Madison Marathon Training: Week 17 Recap

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The first half of last week was fantastic.  I had two hard workouts left to do - mile repeats and a 10 mile tempo - and I really nailed both of them feeling calm and controlled in my running.  After my great tempo run on Thursday, my runs were not so great.  I don't know if it was the mental switch to "I'm in taper mode" or the fact that my left hamstring has felt very tight ever since that tempo run.    I also have early cold/sinus infection symptoms.  I always feel like crap during tapers so I am trying not to freak out.

Another thing you may notice is that week 17 has 8 days in it.  This is because I have found that it is more manageable for me to have my long runs/hard days on Friday/Saturday rather than Saturday/Sunday like the plan calls for so I always shift the plan a day.  For Sunday races, this means I usually have an extra day to play with and I have also found that having this extra rest day is usually clutch for me in the final weeks.  So I used my "get out of jail free card" this week and thus shifted my taper week to align with the plan exactly.

October ended mid-week last week and so that means another monthly mileage update.  In October, I ran 245.81 miles!  HOLY CRAP.  This significantly blows my previous monthly mileage record of 224.18 miles out of the water and was my third 200+ miles month in a row. High fives!

Here was my week:

Sunday Oct 28

Plan says:  Off

What I did:  Nothing.

Monday Oct 29

Plan says: Easy 8 miles

What I did: 8.04 miles, 1:09:28 (8:38 avg pace)

Tuesday Oct 30

Plan says: 1.5 mile warm up, 6 x 1 mile with 0.25 mile recovery in between each set, 1.5 mile cool down

What I did: I REALLY did not want to do this workout.  Even though it was a Tuesday and a gorgeous fall day.  I had to fight with every last ounce of my being to get dressed and out the door when my kids were on the bus.  Of course, as per usual, I was glad I did it after it was all done.  And check out those miles!!!  I felt so so good on this run.  I overshot the runway on pace (goal pace = 6:37) but went with it.

1.5 mile warm up, 12:16 (8:11 avg pace)

1 - 1 mile, 6:11 / 0.25 mile 2:18 (9:15 avg pace)
2 - 1 mile, 6:17 / 0.25 mile 2:21 (9:27 avg pace)

3 - 1 mile, 5:55 / 0.25 mile 2:32 (10:10 avg pace)

4 - 1 mile, 6:13 / 0.25 mile 2:14 (8:58 avg pace)

5 - 1 mile, 6:08 / 0.25 mile 2:22 (9:29 avg pace)

6 - 1 mile, 6:01 / 0.25 mile 2:09 (8:39 avg pace)

1.52 mile cool down, 12:01 (8:01 avg pace)

Wednesday Oct 31

Plan says:  Off

What I did:  Trick or Treat!

Thursday Nov 1

Plan says: 1.5 mile warm up, 10 miles tempo, 1.5 miles cool down

What I did:  I had such a good experience with doing last week's 10 mile tempo in the mid-afternoon that I again arranged my schedule to repeat the experience.  I didn't have as great of an experience with my gels this time around but my pace was on fire.  Honestly I thought last week's 6:41 average was a fluke and then this week, surpassed that.

1.50 mile, 11:48 (7:52 avg pace)
10 miles, 1:06:04 (6:36 avg pace)
1.5 miles, 12:50 (8:34 avg pace)

Friday Nov 2

Plan says:  easy 7 miles

What I did:  My hamstring was not feeling amazing.  This coupled with the fact that my kids were off school and my husband and I were doing the work half a day to cover the other person thing, I didn't get out the door until late afternoon and had to be back to get ready for our evening plans sooner than I would need to get the full 7 miles in.

5.5 miles, 44:30 (8:05 avg pace)

Saturday Nov 3

Plan says:  easy 8 miles

What I did:  My hamstring was still not great but I thought perhaps it would loosen up on an easy run.  It didn't but it didn't get worse.

8.11 miles, 1:08:50, (8:29 avg pace)

Sunday Nov 4
Plan says: easy 8 miles

What I did:  It was pouring outside all day and, still struggling with motivation, just did not have it in me to run in torrential downpours.  I put my run off all day and then had to jump on the treadmill after my kids were in bed.  UGH.  I was so tired and not into it, I ran it at a super slow pace and only have Des Linden's interview on I'll Have Another to thank for the fact that I made it 5 miles.

5.05 miles, 49:20 (9:46 avg pace)

Plan Total: 55 miles

What I did: 50.21 miles