For most people training for a marathon, this would be a "taper" week, but since I postponed my 19-mile run from last week (Sunday) to Monday, it's not feeling like a taper week. My 19 mile long run was horrible (it's a girl thing)! But my run in the rain on Wednesday was refreshing; I totally LOVED my track work out on Thursday; I hit my fastest pace for a non-race run this year on Saturday; and Sunday's run is done. This week was my highest mileage week of the year (41.81 miles), and I'm excited about my fastest pace run of the year (10:33) as well.
I received three more donations for the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) charity that I'm running my third marathon for. My friends Erin and Karolin generously donated in support of me and our mutual friend Susan (who has CF). And my Uncle Virgil's family graciously donated as well. This brings my total donations received up to $250. Thanks so much!
If you want to read more about each of my runs this week, my daily details follow:
Monday: Long Run. 19 miles in 3:47:27, 11:58 minutes/mile average pace. I worked late and started the run at 8 p.m. feeling very tired and crappy/crampy. I just wasn't into it, which is exactly why I carefully plan my marathons for a day that I'm pretty sure will not be impacted by female monthly challenges...
Tuesday: Rest Day
Wednesday: Recovery Run. Ran 4.28 miles in 49:21, 11:31 minutes/mile average pace. Coach Josh prescribed 4 easy miles. I worked from home today and decided to run to the Bonfield's house and back (a 4 mile loop) after dropping Kyra off at school. It was raining lightly. It's been a while since I've run this route and couldn't remember if I should turn on Arrowhead or Warrior, early in the route. I decided to go on to Warrior, knowing I could get to the next road/turn from there if it was too far. And guess what? I should have turned on Arrowhead! Oh well, it only added a quarter mile to the total. It was 45 degrees and lightly raining. I wore tights, a long sleeved shirt, a light rain running jacket, a hat and sunglasses (to keep the rain out of my eyes). I was too warm! I had forgotten how hilly this route is. I wore my Garmin 405, but didn't pay attention to it while running since this was supposed to be a recovery run. I just ran by perceived exersion rather than based on trying to hit a certain pace. I was completely soaked by the end of the run. In the afternoon, I noticed that my heel was hurting a little more than it has been. Guess it's from the hilly route. Iced and stretched it.
Thursday: Speed Work. Ran 5.53 miles in 1:01:04, 11:02 minutes/mile average pace. Coach Josh prescribed 1 mile warm-up at 11:00 minutes/mile, then three 1-mile repeats at 10:15 minutes per mile pace with a 2 minute jogging recovery between, and then a 1 mile cool-down at 11:00 minutes/mile. Kyra's with her dad tonight, so I worked late, came home and changed/fed the dogs/cat, and then went to the high school track. I was glad a few lights were on. A soccer team was practicing in the parking lot because the football/soccer field had signs to stay off the grass (due to rain). I was happy that it wasn't raining when I managed to fit my run in! I nailed the paces: 11:01, 2 min recovery, 10:13, 2 min recov, 10:12, 2 min recov, 10:09, 2 min recov, 11:00. It was a GREAT workout! I was a little too warm in long sleeves and tights (55 degrees, overcast/humid). I fine-tuned my marathon iPod play list today. I started listening to it at work, and continued through my run tonight. I decided to delete a couple of songs that were suggested by friends (who don't run), and added a few others. Coach Josh sent me "Free/Zulu" by VAST. I like the tempo, and can relate to being "free" from what other's tell me to do, but hope he doesn't mean that I consider myself "free" from obeying to his advice at the conclusion of this marathon. My running has improved significantly, even with injuries, since he became my running coach. There is still tons of room for improvement, so I don't plan to set him "free" anytime soon. He's an awesome coach!
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: Tempo Run. Ran 5 miles in 52:46, 10:33 minutes/mile average pace! My scheduled run for today was supposed to be 5 miles in a sub-11:00 minute/mile pace. I was feeling exceptionally speedy today so started out at 10:57 and pushed the pace progressively until the end. I was nervous about running too fast too soon, so mile 2 was 10:42, mile 3 was 10:37, mile 4 was 10:32, and then I ran as fast as I could for that final mile which was 9:58. This makes this run the fastest pace for a non-race run that I've done all year! (My fastest race pace this year was 10:24 in the Peachtree City 10K on 1/16.) I received my Team 65ROSES race shirt today; love the blue color!
Sunday: Long Slow Distance. Ran 8 miles in 1:31:00, 11:22 minutes/mile average pace. Perplexed at how I ended on an exact minute... My legs were tight/tired before I started, and mentally I was tired at mile 6, but still managed to progressively increase my pace. Primarily because I was just ready to get it over with! This has been a long week. My pace for each mile was: 11:52, 11:47, 11:40, 11:36, 11:27, 11:18, 10:53, 10:27.
Weekly Summary:
- Days run this week: 5
- Miles run this week: 41.81
- Highlight of the week: fastest average pace (for a non-race run) of 2010, highest mileage week of 2010, running in the rain, great track work-out
- Goals for next week: Run an AWESOME marathon with my sister!
You are going to ROCK your race!!! Thanks for running for CF. :)
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