Prepping for the Japan Day Race

I know it's only Wednesday, but I think it's never too early to start planning a race. In this case, the Japan Day 4 miler. I actually started thinking about it Monday. I've already run Monday and did a speed workout last night. That means no running Wednesday and Friday; 30 minutes of stretching instead. Tabata intervals on Thursday, easy 10k Saturday, then run like a bat outta hell Sunday. My goal is to run between 6:30 - 6:35 and further drop my 4mi PR this year.

Today's workout - CP lower loop with Tabat set

I know the NJ marathon was only 1.5 wks ago and I shouldn't be running hard yet, but I felt like I needed a short intense workout tonight before this Sunday's race, if I indeed do it. The perfect workout in this case was to do a Tabata set in the middle of an easy run. If you don't know what a Tabata set is, simplistically, it's 8 repeats of 20 seconds 95% - 100% sprint effort, 10 seconds rest. It's exhilarating after one set, tiring after two, struggling at three, and hanging on for dear life for the rest. You can find more by Google'ing Tabata intervals. You can find out more by trying it yourself :-)

I Did It!

I managed to stay away from running for one entire week! Yep, that's big news for me. Along the way, I managed to make up for most of my calorie deficit the last few months of training...seriously. As I blog, I just finished off a pan of brownies Sara made tonight after dinner. I decided to go down this week in a blaze of glory and try to enjoy every sinful culinary delight and for the most part, I think I've succeeded.

I don't know why it's so hard for me to not do anything active. It's not that I don't enjoy vegging. I really do. I've entertained the idea of gaining lots of weight and then try to compete on The Biggest Loser. After this week, I don't think I could even if I tried. I feel really sick, and all I got from that was three pounds. I was hoping for about five.

Tomorrow, it's back to business. I won't be logging many miles on my feet, but even though I haven't run since last Sunday, I managed to do some pretty good spin sessions at the hotel. If I can do three or four Tabata intervals for each session followed by weights, I'll be in pretty decent shape.

Feeling beat

Still feeling the effects of yesterday's workout. After a pleasant run/walk with Kavita this evening and another hearty dinner (loco moco, anyone?), I fell victim to a cozy nap. I think I bit off more than I could chew yesterday. Found it incredible that my muscles ached more today than after a 20+ miler. Come to think of it, I think I'd rather run an easy 20 than 2x Tabata again.

Anyways, it's now 9 days and counting. It's still early, but I did have some difficulty sleeping last night thinking about the marathon. It could also have been due to yesterday's workout. Regardless, time is nigh and I'm getting very anxious. Tick tock tick tock tick tock.

Let's start already!!

Tonight's workout - 2x Tabata intervals

Tonight's workout was a first for me. I've always done Tabata intervals one set every few days, but tonight I thought I'd try two sets. What a bad idea. The first set of 8 intervals was barely doable. I needed about 10 mins to recover for my next set. Just before the second Tabata set, a group of runners - all girls - came to the Great Lawn 800m lap. I appreciated their supporting applause as I sprinted past them the first time. Right around the finish, they saw me flopping and almost stumbling through my 7th rep. Embarassing. I couldn't hold form any longer so I skipped the last repeat. Needless to say, it was a great workout. Double punishment to make up for my missed workout last night. I'm going to sleep very well tonight.