Recent Workouts + One More Week Until the Boston Marathon!

One week from today and I’ll be done with the Boston Marathon!! My second taper week is done, and while I’m still not feeling well rested, I can tell my body is working towards it. I slept ten hours on Friday night and nine hours on Saturday night!

Holy crap guys, the Boston Marathon is ONE week away!!!! I cannot believe it! On the one hand, my training has flown by, but on the other, there were times that it felt like training would never end. My training plan has a 3 week taper, and last week was the middle week. And since I very likely won’t blog a weekly workout recap next Monday (ha! race day!), I’ll blog tomorrow about what my workout plan is for this final week leading up to the race. But, in the meantime, here’s what last week’s workouts looked like!

Oh, and can we talk about what Winston is looking like lately? All the trees in bloom are gorgeous!! Granted, I can’t stop sneezing but at least it’s pretty!

Last week’s training, one week before my marathon!

M – REST

T – 7.6 miles, 8:02 pace – General Aerobic + 6 strides

While I prefer morning runs almost always, I’ve really loved evening runs lately with Christian and Kim. The weather has been beautiful in the evenings (vs. the mornings which are still kind of cold) and it’s such a nice way to unwind after a busy day. I rushed home from Charlotte, and after a full day of training (including an hour presentation I led) and fighting traffic, this run was just what I needed.

W – 7.6 miles, 8:05 pace – V02 max intervals, 3×1600 @ 5K pace.

Holy moly, this workout was not very fun. There were 20 mph winds and even worse gusts, which made it hard to hit my goal pace of 6:30-6:40. But hey, it was nice when it was at my back! 😉

Th – REST/Massage

I got a massage to help flush any soreness left from hard training and racing, and thankfully my masseuse totally gets running. His brother has run 30+ marathons and runs around a 2:40 marathon, no big deal. My quads were much sorer than normal (thanks to the hilly 5KI ran last week) but I felt much better by the end. He also suggested lots of epsom salt baths in the next week so I ordered this giant bag.

F – 5.7 miles, 8:25 pace (recovery miles with Christian) + needling

I am so grateful for Christian’s friendship throughout my training. She’s been a gem to just go along for the ride, no matter what I have planned that day. There are lots of days that I know she would go faster but she stays with me and my tired legs. I had my final needling session at Breakthrough Physical Therapy during lunch on Friday and Cheryl said that my hip was abnormally tight but that my hamstring feels good and she didn’t feel any major issues. WAHOO!

Sa – 10.2 miles, 8:27 pace – last long run before Boston!

I typically start my weekend runs around 6:30, but I intentionally ran later – at 11 am – to test fueling for a later start given that my wave at Boston doesn’t start until 10:50 am. I’m really glad I did this because I learned that I need to eat earlier than I did since I felt my toast + honey + banana for the first 5 miles, ick! I ate at about 9:45 on Saturday and I think on race day, I’ll eat my second breakfast around 9:00. (I plan to wake up much earlier and have a first breakfast around 7 am.)

This run was also a perfect trial run for the weather I’ll have in Boston since the conditions were almost identical to what is forecasted – 50 degrees & rain. I was much too warm in long-sleeves so now I feel even more comfortable with my choice to wear short sleeves (or maybe a tank). It’s supposed to be windy on race day, but thankfully I had LOTS of practice with that in my training!

Su – REST

Total Miles: 31.2

How I’m Feeling: Running felt… weird… last week. I definitely didn’t feel recovered or well-rested, and all my runs just felt sluggish. My knees felt weird (likely from my tight quads) and I’ve been really tired. Case in point: I slept TEN hours on Friday night I think this is all pointing to the fact that my body is resting up and starting to recovery to feel fresh on race day. I hope, I hope! 🙂

Thank you all so, SO much for your support and kind words throughout my Boston Marathon training! It means more than you know, and I know that if I struggle on race day that thinking of your support will help push me. Last year, when I ran Wrightsville Beach and qualified for Boston, I actually thought of my blog readers when I was really suffering around mile 23 – knowing y’all were cheering me on from afar gave me a boost I needed! I’m so grateful for all of you!! If you have any words of advice or encouragement, I would LOVE to hear them in the comments so I can think of them on race day! (Is that cheesy? ha! Maybe, but I actually would love that!)