Guys…we have 19 weeks of hard training down…and only one more to go until the big day. Am I nervous? Of course. There’s something scary about putting your goals out there for people to see…for putting your training out there for people to read. Setting big goals in and of themselves can be a scary ordeal.
But there is no turning back now. We’re in the homestretch. That start line and that finish line are waiting…
So let’s do this thing.
Monday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.
I was so thankful to have another Monday as a “Choose Your Own Adventure” kind of run. After moving my long run last week to Sunday, it was nice to not have to worry about hitting paces or doing some sort of workout. I didn’t know this, however, until the morning when I woke up. My coach sends through my plan after his children go to bed…and I had already gone to bed ahead of that. What can I say? Rest and sleep have been a priority this entire training cycle and it has made a world of difference. So…I went out there, watch covered, and put in some miles. I kept it easy and relaxed and just let my legs do what they needed and wanted to do that day. No pressure. No anxiety. Just a simple run to shake out the legs. I finished up with 5 miles for the morning, because my legs felt that good. I did my additional hip strengthening exercises with my morning round of stretches this morning. Then, at noon, at met with my personal trainer, Corey, who put me through a leg day workout, targeting some muscles that don’t get a lot of love. I stretched and foam rolled that evening and went to bed early (as always)
Tuesday: INSTRUCTIONS: SPEED WORK – MONA FARTLEKS W/ 1 MILE HARD EFFORT
I didn’t want to incorporate speed during my taper…but it’s important to keep that rolling. And my coach, thankfully, handed me my favorite of the speed workouts to do. The Mona Fartleks. If you haven’t tried these yet…DO IT! You’ll see what I mean. Mona Fartleks work like this: 2 mile warm up, 2 x 90 sec, 4 x 60 sec, 4 x 30 sec, 4 x 15 sec (with equal recovery after each at a pace faster than base pace), 1 mile hard effort, 2 mile cool down. Simple. Basic. FUN! It was a cool morning…and I felt fast. I really did. I kept my warm up nice and easy then really hit those intervals. I even managed a mile in the 6s for pace at the end. My cool down…faster than my warm up, but it usually is. I mean…I wasn’t expecting my legs to respond like that, but they felt ready to go. They felt strong. It worked out to be 8 miles for the day. I went inside and did my second day of additional hip strengtheners with my morning stretches. Went to work. Came home and did those evening stretches before hitting the sack for some sleep.
Wednesday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.
It was the perfect morning for another easy “Choose Your Own Adventure Day.” When I have those in the middle of the week, it always means another bit of speed is coming the following day. With that in mind, my watch was covered and I went out and ran comfortably. And apparently comfortably that day was…faster than anticipated. I felt amazing the entire time. Rested. Strong. Capable. This is what you need to be feeling this week of training…and I’m hitting it. I did another 5 miles this morning, surprised with the average pace at the end. I hoped it wouldn’t hinder my run the following day. I stretched. I went to work. And I met with Corey at lunch for personal training, focusing on triceps. We kept the session shorter than usual because he wanted to make sure I had no lactic acid built up as I go into race week. He’s a runner. He’s an athlete. He gets these things. That evening I had a great sports massage and all felt right with the world. Except for…the rain.
Thursday: 8-10 MILES WITH A 3-5 MILE FINISH AT MARATHON PACE – GOAL 9 MILES – EASY DOES IT UNTIL FAST FINISH AT END
I didn’t casually mention rain yesterday for no reason. When I woke up early to fit in this run (knowing I wasn’t going to do anything over the goal distance)…it was pouring rain. Fun fact…if it starts to rain on me after I’m out running, I’m okay with it. I don’t like starting in the rain. At all. And…if this wasn’t as long of a run, I probably would have gone to the gym and done it on the treadmill. My plan was to go out and do 5 easy and 4 at marathon pace. When the rain picked up that morning…I hit four miles and chose to just hit 5 at marathon pace instead. So…off I went. And even in the pouring rain (thankfully it was 58 degrees outside)…which I always fret over slipping…I nailed it. Completely nailed it. I even felt like I could have pushed harder, but the purpose of the exercise was to hit marathon pace, not half marathon pace. This was also the first time since July that I have run with my watch uncovered. And it didn’t stress me out at all. That being said, I was very happy to finish up this run and get out of the rain. 9 miles for the day…5 of them fast. It was a HUGE confidence boost to do that in rain. I did my stretches in the morning and night. Oh…and by the time I left work, winter had arrived. We legit had snowflakes in the air. NOPE!
