After a good week last week, let's take a look at how I did this week. As I mentioned in my last post, the 22nd of February marked 3 weeks until the Asheville Marathon. While I think most programs would advise me to cut back on my long run starting now, I need to hit 18 one more time. I had to walk a lot the last time I ran that far (February 2nd to be exact) and I really feel I will suffer if I don't hit that mark again before the big day.
Let's look at how this week went.
Sunday, February 23rd
I went out for my long in the morning. It was cold but I knew it would warm up in the 4.5 hours I'd be out there so I just wore shorts, and a long sleeve t-shirt. One thing I haven't mentioned in a long time, is that I'm still training in the Vibram Five-Finger shoes. With no cushioning, I feel like this is really something to be proud of. I have no pain while running or after. I wish that was the case with a more cushioned shoe. That would be a lot more comfortable, but I'll take no cushion and no pain over comfort any day.
I ran a total of 18.21 miles in 4:19:00. This was an average pace of 14:13. I started out running what I thought was very slow. But at the two mile mark, I looked at my watch and I was averaging 13:44! It did not feel that fast. By mile 3, I was averaging 13:59 so I slowed a lot. At mile 6, I was averaging 14:11. At mile 9 I sped up without noticing because I was averaging a 14:04 pace. At the half-marathon mark, I was averaging 14:07 so I was really happy about this!
After the half, I started slowing down a bit, but nothing too bad. I was feeling a little more tired but didn't really feel that my pace had changed much but it did. At mile 15, I was averaging 14:10 and at mile 17, I was averaging 14:11 which overall, I was still really happy with.
I did consider running a little more and getting to 19 miles but I was so focused on making it to 18.2, that when I got there my body just shut down. I was about a half mile from home so I walked the rest of way as a cool down. In all honesty, I'm not sure I could have started running again. My legs seemed to lock up, which has me worried that if I have to walk late in the marathon, I may not be able to get running again. I think with other runners around, the excitement of the marathon and other factors, that I'll be OK. I guess it's the not knowing that makes it the challenge it is.
Monday, February 24th was a rest day.
Tuesday, February 25th, I tried to go for a 4 mile run but I felt really tired and sluggish. My feet and shins felt uncomfortable. So rather than quit and go home, I sped up to finish the first mile. I finished in 12:42. Then I walked a ways, turned around, and walked back to the mile mark. At this point, I wanted to see if I could repeat my time or go even faster. I really pushed despite feeling like crap and finished the second mile in 11:01. It may have been 11 flat, but I was fumbling with the Fitbit button trying to get it to stop. Later that night, I was supposed to do a total body workout but I just wasn't feeling it. I know I should have tried to do something, but I really felt tired from the run and I just wanted to go to bed.
Wednesday, February 26th was a rest day.
Thursday, February 27th, I ran a 3.59 miles with some hills. Again, I felt like I was going slow, so I tried to pick it up and push when I felt like I could. Turns out I ran a 43:40 which was a 12:10 average pace. Like Tuesday, I was supposed to do a total body workout at night, but I was spent from the 5K+ I ran that I just went to bed. These hard effort days are really helping with my easy runs feeling very easy. If you don't incorporate hard effort or speed days into your training, you really need to.
Friday, February 28th was a rest day.
Saturday, March 1st, marked two weeks left until the Marathon. Time to taper down. I thought about running for 30 minutes easy, but chose to just rest up for my long run on Sunday.
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