During my last few rounds of training for marathons, I've noticed there's a period of time where I feel more tired, run-down, and seem to plateau. In fact, just maintaining a level of performance becomes more difficult. Then, at some point, I seem to have a breakthrough day... or few days... and suddenly, I'm at the next level and things are easier again. In my head, it's very much like the saying, "getting over the hump". After that, I make a lot of progress in a short amount of time and I seem to be able to maintain the improvements without a ton of effort.
I'm not there yet in my current round of training, but I think it isn't too far off.
I ran 5 miles today and didn't push myself very hard because I'm sandwiched between two days of running hills. But even while intentionally taking it easy, I could tell I'm in that uphill zone. I'm a little tired physically but it's as much a matter of being mentally sluggish as anything else. My mind was wandering a lot today but I'm not at that point that I'm running fast when I zone out and I didn't feel motivated to do much more than an easy run.
Hopefully, I'll get over the hump and move to the next level in the next week or two. If nothing else, having an easy week right before the half marathon should leave me feeling fresh after all of this dense training.
Speaking of dense training... today was also my chance to meet Liz at the Rec Center for a swim. We did our routine sets of 200 meter swims and planned to swim 1,000 meters all together. Unfortunately, Wednesdays get invaded by aqua-aerobics so we stopped at 800 meters so they could close two lap lanes for the aerobics class. But it was a good swim until we got pushed aside!
Wednesday
Goal For The Day: Middle Distance & Swim.
Run Distance: 4.96 Miles.
Time: 36:58. 7:27 Avg. (7:33, 7:22, 7:13, 7:41, 7:07*).
Route: Old Town Eureka w/ Cul-de-Sac & City Hall Exts.
Conditions: 57 degrees. 7:27AM.
Swim Distance: 800 meters. (4 x 200m).
Location: Fenton Rec Center Indoor Pool.
Notes: Today was a good example of feeling awkward in the morning. I think this run would have gone better later in the day. I just never felt like I really woke up. It was nice to swim with Liz again. It's been a couple of weeks because I've been going to the track workouts.
Daily Miles: 4.96 Miles.
2012 Totals:
Run - 339.63 Miles.
Bike - 0.00 Miles.
Swim - 8,250 meters.
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