Friday: REST/RECOVERY DAY!
I didn’t sleep in much for some reason this Friday. I kept waking up. So, eventually, I just got myself out of bed and went to be a little productive. I erased my whiteboard art and went and did up something new for the month of November. I used Simba from The Lion King (the original animated one) with his mane of leaves. Because it’s fall. Leaves mean fall. And I love drawing Disney characters. I showered. I stretched. I finished filling out my paper work for my podiatrist. My appointment got moved to just before lunch today. I don’t anticipate this being a long visit…but hoping he can do something about some of my nails (marathon training for 2 years = ugly feet). And…after work, we hit up Dragon King’s Daughter for “magic sushi” as I prepare for my long run on Saturday.
Saturday: 11-13 MILES WITH 5 MILE FINISH AT MARATHON PACE – GOAL 12 MILES – EASY DOES IT UNTIL FAST FINISH AT END
Woke up to weather in the 20s. No joke. It was 28° and I was not happy! Not one bit. I don’t do well in temperatures below freezing. It’s part of having Raynaud’s. It sucks to try to run when you can’t feel your feet. So, I admit…I was in a bad mood at the start of this run. Not even going to lie. I didn’t even plan out a route or think it through the night before. I just was determined that this run was going to be awful. It wasn’t too bad. It was just cold. But guess what…I warmed up. The sky was crystal clear. The sun came out. And while I wouldn’t call it warm by any means, my movement did finally give me some feeling in my extremities. YAY! The same could not be said for my iPhone 7. The battery died 30 minutes into my run. Guys…I can’t have my phone battery dying when the weather is cold. It’s a safety issue for ME. Against my will, I ended up turning the phone off and finishing up the run, with the last 5 miles being along my super-hilly Thanksgiving course. WHY do I do this? Why do I forget (I run this course all the time) how hard those hills are? But I pushed my fast finish at marathon pace. It was a bit of a struggle today, but my last long run was done. I took a warm shower. I put on real (warm) clothes. I watched Mindhunter with my breakfast gluten-free bagel. I went grocery shopping (all day). I came home and put away groceries. Stretched. Watched Top Chef. Watched Mindhunter. Then watched Louisville City FC win (on the road) the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Guess what? The Eastern Conference Finals are being held in Indianapolis…the afternoon of my marathon. Guess what we’re getting tickets to go watch!! It was a late night (for me) but worth staying up for.
Sunday: BASE RUN 5-8 MILES + 4-6 STIDES – GOAL 7 MILES – EASY OVERALL EFFORT
The time change messed with me. I always panic when we have to fall back or jump forward. Especially when I am meeting with friends to go running. I set my alarm clock (which I needed to adjust the time, but in hindsight didn’t actually move it when we jumped forward in the spring…so I totally had the time wrong. But I also set my phone alarm. Then I woke up, not trusting it. And my alarm clock (was wrong) said one time. My phone and Garmin said another. The clock in the living room said the same time as my phone, and the clock in the kitchen had the same time as my alarm clock. I was driving myself crazy. I finally asked Siri what time it was…and my phone was correct. I just don’t trust technology to actually fall back. Deep breath. So, I snuggled down for another hour…but didn’t really sleep. Finally got up to stretch, hydrate, fuel, and get my stuff together. I figured, with it being another below freezing morning, I’d have to give myself time to scrape the windows of my car before driving to meet my friend Ron for my last weekend run before the marathon. Murder fog rolled in as I arrived. He had gone to do his additional 2 miles ahead of our meeting. And we ran through it for a mile before it started to lift and the sun came back out. We kept it easy and talked a lot about race strategy and the weather (he’s a meteorologist) and how to dress. It’s all confusing to me. Aside from the weather (which is an uncontrollable), I do feel confident and good and better than ever as this training cycle wraps up. We threw in the strides at the end of the run. Walked it back to the cars. Stretched. And that was it. The last long run before the big day. 8 miles total.
So, yeah…a part of me is internally freaking out because I have put this HUGE goal out there for everyone to see, read about, and follow along with. But, it honestly doesn’t feel like any pressure to perform has been put on me. I trust my coach…his plan…my training…and I know I am capable of having a great race. Now…I need the day to go well. You never know on race day what can happen. But…honestly, I have never felt more ready to run 26.2 miles.
Six days to go. And, let me tell you, my friends running the NYC Marathon have been quite the inspiration! Here’s to staying focused, healthy, and strong in these final days before the start line.
The Celiathlete 