Chris -- I could see how you might think that this wasn't slow enough. I didn't include a key piece of information in the post. My training pace this season has been for a 2:36:00 marathon. I was attempting 2:40:00 in the previous marathon and had some issues in that race. So the difference between my training pace this season (2:36:00) and my Portland Marathon pace (2:57:00) is actually more than 20 minutes. It probably could have been slower, but this was a decent reduction in the pace for me.

In a good way, of course!

What we normally suggest is that you alternate weeks between an long run at easier pace (in the range that you suggest below) and then a long goal paced run the next week at a slightly shorter distance. For example, you might run 20 miles at the slower pace one weekend and then 18 miles at goal pace the next. Regarding your fluids, what I might suggest is that on your goal paced runs, you leave bottles somewhere and do multiple 4-5 mile loops passing those bottles, so that you don't have to carry them with you. Finally, with regards to being tired at the end of the training week that's to be expected, but try to build in either one rest day or an easy cross-training day before your goal paced runs, so that you are at least fresh enough to run them at goal pace. If you aren't able to do the runs at goal pace, then you are either not recovered enough or the pace is too fast for you. Good Luck!

Very well put Jake!

Isn't that so awesome (and kind of scary)!

Thanks for the note Grant.

Here's the story from the AP:

(8-28-09)
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">WELLINGTON, New Zealand — U.S.-based New Zealand Olympic marathoner Liza Hunter-Galvin was banned from competition for two years Friday after admitting using the banned performance-enhancing substance EPO.
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Hunter-Galvin, 40, a mother of four, admitted using EPO on three occasions — in February, March and in May, only three days before she returned a positive doping test.
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Hunter-Galvin, a teacher who lives in San Antonio, Texas, represented New Zealand at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics. On both occasions she had been rejected for selection but appealed on the basis of her personal best marathon time of 2 hours, 30 minutes, 39 seconds.
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">She finished 51st in the Athens marathon and 35th in Beijing last August.
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">"Everybody is incredibly annoyed," Athletics New Zealand chief executive Scott Newman said. "It's very sad that one of our elite would choose to do this but we're not naive.
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">"We don't imagine that our athletes aren't exposed to this at most major international competitions and I guess some will be tempted for some reason. In this case Liza was tempted and we're incredibly disappointed about that."
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">There was no immediate comment from Hunter-Galvin.

Good luck in the race everyone. I will see you out there!

Reto -- Thanks for the note. I have received some comments from people having this episode lock-up in the fifth minute at various times. I re-uploaded the file before your comment, so I am re-rendering the file now and will upload it again. I hope to have this fixed shortly. Thanks for watching! Joe

Lauren,
Really interesting question here. Here's what you need to do: first, in your general run workouts, you need to slow down so that your breathing is easier and more relaxed. Don't worry about the step ratios, just relax so that you're getting enough air. Take deep breaths from your belly. Second, you want to start doing shorter workouts that are done at higher speeds (they can start with very short segments -- as short as 200M). This speed work is going to increase your running efficiency, which is your ability to run economically in terms of your oxygen needs. Third, don't worry about anaerobic vs. aerobic running at all. All of the running that you do is aerobic. Only bursts of speed lasting perhaps 10-30 seconds (sprinting) are done anaerobically (meaning without the use of oxygen for muscular fuel). Focus on improving your running efficiency and you'll feel better as your speed increases.

Coach Joe

Leslie,

This is a great question and one that I plan to write more about. You're seeing something that I call the "Sophomore 10" (I know it doesn't rhyme like the "Freshman 15" that you've heard of when people go to college. Here's the thing, after the initial changes to your body due to the start of exercise, things may sort of balance out after about a season. Your body gets more efficient at running and may be burning less calories per workout. Also, if you've been doing the same workouts over and over for the past year, your body may have done all that it can in terms of adaptation to the workload -- this is what we call a plateau -- and in this case, the runs aren't as requiring as much of you as they once were. In these cases, the best advice is to mix up your workout patterns and increase the amount of higher-intensity workouts (such as speed work, spinning for cross-training, or intense hill training). These workouts will require more of the body and start to get a response again.

There is also another potential cause to this. If you are doing heavy and intense training, the weight gain could be the result of the stress created by your workouts. Weight gain is a response to times of heavy stress. Although we mostly know this in terms of stress from work or social situations, it also applies to the physical stress you are placing on yourself in your workouts. If this is the case, then your focus needs to be on increasing your recovery time between your workouts and potentially improving your nutrition to reduce the stress on the body and allow it to properly deal with the training load.

Either of these might apply to you, so it will depend on your situation. If you need further consultation, drop me a note as I would be happy to help.

Coach Joe