Marathon Training week 7 recap

     My first 20 mile run was a success by all accounts and I wish I could look forward to my cut back week with a long run of only 12 miles, but I will be on a work trip most of next week and I will be on my feet all day long for three solid days.  I won't have time or access to a scale so no Wednesday weigh in post next week.  This week definitely had its share of ups and downs.  This week saw my first and successful attempt at a 20 mile long run, but it also saw my first break in my training plan.

Sunday:

     The temp was a bit cooler but the humidity was still up.  The sky was completely overcast and a light rain fell a couple of times on me.  I just couldn't get my pace going much faster than low 9s.  I wanted to do a 8:55ish pace but my body just wouldn't do it this time.  I ran my "hills" route which for me, here in the mid west, my hills are considered speed bumps most other places.  I did get a big spurt of energy when whiplash from Metallica came over my headphones and my pace swung to a 8:40, but I couldn't sustain it.  I always try to push myself a little bit on the last mile so I can feel like I finished strong and this run was no exception.  I didn't take any water or nutrition on this run and I think in hindsight I should have even for such a short run in this humidity.  When I got back I stretched out and did my push ups.
     - 2 sets of 15 pushups

Monday:

    Today was my off day from running.  I ended up watching the Browns horrible MNF performance at Frickers.  

Tuesday:

     I am starting to notice that its staying darker longer for these morning runs.  I was all alone on the trail for 3/4s of my run when a lone bicyclist passed me in my 5th mile.  My head wasn't really into this run, but it went smooth and my legs felt pretty good.  I wore my higher mileage shoes and I can start to tell they are getting to the end of their running career.  The biggest issue I had this morning was spider webs, 5 or 6 single strand webs were draped across the path right at face height which was really annoying.  When I got back I was going to do pushups but I decided to do triceps dips instead. 
- 2 sets of 15 dips

Wednesday:

     Wow what a run, long and hot it was (#).  I took a new modified route that I mapped out last night using a lot of the bike path.  It was rather comfortable when I left but as the time progressed with the sun beating down on me, the heat really got to me.  My initial goal was just not to drop below a 10 min per mile avg on each mile.  I started out a little quicker then I would have liked or thought I would and once I saw how a 9:45ish pace was quickly becoming the norm I tried to keep it close to that as much as possible.  The first 4 miles was mostly shaded from the trees on the bike path but after that, it was all sun baking down on me.  Then I hit the path again at mile 14 and had a couple more miles of shade before the sun was back.

     Today's run not only was a training run but turned into a animal adventure run as well.  First I came across what I believed to be a fox or a very small coyote.  I got about 25 feet from it before it realized I was there and took off.  A little later a very large bullmastiff came out just to say hello to me, thank God.  After that not much happened till the last few miles when I came across a tiny praying mantis, a tiny lizard, wild turkeys and a couple of large white ducks. 

     On today's run I felt like my pace was pretty steady throughout but I had an issue on mile 10 as you can see from the chart.  To be honest I almost had to walk to get my pace on my watch to slow down.  All I can think of was I was running next to a cell tower, and when I mean next to, I mean I could have thrown a rock and hit it.  I am guessing that might have played a small part of it.  At one point my watch said I was running an 8:45 pace, not a freaking chance.

     Nutrition worked well again, no GI issues of any kind, the biggest problem I had was when I ate the second granola bar.  I had quite the cotton mouth going on and it made it a little hard to eat.  I may have to rethink that idea, but I wasn't feeling hungry during my run like I did on my 17 miler.  I also changed up my pre run meal.  I had two slices of white bread with a little bit of smart balance butter sprinkled with cinnamon and Truvia, 3 Tricuits, one bottle of water and my pills. 

     My legs were pretty freaking tired when I got done.  Despite what my pace shows, my legs were felt like jello at mile 16 for some reason.  I think I was hitting a mental barrier and once I switched up my songs and told myself that 4 more miles is nothing, I seemed to loosen up a little and was able to push though to the end.  I am assuming this fatigue is solely based on my training and while I understand the marathon will be long and grueling process I am sure I will feel the way I did at mile 22 or 24 instead of at 16. 

     Again it was nice to see my pace quicken for the last mile.  I sure my body is leaving something in the tank for me to be able to do that, but I also think its me saying this is the last mile let's just get this over with.  I always throw on a faster paced set of songs for the last mile so I am sure that aided in my rebound as well.

Thursday:
     Had a long day on my feet at work, a 12 hour shift that left me feeling rundown and tired.  I had a bad headache and felt a cold coming on so I took niquil and went to bed.

Friday:

     Life and training finally collided, and after yesterday I chose not to run in the morning.  Mandy said no running after work either no matter how I felt.  I did feel better with a good nights sleep and some medicine in me.  I plan to get back to it tomorrow.

Saturday:

          It was very muggy out this morning.  I got what I thought was a good nights sleep but woke up tired again.  I forced myself to go out and run six long miles at an easy pace.  The first 2 1/2 were pretty hard and my legs just didn't want to cooperate.  The next mile legs felt better and my stride seemed to get easier, but that was short lived.  When I hit the 3 1/2 mile mark till the end my legs tightened up and made it tough to run.  I managed to pull through it though.  I did have one small scare on this early run, a bat flew out in front of me about 5 feet away which scared me enough to break stride.  It then flew the same direction as I was running for about 5 seconds or so then turned and exited out of the light my head lamp was giving off and back into the darkness.

Week 8 begins now

* For quick access to my entire Marathon training journal click the "Marathon Journal" tab just below the Running In The Fat Lane header