Monday, October 29, 2012

The countdown is on!

Not much left to do from here on out... the work is done, so I just need to trust my training and hope for the best!

Monday - 15M in 2:02:12 (8:11)
Double out and back on the ATT with company from Ellen and Sara.  Mostly an easy, comfortable run with 4 faster miles (7:30s) sprinkled in at 8, 10, 12, and 14.  Last "long" run done!

Massage at Randori Bodywork.  I highly recommend this if you are looking for a (very) deep tissue massage.

Wednesday - 6.7M in 55:26 (8:20)
Met Donna at the Duke track for some speed work.  2M easy warm up followed by 10 x 400s (95-98 sec) with 200 recoveries and a short cool down.

Friday - 5M in 39:29 (7:53)
This run was scheduled for Thursday but I couldn't find the motivation to go out in the dark solo, so I bumped it to Friday in order join some of the BCTC ladies.  It was supposed to be a very easy (8:30ish) run, but miles 3 and 4 were in the 7:30s.  Not exactly what I had planned, but that is slow for my speedy friends and I decided it was better to run faster with company than run slowly by myself.  

Saturday - 10M in 1:16:34 (7:40)
My schedule called for 10 miles at goal pace (7:40-7:45) so I figured I'd run the American Tobacco Trail 10 miler to practice pacing and nutrition/hydration at race pace.  I went out a little too fast at the start but reminded myself that this was not the end game, and settled in to my planned pace, running mid-7:30s on the downhill sections and mid-7:40s on the uphill sections (not really "hills" but not really flat either).   

The other upside of using a race for my last training run was that though I've practiced nutrition and hydration on our long runs, it was at a slower pace or during gu breaks.  So today's goal pace run was a perfect opportunity to test out my strategy of taking gel across two water stops, taking half just before the aid station and drinking on the move. I really didn't want or need it, but I took half a gel just before the mile 4.5 water stop and the other half when I passed that aid station again after the turnaround.  It felt like too much at once and my stomach felt a bit unsettled, so I think I'll divide it up across 3 miles/water stops in NY instead of 2.  Hopefully practice makes perfect...  

Overall I felt fairly comfortable, but it definitely wasn't quite as easy as I'd hoped.  A volunteer on the course around mile 9.5 said I looked like I hadn't done anything, so I guess that's good!  And despite sticking to my pace place, I still won my age group!  Woot!

*****

Of course my baker's cyst has chosen marathon week to act up, and I am starting to come down with a head cold.  UGH.  Hopefully ice and rest can take care of the first problem, and I've been loading up on Emergen-C for the second.  Scheduled for a short easy run this afternoon, a little speedwork tomorrow, and an easy run on Thursday, so at least it will be a restful week.  Fingers crossed that I'll be knee pain-free and feeling well on Sunday... 

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