Sunday, April 12, 2015

Week 11

Coming into this week I was excited to really get to scale down. Unfortunately, between the week end combination of a 10k and a 17 miler, my legs were tight and tired. I got it in my head that the Monday run was 6 miles and when I finally looked at the plan and saw 8 miles it was like someone kicked me in the gut. I tried to be positive and suck it up but my legs protested. I got it done though. The run included 10 strides and I just tried to relax for everything which ended up at 8:10 pace. Fair enough. I am tapering after all. I celebrated with a 20 minute yoga video. I’m determined to take care of myself these last few days of training and my tight legs needed to be loosened up. That night, Leo was fussy and ended up in our bed. In the middle of the night he woke up and puked all over Brian. I stayed home with him which meant I wouldn’t be able to run until Brian and Darwin got home which also meant I wouldn’t be able to make it to my usual Tuesday night yoga class. I pulled out another DVD and did 25 minutes of yoga while Leo napped. I set out for an 8 miler with 3 mile repeats at 5k pace around 5pm. It was 80 degrees. In my 3 mile warm up it became pretty clear that mile repeats were a bad idea. I went ahead and did one at 6:45 pace. That was all I could do. That isn’t even my 10k pace. That isn’t even my OLD 10k pace. With Boston less than 2 weeks away, I decided to just finish the mileage. I’m not worried about my speed. I’m PRing or near PRing at short distances. The speed is there. I squeezed in another 20 minutes of yoga for good measure. Since the Wednesday run was only 7 miles I got up at 5 am and ran it. I managed 8:18 pace with the legs still feeling tight and tired. Can’t complain though because NO WEDNESDAY MEDIUM LONG RUN! Seriously, those were the worst! Once again, I managed a 20 minute yoga DVD. It is my goal to get as much yoga as possible for the rest of the taper. I was up again at 5am on Thursday for a 5 miler. 8:21 pace this time. On my way to the power yoga class I like to do on Thursday night, we drove into a storm with hail, crazy wind and like no visibility. Traffic came to a complete halt so I turned into a neighborhood and went back home. Leo was with me and was very freaked out by the hail hitting the car. We made it home but it was quite an adventure. A huge tree fell and completely obstructed the road at one point. I drove on the sidewalk to get around it. The universe just really doesn’t want me at a yoga class this week! Oh well. I did manage a 20 minute yoga DVD when I got home. I took Friday off. On Saturday I did my last double digit run. I did the 13 miles at 7:58 pace and the legs felt ok. I always feel like my legs should feel amazing during the taper but they never do. Brian ran the 1500 at a college meet that afternoon and had a really good race. We then went to a get together at a friend’s house with lots of people that are also heading to Boston. Both of our boys ended up with their shirts off and ultimately, Leo ended up completely naked. It was fun. Before we had kids, I felt like I was a big part of our local running community and that I knew most everyone that was around. Brian has managed to stay ingrained but I’ve missed a lot and I feel like I know less and less people. I used to go to a race and know everyone at the starting line and I’ve really felt like a stranger lately. It was nice to get to know some of the newer crowd. Brian worked on Sunday so I had to wait until 5pm to do my run. It was only 5 miles but it was 80 degrees. I still managed 7:57 pace.

Next Week’s Plan:
M-Recovery 5mi am, 4mi pm
T-Recovery 5mi
W-Dress Rehearsal 7mi w/2mi@marathon race pace
R-General Aerobic + Speed 5mi w/6 x 100m strides
F-Recovery 4mi
S-Rest and fly to Boston!
S-Recovery 2mi
M-BOSTON!

Just to give you an idea of the work that has gone into just this training cycle which officially began on 1/26/15, here are some stats.
  • 676 miles run up to this point (4/12/15)
  • 22 medium long runs completed (runs 10-15 miles long)
  • 18 books read
  • 13 hour long yoga sessions plus all the yoga I did at home
  • 12 lbs lost
  • 8 long runs completed (runs 16 miles or longer)
  • 4 races completed (2 5ks, 1 10k & 1 half marathon)
  • 2 PRs set (soon to be 3 hopefully)
  • 0 ice baths! Interestingly enough, I usually do several but I didn’t feel like absolute crap for any of this training and a lot of it was done in pretty cold conditions. Last thing I want to do after running a 20 miler in 30 degree temps is submerge myself into ice cold water for 15 minutes.
  • 0 massages! Again, a real testament to how well my body held up through this training.
I really have loved nearly every mile of this training. It was hard and some days were downright brutal (33 degrees with rain for 10 miles and sleet for the last 5) but it was so much better than any other marathon training I’ve ever done both physically and mentally. Even if I don’t get the outcome I want in Boston, I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve accomplished. Honestly, that 10k PR is one of my brightest running achievements to date and I’m not going to lie. I’m really, really proud of it. Goal wise, I’m just going to set two. The “if the universe cooperates and everything is perfect” goal is 3:15. The secondary goal is to PR which would mean faster than 3:19:16. I’m fine with either. I’ll be fine with neither too if that is the way it works out. Boston is a punishing course so we shall see but I have no reason to believe I won’t have a great race.

On the book front, I finished All the Light We Cannot See. It was haunting and wonderful but sad. I then read some much lighter chick lit. Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews. It was not really that good. I’ve just started Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I’ve meant to read her stuff for a while but it is so popular that it is never available at the library. I’m only a few chapters in so no judgment yet.

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