on any of the social media accounts. Let's do this together.

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 6 Update: The Daily Updates

Let's look at the 2:49 Marathon Project update regarding the daily sessions. The ultimate goal for this week was to fatigue the legs and work hard. That was a complete success. As for the daily updates, I'm going to consolidate these statistics to make the post a little easier to read, but provide the same information. So, let me know what you think about the change to the format.

Monday:

Monday was an easy 4 miler (7k). Normally, this would have been a non-running day, but this week I wanted to have seven days of running. The 4 miles easy went well despite running with my dog. I suppose if anything it wasn't EASY, but it was good to get a few miles with him.

Running Details:
Distance: 4.4 miles (7.15 km) - Stopped the watch for doggo and missed a couple of k's)
Avg Pace: 8:33/mile (5:19/km)
Running Shoes: Nike Revolution 6
Time & Temperature: 18:45 - 26 C (79 F)

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 1750
Protein: 124g
Carbohydrates: 200g
Fat: 47g
Water: 3.25 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine done.

Sleep: 9 hours 19 minutes

Tuesday:

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 6 Tuesday was an 8 mile (13k) steady run. A steady run is comfortably hard. For this run, I tried out a new pair of running shoes. I received a pair of Asics Novablast 3's Monday night and was looking forward to taking them for a spin. I hadn't run in a pair of Asics since 2014, so I didn't know what to expect. I will do a full review of these on a separate post, but these were excellent. I enjoyed the running in such a cushioned shoe and found the steady pace easy to hold for the 8 miles. A thumbs up from me!

Running Details:
Distance: 8 miles (12.89 km)
Avg Pace: 6:56/mile (4:18/km)
Running Shoes: Asics Novablast 3
Time & Temperature: 17:45 - 26 C (79 F)

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2048
Protein: 147g
Carbohydrates: 215g
Fat: 61g
Water: 2 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine

Sleep: 6 hours 08 minutes

Wednesday:

Wednesday of Week 6 was a mid-week 10 miler (16 km). This one felt hard. The weather was windy and overcast, even a little chilly (for me). I felt my legs were heavy and they really weren't on-board with running today. This was an excellent opportunity to work on the mental game. I used some mantras and breathing techniques to get me through this one. I also recorded some rather silly thoughts for my social media posts. At the end of the run, it was excellent to have pushed through and completed the distance despite the lack of enthusiasm.

Running Details:
Distance: 10.1 miles (16.2 km)
Avg Pace: 8:34/mile (5:19/km)
Running Shoes: Saucony Endorphin Shift 2
Time & Temperature: 16:20 - 22 C (72 F)

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2369
Protein: 152g
Carbohydrates: 217g
Fat: 91g
Water: 2.75 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine & Yoga.

Sleep: 7 hours 12 minutes

Thursday:

Thursday was a good test with a split run. The first 5 miler (8k) at sub 7:40/mile (4:45/km) and the second 5 miles (8k) at sub 6:40 (4:08/km). I tried to keep this on as flat a route as I could find. However, that isn't easy in these country roads and it was rather undulating. As it turned out my splits were really good and I managed the run on target.

Mile 1: 7:24 (4:36/k)
Mile 2 7:14 (4:30/k)
Mile 3: 7:26 (4:37/k)
Mile 4: 7:39 (4:45/k)
Mile 5: 7:26 (4:37/k)
Mile 6: 6:21 (3:57/k)
Mile 7: 6:24 (3:59/k)
Mile 8: 6:24 (3:59/k)
Mile 9: 6:38 (4:07)/k
Mile 10: 6:27 (4:01/k)

Running Details:
Distance 1st half | 2nd half: 5:03 miles (8.09 km) | 5.01 miles (8.07 km)
Avg Pace: 1st half | 2nd half: 7:27 (4:27/k) | 6:27/mile (4:01/km)
Running Shoes: Old Nike Alphafly 1
Time & Temperature: 12:00 - 21 C (70 F)

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2349
Protein: 141g
Carbohydrates: 279g
Fat: 69g
Water: 2.75 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine

Sleep: 4 hours 58 minutes

Friday:

For the 2:49 Marathon Project Week 6 Update, Friday was another 5k social run in the morning. This run was just me and doggo once again. I think I'll call this an anti-social run with him. 😁

Running Details:
Distance: 3.13 miles (5.05 km)
Avg Pace: 8:17/mile (5:09/km)
Running Shoes: Hoka Rocket x 2
Time & Temperature: 09:51 - 19 C (66 F)

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2522
Protein: 160g
Carbohydrates: 321g
Fat: 68g
Water: 2.5 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine

Sleep: 6 hours 40 minutes

Saturday:

On Saturday of Week 6 of the 2:49 Marathon Project I had a CoP run with 3 miles (5k) easy, 3 miles (5k) hard effort, and then 3 miles (5k) easy. This time, instead of racing, I took this one on as it was. After a morning of heavy rain, the weather cleared and I hit the roads just after noon. I put some really good miles into this run and it felt really good. My middle steady effort splits were: 7:12 (4:29/k), 7:09 (4:21/k) and 7:00 (4:21/k).

