Jack Daniels Marathon

I plan on running the 40th Anniversary White Rock Marathon in December. For the first time in my marathon training, I am going to apply the Jack Daniels formula and see if I can produce an elite time. Today was the first day of a 16 week program that I will be doing to prepare for the race. The workout was supposed to be 18 miles of 2@Easy pace, 6@Marathon pace, 1@Threshold, 5@Marathon, 1@Threshold, 1@Marathon, 2@Easy.

Well, the started off poorly when I turned my alarm off at 6:45 this morning and opted to save the workout for the evening. I laced the shoes up and hit the streets at about 5:30 this evening. The temp. was 101. I managed to make it through the first 9 miles right on target. 6:30 for the first 2 miles, 5:35 pace for the next 6 and 5:20 for the threshold mile. The next 5 were a real struggle (I averaged 5:45). When it was time for the next threshold effort, I was toast. I ran 5:55 for that mile then jogged it in for a 15.75 mile run.

Halfway through the run, it showered. But, it was not a pleasant rain. It was one of those where the sun is still out and the rain is really light and hot. When it stopped, it felt like running in a sauna. I imagine the heat index was about 105.

Needless to say the Jack Daniels marathon plan is going to be tough!!