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It was so much work writing up my Other Half race report that I never got around to writing up my week's runs! So you get two for the price of one this week. :-)
Taper week plus recovery week equals fewer miles, but that's okay. I wanted to be sufficiently rested going into the race, but I also didn't want to stint on miles since my ultimate goal is my December marathon, and that means keeping my mileage relatively high and relatively consistent. So I 'front-loaded' my week, running more early in the week and less later.
October 14-20: 57.7 miles
Monday - It had been really muddy on Saturday when I'd been a trail race course marshal, so I opted for a hilly road run instead of my usual Monday trail run, going up and over the rim for a total of 10.1 miles. I felt super-strong on the uphills and let myself push the downhills, and ended up running this route at an average pace of 8:41, which is faster than I've done it before.
Tuesday - Another 10.4 miles with 3x1 mile repeats with 3 minute jog recovery between. This is a half tuneup workout I really like because I think that running faster than HMP 'reminds' my legs how to run fast, and boy did they: the miles were 6:55, 6:55, 6:56, faster than the same workout last year, a very good sign for the race. Total pace was 8:15.
Wednesday - I finally went back to the trails, which had dried out nicely. 8.3 miles @ 11:04 pace.
Thursday - 6.4 easy with strides, avg pace 8:42.
Friday - Short trail loop of 4.2 miles, 10:52 pace.
Saturday - 4 miles easy, with strides and half a mile at my planned half pace, mostly to remind myself of what that effort feels like (hit 7:19 average for it, perfect) - overall average 8:31 pace.
Sunday - 1.1 mile warm-up, 13.1 (well, 13.2 the way I ran it) race!
October 21-27: 55.2 miles
Monday - I have learned that the first run after a race ALWAYS sucks...so I might as well get it out of the way early! 4.3 miles at a blazing 9:40 recovery pace, and yes, I felt better at the end than I did at the beginning, which is the true test of a recovery run.
Tuesday - 6 miles easy @9:09 avg.
Wednesday - 8.2 miles easy @9:04 avg.
Thursday - my first non-running day in about a month (and honestly, a welcome break). Britt, who had left on Friday to go hunting, shot his elk on Monday afternoon and returned to town on Tuesday; today we went back up to where he'd hung the quarters - in a cabin on property his brother is caretaker for - and we butchered it into hunks and freezer-wrapped it. This is an all-day affair, so no running for me, but my arms and shoulders got a workout. Plus, mmm meat!
Friday - Finally felt recovered enough to hit the trails (and so hills). 10 miles at 11 minute pace average.
Saturday - 9.2 miles easy at 8:50. Yeah, I must be recovered if easy is 8:50!
Sunday - 17.5 miles as 5 miles easy, 10x (2 minutes GMP-10 sec, easy to the end of the mile), easy home. I've tentatively selected 7:45-ish as my goal marathon pace (more on this in an upcoming post), so I was aiming at 7:35, which felt surprisingly easy compared to half marathon pace a week ago! Or at least it felt easy until late in the run, when I really had to hang on. The final 'easy' miles were quite difficult (and slow), partly because my neck and shoulders were aching big-time (perhaps from Thursday's butchery workout - I've noticed neck and shoulder pain late in all my runs since then.)
Coming next week: 65-ish miles ending with a 20-ish mile run, and also, cutting firewood. Also, rain/snow is forecast for midweek. Happy Halloween!
Taper week plus recovery week equals fewer miles, but that's okay. I wanted to be sufficiently rested going into the race, but I also didn't want to stint on miles since my ultimate goal is my December marathon, and that means keeping my mileage relatively high and relatively consistent. So I 'front-loaded' my week, running more early in the week and less later.
October 14-20: 57.7 miles
Monday - It had been really muddy on Saturday when I'd been a trail race course marshal, so I opted for a hilly road run instead of my usual Monday trail run, going up and over the rim for a total of 10.1 miles. I felt super-strong on the uphills and let myself push the downhills, and ended up running this route at an average pace of 8:41, which is faster than I've done it before.
Tuesday - Another 10.4 miles with 3x1 mile repeats with 3 minute jog recovery between. This is a half tuneup workout I really like because I think that running faster than HMP 'reminds' my legs how to run fast, and boy did they: the miles were 6:55, 6:55, 6:56, faster than the same workout last year, a very good sign for the race. Total pace was 8:15.
Wednesday - I finally went back to the trails, which had dried out nicely. 8.3 miles @ 11:04 pace.
Thursday - 6.4 easy with strides, avg pace 8:42.
Friday - Short trail loop of 4.2 miles, 10:52 pace.
Saturday - 4 miles easy, with strides and half a mile at my planned half pace, mostly to remind myself of what that effort feels like (hit 7:19 average for it, perfect) - overall average 8:31 pace.
Sunday - 1.1 mile warm-up, 13.1 (well, 13.2 the way I ran it) race!
October 21-27: 55.2 miles
Monday - I have learned that the first run after a race ALWAYS sucks...so I might as well get it out of the way early! 4.3 miles at a blazing 9:40 recovery pace, and yes, I felt better at the end than I did at the beginning, which is the true test of a recovery run.
Tuesday - 6 miles easy @9:09 avg.
Wednesday - 8.2 miles easy @9:04 avg.
Thursday - my first non-running day in about a month (and honestly, a welcome break). Britt, who had left on Friday to go hunting, shot his elk on Monday afternoon and returned to town on Tuesday; today we went back up to where he'd hung the quarters - in a cabin on property his brother is caretaker for - and we butchered it into hunks and freezer-wrapped it. This is an all-day affair, so no running for me, but my arms and shoulders got a workout. Plus, mmm meat!
Friday - Finally felt recovered enough to hit the trails (and so hills). 10 miles at 11 minute pace average.
Saturday - 9.2 miles easy at 8:50. Yeah, I must be recovered if easy is 8:50!
Sunday - 17.5 miles as 5 miles easy, 10x (2 minutes GMP-10 sec, easy to the end of the mile), easy home. I've tentatively selected 7:45-ish as my goal marathon pace (more on this in an upcoming post), so I was aiming at 7:35, which felt surprisingly easy compared to half marathon pace a week ago! Or at least it felt easy until late in the run, when I really had to hang on. The final 'easy' miles were quite difficult (and slow), partly because my neck and shoulders were aching big-time (perhaps from Thursday's butchery workout - I've noticed neck and shoulder pain late in all my runs since then.)
Coming next week: 65-ish miles ending with a 20-ish mile run, and also, cutting firewood. Also, rain/snow is forecast for midweek. Happy Halloween!