Cellcom Green Bay Marathon Training: Week 17 Recap

A reminder that I switched up to go exactly by the plan for the remaining two weeks.  Thus, my off day is now Wednesday, my speed day went from Monday to Tuesday and my tempo run went from Wednesday to Thursday.

I don't know if is just that fact that May has been sort of packed with stuff going on, if I'm getting sick of training, or some other factor, but I had a lot of moving things around this week!

This week I crossed over the 700 mile mark for my yearly mileage count.  AHHH!  That seems insane to me.

Monday May 8
Plan Says: 7 miles

What I Do:  Sleep in.  Skip running.  I mentioned that the left side of my torso was sore after my brother's wedding.  This impacted my sleep Sunday night and I really felt like crap so I opted to take my rest day today.  Nothing sets you up for a good week like taking your rest day on Day 1, right?!

Tuesday May 9
Plan Says: 1 mi warm up, 6 x 1 mile (7:05 pace) with 400 recovery, 1 mile cool down

What I Do:  4:30 Alarm!  It was really difficult getting up this early since I hadn't gotten up early to run since last Wednesday morning.  Almost a whole week off of early wake up calls!

1 mi warm up:  8:18

1 mi 6:37 / 0.25 mi recovery 2:18 (9:01 pace)
1 mi 6:33 / 0.25 mi recovery 2:17 (9:09 pace)
1 mi 6:35 / 0.25 mi recovery 2:11 (8:48 pace)
1 mi 6:29 / 0.25 mi recovery 2:07 (8:31 pace)
1 mi 6:32 / 0.25 mi recovery 2:09 (8:38 pace)
1 mi 6:25

2 mi cool down: 16:10 (8:05 avg pace)

I felt fabulous during this.  My mile splits were way too fast but I told myself not to pay attention to my watch and run by feel.

This was the last strength workout of the program!  EEK!!!!

The last time I did this workout, on March 27, my mile splits were 6:51 / 6:50 / 6:49 / 6:49 / 6:49 / 6:36.  It is fun to see improvement in just a few weeks!

Wednesday May 10
Plan Says: Off

What I Do:  I again slept through my alarm.  My ribs have not be hurting in the morning, but are fairly sore by the end of the day.  Each day seems to be a little better.  My goal was to get up early and do the miles I missed on Monday.  Instead I got miles done after work.

I did a longer than usual cool down on Tuesday to take some of the miles away from this run so that I wouldn't feel so tired on Thursday.  Throughout this plan I have had a rest day between my speed/strength day and my tempo day so throwing 7 miles in between the two wasn't going to be the greatest idea, particularly on the last "hard" week of work.

6 miles, 46:02 (7:40 avg pace)

Thursday May 11
Plan Says: 1 mile warm up, 10 miles tempo (pace: 7:15), 1 mile cool down

What I Do:  The last tempo run of the plan!  I was up at 4:30 to get out and get this done.  I felt tired but knew that was making me mentally stronger.  True to form, it also took me a few miles to feel like I was in a groove pace wise.  I wanted to be pushing myself but not too hard and not be so obsessed with pace so I intentionally did not turn my watch to display pace.  Thus, I knew what each mile came in at and that was it.  I felt strong at the end.  Once I finished the tempo portion, averaging 7:10 pace, I stopped and started crying.  I was really really proud of myself for completing this plan.  I still had 9 days of taper left but the hard work was over.  DONE.

1 mile warm up, 8:18
10 miles tempo, 1:11:42 (7:10 average)
1 mile cool down,  7:59

Let the taper begin!

Friday May 12
Plan Says: 6 miles easy

What I Do:  I came home from work Thursday to see a big box on my doorstep.  I ripped it open and it was the new Adidas UltraBoost X running shoes that I was selected to test through BibRave.  OOMG.  While this is my 4th pair of shoes in the Adidas Boost family, they are significantly different from all of my other running shoes so I was nervous to take them for the full 6 miles of this run.

I ended up running 2.4 miles in the Adidas UltraBoost X and switching to my Asics GT shoes, which right now are the leading contender for the shoes I will wear during marathon.  Except that they felt SO CLUNKY after running in the UItraBoosts.   It is highly likely that deciding which shoes I will wear for the marathon will be something I continue to agonize over.

I do not run with my phone and often when I see something just so awesome, I wish I did.  Today was one of those runs.  With a beautiful sunrise in the backdrop, I was chugging along the path by the river and out of the corner of my eye something startled me.  It was a blue heron in flight.  Blue herons frequent the river, but I only ever see them standing near the water's edge.  To see the wingspan was magical.

6.07 miles, 51:58 (8:34 avg pace)

Saturday May 13
Plan Says: 6 miles easy

What I Do:  I did more shuffling and did 8 miles easy this day.  We didn't have a lot going on for Mother's Day (Sunday) but I knew the kids wanted to make me breakfast in bed so I wasn't going to get a early morning run in then.  My daughter also fractured her arm about mid-day Saturday so that was a bit of unexpected craziness!  We got back from the urgent care center and she just wanted to chill and my son was napping so I took full advantage.

It was a hot day - almost 80 degrees.  I was glad to be able to get another hot run in...race day is trending toward the warm side this year, but we are still a week out.  I ran the entirety of this in my Asics shoes and they felt fine so I'm fairly certain those are going to be my race shoes.

8 miles, 1:01:42 (7:43 avg pace)

Sunday May 14
Plan Says: 8 miles easy

What I Do:  I didn't get out to run until after the kids were in bed.  It has been a while since I did an evening run!  I wasn't really into this run which means it was good mental practice for me. 

6.06 miles, 49:01 (8:05)

Weekly Mileage
Plan says: 48 miles
What I did: 48.4 miles

Sleep Data
I again lost 3 days of data because of not getting enough motion data.  I never move the button on my pillow so I'm not sure why some nights it works and some it doesn't.  I did not have this issue for the first 6 weeks of use of this device and now it is becoming a pattern.

Average amount of sleep:  8.0 hours
Average sleep score: 83

45% deep sleep, 47% medium, 8% light.

My deep sleep took a hit.  I can only guess this is due to my son waking more than usual at night.

Podcasts
I listened Real Talk Radio Nicole Antoinette interview Lauren Fleshmen and herself (recalling her hike of a section of the PCT) and an old Running On Om interview with Kate Grace.

One week until race day.

ONE.
WEEK.