[S]he Conquers Who Endures

I have been sick with a head cold and was worried about this run, my last push before taper. I was counting on falling to running with my friend to pull me through most of the mileage. I got a text the night before the run that my friend was sick and wasn't able to run, and my stomach sank. I actually started crying the morning of my run because I was so scared! What is wrong with me! My fiance is so supportive, he drove me to the path and said he'd be tracking me on his phone while I ran. Well, I ran what felt like a comfortable pace. I was expecting to feel pretty broken down by mile 18 because my pace was a little faster. Mile 18 came and went, a little soreness but nothing too terrible. So did 19. The final mile all my soreness went away and I started floating. My adrenaline kicked in as I imagined running through EPCOT at the last mile of the marathon. When I saw the finish line (aka mile marker) I saw my finace standing by the path. I kicked it to a higher gear and finished my last mile in a 7:22 pace. My overall pace was 7:54 min/mi...for 20 miles...and I started crying before I stopped running. I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! I WILL BQ!!! Let the taper begin!

6 miles recovery run at 9:10 min/mi pace in Florida. It felt so amazing to run in warmer weather! Disney weather!

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.

Indoor track workout. Ladder: 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m. There were fewer people at the workout because of Christmas break. I had to run with some new girls who said their 5k race pace target was 6:35. Okay, that's about mine or a little faster. I felt like I held back so much the first half of the workout. I finished the 2nd half solo and these were my paces (5k pace should be 49.1 for 6:35 min/mi):

200m: 43.6 (5:50.8 min/mi) 

400m: 1:31.5 (6:08.1 min/mi) 

600m: 2:22.8 (6:23.0 min/mi) 

800m: 3:13.4 (6:29.1 min/mi)

800m: 3:08.3 (6:18.8 min/mi) *** A new PR!!! :)

600m: 2:19.4 (6:13.9 min/mi)

400m: 1:29.3 (5:59.3 min/mi)

200m: 41.9 (5:37.2 min/mi) 

So, yea, I was holding back. I have never done much track work. It's so much fun and the miles fly!!! I especially love running on the indoor track in summer clothes when it's freezing outside! T minus 17 days and 10 training runs left until marathon! 

Active recovery. Got up before 5am to head to Bikram and they were closed!!! People, there is no time off for your health especially when there's a marathon coming up!! I went home, caught another hour of sleep and got some good weight and core work done instead. T minus 16 days until marathon!

My first 5k since April! I PR'ed. It wasn't a PR course, a little icy and more hilly than I'm used to (83 ft total ascent). These results aren't official yet, but this may be my first race averaging sub 7s! It's crazy how far my running has come in such a short time. I first broke sub 8s in a 5k a year ago in July, and I haven't even been focusing on VO2max speed!

2.25 mile warmup, 5k race, then 4.65 mile cool down.

T minus 15 days and only 9 runs left until marathon!