Week of 1/29-2/4
This was the first taper week for me. In previous marathons, I was a little aggressive with my taper and found that I was losing fitness by marathon day. Mileage cuts were along the lines of 75%, 50%, 25%. This time around, I decided on a milder taper closer to 80-85%, 60%, 40% mileage cuts, which works out to about 40, 30,and finally 20 miles. I don't have any hard evidence, but my aerobic fitness seems to disappear quickly, so I can't taper too much. The strategy going into this week was to maintain intensity, go really easy on the easy runs, and cut back on the long run mileage. Here's the week in brief:
Mon: AM - 30 min pool run, PM - 30 min functional training
Tue: AM - 5.2 m w/ strides at the end (8:10, 140/170)
PM - 5m easy, (8:28, 136/149)
Wed: AM - 40 min elliptical, 30 min functional training
Thu: 10m w/ 9m @ MP, (6:56, 156/165)
Fri: off
Sat: 5.5m shake out, (10:58, 116/130)
Sun: 17.5m w/ 6m @ MP, (7:38, 151/170)
Total: 43.2
Shameless self-aggrandizing: I broke 200 miles for the month of January!
I took it easy at the beginning of the week to recover from the 22 miler. I was going to do 10 miles on Tuesday, but decided to split it up to get the mileage in without the added stress. Thursday was my last planned mid-week marathon pace run. I got the idea of doing these from Hadd (it's long, but a good read) as a fitness indicator. I typically do a 1 mile warm-up, and hold it at marathon pace for the remaining 9 miles. I tried to keep my HR around 157-158 and it felt really comfortable for most of it, except for mile 6-9, during which I ran into a brutal headwind. In the process, I ran a PR for 10 miles. Granted, I've never run a 10 miler all out (see Apple Harvest Ramble done @ Marathon Pace), but it's a good indication that I'm in shape for a ~3:05 marathon.
I wrestled with some mild food poisoning, but luckily the symptoms fell on my rest day, so I was fine by Sunday for my last long run. Instead of going solo, I did a hill/tempo run with the BAA running club that consisted of a 4.5 mile warm-up, 2 mile tempo run, 6 hill repeats up the famed Heartbreak Hill, and then about 6-7 miles for a cool-down. I strung together 17.5 miles in 2:13:36 (7:38 pace); the tempo run and hills were done at around a 6:35 pace, but the rest was done at a very comfortable pace, so the run wasn't quite as brutal as it seems. The hills gave me a nice confidence boost, as there are some sizeable hills on the Austin course.
This next week, I'm going to focus on healing various aches and pains and getting a lot of rest and recovery. As always, I'd love to hear from you, especially about any advice you might have on tapering.
Next weeks plan
Mon 2/5: AM pool run, PM functional training
Tue 2/6: 8m run easy, strides
Wed 2/7: AM pool run
Thu 2/8: 7 total 3x1 mile @ 6:15 pace
Fri: off
Sat: 5-6m shake out
Sun: 12-13m easy
Total: 32-34
14 days to go!
2 comments:
First, congrats on 200 miles in one month. That is awesome.
Second, thanks for the link to mapmyrace.com. That's a new one for me. Cool!
Lastly, you seem extremely prepared. I am excited for you as you head to Austin this coming week.
Not that you need the advice, but I offer the cautionary tale of a runner I know who got a little over-zealous... i.e. he went for a 3:05 b/c he thought he was in shape, only to run 3:11+ when he crashed late miles. He would have easily BQ'd had he run a smarter race. I know you won't be that guy.
Thanks for the support! Mapmyrace.com is the one austin uses. I don't like it as much as www.gmap-pedometer.com b/c mapmyrace tends to be much slower and has a tendency to crash.
Thanks for the advice on holding back the pace. I've been thinking of going for a faster time as well, but I'm going to tuck myself in with the 3:10 pace group and cruise until mile 20. I'll evaluate again once I get there. I'll save the faster running for the fall marathon!
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