OBJECTIVE
9 mi. @ 8:20/mi.
ACHIEVED
9.03 mi. @ 8:08/mi.
4:27 AM 42° 81% 0 mph
This is "recovery" week. I'm doing three 9-mile runs this week at an easy pace. This is the last recovery period prior to the marathon so I'm hopeful that by next Sunday, I'm feeling very good physically.
At this point, I'm happy to report the only thing that bothered me this morning was my left ankle. It's still achy and doesn't seem to be improving but it does seem to loosen up after a couple miles.
I didn't really feel like going when the alarm sounded at 4 AM but drug myself out the door. To illustrate how simple my mind is, I've always been very eager to run when I'm going out in new shoes. Well, today was the maiden voyage of my new Mizuno Wave Rider 10's. These are the same model as my last two pairs and are getting harder to find now that Mizuno is selling newer models. This pair is red, blue, and silver and look pretty good. But not even the lure of new shoes was motivating this morning.
On days I start out like this the runs usually aren't that great but this one turned out okay. I drove to the Y and ran the bayou trail out and back for 9 miles. The morning air was surprisingly cool and for the first couple miles I wished I had worn long sleeves and gloves. My hands were very cold at the finish.
There was low lying fog which turned the bayou into something like the Michael Jackson Thriller video. Maybe the thought of zombies at 4:30 in the morning darkness prompted me to pick up the pace! Actually it was pleasant. I sat on my desired pace (8:20) during the trip out and cranked it up a bit on the way back in. I noticed again this morning if I sync my breathing with my strides that I ran faster.
Interestingly, I can clearly remember this "recovery" week in preparation for the St. George marathon last fall. I'm not sure why it's such a vivid memory ... maybe because it was a new route that I hadn't run before or since ... ??? I pulled my training log to see what pace I ran these 9-milers. I ran one on Monday and another on Thursday. The planned pace was 8:51. I ran 8:49 and 9:41. This made today's 8:08 feel even better!
May 17 and the marathon will be here before you know it. I checked our flights yesterday and they still look very good (we're flying standby). Paige's training for the half seems to be going well. She got new shoes last week too. Cameron has now decided he wants to run the half but I checked yesterday and it's sold out. I'll add him to the wait list today. I've been tinkering with elevation-based pace charts. I've still got some work to do there but a plan seems to be formulating.
I'll post again after Wednesday's run. At the moment, I'm not sure if it's going to be AM or PM. I would like PM but think I have a scheduling conflict so it may have to be another early morning extravaganza.
PRE RUN
Clif bar & water
POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water & oatmeal w/skim milk | 