The Next Step

The last couple of days have been crazy.  I had an early flight back from Philly then left out of town so have missed the last few days running.  I wanted to get one  more 20 miler in before the marathon and especially after the rough run I had last weekend.  I felt pretty good today and ran easy the first 10 miles.  I turned around to come back and had pretty strong head wind the whole way back.  I picked up the pace around 14 miles for about 3 miles but then started running out of gas again.  Not as bad as last week but still noticable.  I am not sure what is going on with these long runs but it has me a little worried for the marathon.  Also, with work and other commitments this has not been the best training cycle for a marathon so not sure what to expect at this point.  It is going to be interesting to decide a pace for the marathon.

2:36:20 (7:49 avg)

It was cool this morning and very windy.  I just did an easy recovery run after yesterday's long run.  My legs were still feeling heavy and tired from yesterday so just took it easy.  I have been in a little bit of a slump running so thought a short easy day may help get some energy back and feel better.

39:40 (7:56 avg)

It was a beautiful day today (55) and light wind.  Today I planned one more day of easy running to get fully recovered before trying some speedwork tomorrow.  I started off easy but could tell right away that I felt better than the last few days.  That was encouraging and I was tempted to push the pace but decided to hold off until tomorrow.  Hopefully, that was a good decision.  I did pick up the pace as I went along and ran the last 2 or 3 miles at a slow MP pace.  Overall it was a good run and helped pick my confidence back up.

1:23:37 (7:37 avg)

I didn't get out until late today and it was pretty warm (75).  I ran before dinner so only had time for 5 miles.  I felt pretty good and picked the pace up as I went along and finished around MP. 

38:20 (7:40 avg)

It was a really nice morning (58) with wind.  I wanted to do some miles at MP today so did 6 miles easy then ran 6 at MP with a 1 mile cooldown.  I didn't feel the best today.  I still feel like I am working hard for the pace that I am running.  I ran out into the wind and then turned around and ran back into the wind for the MP miles.  I was running the MP miles between 7:10 and 7:15 pace but into the wind I felt better about it.

1:38:37 (7:35 avg)

Another great day.  It was around 60 but windy.  I ran easy today and felt better than I have in quite a few days.  I started off slow and picked up the pace as I went along.  The battery on my Garmin died about 4 miles into the run so not sure of the pace but it felt like the last 3 or 4 miles was around MP.  I just tried to run by feel and not think about pace or anything.  I was a good run for a change.