Tomorrow's goal: 6:45 pace

I think that will be a good effort for tomorrow's race. A sub-40 minute 10k is out of my reach right now. I'd need to do at least 6:27/min. Even with tomorrow's expected precipitation, hilly course and thousands of other runners, I couldn't do that anyway. Someday...

Race Anxiety

No, not for the NJ marathon, but for the Scotland Run 10k. There's no other race that makes me want to quit in the middle of it like a 10k. The Scotland 10k is a clockwise loop, with mile 2.75 - 4 is uphill and grade inclines. I imagine it'll be rough. I think what makes me most anxious is that I'm hoping to best a 6:40 pace. I'm not sure I'm capable of sustaining that for 10k on this course, but I really want to do it. I think if I can do that for 6 miles, I might have enough kick over the last 600m or so to try and break 40. The flip side of this is that I totally crap out. To make matters more interesting, rain is also forecast for race morning.

I guess there's no point in overthinking the race. What happens will happen. I've trained honestly so at this point, I just have to trust my preparation.

Thoughts about running this week

I usually write something after my NYRR workouts, but this week I didn't see that as appropriate. I didn't work out hard enough. I'll be running the Scotland Run on Saturday so I want to take it easy most of this week before the race. Sunday will be my last long run (20-24 miles) before I taper.

Keeping the easy theme going, I did the same thing as Monday - core strengthening, stretching and push-ups for an hour or so. This should be my last solid strengthening week as well. While I'm tapering my miles, it'll be strength maintenance.

This early training season has definitely been easier with less mileage than last year, but I've added more functional strength and speed workouts. It will be seriously interesting to see how the marathon will turn out.

132 lbs

I was a little surprised by my scale reading this evening just before dinner considering that I had not run the last couple of days and I'd been eating really well. It's a good thing though. That means I'm right at about my race weight for the NJ marathon. This is going to be my last "high" mileage week for this marathon before taper. It will include the Scotland 10k in CP on Saturday which I intend to race. I'm planning on following that with a 20-22 miler Sunday in Asbury Park.

High Mileage Slacker

That's what I kind of feel like today. As noted in my previous entry, I've posted my highest mileage this year at just over 45, and I still feel like I've slacked off. As an excuse, I'd like to say that I just wanted to stick to the training theme for this marathon ... minimality. Used that rationale to take two naps and to take off completely. No stretching or core exercises.

On the bright side, I did three hard workouts last week as well as the previous week. That's probably the most hard workouts I've done in a span of two weeks. I hope to continue that streak this week. So...I guess I'm not such a slacker after all.

4 weeks to go...

and two more 'til taper. This season, that means just a little less running than I'm doing now. Last season, I felt like my body went into a running withdrawal during taper and I actually was more sore during the tapering than when I was logging 50-60+ miles/wk. Last week was my first 40+ week and I hit 40+ again after today's long run. Below is my March and first week of April mileage:

Miles: 178.73
Not on there: at least 1 session of core and general body strengthening and stretching/week
Also not on there: spin sessions


So, am I ready? I guess I'll just have to wait and see. This NJ marathon has become more of a training experiment. I definitely feel strong for shorter races with the speed workouts and strengthening, but the long runs start to hurt sooner than they did last year.

NYRR Workout - 2mi | 1mi | 600m intervals

Tonight's workout were three intervals of decreasing distance but increasing intensity - 2 miles, 1 mile, then 600 meters. All the intervals were done at the Central Park lower loop and finished at the NYC marathon finish at the Tavern on the Green, which means an uphill finish after rolling slopes.

My splits were as follows:

2 miles - mile 1: 6:37 | mile 2: 6:24
1 mile - 6:10
600m - 1:39

The 2 miler was at a relatively nice quick pace until we got to the 600m mark. From there, I tried to pick it up and run past this one other (tall) runner whose name I do not know, but I couldn't do it. I passed him briefly, then he took off.

The 1 miler was more fun. Jaime decided to drop down to our group from the faster group. I hope to be running with his group sometime this session. Anyway, we took the first 1/2 mile at about 6:35 pace, but again starting at about the 600m mark at Columbus Circle, I decided to pick him off. He got a head a little bit, but I was determined not to be passed again. On the uphill with about 150m to go, I pushed past him and tried to clear. However, at about 30m, I heard some furious steps coming at me and I knew it had to be him. I was able to stay just ahead of him, but man, that hurt. I pushed so hard I thought my forearms were about to cramp up. I think I now better understand why sprinters bulk up. It's all about power.

The last 600m was harder than I thought. The first 75m felt easy, then all of a sudden, I felt like I was going to fall apart. It took a lot of concentration and strength to not spill on to the pavement. I think my arms were wildly flailing towards the finish. I think 1:39 was actually a good time considering the previous two intervals.

What definitely helped me mentally for this workout was the Tabata intervals and the inverted ladder intervals I've done on the treadmill. I was able to draw back on those workouts and knew what I could expect from my body.