So, the week of April 1st through April 7th was technically
the second of three weeks of the taper.
Personally, I don’t feel the Pfitzinger training plan starts the taper until
there are about 10 days left because the long run this week is still long and
there is a very challenging workout in the middle of this week.
Yet, the reduced mileage was noticeably enjoyable. Aches and pains subsided, workouts
became effortless, and my confidence grew. Unfortunately, as my body adjusted to more rest and less
strain on itself, it reacted by picking up a cold. Literally, 10 days out from my marathon, I was light-headed
with itchy eyes, scratchy throat, and nasal congestion. I was determined to fight it from all
angles, so I took about five different at-home remedies and over-the-counter
medications.
The last thing I needed was something else to stress
over. But, this illness was just
the start of it as you’ll find out in the next entry.
Here is my training for the past week (Apr 1 – Apr 7).
Ran at Ada Hayden on only the flat loops. It was very hot on this run. I stopped to re-hydrate four different
times. I ran the first eight miles
easy at 7:18 pace and the last nine miles hard by myself at 6:20 pace. Total: 17 miles – 1:55:34 (6:48 pace)
The next day was even hotter. I did a recovery run to Carr Pool and then through Nutty
Woods to take advantage of the shade.
It barely helped because it was very humid as well. Total: 6 miles – 45:52 (7:39 pace)
Tuesday was a track meet in Waukee. We got home at 10:30 that night and I
was at risk for breaking my streak of running that dates back to November
17th. I was able to get out and do
my scheduled 8-mile aerobic run with 8x100m strides. Afterwards, I was awake until almost 2:00 AM partially
because of a warm body from the run and partially because of excitement from
the race. This lost night of sleep
was very likely was the start of my illness. Total: 8 miles – 53:11 (6:39 pace).
The next day was another recovery run. I did a big loop around NE Ames. Total: 6 miles – 44:40 (7:27 pace).
Thursday was the last hard workout of the training
plan. It was 3 x mile repeats at
5k race pace with a half-mile recovery jog in between. I ran these at the Ames High
track. The repeats took
5:01-5:06-5:07. Each recovery jog
only took four minutes. I fully
believe I could have done another mile repeat if I had taken an eight-minute
recovery jog after the third. This
was very reassuring and had me very excited to race. Total: 9 miles – 58:54 (6:33 pace)
Friday, I ran an aerobic run with Courtney as part of her
long run. For being post-track
workout, I was surprised to have felt as comfortable as I did on the run. Total: 8 miles – 56:35 (7:04 pace)
Saturday was supposed to be a recovery run, but I helped
with some hill sprints at Moore Park.
It wasn’t ideal for my training plan, but I ultimately substituted them
as “strides” for my workout although they were much longer than merely 100m
strides. Total: 7.5 miles – 59:22
(7:55 pace)
For the week (Sun-Sat), I hit 61.5 miles in 7:14:08 or
7:04/mile.
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