MCM Training Week 20

Saturday, September 13: 22 miles (road)

Oh, Crestview, you treated me well today! Today was one of those runs that I want to bottle up and hold in my memory for race day. I cannot even begin to express how hopeful I was about having a good long run with the first true fall temps of the season this morning. And, it did not disappoint!

Angela and I set off a few minutes after our usual 5am start time. The temperature throughout the run stayed in the lower 60's. I wore a short-sleeve shirt for the first time all training season and that felt just right (although my core was cold because I was so wet). Much of the run was in drizzling, cold rain into a headwind, but it was a welcome change from all of the hot and humid runs that we have endured over the past few months. The route was also "fairly flat," although it was definitely gradual uphill on the way out, which meant gradual downhill on the way back...my favorite.

We were undecided until mile 9 or so whether we were going to run 20 or 22 today. While we both needed a good confidence-boosting 20-miler under our legs (and in our heads), we also wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather and flatter course to push for 22. We both felt amazingly good, so we went for it. And, might I add that I have always maxed out at 20 when training for previous marathons, so this was new territory for both of us. And, I'm so glad that we did it because I couldn't have asked for a better run!

I never really had a bad patch (although we did need to make a bathroom stop about halfway in) - either physically or mentally. I felt really strong in both aspects the entire way. We were supposed to run 20 miles today with the last 10 at MGP. But, MGP is generally close to our easy pace anyway, so we weren't overly focused on that. I did, however, negative split the heck out of this run! With strong legs, a positive attitude, and of course the cooler weather and downhill, I just let the faster pace come when it did and ran with it. The last 5 miles were sub-9 minute miles, with miles 20 and 21 clocking in around 8:09 and 8:07, respectively. Who knew I could do that?!?! This truly was unlike any run that I have had before.

We both finished up with smiles on our faces, strong miles in our legs, and the confidence to take on our race next month! Today was the last long run for a lot of folks in our training group who are racing Twin Cities in 3 weeks. I kind of wish that we were kicking off our taper too with this strong run as our last long run before race day. But, we're not done quite yet.

Sunday, September 14: 3 miles (treadmill)

Easy 3-mile recovery run. Even though the temps were still relatively cooler today, I opted to do my recovery run on the treadmill instead of the road because I didn't want to run too fast after yesterday's run and truly use it for recovery instead.

Race Day is 6 weeks from today!

Monday, September 15: OFF

Recovery weeks starts today!

Because of my work schedule, I switched my medium long run today with my usual off day tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 16: 5 miles (treadmill) - New shoes

I had a massage this morning and didn't get quite the clean bill of health that I had been getting in the past few visits. Ann felt several adhesions in my right adductor, which are likely remnants from all of the issues that I had recently been having. Right calf was tight, but not as bad as it has been in the past.

Ran easy 5 miles on the treadmill in late afternoon. Felt good.

Wednesday, September 17: 6 miles (road)

Tonight's quality workout was 400's at a fast pace around the neighborhood block that we've been using in lieu of the track this season. As we were doing our 1.5 mile warm-up over to the O'Henry area, I commented to Angela that the hills seemed much harder than usual, and she agreed. The weather was super humid this evening, but I also think that my body was ready for the recovery week after the back to back 20 mile long runs that we've done.  

In terms of pace for the 400's, Bobby just said to run "fast - whatever that means to you and your body tonight." Well, based on the difficulty I had with the warm-up, I wasn't sure how fast my fast was going to be. But, all was not lost. We did 2 sets of 3 400's with 400 recovery = 3 miles total. My splits for the fast 400's were: Set 1 = 1:52, 1:49, 1:55; Set 2 = 1:52, 1:48; 1:50. This is comparable to the times I ran for 400's at a hard effort during a different type of workout two weeks ago (1:48-1:56).

Thursday, September 18: OFF

Switched my off day tomorrow with today. 

Friday, September 19: 4 miles (treadmill)

Easy 4 miles on the treadmill. Had some tingling/numbness in my right foot while running, which is usually an indication that my calf is tight.

K and I are doing a half-marathon on Sunday, so I am not running tomorrow morning. It's so nice to have a Friday evening where we don't have to eat pasta and then I have to go to bed super early to run in the morning! 

Week 20 Total: 40 miles