My plan for the week was cross-train, run 5, 8, and 5 miles, rest, 5 mile pace run, and 20 mile long run. The final push forward. The second 20 miler.
At the start of the week, I was so tired from moving. Beyond tired. I don't think I stopped doing things for a week and a half. Pack stuff. Travel. Unpack stuff. Buy stuff. Organize stuff. Buy more stuff. Extra alcohol, lack of sleep, lack of my usual food, and being out of my routine didn't help either. I am glad that a stepback week lined up with the week I was moving.
I skipped my yoga class this week. It was a combo of being too tired and just barely getting back to Rhode Island before the class started. I gotta say, I could tell the difference. My legs felt more stiff than usual. I'm usually not that stiff anyway, in part because I've been training at this level long enough that I think my body just says "Another long run? *sigh* OK. Let's go." But still. I could feel it. That yoga must be doing something good.
Sunday - Rest. First day of complete rest in a week and a half. I needed it.
Monday - Decided to sleep instead of run in the morning, so I went out for 5.7 miles after work. It was still mostly light out. Score. Ran relatively fast, probably because I wasn't dressed warmly enough. Wasn't freezing but could have used more clothes. Got to see the sun set. Did lunges, calf raises, abs, and lower back when I got home.
Tuesday - 9.3 mile run in the AM. Got going a little later than I wanted to. It wasn't completely dark, though, so that was a plus. Got to see the sun rise. Ran relatively fast again because running in DC last week spoiled me and I still wasn't dressed warmly enough.
Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. Did planks and pushups in the evening. Back on track with my strength training.
Thursday - Rest. Sweet sweet rest.
Friday - 5.3 mile pace run. In the snow. It was supposed to change over to rain later in the day, but I'd rather run in snow. It wasn't sticking. It wasn't too cold. This pace run was only slightly uncomfortable. Yes, it was a little bit slower than some of my other pace runs, but I wasn't really watching the pace and still banged out a 7:43 pace overall. Nice. Something must be going right this training cycle.
Saturday - 20.6 mile run. Another epic long run. It was very windy, so windy at times that the wind almost pushed me backwards. We're talking sustained wind, not gusts. It was good practice for Shamrock, since part of the course is along the beach and it could be windy. I planned a route down to a state park, a loop in the park and a pitstop, back to my car, refuel break, about 4 miles north, and then 4 miles back. Something strange happened with my Garmin and I couldn't see the mile splits. I kept an eye on the overall pace, though, as I think that is more useful than individual mile splits. The overall pace was in the 8:10s the whole time. I got to practice keeping my excitement levels in check and reeling it in when I needed to. 20 miles is a long way to run. You don't want to go out too fast. By mile 14 or so, it was starting to get harder. I maintained my overall pace and slowly watched it drop. I practiced my mantras. I have worked too hard to fail now. Reach into the pain locker. I am a beast. Oh, I was channeling lots of beast vibes. I got a massive surge of energy when at mile 19.5 I saw 8:09 on the overall pace. What! Under 8:10 for almost 20 miles?? I banged out an 8:07 overall pace. For 20.6 miles! Alone. In the wind. Whoa. I checked in with myself at mile 16. Could I keep going for another 10 miles? Yep, I thought so. I checked in again at mile 18. Another 8 miles? Yep, I thought so too. Good stuff.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 43 Actual - 46.5
And that brings me to taper on a confidence boost. 3 weeks til Shamrock!!
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