California International Marathon Training Log (Week 8) | The Road to 2:20
Week 8 of 12: Bring the speed
This week marked week 8 of 12 of my official build toward the California International Marathon (CIM) on December 7, 2025. You can find previous week’s here:
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4 weeks until race day! Wow. Whenever I sign up for a race, it seems far off in the distance, almost so far away that it doesn’t seem real. Now, with less than a month (from the time of this writing) until CIM, it’s starting to get concrete. It also means that I’m going to be bringing in more race-pace-based workouts (as you’ll see this week) and doing everything I can to make 5:20/mile pace feel “effortless.” After a few lower-mileage weeks, I’ll bring back the volume for another 2 weeks before I start to taper.
November 3—9, 2025
Weekly totals:
Running: 67 miles (7 hours 10 minutes; average pace 6:25/mile)
Cycling: 4 hours (2 rides)
Week 8/Day 1
Change of scenery today since I was out in San Diego, California for the weekend. Kept it simple with an out-and-back along the coast.
Workout: 15 miles moderate
Shoes: Hoka Mach X2
Week 8/Day 2
Workout: 90-minute indoor ride + ~5 mile easy run
Shoes: Asics Superblast 2
Week 8/Day 3 (Workout Wednesday)
Very happy with this workout that didn’t seem too impressive in my head or during the workout, but on paper looks much better. For some reason, my watch was set on “indoor mode” today, which I don’t think affected pace and distance measures much but is still annoying in hindsight. I ended up averaging 5:00—5:10/mile pace for most of these reps, and even the recovery periods were around 7:00/mile pace.
Workout:
30-minute warmup
16 x 75” at threshold pace with 2:30 float recovery
20-minute cooldown
Shoes: (I don’t remember…oops)
Week 8/Day 4 (Double Day)
AM Workout: 12 miles with 2 miles (miles 10 & 11) at goal marathon pace (5:24, 5:22)
Shoes: Brooks Hyperion Max 3
PM Workout: 6 miles easy
Shoes: Asics Superblast 2
Week 8/Day 5
Workout: 2 hour 15 minute indoor Zwift ride
Week 8/Day 6
“Saved” this workout to midday due to a late night at a wedding rehearsal. Felt pretty good from the start and decided to make this another workout for the week. I’m incredibly happy with how easy this felt, especially since the last 1.5 miles were run around goal marathon pace.
Workout: 10 miles uptempo
Shoes: Hoka Mach X2
Week 8/Day 7 (OFF DAY)
This was a rare planned off day. We had a wedding on Saturday night, which meant two late nights in a row. I was feeling pretty exhausted. I made it to the gym for a double dip in the sauna (30’ + 20’ min with a 10-minute cool off between), which left me feeling pretty energized and recovered.