Arrived at week 2 of my marathon taper phase feeling rested. Given that this week was pretty much all treadmill running, I’ll just offer a quick weekly recap of my running distances. All of my runs are at conversational pace this week and my goal is to keep my heart rate in my zone 2. Thursday’s are still run at marathon pace but the mileage is cut back significantly this week.
Day 113
My right peroneal muscle was tight and sore today. It may be tight from running my 12 mile run the day before on hills and unusual terrain like sidewalks. I ran 4 miles on the treadmill and kept the pace at the low end of my conversational pace range. It was a very easy effort and I watched a couple of episodes of Schitt’s Creek which made the time pass really quickly. Too fast. Then I had to get ready for work.
Day 114
I had an early morning meeting that required me to drive an hour and half to get to it, so I ran on the treadmill in the evening instead. My heart rate was higher than it would normally be at the pace I was running but I’d had a lot of coffee throughout the day. I get so tired when I have to drive long distances, so I compensate with extra coffee. It was a good 5 mile run though and I got through three episodes of Schitt’s Creek.
Day 115
My heart rate was much lower on my 4 mile treadmill run this morning. The effort was easier and my heart rate stayed in zone 2 without altering my pace. I was actually able to bump up the speed a bit on the treadmill and still stayed well within my zone 2 heart rate.
Day 116
Today was a really short (relative to the rest of my training miles) outside run at marathon goal pace. It’s amazing how quickly three miles flies by when you get used to running longer distances during the months of training. I hardly felt like it was worth getting bundled up to go outside and run. However, since it was a shorter run I was able to push back the time of run to 6:30 A.M. By then the sun was out and it was 54 degrees, so I needed less preparation to get out the door.
I ran mostly by feel to check my pacing. I only checked my Coros watch a couple of times to verify I was on track. My heart rate was pretty low even though I averaged a much faster pace than my marathon goal pace. Cadence was an average of 181. I’m hoping to have a new set of Currex insoles to use for the marathon but the got lost during shipping from Amazon. I’m hopeful they will still come with enough time to wear them on a couple of runs before the big race.
Just 4 more runs until race day!!
Day 117
I had to split up my strength and cross training today. I only had time for strength in the morning but I got in an hour workout, including MOBO board work. Then, I got a spin bike ride in after dinner. I’m not used to working out at 7 P.M. I really prefer to get it all done in the morning but sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to because the reward is so worth it.
Day 118
Last long run before my marathon and I’m so excited! The last run of the plan ended where I started, with an 8 mile run. I contemplated driving to one of my long run locations but decided I would save time and just run in the neighborhood. My legs felt heavy for the first three miles and then I found my running groove. Sometimes it just takes a bit of time to get going.
I’m really glad I decided to run close to home today because when I got home I asked my husband if he wanted to go out to breakfast at Naked Cafe and he did. I celebrated my last long run with my favorite vegan buckwheat pancakes and Blue Planet Late. I’ll be running my marathon in another city so I won’t be able to celebrate afterwards with my signature meal. This was the next best thing! I’m considering it early carb loading.
Workouts
Day 113
- 4 mile run at conversational pace on treadmill
Day 114
- 5 mile run at conversational pace on treadmill
Day 115
- 4 mile run at conversational pace on treadmill
Day 116
- 3 mile run at marathon pace
Day 117
- Runner’s strength workout: 1 hour
- Cross training on spin bike: 30 minutes
Day 118
- 8 mile run at conversational pace
Weekly recap
- 24 miles run
- 1 runner’s strength workout
- 1 spin bike workout