Weekly Recap

Another week, almost another 38 miles. Training is going okay (at 124 miles for March!). Some of my runs are actually purposeful! I am feeling confident that I can PR in Athens next month, although sub-2 still seems a bit out of reach. We'll see.

Monday: 2-mile treadmill walk (after Sunday's 15k, I needed a break)
Tuesday: pilates + 3 miles easy with CP, 1.5-mile run with No Boundaries 5k group
Wednesday: 4.5-mile run (pub run!) with 3 miles around 9, the rest going out to pick  up people from the half-marathon group
Thursday: 5 miles easy with Aaron and Katy
Friday: solo strength session + 4.5 miles easy on the treadmill at the gym
Saturday: 7+ miles with NoBo and the HM group
Sunday: 10 miles with the last 3 at race pace (all 3 under 8:50 so a little faster than race pace actually)

Let's talk a bit about this morning's run. A coworker and sincerely good runner told CP that she should do her long run with 7 miles easy and 3 at goal pace. So I figured I'd do it too. Last night, I probably drank too much (I won't list it out, but just know I should have had one fewer beer) so I wasn't feeling too confident, particularly about dropping the pace for the last 3 miles. We met this morning at the Towpath in Peninsula. A couple of people were only in it for a short run, so it was just me, CP and Aaron for the second half of the run. So we ran south 2.5 miles and back and then north for 2.5 and back.

Aaron and CP were a bit ahead of me on the second half, but they stopped to regroup before doing the 3 fast miles. I just picked  up the pace, and it wasn't easy. But also, not debilitating. I clocked in at 8:50, 8:47 and 8:49, I think, so I'm happy with that. Whether I can do it for 13.1 miles is a whole 'nother story.

I figure this upcoming week will be similar. Obviously Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday are group runs where it's hard to plan. Tuesday mornings, actually, are easy to plan - pilates at 6:30 a.m. followed by a short, easy run. I'm hoping to do 13 next Sunday, and I'll probably do another run where I finish faster. I think that's good practice. And then I'll probably back off the mileage a bit to taper for Athens. I'm hoping well-rested legs will help me do well. God knows, they're tired right now.