Putting in some runs but seem to be skirting along the edges of the training program and have been cherry picking my workouts from the schedule. There were no major issues to the body after Sunday's race except being a little tired and lethargic. There are now some race pictures posted on the RunNB website and also here in my Webshots.
So after a day off on Monday I went for an easy 6 miles on Tues (instead of 10 with strides) and used up my Saturday easy run. The run went OK on a perfect sunny day with only light winds but was slow (8:18 pace) and I felt tired with no energy.
On Weds things were feeling better but work got in the way and only had time to squeeze 8 miles in over lunch before rushing back for a meeting that started late and went downhill from there. It was another lovely day and this run went smoothly. Started out slow and easy but the pace just started to ratchet up as I went with overall 7:58 pace on a hilly course. But so much for doing 14 miles...
Today Thursday I was able to finally get my Tues 10 miler in but just barely. For some reason (perhaps a lack of sleep) my energy level was again low and the run was a bit of a struggle as I ignored the watch and just put one foot in front of the other for a median pace of 8:12. At least I have a good handle on my survival shuffle pace this week but hope it won't come into play just 16 days from now.
This the 1st real week of the taper and it seems that a few easy runs would be in order but I'm feeling guilty for missing the long run on Sunday and not having any quality miles so far this week. The key thing to remember in the taper is to have a few good quality sessions so the legs remember what they are supposed to do while drastically reducing mileage. Reducing mileage is the easy part, the hard part is not doing everything easy and losing the speed and turnover that you've worked hard to build up. Writing this it suddenly came to me that the choice for my remaining workouts is obvious; forget about the 14 miler this week and tommorow do 10 miles with 5 at tempo pace. Then on Saturday run easy and I'll be ready for a nice 17 miles with Andrew and the gang hopefully on Sunday.
It's decided! Happy running!
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2 comments:
Congratulations on your race the other day. Nice race report I really enjoyed it. Tapers, its maddening but worth it if done properly. I wishing you the best for the marathon.
A few days of down time after a great race is natural; frustrating, but natural. Of course, I'd just love to be able to write the words "... was slow (8:18 pace) and I felt tired with no energy" :)
And thanks for the photos. Seeing so many people running with long sleeve shirts gave me some hope that cooler weather is just around the corner.
Best of luck with your taper.
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