LA Marathon Week -4

Oh wow.  3 long runs left in training 'til the race.  I'm not gonna lie.  I don't feel ready to run a marathon just yet.

But. I also know I'm in better shape than I've been in for a long, long time. This week's workouts were so great for my confidence.

Now that I see the mileage total, I can see that this was a high intensity but low mileage week.  So, it's not surprising that I was able to execute better than I had in a long time on certain workouts.  Even so, it's a good feeling.

Monday: day after the long run over the Dumbarton bridge and back and then some. Super easy cross training.  16 minutes of rowing and 20 minutes of recumbent bike.  Did I mention easy?

Tuesday: 30 minute Recovery Run (3.13 in 30:09; @ 9:38 avg; decreasing splits of 10:06; 9:32; 9:19) 0.27 walk c/d.

Wednesday: Yassos.  They were as hard as I'd recalled.  I haven't done this workout in a very long time.  H and I tried the local high school track at 4:30 PM, but February is a bad month to share the track with high school athletes -- all the lanes were taken.  So we loaded up and drove to the local middle school and cut the warm up and cool down short but finished as the sun set.  The workout was 7.25 miles total. First, 10 min w/u jog @ 10:03. Then 8 X 800 at Yasso pace w/ 400 jogging recovery (perhaps with a wee bit of immediate walking post rep if needed): Splits: 4:00; 4:01; 4:00; 3:59; 3:57; 4:00; 4:02; 4:00.  Finally, 7 min c/d jog. Hardest workout I've completed in recent memory.

Thursday: 2.14 @ 10:17; 1.57 walk and talk on the phone to R, who's had a child and can't get away to chat very often.  It was the first time we've caught up in weeks and I was more than willing to sacrifice the remainder of the recovery run when I realized who had called.

Friday: OFF.  Just straight lazy.  Bikram thoughts faded away and E and I opted into a sushi date night.

Saturday:  The original plan had been the scheduled 14 miler with a fast finish, but after 2 miles, I decided to reschedule.  I was struggling to keep a good pace, and I had shopping and laundry and packing and all sorts of tasks to fit in after the run before heading out of town for a friend's birthday.  The next day I had more than enough time to fit in a run along the east bay trail before our afternoon social engagement.  So, I bailed.  Instead, I bought a great outfit (for which I received many compliments), got my hair done, removed chipped nail polish and just generally tended to stuff I never normally take the time to do.  I felt good about it, in a very weird way (I ordinarily eschew these pleasures as the type of things that extract more than they reward).  4 easy in 39:51; Avg: 9:57. 0.36 miles walking c/d.

Sunday:  Oh my, goodness.  Brilliant procrastination.  13.99 @ 2:26:25 (aka, 7+ minutes faster than this same workout 2 weeks ago!  Avg = 10:28/mile, including 11:26 minutes of walking in the calculation -- serious improvement)

We went to a G's birthday party Saturday night.  I was the designated driver.  So, while I did have a margarita and some light beer, I also had much water and a coffee.  I also had late night leftover garlic fries and a cupcake around 11:45 PM.  I think the late night carbs are a training secret as the first mile was a ridiculously easy 9:28 - this was after I saw 8:55 pace at 0.5 miles and realized I was feeling entirely too energetic.  The goal is to do the first 10 at a reasonably easy pace and the last 4-6 miles at target race pace.

I did my version of the run:  First 10 miles at a decent clip (a few in the mid nines, and then slowing for an average pace of 10:30 including 2m45 walking to deal with a hair disaster). Then I met up with E at Ceasar Chavez park, and we did the fast bit in mile intervals while enjoying the gorgeous views of the bay and the bridges.  Splits: 8:53; 0.15 walk recovery; 9:09; 0.15 walk recovery; 9:10; 0.10 walk recovery; 0.60 jog to the car.

Yes, the long run schedule called for a minimum of 4 miles consistently run at target race pace at the end of the run.  I did my best, but I felt I could only manage 3 mile intervals with some walking recovery.  Not quite the target, but so much better than the last time I attempted this workout.  Most importantly, I got the time on my tired legs at race pace and I *know* I can dig deep to run that fast even when I'm tired.

Overall?  32.71 miles and a Great Running Week!