It's nice being on vacation and that's probably why I haven't posted in a few days. Of course my training hasn't taken a vacation, I'm just running a little later than usual. Since my last post I have completed a 31.5 K long run, a 12 K recovery run, a 10 mile run and today I completed my last hill training workout.
My long run was done in pretty hot conditions but I still was pretty happy with the results. The most memorable moment came just as I started to run in a cemetary. I purposely set my mp3 player to "random" so I never know what song is coming on next. When "Knocking on Heavens Door by Guns and Roses" started playing as I ran through the cemetary I found that a little creepy to say the least. I wonder if that was a sign? In any event I made sure I stayed away from black cats for the rest of that day.
I mentioned previously that I purposely designed this route to train my mind for what the Marathon will have to offer. I wanted to challenge myself mentally by forcing myself to run an additional 2 miles past my house towards the end of the run. I knew that this was going to be the hardest part of the run and true enough that's just what it was. After running for more than 2.5 hours I approached my house and then made a detour to run another 2.2 miles. This is another trick that I've learned and it will pay off for me during my Marathon when my mind starts to tell my body to stop running.
My recovery run the next day started off slow but then I picked up the speed about 1/3 of the way in and did a nice tempo run to finish. I was surprised at how fresh my legs felt but I also think that it's a good sign that my body is responding to my training in a positive way.
After taking Monday off, I was back at it with a nice 6 mile run on Tuesday and then today I completed my last hill training workout. I started with 4 hills 6 weeks ago and today I finished with 11. Today was probably the hardest of my sessions mostly because I ran later than I typically do. I find that I am indeed a creature of habit and though I have enjoyed sleeping in a little later than usual, I know that my body responds better when I run at the same time each day (5:00 to 6:00 AM).
This is my "down" week of training. I've broken the training program into 4 week mini sessions. 3 out of the 4 weeks I increase the mileage on my long runs and the 4th week I take step back by running no more than 13 miles for my long run. This allows my body to get some rest (although it may not seem that way to some)
I will do a 7.5 mile run tomorrow, rest on Friday and then do 13 miles on Saturday and another 7 miles on Sunday. On Monday I return back to work after having a great week off!
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