Sunday wrap

Last night I decided to change my workout for this morning. I went from 3 x 2 mile to 10 miles at mp pace. This decision was a very easy one. I was looking for some feedback on where I really am fitness wise. What level, what pace and generally where am I? I warmed up easy 25 minutes a few strides and I was off. The course is one that I have done in the past very up and down with a lot of little turns. Not fast at all. I felt good during the warm up so I was confident this would bring me back confidence wise. I cruised through the first few miles in 19/25/16. By now I was feeling good and very confident this would go well. The next two were 22 and 20. So at the turn I was 26:42. 2 seconds shy of goal pace. I was contemplating what to do now. Do I really hammer and see what I have in the tank or do I continue to run pace and finish strong and live another day knowing that I have some left. I decided with 13 days left I needed to cruise in and that is what I did. I finished with a 5:17 and a total of 26:39. So I was slow by 1 second for a total of 53:21. A real solid mind helper? Yes. I needed this. Two days of easy jogging followed by a easy marathon pace workout.

The taper. I will not change a whole lot on this taper. I have used basically the same approach in tapering than I have in all of my marathons. Drop the mileage a bit the week before the week. Or 2 weeks out. I hit 96 this week so that means mid to lower 80s this week. I will use the middle days as easy rest runs on grass if possible with the remaining days hard but very controlled efforts. Strides will also be more important and this is the time to sharpen and be ready to feel terrible and then great Nov 3.

Easy

The weather was rough today. I ran an easy 1 hour for nine miles. I am attempting to cut back a bit at the end of the week. Hopefully the legs will follow my lead and things will come around for Sundays last real workout. I have a few smaller less significant workouts scheduled for next week and the following week but basically I am tapering down. I am also attempting to heal my mind as things have really gone south. The ball started rolling south on Monday and really hit rock bottom after wednesdays workout. I have lost a little focus which I am not sure is really that bad. I have in a way forgot about the race the biggest race of my life and instead focused on how pissed I am that I think I am not in good shape. This back and forth between one side of my brain and the other side fighting over how fit I really am. This has been draining. So sunday will be my final tune up workout. I am hoping to do 3 x 2 mile sub 10 with 3-4 min rest. I am also hoping this will put a bandaid on things and I can get on the plane ready to race and not worry for the next 2 weeks about how I am not fit and I suck. Wow now that is an uplifting post.

Test 2 C-

Today was my final long Marathon pace workout. I came in hoping to be fresh and ready to rock. I felt pretty good doing 10 miles on saturday at just over marathon pace. Which was encouraging. Today was humid and a bit warm. 60 and 82 percent humidity. I started off with a 5.5 mile easy run to make sure I was ready to roll. I had planned this big time with a water bottle at 4.5 and a dry shirt at the end of the trail so I wouldn't freeze waiting for Carrie to pick me up.

Mile 1 5:16 felt easy downhill. 2-3 were hilly 11:01 not bad but not great. Mind was still fresh and legs felt ok. I was breathing very heavily though. 4-7 were a tad slow 5:20-5:32 and my legs were still feeling fine. The last 4+ didn't go well. I am such a weather runner that if it is even close to being humid I am done. I finished with a few easy miles waiting for my ride home. I am doing the little things to get there. Ice, hydrate, stretch ect. This was a huge let down all the way around. Bottom line. The weather will dictate if I run my best. I am fit. Very fit but days like monday and today are rough for the confidence. I am about a 4-5. Last wednesday I was a 9. I am going to rest up a bit now. 15 days left. Sunday will be 3 x 2 miles fast and then I am shutting things down a bit mileage wise. I hope to stay in the upper 90s and then drop next week to the low to mid 80s. I will post Saturday and for sure sunday. Keep the head up.

Weather

I am already worried about the weather for New York. I know I know nothing I can do about it. I have been watching the weather for the past week out there compared to here and it is very warm. Lows in the upper 50s with highs in the middle 70s. That is too hot for me. I know still about 2 1/2 weeks to go so things can go cooler. I will freak out about it until the week of the race and then realize finally that it will actually be cooler or the real truth that I can't really do anything about it.

I got out for an easy 12 with my Ipod today. I am getting used to it and its many functions. It really is nice to cruise along with it. I will not make this a habit. I really don't want to change things now before the race. I felt pretty easy and contemplated running a bit harder. I changed my mind as thoughts of Thursdays final test loom.

Thursday I have 12.5 miles at marathon pace. Total workout will be close to 22 miles. Looking forward to seeing how that goes. I am still pretty down about the workout yesterday. I need to keep things in perspective and move on. I have a few more workouts and then I will drop the miles but keep the intensity up. I am going into this race a bit different becuase it is all place, time will not really matter. I hope to place well and have a number in mind but will keep that to myself until later.

3 weeks out. Test failed

Today was a faster workout. Basically a test to see where my speed is. Test failed. F. I got out early am and felt ok during the warmup. 30+ minutes several decent strides and away I went. I have done all three sub 4:40 before. Today was not to be. 4:52. I felt somehow tight. Like I could go much faster but just couldn't. ??? Does that make sense. After 5 minutes of jogging I decided to attempt Number 2. 4:54. The hard way. Just no snap in the legs. I decided to call off the last one and make it a little longer day. I am definitely feeling down about it. Leading up to the race I was hoping for three fast ones. I know I am very fit but need to keep the positive momentum going. Thursday is a big one. Actually the biggest of this buildup. I may not post until after that. We will see how I am mentally.

Friday-Sunday

I attempted to send this and ended up losing it. That hurts I was almost finished. Well here goes. Running went well Friday through today. I had 14 split up into two runs friday. I ran 4 on the mill in the afternoon between attempting to have two kids nap and all the other dad things. Things went ok.

Saturday was workout time. I did 10 at 5:40s with a few faster. Sort of middle tempo. Not too slow and not mp pace. Felt easy but I was still working. I ran around 57 minutes and then finished at just over 1 hour. So a total of 10.5 or so. Felt good and the weather was great.

Sunday was 13 easy to close out a very good week of 104 with wednesdays workout things are coming around. I am ready to go. This week will be up over 100 and then I will taper 9-10 days out. Feeling confident with my race plans and things are falling into place. All the talk is very distracting though. Something I don't do well with is " hey you are the guy in runners world" I heard that twice at my b job on friday. I really just want to go in the back and hide. Anyway things are going well. I will post tomorrow post 3 x mile all out and another beat up session after my massage.

Rest day

I was up early after 5 hours of sleep for a 10 miler. My wife has school in the cities today. I felt very sluggish and about like I thought I would feel. I am going to get in another 6 this pm when she returns.

To top things off after yesterdays workout, I got a box of gear from adidas. Everything you can think of. Jackets, pants, shorts, shirts, a hat. Added up to a nice chunk of change. Looking forward to using some of it soon. Thanks adidas.