Monday, September 7, 2009

Week 12 of Project Suck It

Since I majorly dropped the ball on logging my workouts for the last week or so I have to play a little catch up....you can skip this post because it will be boring, but I need to record some things for myself. Saturday (aug. 29 - last day of week 6): Reluctantly left the house early to go for my recovery "long" run and get it over with since the hubby was home. Uhg. 8 miles/1:23:10/10:23 av pace/157 bpm
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Portland Training Week 5 (a.k.a Project Suck it): Monday - 4 mile recovery run Unmotivated and tired. 3.86 miles/10:44 av pace Tuesday - 2 mile tempo, 2 x 400 w/ 400m recovery jog 2 mi tempo - 8:44 av pace/173 bpm 400 - 2:02 400 - 1:49 Thursday - 3 mile tempo 2 mi tempo - 9:35 av pace/179 bpm This was a rough workout for me. It was the first workout of this training cycle that I just felt tired. I had no gas left for my tempo run. I just couldn't do it. I cut out the last mile and made it a two mile tempo rather than 3. I had a 20 miler on the brain for the weekend and I thought it was best to conserve my energy. Coach agreed. Comparing Tuesday and Thursday it's pretty obvious - I went significantly slower and my HR was higher. I think I made the right choice which leads me to..... Friday/Saturday - piriformis This was the first time I had any symptoms of piriformis and it freaked me out. I used the foam roller like crazy and stretched it out all day Friday and Saturday. Luckily, my 20 miler was schedule for Sunday rather than Saturday so I had one extra day of rest. Sunday - 20 miler I woke up feeling refreshed after two days off and my piriformis was significantly better. I drove down to where we were meeting for our long run which was about an hour away. Hello FLATNESS!! The weather was INSANE. I saw rain in every shape and form that day (even hail). The first hour was just a steady wet rain, the second hour it completely downpoured monsoon style. It was f'n insane. I just kept thinking that if it's like this on marathon day - I wont be phased by it. The last hour of my run it had slowed to a light drizzle and even stopped for a little while. My Ipod never quit working believe it or not. I was a little worried about this. I fully recommend this Ipod nano case. I got it at Target for like 20 or 30 bucks. Money well spent!! They have black ones. Overall I ran this run waaay too fast, but it was flat and I was on cloud nine. I decided to bump up the pace at the 16 mile mark. miles 1 - 16/10:28 av pace/163 bpm miles 16 - 20/10:04 av pace/179 bpm 20 miles/10:23 av pace/166 bpm Fueling: I only took one salt tablet every hour instead of two because they got wet inside my fuel belt and the capsules started disintegrating. I had to kind of throw half eroded capsules in my mouth. Post long run thoughts: I was VERY sore from this long run. In retrospect I should not have run those last four miles so fast. I feel like what I'll probably feel like post marathon which isn't good. That's not what long runs are intended for. My planned MP is 10:20 for craps sake. My IT band is killing me and although I took an ice bath yesterday, I might do another today.
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I'm one month out from the marathon now and I really need to slow myself down. I am feeling so strong and all the speedwork is making me faster, but I'm worried about injury. I told Coach he needs to keep an eye on me very closely because I find myself wanting to go faster or go longer or worse - both at the same time.

14 comments:

Jamie said...

It is so tough to slow down when you are feeling so good. Great job on the rainy 20 miles - that is freaking awesome!

ShutUpandRun said...

NICE 20 miler. Cannot beleive you are one month out!!

Running and living said...

I completely get what you are feeling, I am in the same spot. It is so hard to slow yourself down in the long runs... You ran it very well, with negative splits, and even though you hurt now, I think you are going to have a better marathon because of this. Now take it easy and listen to the coach:)

Niki said...

Great 20 miler! Even if you did go a little too fast:)

Anonymous said...

Nice 20 miler. Sounds like you were holding strong throughout. Well done.

Unknown said...

Woo hoo, one month to go!

Tara said...

Yay for your long run! You are only one month away....are you freaking yet? I'm two months out and i'm freaking!

joyRuN said...

Dang - nice job on your runs! Excellent 20 especially :)

Alisa said...

Great job on the 20! Yes, slow down. I always find it counterintuitive to run the long runs 30-45 sec slower than MP but I do think it works. I'm pretty sure that's why there are speed days other days =).

Great job on the other runs too. As for the Thursday run, some days are just rough, good thing the good days outweigh the bad =).

Glad hubby is home.

Aron said...

sometimes slowing down is SO hard... now that you know you can run that fast for this one, just keep the others slower and you will be good to go :) you are doing great!!!

Being Robinson said...

it sounds like your training is going great. it can be hard to slow down, especially at the end of a looonnng run when you just want it to be DONE. that's my problem. just take care of yourself, only a month to go! YAYA!

Katie said...

Way to go on the 20 miles!!! Thanks for keeping us posted. Wow, you are almost there... you are going to do great :)
I have complete faith in you.

Amy said...

Great workouts and way to be in tune w/ your body. I'm glad you told your coach to keep a watch on you. You don't want to run into an injury so close to the race. There's no harm in backing off, just think of the long term picture.

Can't wait for your race! Wahooo.

Unknown said...

The foam roller has been my best friend this week! Hope your quick release therapy helps your issue! My "ART" has already helped. Thanks for all of your support and kind words. Hope you have a nice weekend!