T-Minus 28 Days and Counting. . .
We were in Madison this weekend to do our 15 miles this morning. Great to have somewhere different to run as the streets of Rockford get a bit boring week after week. It's also Ironman Wisconsin weekend in the Mad City so the vibe on the Isthmus and around Lake Monona was electric as we saw many triathletes getting in a last swim/bike/run before the big day tomorrow.
Our plan was to leave my sister's house and do a straight out and back, 7.5 miles each way. Temps were good as we shoved off at 7 a.m. Cool and clear, at least to start. Picked off the first few miles on autopilot as I waited for my body to warm up. We hit Monona Terrace at about 5 miles and took some Gatorade and a gel. Felt really good at that point as we headed into some interesting lakefront neighborhoods.
Almost like clockwork, I was feeling awesome at about 6 miles as I finally warmed up. Our pace was holding steady at about 9:30 or so, slightly fast but not too problematic. Jen began having some issues at around 6.5 with a tight IT band that's been giving her some problems lately. We separated before we hit the turnaround and she took a break to get it stretched out while I kept going. Finally caught up to her back at Monona where she'd decided to call my sister and get a ride back to minimize the chances of any major injury. She finished about 11.5 miles so it wasn't too big of a deal on the mileage end. She'll be treating it this week and doesn't seem too concerned.
I kept pressing and, as it turned out, my suffering from mile 10 to the end was due to the quick pace I was holding. Did the last 5 miles in about 9:25 pace, with the last mile in 8:55, to bring in the 15 miles in 2:20:30, much faster than I would have anticipated. That pace was much quicker than we'll do the race, most likely, and it's what led to the struggle in those last 5 miles.
However, as I told Jen later, sometimes it's OK to have these kinds of runs. I was struggling in the last 3 miles and was very tempted to walk a bit numerous times. Each time I just told myself to get to the next block, mailbox, fire hydrant, etc., and each time I did the urge passed. Being able to hold that pace for about 15 miles bodes well for our last month of training.
Another tough week this week as we're set for 6 x 1200 intervals; 5 mile tempo run and then the big 20 miler in Chicago on Sunday. Read more about that here.
Minor notes:
*Having incredible soreness after the long runs in the upper connective tissue where my leg connects to my foot. Been icing it well and it usually goes away within a day or so. Kind of a mystery, though, as to what's causing it.
*Been having a few struggles in the last couple of weeks with eating the right thing on the night before our long runs. Been doing the pasta thing but had noticed that that was giving me some GI issues so had throttled that back a bit in favor of a little more protein. Laid off the pasta again last night and had Cheerios and some cinnamon bread for breakfast before the run. Took three gels and that seemed to keep my stomach full and energy level up.
*As I mentioned yesterday, we'll be re-focusing on our cross-training this week, as I think that will help the legs stay fresh.
Our plan was to leave my sister's house and do a straight out and back, 7.5 miles each way. Temps were good as we shoved off at 7 a.m. Cool and clear, at least to start. Picked off the first few miles on autopilot as I waited for my body to warm up. We hit Monona Terrace at about 5 miles and took some Gatorade and a gel. Felt really good at that point as we headed into some interesting lakefront neighborhoods.
Almost like clockwork, I was feeling awesome at about 6 miles as I finally warmed up. Our pace was holding steady at about 9:30 or so, slightly fast but not too problematic. Jen began having some issues at around 6.5 with a tight IT band that's been giving her some problems lately. We separated before we hit the turnaround and she took a break to get it stretched out while I kept going. Finally caught up to her back at Monona where she'd decided to call my sister and get a ride back to minimize the chances of any major injury. She finished about 11.5 miles so it wasn't too big of a deal on the mileage end. She'll be treating it this week and doesn't seem too concerned.
I kept pressing and, as it turned out, my suffering from mile 10 to the end was due to the quick pace I was holding. Did the last 5 miles in about 9:25 pace, with the last mile in 8:55, to bring in the 15 miles in 2:20:30, much faster than I would have anticipated. That pace was much quicker than we'll do the race, most likely, and it's what led to the struggle in those last 5 miles.
However, as I told Jen later, sometimes it's OK to have these kinds of runs. I was struggling in the last 3 miles and was very tempted to walk a bit numerous times. Each time I just told myself to get to the next block, mailbox, fire hydrant, etc., and each time I did the urge passed. Being able to hold that pace for about 15 miles bodes well for our last month of training.
Another tough week this week as we're set for 6 x 1200 intervals; 5 mile tempo run and then the big 20 miler in Chicago on Sunday. Read more about that here.
Minor notes:
*Having incredible soreness after the long runs in the upper connective tissue where my leg connects to my foot. Been icing it well and it usually goes away within a day or so. Kind of a mystery, though, as to what's causing it.
*Been having a few struggles in the last couple of weeks with eating the right thing on the night before our long runs. Been doing the pasta thing but had noticed that that was giving me some GI issues so had throttled that back a bit in favor of a little more protein. Laid off the pasta again last night and had Cheerios and some cinnamon bread for breakfast before the run. Took three gels and that seemed to keep my stomach full and energy level up.
*As I mentioned yesterday, we'll be re-focusing on our cross-training this week, as I think that will help the legs stay fresh.
posted by W.S. Wuori at 11:19 PM
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