Week Recap: 5 to go

As hard as it was to back off the gas, I dialed back the mileage and the intensity this week in order to be fresh for the New York City Half Marathon. Although it isn't the goal race, a solid effort and a PR was necessary as a fitness indicator and a confidence booster.

Runs: 7 (no doubles)

Mileage: 69.3 miles

Workouts: 2

Long Run: 21.1 miles (half marathon in 1:11:19)

Hours: 7.62

Monday --Miles: 9 (6:38 pace) Course: West Side Highway. Felt fantastic on this run. Beautiful weather in the mid 60s. It was like I was floating up the West Side Highway to Riverside Park and back.

Tuesday -- Miles: 9 (6:19 pace - Fartlek) Course: West Side Highway. With a massage in Brooklyn immediately following work, I had no choice but to start this one at 4:05am. Jerry had me doing 1000, 800, 600, 600, 400 , 400 with full rest at VO2 max pace, but since it was too early to get to a track, I did 2 miles warmup, 3:10 hard (1:30), 1:50 (1:10), 1:50 (1:10), 1:15 (:45), 1:15 (:45), then I did 6X :30 on :30 off. Workout was done totally on feel and felt pretty good for how early it was.

Wednesday -- Miles: 9 (6:44 pace) Course: West Side Highway. I definitely felt the soreness from last night's massage on this one. Still, another awesome night. I ran to South Ferry and back.

Thursday -- Miles: 8 (7:07 pace) Course: Chelsea Mini Track. Lauren finished up her midterms today, so I wanted to bang out my workout then take her on a date night. Since the plan was to do 12-14X200, I decided I could do that in my neighborhood. Got in four miles easy on the West Side Highway and then headed over to the little 250 meter, three lane track on 27th and 10th. Did 14 X what I think was 200 all in 34 seconds. Jogged about 50 meters as recovery between each one. Then, took off my shoes and did barefoot drills on the soccer field.

Friday -- Miles: 7 (7:10 pace) Course: West Side Highway. Time to ease off. Went very easy down the West Side Highway with Heidi. It was good to catch up with her.

Saturday -- Miles: 6.23 (6:38 pace) Course: West Side Highway. Absolutely fantastic weather, but I hope it's a little cooler than this tomorrow. Ran to the marina and back, then did 6 strides on 21st Street. I think I spent too much time on the West Side Highway this week. I took an ice bath immediately following the run.

Sunday -- Miles: 21.1 Course: 8th Avenue, NYC Half Marathon Course, West Side Highway. Run and day detailed here . 5k - 16:40, 10k - 33:31 (three second pr), 15k - 50:27 (50 second pr). 20k - 1:07:36.

As of this writing, I am very sore. I need to make sure I don't forget there are four more weeks left of training. Sunday's race was beyond my expectations. Now, it's time to capitalize on the fitness, put in two more solid weeks and then taper for Boston.