I'm at the point where I'm kind of tired of being tired all the time. Tired of waking up achy and sore. So it's a good thing it is cutback week.
My plan for last week was another 40 mile week capped off with a long 17-miler on Sunday. But then I went and did hard speed sessions Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. So by Sunday my mojo stayed in bed long after I got up. I was tired and sore and thought about skipping the run. But after some coffee and Captain Crunch I felt more human, and, really, what else was I going to do anyway, so I put on the shorts and shoes and decided to at least get some miles in. I grabbed two GUs, just in case I had 17 in me, and headed out.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. First let me tell you about Saturday.
Saturday my speedy track group had a little 10K "race" that has been an annual tradition in the group for 30 years! We are supposed to predict our times, and then we all go out at different times, with the goal of all finishing at the same time. The first woman went out with a goal of 77 minutes, and 43 minutes later our fastest guy started, shooting for 34 minutes. Amazingly, those two finished within 5 seconds of each other! Everybody finished within a 9 minute window, and most within 5 minutes. There was about 30 of us.
The course was beautiful, along the coastal cliffs of Palos Verdes. But also VERY hilly. The first mile had a 250 foot hill, and there were more hills later. And it was hot. So I predicted 48 minutes, and just went out with the idea of running a hard tempo.
I started with one other guy. No one in sight ahead of us. We ran together and it was nice to have someone to pace with. That hill was ridiculous but I got over it without walking, although it crossed my mind. The long downhill was nice, but miles 3-5 were tough. I slipped behind the one guy and was just hanging on to get to the final downhill. A few speedsters passed me, and I caught a few others. Check out these crazy splits.
So I finished only 9 seconds off of my prediction time; which would have won for best prediction, except there was no prize for that. Not quite race effort, but I was working hard. Then we had a potluck brunch and I got to know some more people better and there were silly prizes. It was fun. HERE is a little write up from the club.
So Sunday I was tired. I'd love to finish this with a surprise, oh I went and ran 17 anyway, but, no. I was smart and listened to my body and cut it back. However, the 8.7 miles I did run went pretty well. I didn't bonk, even though it was hot. Finished strong and didn't exacerbate any injuries. So, yay.
So that completes Phase 1 of marathon training. Since I started running again in January after my Plantar down time, it has been one steady increase in mileage without a glitch. The green line shows my 8-week average for this year. Previous peaks were for LA2012 (BQ PR) and Boston 2013.
Now I have a cutback week, since I will be going up to Tahoe for the weekend to crew Mild Sauce through the Western States 100. Then next week I have a 5K, and the following week a half marathon to taper for, so it will be 3-4 weeks of lower mileage. Then I will crank it up again for 6 weeks of heavy mileage before it is taper time.
Life is good.
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