3/24 - 3/30

Mon: 3.5-miles, 6-miles
Tues: 5k on the track (21:00)
Wed: 3-miles, 6-miles
Thurs: 8-miles
Fri: 30min on exercise bike
Sat: 15-miles
Sun: 10-miles on the track (1:12)
Total: 57.5 miles

Up again Monday morning for some easy miles. I managed a 10+ min first mile this week... must not have been very motivated to get up that hill! The evening run went better, although our "warmup mile" was actually a "cooldown mile" owing to barely making it to the actual run because of traffic.

Tuesday was nasty to start with. It was cold, windy, and rainy when we left the parking lot and headed to the track. My legs were pretty much numb. I probably could have worn tights and been ok, but I thought I might have been a bit warm with a windbreaker, so I opted for shorts. Our workout was a 5k on the track at "tempo" pace. I've never run a 5k on a track. I was going to shoot for 7min/miles and see how that went. My first mile was a 6:40, and I came through the second in a little over 13:20. That was much faster than a few weeks ago, but the pace didn't seem that bad. I was starting to get tired through the third mile, but managed to keep myself distracted enough by trying to figure out if I wanted to tell myself x laps to go from the real finish line (the 200m mark) or the fake finish line (the 0m mark) and run a "surprise" 200m at the end. I never really resolved which was better, but Matt and I finished right at 21min. So, well under my "goal", and not a bad 5k. I would have killed to run that time in high school, and college for that matter (although, again, I never raced the 5000m). I also would have killed to run that for a 2-mile in high school (my PR being 13:48 since I've never run it again). Before the workout, I had contemplated doing another mile of "jog the corners and run the straightaways" since 7miles was my goal distance for the day, but called it quits because it was still cold and windy (even though it had stopped raining).

Wednesday was uneventful, but it was cold! I sincerely hope that is the last time I have to wear tights and a half-zip this spring. Thursday was also uneventful. It was warmer, which was nice. We decided not to do a tempo run being that must of us were feeling a little beat up. Matt and I went to the gym on Friday, and I kept the resistance low and cadence between 80-90rpm on the exercise bike. My hamstring and back have been tight, and that seemed to help. I've also been reading the book In Defense of Food, which is pretty interesting.

It was raining off and on Saturday morning, but at least it wasn't cold! The run wasn't too bad, but my back was definitely tight for the first couple of miles. I ran with Broll and Nicole for 10.5-miles, but I needed to get 15 in. I knew that if I went back to the car, it would be more difficult to keep going. Plus, the trees in Umstead were blocking the rain half decently. So, I decided to get some "hill work" in. I was really tired though... not my legs, but otherwise. Around mile 12 or 13, I made the decision that not having coffee before runs was doing more harm than good. My shoes were soaked at this point, and I could feel the pattern in my socks (however, the Bostons did well in rain, so that's good to know for Boston). Anyways, I slogged through the last bit of the run, but my hamstring/hip was bugging me.

Sunday's 10-miles on the track went well. It was a brisk November morning... except it was March. The wind was pretty good on the back straightaway. But, I kept a fairly consistent pace throughout. Walt and Matt ran with me for the first couple of miles, and Walt on and off after that (he was doing mile repeats). Matt jumped in at the end again, and Rita and Andrew joined us for the middle miles. So, I had company, which was nice. I was tired by the end though, although happy that I finished up in under marathon pace. It's so much easier to run on the track. I'm debating doing a 5k or 10k on the track at some point if I can find one. Anyways, I looked back at when I had done this workout for City of Oaks in 2012. I ran it in 1:11 then, this year was a 1:12. However, I only ran 10.5 miles the day before in 2012. Either way, that's semi-encouraging because I thought I was in good shape for City of Oaks.

So, pretty good week of training. And, I checked my last "marathon workout" off the list. I'm thinking about doing a 10k next weekend. It will be the first race I've done since the City of Oaks half marathon in the beginning of November! My back/hamstring/something is definitely tight though. So, I'm going to be cautious. 20 days...