With last week’s training marking six weeks to Boston, I am thought I would chronicle the countdown to the big race by doing weekly recaps. After the race is over, we will know whether it is a guide to what to do, or a guide to what NOT to do when preparing for a PR.
Runs: 10
Mileage: 95.4
Workouts: 2
Long Run: 17 miles
Hours: 11.01
Monday – Miles: 12 (6:55), Course: West Side Highway. I ran four on my own before running into Josh and heading back in the opposite direction. Wind from the North was strong and slowed down the pace. The legs felt good despite running a 15:51 5K the day before. Doing an 8 mile recovery run in the afternoon after the race was probably a good move.
Tuesday – Miles: 12.4, Course: Harlem Hills. This was a hill repeat workout with the Urban Athletic team. We started at the base of the Harlem Hills section of the park loop at the traverse, ran 1.13 miles to the other side of the traverse, then jogged a quarter mile back as a rest. Times for the repeats were 6:02 (5:27 mile), 6:02 (5:27 mile) and 5:50 (5:14 mile). Going into this workout, I wasn’t expecting to work hard, but it ended up being much tougher and therefore much more satisfying than I anticipated. The Harlem Hills are no joke and I’ll need to tackle them in the upcoming NYC Half Marathon.
Wednesday – AM Miles: 9 (7:15) Course: West Side Highway. The only thing notable about this run was the size of the moon and the noticeable lack of other people on this popular running spot at 4:20 in the morning. Also, the SXSW Preview Show on “All Songs Considered” introduced me to some awesome new bands. My legs felt surprisingly good despite the hard workout just hours before. PM Miles: 5 (7:00) Course: West Side Highway. This was just an easy shakeout. The weather was beautiful, but my stomach was not enjoying my lunch choice.
Thursday – AM Miles: 5 (7:16) Course: West Side Highway. All I wrote in my log for this one was “ugh”. I think the 4:25am start was a little harder to handle than yesterdays. PM Miles: 13.5 (6:52) Course: Central Park Big Loop. With a workout planned for Saturday, I skipped the team workout and just did a medium long run with Josh and Kevin for a few miles before he split for the workout. My quads were pretty torn up from the hills, but that was to be expected.
Friday – Miles: 5.0 (7:11) Course: West Side Highway. This was my third straight day of running during the 4am hour. Fortunately, it was planned to be a much deserved easy day. With a flight to Charlotte in the evening, this would be my only miles of the day.
Saturday -- CHARLOTTE! AM Miles: 11. Course: McAlpine Creek Greenway. This was the much anticipated and already recapped workout with Paul. The workout called for 2 miles @ 10:30, 4x400 @ 75, 2 miles at 10:30. Although it was billed by some as the battle between USA and Britain, we really worked together to hit the prescribed times. The results were right on target. We ran 10:26, 73, 72, 72, 75 (running into the wind) and then 10:27. The effort was draining, but always good to share some tough miles with Paul. PM Miles: 5.5 (7:32) Course: Providence Road Area. Afternoon shakeout run with Paul and Aaron. It was so awesome out. The run was very easy and more for catching up than anything else.
Sunday – CHARLOTTE Miles: 17 (7:17) Course: McAlpine Creek Greenway. This kind of run is what I miss most about Charlotte. There was a huge group at McAlpine at 8am on a Sunday morning, ready to run. I was able to back Caitlin into a corner on this one. She wanted to run at 9, but since she was my ride and I wanted to run at 8, she had to get up earlier. This long run was a little slower and a little shorter than previous weeks because of the upcoming half marathon.
On deck: A down week capped with the NYC Half Marathon!
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