Monday, October 7, 2013

So Um. Taper.

We are less than two weeks away from Toronto!
And I'm forced to taper.

I've had pretty good last 2 weeks of training, which I didn't blog because I was um..lazy.  But I did have a mental breakdown last week which ended up with a PR 10M race on Sunday, which was completely illegal (hey, I placed 10th in my age group)!  My Coach almost fired me.  I'm glad he didn't because getting fired right now will totes suck. 


Monday 9/30 was boring out-n-back on the East River again.  I went out too fast and tried to control speed.  At one point I just gave up because going slower is more exhausting on my muscles for some reason.  Coach says it's cuz I'm a 'tard and I try to run in slo-mo.  WHICH IS TRUE.

Tuesday 10/1FASTER FINISH WEEK 4.  I think I did like easy 4M on the treadmill in the morning, which went badly.  I didn't want to run at all.  My earbuds failed to cooperate and running with DM's Delta Machine didn't help.  I mean, it's got a song called "SLOW" in it.
FF was one of my favorites, 20min Out-n-Back, which I failed to capitalize on.  This should have been much faster both ways.  I cheated going out and I failed to pick up on the way back.  Legs felt like lead because of the illegal racing.

Wednesday 10/2.  Again, this Midweek Miles should have been a lot better feeling that it was.  I barely hit target pace in the middle and towards the end, shins and calves and everything hurt.  I had to go on hated Bridle Path for the last 2M as recovery.  Just couldn't pound the asphalt anymore.   I think not having more than 12 hour rest did me in...

Thursday 10/3 started good with a Pilates class in the AM and good night's sleep.  It also allowed me to get a 36 hour rest from the last run.  So the Lower Loop Progressive Run went decently.  Coach wanted 7:10-7:20 (5K Pace) for the last loop, but yo, that ain't happening unless I'm super fresh and have a bunny or a chaser.  I'm off by a few seconds, but I declare it fair.


Finally a rest day on Friday, which I spent the whole day dreading the 18M Progressive Long Run.  8:15, 7:55, 7:45.  Yikes.

Saturday 10/5.  Here comes the last long run.  Garmin failed to cooperate at the crucial moment, of course.

First 2/3.   -   Blah  -   Last 1/3.

There is a big cheat going on here.  The last giant Harlem Hill has a "5 second before" break where I gather courage and pray to the Harlem Hill gods, then a "10 second after" break where I congratulated my single hill repeat (I guess it's not a repeat at this point, but whateves).

The lesson here is that I can do 8:00-7:50.  I cannot do 7:45-7:40 for 26.2.  Which means this Toronto will not be a PR race.  That's OK.  It will be a good comeback race after a year full of crappy times.  I think it'll take me another 2-3 months of solid work to get to 7:45 pace.  Which brings me to Boston 2014!!!!!!!!   


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