Too Much Tapering

This isn't exactly how tapering is supposed to go.

I haven't run since last Saturday. Oops. With the boat race and a day full of friends on Sunday, I didn't bother to go for a run. Then I went with the guys for nine holes of golf Monday morning (turns out I'm still not good at golf), and spent the afternoon soaking up as much family time as I could. When I got home Monday night, my allergies exploded and I slept about 3 hours that night so a morning run on Tuesday was out.

The rest of the week has been busy with work and baby stuff (birthing class, doctor check-up, meeting our pediatrician), but the bottom line is, once I got past Tuesday, I didn't want to do any running that would take away from Saturday. So here I am on Thursday with absolutely no running in the past five days.

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At least my legs should be nice and rested by Saturday!

Thursday
Goal For The Day: Rest.
Distance: 0.00 Miles.

Notes: On the bright side, it's getting cooler as the week goes on and the race-time temperature is supposed to be in the 50's!!!

Daily Miles: 0.00 Miles.
2012 Totals:
  Run - 403.40 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 8,250 meters.

A Short Long Run Gets Me To 400 Miles.

I couldn't have asked for a more relaxing final long run for my training.

It's supposed to be in the mid-to-upper 90's today and tomorrow but even at 78 degrees, this morning's run felt pretty comfortable. I didn't push the pace too hard and there was a very nice breeze keeping me cool so I cruised through two laps around the Lake.

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The first lap was very consistent right under 7 minutes per mile and then I eased off for the last couple of miles. I'm supposed to be tapering, after all. I Love running down here. Catching glimpses of the Lake during the loop and then running across the dam... it doesn't get much better.

Today was also a test run for a new piece of gear. I had to buy some more duct tape for my boat yesterday and while I was in the hardware section, I saw a stand full of sunglasses that claimed to "block out dust, wind, and allergens". They have a strip of foam padding around the frames that basically keep them in contact with your face. They were only $10 so I grabbed a pair hoping they would help eliminate the painful sting of sweat in my eyes that I get on really hot days.

These things worked like a charm! They aren't the coolest looking sunglasses and it took me a little while to get used to them touching my face, but I didn't get a single drop of sweat in my eyes! If it's this hot next weekend, I'm definitely wearing them during the half marathon.

Saturday
Goal For The Day: Long Run.
Distance: 6.32 Miles.
Time: 46:36. 7:22 Avg. (6:56, 6:58, 7:17, 7:15, 7:49, 7:49, 2:28*).
Route: 2 x Lake Loop.
Conditions: 78 degrees. 9:26AM.
Run Details On Garmin

Notes: It's nice when my 'long run' is only 6 miles! Tomorrow is the big boat race. I'll probably count rowing my boat as a workout so I have an excuse to take the day off from running! I'll pick it up again on Monday.

Daily Miles: 6.32 Miles.
2012 Totals:
  Run - 403.40 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 8,250 meters.

Four Day Weekend!

I took the day off of work to run some errands and get things ready for our trip to the Lake. But like a good little runner, I didn't take the day off from FiveFingers Friday!

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(I found this book through my usual Google image search...

now I really want it on my bookshelf!)

Before I got to the rest of today's to-do list, I went over to the track for one last sprint session in my FiveFingers before next week's race. I jogged a little warm-up and then ran a mile of sprinting the straight-aways and jogging the curves. I didn't quite go all out today since I'm supposed to be tapering, but I still got up to speed and stretched my stride out. Going fast just feels too good in these shoes... I couldn't resist opening it up a little!

Friday
Goal For The Day: Speedwork.
Distance: 2.00 Miles.
Time: Untimed.
Route: Eureka H.S. Track.
Conditions: 74 degrees. 7:00AM.

Notes: 0.5 mile warm-up. 1 Mile of UCLA 100's. 0.5 mile cool-down. Getting warmer... literally and figuratively!

Daily Miles: 2.00 Miles.
2012 Totals:
  Run - 397.08 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 8,250 meters.

Final Doom

This is the last time I'll be running the Never Ending Hill Of Doom for a while. The Hill doesn't intimidate me as much as it used to and I'll still work it into my training from time to time, but I think I'll take a break from it after today.

I won't be running any hill repeats next week so this is my last hill-centric workout before the race. Even though I'm running The Hill, I'm cutting back as part of my taper so I only ran up it twice today.

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Maybe it was because I knew I only had to do it twice, but I seemed to have an easier time attacking The Hill today. I pushed myself more than I have the last couple of times I ran here and I still felt pretty comfortable. (As comfortable as you can running up a long, steep hill.)

Maybe all of this hill work is paying off and I'll be ready to face the hills on race day!

Thursday
Goal For The Day: Hill Repeats.
Distance: 3.97 Miles.
Time: 31:14. 7:52 Avg. (7:00, 7:18, 8:42, 8:12*).
Route: 2 x Never Ending Hill Of Doom.
Conditions: 70 degrees. 7:28AM.
Run Details On Garmin

Notes: The temperature has been creeping up every morning this week and Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be in the mid-90's. I hope there's another cool-down on the way after that. Gulp!

Daily Miles: 3.97 Miles.
2012 Totals:
  Run - 397.08 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 8,250 meters.

Winding Down

Less than two weeks until I run Hospital Hill and it's time to back off of my training.

This week will still be the basic schedule I've been following but I'll be backing off of the distance and number of hills as the first stage of my taper. Then I'll get in a couple of easy runs early next week before resting completely the few days before the race.

Today was Top Notch Tuesday but I cut back to only 4 repeats. I took the jog before and after the repeats nice and easy but tried to push myself on the sprints up the hill. After all of the hills I've been running, four times up Top Notch feels like a very short workout, which is good because I can tell I need the recovery time.

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I've been feeling a little drained the past week or two and I'm hoping the reduced workload will help me bounce back in time for the race.
Tuesday
Goal For The Day: Hill Repeats.
Distance: 2.93 Miles.
Time: 25:42. 8:45 Avg. (8:17, 9:06, 8:17*).
Route: 4 x Top Notch.
Conditions: 54 degrees. 7:26AM.
Run Details on Garmin

Notes: I'm Loving the temps in the mid-50's. I would take this on race day, for sure!

Daily Miles: 2.93 Miles.
2012 Totals:
  Run - 388.01 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 8,250 meters.