(On Running) #10 Summer of Speed
Summer of Speed
This week was the end of Phase 2—Speed & Threshold—of my Baystate Marathon training plan, where I will attempt to run sub-2:48:00. This phase of the plan involved attacking Wednesday track workouts that were shorter in distance but higher in intensity than typical marathon pace workouts. The next phase will involve more marathon pace workouts: longer in distance but lesser in intensity.
Before I fully transition to Phase 3—Marathon-Specific—I will be running a mile time trial this Wednesday while on vacation. I consider it a capstone on a period of running that can best be described as "Summer of Speed."
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| View from UMass Amherst track |
Since I got into running in May 2025, I have engaged with media to learn more about the sport. Specifically, I have been an active subscriber to Youtubers who document their marathon training in videos, perused blog posts to find the best running gear for me, and watched videos about lactate threshold, VO2Max, and other common running terms to better understand the complications of marathon training.
One day, I stumbled upon the TED Talk How "normal people" can train like the worlds best endurance athletes by Stephen Seiler. As a "normal person" looking to train for a difficult marathon goal, I was intrigued. In the video, Seiler presents the idea of "training zones." Essentially, there are three training zones: green, yellow, and red. Green represents easy, yellow represents moderate, and red represents intense. The best endurance athletes do most of their training in the green zone, at an easy pace. Seiler uses many examples of different sports to conceptualize his idea, including Kenyan runners, who are historically prolific endurance athletes. Supposedly, 5K and 10K Kenyan runners do 85% of their training in the green zone (easy pace).
The idea of doing 85% of my training at an easy pace was not particularly appealing. Running fast and approaching each run differently is what makes training interesting. Essentially, to train like the worlds best, I would have to run five days a week at a comfortable pace, with one intense workout day a week.
For the Summer of Speed, I implemented Seiler's idea throughout. Five easy days, including the Saturday long run, and one Wednesday track workout. I completed eight Wednesday track workouts in total, and each one incorporated different distances, speeds, and recovery times. Many of them were coached by the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club, and I learned a great deal about running fast.
This Saturday, when it came time to tackle my long run, I made a last minute change of schedule: I ran a long track workout. I wanted to test my speed at marathon pace and start training for the distance. I also bought Nike Dragonfly 2 track spikes to run my mile time trial in, and I needed to break them in. It was a shift from the easy pace long runs I had done so far, but a necessary one. My first marathon had taught me the importance of incorporating speed into long runs. While Seiler's idea has been helpful, designing an effective, personalized training plan involves incorporating multiple competing ideas, such as easy long runs vs. injecting speed into long runs.
This was my first time running in spikes, or approaching a marathon pace workout on a track. I was surprised at my mental fortitude throughout the 44 track laps the workout demanded. My strategy was to take the workout one lap at a time, to not worry about the laps to come, but to give my very best in the lap that I was on. Yet another running metaphor for life.
For the remaining 11 weeks before race day, I am planning to adopt this mentality. I will approach my running incrementally—one week, one day, one mile, one step—at a time. Every step forward is a step in the right direction: towards achieving my goal of a sub-2:48:00 marathon.
Week 8: Training Summary (Baystate 2026)
54.2 miles | 6h 46 min workout | 1,368 ft elevation
(E) = Easy | (W) = Workout | (L) = Long
Monday (E): 8 miles | 7:49/mi | 390 ft elevation gain | 6:17 PM
Ran my favorite 8 mile loop, although it was a bit more dangerous to run in the evening. The first few miles are on a road with a narrow shoulder and a few blind turns. The views, elevation training, and simplicity of the route trump the danger, though.
Tuesday (E): 11.20 miles | 7:45/mi | 463 ft elevation gain | 6:22 PM
Altered an old 10 mile route to get some extra distance. It started raining heavily around mile 5, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Summer, evening running is typically hot and humid, so the rain was a welcome reprieve. It made me feel pretty badass, also.
Wednesday (W): 7.58 miles | 7:05/mi | 13 ft elevation gain | 6:35 PM
It was a weird weather day—heavy rain most of the day, before clearing up in the evening. As a result, the track workout club must have been cancelled, but I didn't know and showed up anyways, along with two other fast runners. One of them is a high school track coach, and suggested a workout for us to complete.
The workout:
- 1.5 mile warm up
- 800m tempo
- Stretches and strides
- 3 x 16000m, 90 sec rest, 400m, 3 min rest
- Split 1: 6:20, 1:15
- Split 2: 5:59, 1:13
- Split 3: 5:42, 1:12
- 1.5 mile cool down
This workout was more challenging with less people, but we still hit our target paces. The 400m at the end of each mile was surprisingly difficult, and the mile was surprisingly easier.
While this was the last Wednesday track workout I could attend this summer, I will definitely be ramping track work back up in the winter months, when the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club hosts them at Smith College.
Thursday (E): 8.03 miles | 7:40/mi | 131 ft elevation gain | 6:18 PM
Another run club Thursday. This week was faster than usual, including an essentially track workout paced mile at the end. Mixing up the paces makes running them more enjoyable
Friday (E): 4.77 miles | 7:30/mi | 335 ft elevation gain | 6:35 AM
This was a run I simply needed to get done. Was happy to do it in the morning, as I didn't want another Friday evening to consist of a 10 mile run. Remained consistent, at lesser distance.
Saturday (W, L): 14.64 miles | 7:13/mi | 36 ft elevation gain | 7:57 AM
The aforementioned impromptu Saturday long track workout. A fellow run clubber suggested this workout to me on Thursday, and I decided to just go ahead and do it. It was HARD. Immensely rewarding, but hard. It warmed up as the workout progressed, which didn't help. But I hit every pace within a second or two, which I was proud of.
The goal was to run 3 x 3 miles at ladder marathon pace. My goal marathon pace hovers between 6:25-6:30/mi. So, the first mile of each interval was 15 sec slower (6:45), the second mile was at the goal pace (6:30), and the third mile was 15 sec faster (6:15).
- 1.86 mile warm up
- Stretches and strides
- 3 x 3 mi ladder, 1 mi float
- M1: 6:46
- M2: 6:32
- M3: 6:16
- Float M4: 7:43
- M5: 6:44
- M6: 6:30
- M7: 6:15
- Float M8: 7:51
- M9: 6:45
- M10: 6:30
- M11: 6:12
- 1.8 mi cool down
I hit 6:12 on the final mile. Whenever I am able to run faster than I am supposed to on the last interval, I know I crushed my workout goal. It is an awesome feeling.
Insights on Improvement
The "Summer of Speed" will officially end with the mile time trial on Wednesday. My initial goal is to run a sub 5:00/mile, but I truly have a limited concept of how fast I could go. I have never raced a mile or done any time trials before.
Approaching my upcoming marathon-specific training will require a revised approach. I plan to get back to morning runs, except on Thursdays for run club. My initial mileage goals were a bit lofty, so I plan to adjust the plan to more accurately reflect what I accomplished in the first eight weeks of training.
At the end of the day, I am a "normal person" pursuing a time-consuming, challenging, but ultimately rewarding marathon goal. I am learning not only how to train like the very best in the sport, but how to adapt those training methods to my schedule, abilities, and preferences.
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