[S]he Conquers Who Endures

I think taper madness is already sinking in! I stayed up late the night before planning out my next round of training (for Big Sur) and thinking about what my schedule should be for summer and what race(s) to run for fall. Well, I feel good because I decided on a plan! I decided to take a 3 week recovery after Disney then hop on the Pfitzinger 12 week peak at 70 miles. I was initially worried about this, but I think the short time at higher mileage will make it easier to hit the 18 week peak at 70 miles this summer. Besides, I can drop my pace a little to build mileage because there's no speed pressure for Big Sur. I haven't picked a marathon out for October yet, but I have a couple in mind. I am excited to see how it feels to run a marathon after peaking at 70 miles! I write this as I still don't know what it's like to run a marathon after peaking at 57 miles. Haha! Yup, taper madness...

4 miles at recovery pace with 6x0.1 mile strides and 0.1 mile walking recovery. Recovery pace was around 9:05 min/mi. It was pretty sweet to run in only a shorts and my sports bra in Florida. I haven't done strides outside in several weeks. I have been doing them on the treadmill and limited to 6:00 min/mi pace (max speed of treadmill). My paces outside were: 5:52, 5:14, 5:02, 5:13, 5:14, and 4:50 min/mi. The last was a PR for me. My legs felt so nice afterwards. The previous 3 times I did strides outside average paces were: 5:42, 5:35, 5:48 min/mi and today 5:14! Wahooo! Guess my legs are already hitting the road to recovery. T minus 18 days until marathon.