Week seventeen’s runs were pretty darn good. Perhaps minus Wednesday’s easy run, as that workout never feels great, to me. That aside, the runs went smoothly and my legs feel more recovered. Taper’s progressing along quite nicely, and I’m not experiencing taper madness as much as I have previously. At the time of publication, less than a week left to go.
Monday
Rest Day.
Tuesday
Run: Tempo.
Best my legs have felt on the run in a couple weeks. Foam rolling and trigger point seems to help. Something about the warmer weather also helped them feel more relaxed.
Short tempo workout on street and reservoir.
Conditions: Sun – 80F – felt like 80F – 38% humidity – 4 mph winds
Fuel: Protein-enhanced Chocolate UCAN (1 packet)
Shoe: Saucony Type A5
Plan v Actual:
- Plan = 15 min wu; 2mi @ 7:10; 15 min cd
- Actual = 5.7 mi – 44:12 – 7:45 min/mi avg pace
- Splits =
- (wu) – 1.85 mi – 15:00 – 8:07 min/mi avg pace
- (1) – 7:05
- (2) – 7:06
- (cd) – 1.86 mi – 15:00 – 8:04 min/mi avg pace
Wednesday
Run: Easy.
Cut this short by 10 minutes. Just felt like wrapping up. Decided I’d rather put my effort into Thursday’s intervals, at this point.
Got the idea to start breaking in a new pair of Kinvara 4 for race day. Coach warned me to stick with what’s tried and tested: the shoes I’ve been training in. Fortunately, I have two pairs of Kinvara in rotation, neither of which are nearing retirement. This is how he steers me in the right direction.
Conditions: Sun – 83F – felt like 83F – 47% humidity – 10mph winds
Fuel: Protein-enhanced Chocolate UCAN (1 packet)
Shoe: Saucony Kinvara 4
Plan v Actual:
- Plan = 60 min easy @ 8:20-8:35 pace
- Actual = 6.01 mi – 49:18 – 8:12 min/mi avg pace
- Splits = (1) 8:19; (2) 8:18; (3) 8:00; (4) 8:13; (5) 8:12; (6) 8:12
* Never mind mile 3 – caught up with another runner I thought I knew. Turned out, I didn’t.
Thursday
Run: 400m Intervals.
Coach said this workout would feel like holding back. He was right.
This was a taper speed workout meant to keep legs sharp. Love how consistent the intervals turned out! This was a good run.
Conditions: Sun – 76F – felt like 76F – 37% humidity – 3 mph winds
Fuel: Protein-enhanced Chocolate UCAN (1 packet)
Shoe: Saucony Type A5
Plan v Actual:
- Plan = 15 min wu; 3 x 1000m @10k Pace (4:19) (3 min walking RI); 15 min cd
- Actual = 5.91 mi – 51:34 – 8:43 min/mi avg pace
- Splits =
- (wu) – 1.85 mi – 15:06 – 8:10 min/mi avg pace
- (1) – .62 mi – 4:19.23 – 6:58 min/mi
- (2) – .62 mi – 4:19.51 – 6:58 min/mi
- (3) – .62 mi – 4:19.31 – 6:58 min/mi
- (cd) – 1.73 mi – 14:26 – 8:20 min/mi avg pace
Friday
Rest Day.
Saturday
Run: Long
Ran 10 miles of Urban Athletics 20-mile training run. Paced two guys from their mile 6-16, then they broke off to finish the last four miles at marathon pace.
Felt fantastic on this run. Legs finally felt comfortable and easy again!
Was supposed to do one mile at 7:50 pace in the middle of the run. Wasn’t able to do that while pacing people.
Conditions: Overcast – 67F – humid
Fuel: Protein-enhanced Chocolate UCAN (1 packet)
Shoe: Saucony Kinvara 3
Plan v Actual:
- Plan = 1 hr 20 min easy @ 8:20-8:35 pace, w/ 1 mi in middle at 7:50 pace.
- Actual = 10.03 mi – 1:23:11 – 8:17 min/mi avg pace
- Splits = (1) 8:13; (2) 8:20; (3) 8:18; (4) 8:21; (5) 8:18; (6) 8:28; (7) 8:19; (8) 8:20; (9) 8:11; (10) 8:06
Sunday
Rest Day.
Weekly Totals
- 3 hrs 48 mins
- 27.65 miles running
See all weekly workout recaps here.
