Last week was low-key. was mostly trying to get well, so I skipped or abbreviated a couple of runs. I did end the week on a high note with a really strong mid-distance run, which was also my last double digit training run of the cycle.
Wednesday – I didn’t do jack Monday or Tuesday so by Wednesday I was getting anxious. It was rather nice outside, but I ran inside on the treadmill because I thought it would be less taxing on my bronchioles. I was still coughing a lot but I manage to crank out two miles without hacking up a lung. I also did some light lifting and my obligatory 30 pushups.
Thursday – The exalted Plan called for 4×1600 @ 8:17 with 800 recovery jogs for a total of 7. I walked the warmup and cooldown portions and managed to do 3×1600 with only one of them coming anywhere near the intended pace, for a total of 5. I didn’t cough much, but I felt really depleted and weak. However, I felt like I had to do SOMETHING.
Sunday – I took Friday and Saturday completely off and by Sunday I felt like I was strong enough to do the 12 my plan called for without prolonging my illness. I decided to throw in the four GMP miles that I didn’t get to do last week. I felt really good. Really strong. I did have a massive coughing fit as soon as I stopped running but whatever.
So let’s talk about GMP…
I have sort of an informal tradition of not sharing my goal pace until after the race and let’s just say I don’t trust what McMillan says I am capable of. But I ran miles 4-8 of Sunday’s 12 @ 9:30ish.
However, I KNOW I’m not going to run the marathon at this pace because a) I don’t have the balls to start out at this pace, b) I have not run enough miles at this pace to get comfortable with it and c) I just don’t have enough experience with the marathon distance to accurately gauge my potential, so going out conservatively I think is my best bet. I may finish wondering whether or not I could have gone out faster, but at least I won’t be crying and limping and hating myself at mile 20. (I mean, I might be doing that anyway. But at least it won’t be because I went out at a 9:30 pace.)
That’s about all I’ve got for now. I’ll probably be back with more neurotic crippling self-doubt later on.
Cheaper Than Therapy 