13 days to go! Training updates. New Lucky Shoes

Well, this training cycle has gone by fast,  I'm 13 days out, and I'm so worried I will get sick, or stub a toe before the race.  I also finished another block of classes.  I only have four more courses to take, and hopefully, I will graduate with an MBA degree.

I will jump right in with the training updates.  I have a little over two weeks to write up.

Friday 10/14- 10 miles with 3 miles warm up, 2 x 3 miles 15-20 seconds faster than goal pace, 1 mile cool down. In between the 2 x 3's I ran three minutes of active recovery.

I had been worrying about this workout.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to hit 7:45's.  Lately, when I have a long tempo workout, I have just been going to a park to run.  I hate having to worry about crossing busy streets.  The park that I chose has  a dirt track and several other walking paths.  The only downside is that there are two hills around the one-mile track.  I ran my three miles warm-up, did a few strides, and then got the workout started.  I did the first 3-mile interval, and 7:45 pace was manageable.  The  three-minute recovery went by really fast.  The second interval wasn't so bad either.  Here are the splits.

Saturday 10/15- Rest

Sunday 10/16-  5 miles recovery

Miles for the week 38.1

Monday 10/17-  Long Run 19 Miles.... With speed work, I am so focused on hitting my paces, that running in the park for 10 miles doesn't seem so bad.  However, when it comes to long runs, the thought of doing 19 miles in the park seems impossible.  On my long runs, I like to wander.... However, I am at the mercy of red lights, and distracted drivers....  I didn't have an exact route, but I wanted to run through an old neighborhood that I used to live in, and I anticipated some climbing in the later miles.  Here's a picture of the elevation profile.

This was also supposed to be a cut-down run with the final miles finishing up around goal pace...   I ended up stopping my watch twice.  Once after the first hour to use the bathroom and buy water,  Then I stopped again at mile 16 to buy another bottle of water and to collect myself.  The hill at mile 12 sucked the life out of me, and I bonked at mile 16.   I was only supposed to run 18 miles, but I miscalculated the distance and had to run an additional mile to get back to my car...  It serves me right for not planning my route better before hand.   For fuel, I had one package of Honey Stinger chews, and one Powerbar gel.  I probably should have had an extra gel.  Here's the data, and the split times.  

I was really hoping that the closing miles would have been closer to 8:00 minute pace, but I think I may have been asking too much from my legs after the previous Friday's workout.  I was supposed to do this run on Tuesday, but my parents were coming into town, and I didn't want to have to run long before meeting up with them... Lesson learned.

Tuesday 10/18- 4 mile shake out run.  My parents come out to visit about 2-3 times a year, and they enjoy hitting up the casinos and gambling.  We went to Cesar's Palace for lunch, and to gamble.  My mom prefers the slots, and I enjoy keno.  I taught my mom how to play keno, and she ended up winning $800 very quickly.  I had joked that if I won, I was going to go to the Nike store inside the Forum shops.   My mom treated me to a new pair of Nike's.....

These are the Nike Lunarglide 8.  I was wearing the Nike Lunarglide 7 and I really liked that shoe.  This shoe feels like a stability shoe/racing flat.   It has a lot of support and cushion, but it is also super lightweight. I think these will probably be the shoes I race in.

Wednesday 10/19-Rest

Thursday 10/20- 50 Minute run-30 minutes general aerobic, and 20 minutes tempo.  Legs felt a little tired, but I was able to hit the tempo pace.

Friday  10/21- Another 50-minute maintenance run.

Saturday 10/22 3 miles general aerobic, 3 miles tempo, 1 mile cool down.  I don't really remember this workout. lol.... But, I managed to hit my paces.  Here's the data.

Sunday 10/23- Rest

Total Mileage for the week 40.5

Monday 10/24- 70 minutes general aerobic.-8 miles  Hello Humidity.  I had another Monday-Tuesday work holiday week planned.  As I was driving my daughter to daycare,one side of the city was cloudy and dry, the other side was lightning and pouring rain.  I just managed to miss the rain, and I ran 70 minutes around Sunset Park.  

Tuesday 10/25 25k Dress rehearsal run.   10k steady state 10k goal pace, 5k steady state.  Again the humidity was crazy. 100% humidity and no rain.  It was 63 degrees and it actually felt chilly for once. I started out running in the park, and during the first mile, my Garmin started acting weird.  I was worried that my whole run would be off, but after the first mile, the Garmin wasn't an issue anymore.  

I'm so glad that I started drinking water early on and I tried some electrolyte capsules (1 at 2 miles, and another around mile 13). For fuel, I had one package of Honey Stinger chews, and one vanilla GU, it had a little bit of caffeine and it helped.

I stopped quickly by my car at the end of the marathon pace goal running to drink some Gatorade. I also had to stop briefly when my wireless headphone fell out my ears and onto the ground, other than that this run went well, and I was able to hit my paces.  Here's the data.

Wednsday 10/26- 30 minute shake out run

Thursday 10/27- Rest

Friday 10/28-  35 minute shake out run

Saturday 10/29 55 minutes general aerobic/recovery effort

Total Mileage for the week 35.4 miles

Sunday 10/30-This was a rest day, but the kids wanted to go for a run.

We ran to the park, and then I let them play, and then we ran home.

Well, I guess that's all I have for now.... I'm sorry for not being  more descriptive about some of my training, and I know last year I was blogging a bit more about shoes, food, and other running related items.  I think once I am not juggling so much, my content will improve some.

Thank you for reading.