Marathon is in 16 days!!

I made through my 20 miler last week.  It hurt, but I was well prepared and I'm hoping that only one twenty miler will be enough for this upcoming marathon.

I'm going to analyse the hell out of my training up until the race.  It's all part of the taper madness.

My Latest Workouts

Wednesday 10/22- I left my Garmin at home,  I ran a route that was approximately 6.4 miles and it took me 53:29.  I barley remember this run.  The weather is still warm.

Thursday 10/23 REST

Friday 10/24- 20 miles...  I could write another long novel about my run.   I took the day off from work today,  I don't share much of my personal life on this blog.... But, my grandfather (Mom's dad)  passed away earlier this week and I was granted bereavement leave.   I wasn't able to attend the funeral and I wasn't very close with my grandfather over the last few years.  Grief is an emotion that I'm not familiar writing about.. And I don't want  to over share. I was also very  worried about my parents and the very long trip they had to take.... I had a lot to think about during my run.

I chose a route that was close to home and away from busy traffic.  I ran the first 4-5 miles around the neighborhood and then I ended up on the bike trail headed out to the Sunrise Picnic Area.

Flashback to when I was pregnant with my daughter.

The trade off to having no traffic, is that there wasn't much shade on the bike trail and it was getting warm fast.  I took off at 8AM and by 10AM the temps were in the mid 70's.... Around mile 14  I ended up swinging by my house to drop off my vest, grab my running belt, and to grab a bottle of water.   

I did another loop around the neighborhood and my Garmin was running low on juice.  I got to the park near my house with perfect timing.  I figured if my Garmin died I could run loops around the half mile track at the park to round out the 20 miler.

My Garmin died at  exactly 19.5 miles. I ran one last loop around the track and then I walked slowly home.   I didn't stop my Garrmin once, even when I went home to drop my gear.  Here's the data.

I wanted to finish with some tempo miles, But, once I hit two
hours and started running up an inlcine that idea went out
the window.  

During the run I ate 3 Heed energy Gels. Peanut Butter at mile 4, Vanilla at mile 8, and Raspberry at mile 14. I also ate some Gatorade energy chews.  By the end of the run my mouth was tired of all of that sugar...

After I got done running I stuck my legs in the pool, kind of like an ice bath.  I have been doing that lately after some of my runs and I think it is helping with my recovery.

Saturday 10/25 -REST

Sunday 10/26 8 mile progression run.  I thought I would be exhausted but,  I felt good enough to run some tempo pace at the end of my run.  Here are the split times.

That first mile is always the hardest.

After this run, I soaked my legs in cold water. I'm going to try to work my way up to an actual ice bath.

Monday  10/27- I ran a a little over 3.5 miles at recovery pace.  I went to Cornerstone park and ran around the dirt track. I also did some push-ups, and burpees at the park.

Tuesday 10/28-REST- It was picture day at my work, so I decided to take a rest day

Wednesday 10/29 Two a days.  I wanted to run 8 miles, I ran almost three miles before work, and then I ran 5 more miles on my lunch break.

Thursday 10/30-  I ran just a little over 4 miles on my lunch break.  It was 78 degrees outside!!! I am so tired of this heat.  I'm wearing my Garmin, but I'm trying not to pay attention to my splits.  They are slower than usual. But, this is par for the course during the taper.  I feel tired and sluggish, but I know I still have to keep doing these maintenance runs.  

In other news I got my flu shot.  I figured this would be  a good time to get it.  I'd hate to catch a cold or flu before the race.  

Friday 10/31 Two a days.  I ran close to three miles (2.96) this morning before work.  The first mile felt like crap, the second one felt better, and the last mile I ran it as hard as I could (within reason).  Here are split times: (9:56, 8:17, 7:21)

I thought I was going to head out for a run before I finish this blog post, but I decided to not run on my lunch break today.  It's 82 degrees and windy. I'm going to take the rest of the day off and probably tomorrow too.    I hope I can hit 10-12 miles on Sunday.  With the training program I am using I have 16 miles on the schedule.  I don't think it would be wise for me to run a 16 miler two weeks before the race.  

Doubt is starting to mess with me.  Have I done enough?  I can't heap on too much more mileage without feeling wiped out.  I only gave this race 6 weeks of attention, but I did come off of strong summer of running and base building.  I also bridged this race off my training from the Saints and Sinners half.  I wanted to give that race the attention it deserved as well, so speed work was necessary.    

I haven't been doing much speed work lately, because I am just trying to store miles away like chestnuts for the winter.   

16 more days to go.