I Run

Looks like I'll be putting away those tights. Temperatures are supposed to reach the upper 60s by end of week. That's good because I'll need to train in warmer air to prepare for what could be a steamy marathon day. My 20-miler on Saturday was probably my fastest ever in training: around 8:25 pace. I feel that I need to pick it up during the long runs to get my body used to a sustained effort. I recovered very quickly, so now I know I didn't do it too fast. This week is supposed to be a reduced mileage week.

It was cold. It was windy. It was a blast. My lips are so chapped right now. I started out thinking I'd do goal marathon pace for a few miles (around 7:30), but that flew out the window right after (during) the first mile, which was 7:00 flat. The next few miles were around 7:20, then I hit the relative downhill miles and clocked a couple of sub-7 miles. Cool. There was no wind yet, so I was psyched. Got to the shore, still no wind. Just the sun glittering off the cold, Atlantic ocean. But as soon as the course started back toward the city, the wind hit. The last 5 miles were hell. At times it felt as if I wasn't going anywhere, but I just kept the legs going. I crested the hill at 12.5 miles, then glided down to the finish. My final time was 1:34:30, which is 1:15 faster than last year's race, and it's a PR for me. I really wanted to get closer to 1:30:00, but I'll take it. The fish chowder at the school was to die for.

After getting up at 5:00 AM to travel 3 hours to run 13.1 miles on a frigid, blustery Sunday when normal people stay indoors, sleep late, and read the paper, I gladly get a lobotomy, New Bedford style.

Potty humor. Go ahead, laugh.

I have no idea what this is, but I sure would not want to step on it.

I've cut down my mileage this week to prepare for the New Bedford Half Marathon. Rather than try to maintain my training mileage for the week, I find it's more beneficial to me to enter a race well rested even if it means my marathon training is interrupted. This far out the lower mileage will have a neglible effect on my overall training for a May 29 marathon. And the 13.1 miles at lactate threshold pace will be a good workout. Next weekend I'll do the 20 miler that was scheduled for this weekend. I picked up a couple of whole grain fortified bagels and some Gatorade to fuel up before the race, though with a half marathon it probably doesn't make too much difference since I probably won't deplete my glycogen stores. But I'm treating the race as a very early dress rehearsal for the marathon where that bagel and Gatorade will be so much more important.

At least, rats don't seem to do well running alone. And I just thought I had to worry about proper hydration. Well, despite that study I had a great run this weekend. I decided to do my 18-miler on Saturday instead of Sunday. The sun was out, the temperature was warm, and I was cooking. I recovered really quickly, and was able to run another 6 or 7 on Sunday. I should be in pretty good shape for New Bedford this coming weekend.

I took the day off to attend the Guilford town meeting. I thought I might run in the morning before the meeting started, but my legs were still feeling a bit sore from Sunday's run. So I figured another half day of rest might do them some good. The town meeting did not have the drama of previous years' meetings, so all articles passed with clear majorities. The lunch was great: ham, coleslaw, baked beans, salad, macaroni and cheese, rolls, and pie. And then we adjourned by 2:30, so that gave me plenty of time to enjoy the sun out on Weatherhead Hollow Rd. Today's run was a 10 miler with 5 at lactate threshold pace. After a couple of miles warm-up, I went into the tempo run maybe a bit fast. My splits for the 5 miles were: 6:39, 7:09, 7:02, 7:08, and 7:25. Not exactly even pace, and my slowdown was probably due to the fast start. But I was not uncomfortable, so I may be getting better at holding a faster pace.

I did a 12.75 mile run yesterday at an average 8:14 pace, which is a bit too fast for me. I ran the last 1.5 miles at 6:37 pace, which was way too fast (I was shooting for about 7:15). I guess I still have to work on determining what's fast and what's slow. My legs are a bit sore today. Just hope they're ready for the 10 miler (with 5 tempo) tomorrow.

This past week was a scheduled recovery week in the Pfitzinger 55/18 plan. My achilles tendon appreciated the lower miles. I was able to get in all the workouts (8 miles on Tuesday with 8 x 100m strides, 5 miles recovery on Wednesday, 8 miles aerobic on Thursday, and 4 miles recovery today). Tomorrow I do 12 miles, then begins a monster week, culminating in an 18 mile long run for a total of 50 miles for the week. I just hope my legs hold together. I'll be doing a half marathon in New Bedford on the 19th, so I'm going to have to juggle a couple of weeks around to fit it in.