Sorry to have been absent, but between work, travel, and everything else, this took a back seat. Never fear, readers, training's been steady and still going great! Here's a quick recap of days 66-68 and then the weekend update, 'cause it was big.
Days 66-68 (Vega$) - Continued my affair with the exercycle on Day 66, and this consisted of just over an hour early and then a short brick late: 20 minutes bike, 35 minutes run, got to experience Vegas' "inclement weather" - wind and lots of it. Like running into a brick wall on return. Day 67 saw a respite from the exercycle and just a 65 minute run that felt pretty good; same course as Day 65 but faster. Day 68, travel day, saw a break from running in favor of a "swim" -- drills in awkward pool -- and some more exercycle after, just to spin. I had in my mind days 69 and 70, a weekend of going LONG.
Day 69 - All about the bike. Having missed my bike for the week, I decided to make up for it regardless of crappy weather conditions. This turned out to be a 90+mile ride in 5:08 with wind and hills galore. Most of the ride was on wet ground and leaves, which meant a lot of time NOT at top speed, but I ended up just under 18mph for the ride. Quads were a bit sore due to pushing in the wind. I swam 20 minutes late just to remember what a REAL pool swim felt like...not too bad, considering. I swam a decent 1000 and some hundreds.
Day 70 - congratulations to Meb as well as all my friends that ran the NYC Marathon! After I saw Meb win, I donned my own gear and set out on what should be the last hard run I do before IMAZ (just as yesterday was likely the last looooong bike -- it is 3 weeks before race day). I ran an easy 30 minutes in the early AM, but the real workout was my intended favorite 10M tempo run on the track. An easy warm up getting to the track and then I put on my flats for the run (no socks, race simulation). My intended time was 6:50s-7:00 pace, but my first lap in 1:37 suggested that would have been a bit too slow. I quickly altered the workout to be a first 5-miles in 6:40s and then a negative 2nd 5-miles in whatever, not too crazy. Timing every 1/2 mile, my first 5 turned out to be 32:55 (6:35s). I felt great, effortless, nearly gliding. I was easily able to pick up the pace, though I went too fast for a bit and scaled it back. Nevertheless, the 2nd 5 were done in 32:03 for a total time of 64:58 or JUST under 6:30/mile. I was THRILLED...this tells me that I am running ready, since my intended pace will range from 7:00-7:20/mile. Plus, after yesterday's ride, my ability to do this run shouts volumes about my readiness as well.
This was also the first day I really started to feel the race impending. Running in the AM, I could feel the tingles of anticipation and the visualization of the race become more real. This afternoon, I imagined feeling just as good throughout the marathon. It's coming...it's about time, but it is finally almost here.
No comments:
Post a Comment