Mileage: 48.2 - sound the alarms, the marathon taper is truly here! With a 2 x 2 mile tempo workout, a 20 x 400 m track workout, and two bootcamps. No long run --- cue panic that I've forgotten how to run those!
Monday - Cross-training Monday usual, with strength bootcamp and elliptical warm-up. I wasn't sure how I'd feel after my weekend with a Saturday track workout and Sunday long run, since that was atypical, but I felt great!
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| My love, who I met through running (happy Valentine's!) |
I ran this workout on my usual tempo/speed loop that is almost 1 mile (Missy says it is exactly 0.86), and Ashley, Missy, and Danielle also ran workouts on the loop! Danielle did the same workout that I did, and she really nailed it - her best tempo of the year by far. Missy ran a 4 mile tempo straight (which I would have actually preferred over my split tempo!), and also nailed hers. Ashley is in a base phase right now, so we did the warm-up with her. I loved having all of them out there with me! These girls are an amazing support system and I am so blessed to have them. I saw a quote that said something like, "Behind every successful woman is a tribe of successful women who have her back," and I am so thankful for this tribe and I love seeing them succeed!
In the end, I was really pumped about this workout. Conditions were perfect at 39 degrees and with no wind, and I think I'm so used to running in crazy wind as of late that this is just what it's like to run without it (the other girls said the same)! This made me feel good about my upcoming marathon, but also really excited about my 10,000 m in April. My half marathon PR indicates that I should be able to run just under 6:00 pace for a 10K, and after this workout I actually think perhaps I can! I'm even excited to race some 5Ks, so I am clearly still on a runner's high and don't have the best judgement - bahaha!
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| 2 wu, 2 x 2 tempo w/ 0.5 recovery, cd |
Thursday - 6.5 base pace (7:09) with Amy R. I felt amazing on this run! I hoped that meant things were coming together nicely for me -- or maybe it just meant I was only running 6 miles!
Friday - 4.1 shake out (7:16), then my last strength bootcamp until March!
Saturday - 12 total, with the infamous one million x 400 m workout I also did before the Prairie Fire Marathon and before the Bass Pro Marathon. Technically, it is 20 x 400, but what's the difference when you're running that many, right?
The 400s are run in 5 sets of 4 reps, with 200 m recoveries between reps and 400 m recoveries between sets. Having the sets breaks it up and also helps me keep count! Plus, 200 is a short recovery (about 1 minute), so the 400 recoveries give me a little extra breather. Each set is supposed to get faster, this time with goal times of 1:29, 1:28, 1:27, 1:26, and 1:25 - nice negative splitting practice. These aren't super fast per se, but the sheer volume of them makes this a big workout! Plus, speed is not my forte; as I said with the Yassos, I think it would be easier for me to run 5 miles at 6:00 non-stop than to run this workout.
The first time I had this workout, I was terrified of it, and the second time I was frightened, but for this one I wasn't worried -- especially since my split goals were almost the same as last time (just 1 set that was 1 second faster) and I am currently in better shape -- also I was not at Urgent Care this week as I was the Wednesday before running this workout before Prairie Fire! I figured this would help me fine-tune leg turnover for my marathon, but would also end up being helpful for my shorter races later in the spring.
My splits were all 1:2X, so I've just included the seconds:
Set 1 (goal 1:29) - 6.9, 8.1, 9.6, 8.2 - average 1:28.2
Set 2 (goal 1:28) - 7.1, 7.4, 6.9, 7.5 - average 1:27.2
Set 3 (goal 1:27) - 6.1, 6.8, 6.1, 4.4 - average 1:25.9
Set 4 (goal 1:26) -5.4, 4.7, 6.4, 5.3 - average 1:25.5
Set 5 (goal 1:25) - 5.0, 4.3, 4.6, 3.6 - average 1:24.4
Average for all 20 repeats: 1:26.2
This was the first time I computed my averages including the tenths of a second, but they are more accurate this way (and possibly I am becoming even more OCD about my running, which who even knew was possible, bahaha!) - I also did the calculation with only whole seconds, because in the past I never included tenths in the calculation, and it was 1:25.6 without tenths included, so it was a more conservative way to calculate it. During the workout I wished I had someone out there timing me to possibly get even more accurate splits, as on a few of these I didn't hit the stop button the first time I tried to, so they may have a extra half a second on them or whatever (yep, I must be getting even crazier!).
I had 3 reps that were right on my target times, and the rest were 1-2 seconds under. The best part about this workout, though, is that I finished feeling like I could run another set! I had a moment after I finished where I thought I actually had another set left, but I scrolled through my splits to realize that my first thought that I was finished was the correct thought. This was my first time running this workout solo, and while I would always prefer the company of my amazing training partners, I got it done without a problem. When I was about halfway through the workout, a high school football team came out to practice, so there was that -- on my last two reps I even got to listen to their bad country music playing on the loudspeakers! It was a beautiful morning for this run (sunny and in the 50s), and I ran in a sports bra (the one I'll wear for the marathon) after the first few reps of the workout. My glutes were a tad sore from Friday's bootcamp (which is common), but they didn't bother me when running (also the norm).
Sunday - 8.1 recovery (7:32) with Amy R. Another recovery run with pretty progression-run like splits without trying. My glutes were still a tad sore from Friday's bootcamp; I often get a bit sore for one day after bootcamps, and I think the track workout prolonged it this time. I did some extra rolling on them!
So that's a wrap until my marathon! I fly out on Thursday evening, and the race starts at 6:30 a.m. Arizona time on Saturday morning. Right now the weather looks ideal: 46* at the start and very light wind. You can sign up to track me here. It feels simultaneously like I've been working towards this for a long time, and like it came fast -- as they pretty much always do. I'm feeling extremely thankful and blessed to have experienced a healthy and happy training cycle!
I'll end with a few pictures from our Saturday zoo trip in the beautiful February weekend we had (i.e., not typical Missouri winter weather!). I'm also thankful for the weather this training cycle; I had a grand total of one run on the treadmill the whole winter, which is the least I've ever had (for safety reasons, e.g., ice on the roads) when running this much during a Midwest winter.
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| She was happier than this photo indicates! |
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| Jon made her pose for this |
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| My loves |
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| Petting zoo |
Petting an alligator?
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