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The Taylor Twenty

April 18, 2015 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Mike Taylor's big pre-EUG marathon workout, now a classic:

- 2 mile warm-up
- 2x2mi tempo-MP (2mi rest)
- 10 miles MAF
- 3 mile tempo-MP
- short cooldown

Met at my apt and we ran easy to the marathon start. Including warm-up, this run would cover about 19 of the 26 miles of the course.

Got to Hayward and began the tempo, on the course: up Agate and right on 24th. Then, instead of going into the southern loop, we cut back to the 9 mile mark and back toward Hawyard. Completed the first 2-miler on the uphill - THE climb on the course - then perfectly ended on the downhil. Jogged for 2min, then got at it again.

Mike seemed a little flat, and I let him set the pace, entirely based on his HR and feel.

We somehow perfectly timed the busy Franklin Blvd crossing and continued to second 2-mile rep into Springfield on the Alton Baker path. The splits (roughly):

- 13:53 (long, more like 13:45), AHR 147 (me)
- 13:38, AHR 152

From there, we ran the boring, tedious, concrete Springfield sections. The crux and tough part of the course is the mid-section: 13-20. This is when you get on the long Centennial-slash-MLK Boulevard to get back into Eugene and onto the river path again. All this was easy jogging for us, but, in some ways, slogging at MAF made it more difficult. Nevertheless, it was good training and fun in the context of marathon prep. Mike had never run it, so I think it was good exposure.

Had some good chats while maintaining a solid pace for the low HR. The HR crept up a bit for me when I began to vent about Tensegrity. It's funny: pretty much the reason that Mike and I met was because Sean got sick of treating Mike and dumped him off on me! A bit of an "insult" to us both, but it's been a damn good combo, since!

(splits: 2.91 mi/129hr + 7.03mi/137hr on the easy ten)

Finally, we got all the way down the river to Marist HS and Owosso Bridge. You cross the bridge here and begin the 10K slog back to Hayward. This is THE critical section of the race, so this is where we began the 3-mile tempo.

Mike pushed aggressively from the start, getting us into the 6:20s for the first half before settling in. The distance and allergies made the HR jump up for me. Felt good and was legit "tempo" for me, too! Ran strong - with good form focus - all the way to Skinner Park, which is probably two miles from the finish.

Split: 20:13, 165HR!!! Yeesh!

Good workout, for us both! I was bit worried about my achilles but didn't feel it at all!

FORM FOCUS: elite feet, quick turnover (just echoing Mike's), and "elite arms". CA and I went to the Oregon Relays and saw what good, efficient arm swing looked like! So that was a good mental image.

I gotta be honest: I really enjoy this non-ultra change of pace. Got the workout done BEFORE 10AM, then was able to change and walk downtown to the farmer's market with Callie Alice. Had coffee, then came back and had a great brunch. It feels GREAT to be a normal runner, even if that means some pavement-pounding grinding, here and there.

Wore the N1s+ superfeet. Some calf and foot soreness but good immediate feedback if my strike was too lateral.