Running Details:
Distance: 9.19 miles (14.79 km)
Avg Pace: 7:53/mile (4:54/km)
Running Shoes: Nike Zoom Tempo Next%
Time & Temperature: 12:12 - 23 C (73 F)

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2306
Protein: 129g
Carbohydrates: 258g
Fat: 70g
Water: 4.25 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine

Sleep: 6 hours 01 minutes

Sunday:

For the 2:49 Marathon Project Week 6 Sunday Runday was a tough one. I had company alongside me on bikes, which helped the distance tick over, but it was hard work. I had an easy mile warm up and this was immediately followed with 8 miles at sub 7 minute/mile pace. After no rest days and a good serving of pace this week, I found the faster miles particularly hard. This was especially the case on the hilly sections of the run. This was noticeable in my pace. The splits for the faster miles were:

6:27 (4:01/k)
7:04 (4:16/k)
6:54 (4:18/k)
6:48 (4:14/k)
6:49 (4:14/k)
7:20 (4:34/k)
7:11 (4:28/k)
6:27 (4:01/k)

The remaining slower miles went by nicely with one minor hiccup. At mile 11 I noticed a sharp stinging in my left foot. I have experienced this in alphaflys before when the foam split at the bottom and allowed the carbon plate to push up through into the insole. At that point I decided it best to go back to the house to change shoes. At mile 13, I changed over to the Asics Novablast 3's and all went well from there.

Upon further inspection, there wasn't a split in the foam, but there was a large, rigid thorn that poked through the foam. This was protruding up through the insole and pushing into my sole each stride. The good news is that despite the numerous miles on these shoes, they will be around a little longer. When I removed the thorn and walked around in them, all was good.

Running Details:
Distance: 19.14 miles (30.8 km)
Avg Pace: 7:46/mile (4:50/km)
Running Shoes: Nike Alphafly 1 & Asics Novablast 3
Time & Temperature: 9:04 - 20 C (68 F)

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2369
Protein: 199g
Carbohydrates: 183g
Fat: 87g
Water: 4.25 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine & Yoga.

Sleep: 5 hours 13 minutes

Body Weight

The 2:49 Marathon Week 6 Update showed a positive result on the scale this week. I am getting closer to my weekly goal weight and for week 6 I hoped to be down to 155 lbs (70.3 kg). My weight on the scale Friday morning was 155.2 lb's (70.4 kg). PDC, (pretty damn close), if you ask me.

Strength & Conditioning

I did my 20 minute routine 5 out of 5 weekdays this week. I managed to get 2 x 20 minute yoga sessions done this week.

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 6 Update Lessons Learned

Week 6 was excellent overall. I enjoyed the hard training and the increased volume. I would like to feel stronger on my Sunday MP miles though. This will require perhaps a little less intensity on the weeks when I have those types of Long Sunday Runs. My Sunday Long run in week 7 is an LSDR with no marathon pace miles, so I will keep my week lined up as I have it. However, I will likely make some changes to my plans for week 8.

With that said, I think it's important to remain flexible and ensure I get the precise work I need. Although I'm basing this training on my Manchester plan, I am making the adjustments that I believe will give me the best chance to break 2:50 in the Valencia Marathon. Therefore, in future weeks when I have marathon pace miles in my Sunday run, there will probably only be easy miles from Thursday on. If that doesn't give me what I need or I find that the week lacks intensity, I will re-evaluate it then.

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 7 Running Sessions

This week's sessions are described in this post and on YouTube. This is my first cutback week. I think it comes at an interesting time and may be a blessing or a curse. All I can do is find out. The Week 5 Training Sessions in brief look like this:
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: 2 sets x 4 x 1 mile repeats
Wednesday: 12 miles (19k) easy
Thursday: 7 miles (11k) easy
Friday: Double Session - 5k (3 miles) easy effort + 6 mile (10k) Tempo Run
Saturday: 7 mile (11k) CoP run
Sunday: 26 mile (42 km) run

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 6 Update Summary

For the 2:49 Marathon Project Week 6 Update I am quite optimistic with where I am at. I think we all have doubts and questions when it comes to training. More often than not, we ask how the hell we are going to hold our target pace for 26.2 miles when it's so hard to hit for a short run now. This, however, is why we are always telling athlete's to trust the process. We don't all of a sudden wake up faster. Our body adapts to the hard work over time. I know when December 1st rolls around and if I put in the appropriate work, the pace will be there. With 6 weeks behind me, I feel like I'm a little ahead of where I was for Manchester, and that is where I need to be.

Where Can You Follow the 2:49 Marathon Project?

Daily updates will be shared on my Instagram account and Tiktok account. Weekly updates will be in longer form on YouTube, my Facebook page, and here on the A Heart for Running blog.

If you are on any of these platforms, I would very much appreciate a follow. It would be a huge boost to my chances of reaching my goal.

Also, for anyone who wishes to get email updates, please subscribe to the mailing list at the bottom of this page and the weekly updates will be delivered directly to your inbox. Ensure to check your junk box and allow the emails from here through.

#MarathonTraining #RunningTips #EnduranceTraining #RunningCommunity #FitnessJourney #249MarathonProject

Weekly Metrics:

This is the Week 6 Updates

Friday Weigh-in Pounds: 155.2 lbs (-2.2)
Friday Weigh-in Kg: 70.4kg (-1.3kg)
Average Resting HR: 41 bpm (+3)
Average Nightly Sleep: 6:33 hours (-78 minutes)
Average Daily Protein: 148g/day (-4g)
Average Daily Water: 3179 ml/day (-642 ml)
Total Weekly KM's: 103.1 km (+29.92 km)
Total Weekly Miles: 64 miles (5.6 miles)

Click here to see last week's metrics

Previous Weeks:

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16