[S]he Conquers Who Endures

Two weeks ago, when I ran 17 miles the day after racing a 10k it was pretty tough. I had to push to finish in 8:30 min/mi average pace. My goal for this run was to average 8:20 to 8:30 min/mi pace. I ran with a friend, we were chatting most of the way and ended up averaging 8:07 min/mi pace. Oh my gosh! How? I don't know. I didn't look at my watch until mile 6. I just was going by feel. I will say miles 14-16 were pretty tough and felt like miles 24-26, which is the point of racing the day before. We finished strong with a last mile sub 8. And I did this sick to boot! T-7 days until taper. :)

11 miles sick as a dog!! I'm actually glad I'm sick now. I have time to get better before the marathon. I got sick before Chicago one year 4 days out and ran it sick and miserable (more miserable than other marathons). This run is usually at steady state pace (7:34 to 7:50 min/mi) although Pfitzinger says to run it around aerobic pace. I averaged 7:53 min/mi so I guess this was more like marathon pace. Still a good run. Just need to focus on maintaining fitness while not pushing too hard that I don't get better!! Went to dr. before run. Sickness is above the neck (minus cough due to post nasal drip). Wasn't able to get an rx bc they think it's viral, but I got approval to continue training. Thank goodness I had a dr who's son runs marathons and understands the importance of training!! The best thing about going to the dr is hearing from multiple people that I must be an athlete bc my resting hr is so low. Haha.

Recovery run with 6x0.1mi strides. My body is so exhausted from being sick and probably also from my hard effort this past weekend. I wasn't having a cold run in the dark on the uneven path, so I ran the treadmill with 1% incline and watched the Biggest Loser on my ipad to keep me pumped. 6.5 MPH recovery pace (9:13 min/mi) and strides were at 10 MPH (6:00 min/mi). The strides were extremely energizing and by the end, I felt so in control and relaxed at that pace. 4 days with 3 runs left until taper!

Track workout on the treadmill!! Still trying to shake this head cold and didn't want to push my pace outside in the cold so away I went on the treadmill. 2.5 mile warmup at 9:13 min/mi pace then 4x0.75 mi repeats with 0.4 mi recoveries at 6:35 min/mi pace. Then 2.9 mi cool down at 9:03 min/mi pace. I don't want to skip training because I'm sick but I'm worried about pushing too hard because I won't get over being sick! I think I'm balancing okay so far. Hopefully this 20 miler this weekend won't send my cold in a tailspin. 3 more days until taper!

Skipped bikram so I could rest up instead and try and shake this cold. Did a bunch of weights at home instead. Feeling pretty recovered from last night's treadmill workout! :) 

4 mile recovery run in Chicago at 9:10 min/mi average pace. So cold out, looked like a ninja with a fleece wrapped around my face!