Philadelphia Marathon - Training Part II

As I recover and get ready for my Boston cycle, I looked back on my training for Philly to see what I did differently in training during that cycle that I had not done in previous cycles. First, I ran less miles per week on average than in my previous 3 plans (I've only raced 6 marathons including Philly). Second, I trained for 24 total weeks, in which I ran 22 runs of 20 miles or more, including the marathon. Third, I ran long runs in a repeating 3 week pattern: week 1...steady paced long run; week 2...progression long run; week 3...marathon paced long runs. Fourth, I ran longer tempo runs with faster cool downs. For example, I ran many 7 - 9 mile tempo runs with 2 - 3 mile cool downs at only 30 - 45 s per mile slower than tempo pace. I'd end up running routine 10 milers sub-60 minutes. Fifth, I ran longer marathon pace runs, including runs of 15, 16, and 18 miles. Finally, I ran three 26.2 mile time trials during my cycle. I ran 2:58, 2:55, and 2:49 repectively.

Training elements I had intended to include but failed to use were core strength, light weight training, stretching and hill work. I did next to nothing in these areas. In fact, I did approximately 50% of my runs on the treadmill and rarely had time for anything other than the run itself. So when I look at the PR 2:36:52 at Philly, I wonder if it could have been faster because of the lack of strength I could have had from hills/weights, or if the addition of strength training would have taken away from my ability to maximize the training I wanted to do, tus yielding a slower time. Points for me to ponder as I plan for Boston.