Monday, March 11th:
9:00 am, 40-44 degrees, 5-10mph, 85%. 3x Tavistock Loop. Adidas Supernova Glide 4.
12mi easy w/hills - (7:37)
What a difference it makes to get to wait until 9:00 am to run on a Monday morning. I didn't look at my watch once until the finish - instead I just practiced the feeling of "holding back" and taking the course and the hills as they came. Got stronger and stronger each mile and finished with tons of energy. Great start to the week!
Tuesday, March 12th:
9:00 am, 54 degrees (steady rain), 5-25mph, 90%. Hialeah-Kilmer-Hialeah. Nike Pegasus 29 Shield.
8mi easy - (7:51)
You can't win every weather day, I guess. Gusty headwinds on the way out, but calmer and relaxed on the way back. The rain really didn't bother me much after 2 miles, which is good to know if we get any kind of bad weather on race day. Had another visit with my massage therapist, Holli, last night and my legs felt very fresh and responsive this morning despite the crummy weather.
Wednesday, March 13th:
5:15 am, 40 degrees, 5-15mph, 70%. Moorestown. Adidas Supernova Glide 4.
8.5mi easy - (8:08): 1.25mi slow warmup, 5 x (7:40-45/mi + 2x100m strides), 1.25mi slow cooldown
Did the strength workout with Larry's group. The strides built into the workout made each successive mile feel even easier. Solid rhythm today. Nice change of pace for an easy run.
Thursday, March 14th:
9:20 am, 34 degrees, 5-15mph, 50%. Forbidden Drive. Adidas Adizero Boston 3.
12mi total - (7:15): 2.5mi warmup, 3x2mi @ MP minus 10-15 secs/mi w/0.5mi recovery jogs, 2mi cooldown.
Target tempo splits: 6:25-30/mi
Actual tempo splits: 6:27/25, 6:22/23, 6:26/25
Target recovery splits: 4:00-4:10
Actual recovery splits: 4:03, 3:57, 3:54
Another glorious run this week. A bit breezy with mild headwinds on the way out, but getting to do a mid-week workout on Forbidden Drive more than made up for it. I also got to break in some new shoes today, which I loved. I also took the opportunity to practice my fuel strategy today: Gu 15 minutes prior to the run, Gatorade at 2.5mi, Gu followed by Gatorade at 7mi, Gatorade at 10.5mi. Everything went down smoothly.
As far as the workout, I will be honest, it felt VERY easy. I had to hold myself back on the second and third reps, even though the last rep included some nicer uphills. Even if I lagged on the pace here or there, I easily found it again within a couple of strides. Resisted the urge to really open up and let it fly. But it felt great to have the power in my back pocket if I wanted to unleash it. A great workout.
Friday, March 15th:
5:30 am, 32 degrees, 40%, 5-10mph. MRC-CH sign-back. Nike Pegasus 29 Shield.
7.5mi recovery - (8:24): 2mi warmup, 4mi @ 7:51-:58, 1.5mi cooldown
Nice and easy recovery run with the group. Felt very smooth and controlled, especially the last 3 miles or so. No tightness or soreness from yesterday's workout at all.
Saturday, March 16th:
8:10 am, 39 degrees, 50%, 5-10mph. Haddonfield and back. Brooks Ravenna 3.
10mi easy - (7:46): With a couple of 5-10 minute breaks in there.. Ran 4mi to Haddonfield to watch the Adrenaline 5K, ran part of the course, ran home. Included 4x100m strides at the end.
Felt so-so the first two miles, but then fell into a very smooth stride/rhythm. Couldn't run slow enough on the way home. Today was all about the two ladies of our group, Colleen Tindall, who got 2nd overall at Adrenaline in 16:55(!) and Ashley Olsen, who WON(!) the Rock N Roll USA Marathon in Washington D.C. in 2:53:28(!). Very inspiring stuff on the day before my race-simulator at Caesar Rodney tomorrow.
Sunday, March 17th:
8:50 am, 34-39 degrees, 55%, 10-20mph. Wilmington, DE. Adidas Supernova Glide 4.
17mi total - (6:53): 2.5mi warmup, 13.1mi (1:25:29), 1.4mi cooldown
Target splits: First 9 miles 6:35-:40, last 4 miles 6:15-:20
Actual splits: 6:29 34 31 40 34 40 39 59 (including 15-20 second pit stop for Gatorade) 38 17 22 06 5:56 6:39
Just a tad cooler and at times a lot windier than what I had hoped. Some areas included a strong headwind with mild gusts. My goal was to negative split the course (which I did), but I ended up running a little harder at the end than I wanted to. The goal was to run marathon effort for the first 9 miles, which included the two miles of heavy climbing between 6.5mi-8.5mi; then run the last 4.1mi at a faster effort. Due to some sharp downhills the last 2.1mi, the last couple splits were very fast. I also picked off TONS of runners in this section, including Cecily Tynan(!). While I felt strong overall, I definitely tired the last few miles - I am not sure if it was the beating my legs took on the hills, the much faster pace I implemented, or a little bit of both.
I also got to practice (in part anyway) my fueling strategy today. I ate a solid breakfast of 5 small pancakes with coffee about 4.5 hours before the gun, a Clifbar 2 hours before the gun, drank 12 ounces of gatorade between 1-2 hours before the gun, and ingested a Gu 15 minutes prior to the gun. All that went down well and I started feeling adequately digested and ready to go.
I was disappointed that there wasn't Gatorade at every water station, which I was counting on. Lots of water, but I recall only 2 Gatorade stations, around 8 miles and 12 miles. I had planned on taking Gatorade around miles 3/7/10 to complement the Gus I took at miles 5 and 11. I did feel a bit dehydrated toward the finish, but I know that won't happen at Gettysburg as I have already double-checked their fuel stations. Oh well, I still got in a great effort in a race setting without absolutely annihilating myself.
Weekly Total: 75 miles
I survived my biggest week of the cycle, which included a very solid strength session and a well-run half-marathon. Tomorrow I get a well-deserved off day, and the week as a whole will be somewhat of a recovery week with one less workout. Then I will have a solid four-week block before the mini-taper. I am starting to sense the reality of the plan coming to fruition.
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