Week 12 is over, it’s taper time! But before all the relaxing begins, take a look at what I did this week:
- Monday: 3 mile easy treadmill run followed by spinning. Did Level 4, rolling hills program on the treadmill, and felt pretty good. Sunday’s rest day was good for my legs, but spinning was tough and felt like it lasted forever.
- Tuesday: 5 mile run with first and last mile at an easy effort, and the middle 3 miles at race effort. I’m pretty confident I will be running the race by feel, not pace, so I’m practicing this technique whenever I get the chance. Stretched and foam rolled as well. (Avg. pace: 9:11/mile)
- Wednesday: Speed day – 10 x 400m intervals on the treadmill. This was far tougher than any interval session has been for me this training cycle. Probably because of yesterday’s pace run. (Avg. pace: 8:57/mile)
- Thursday: Easy run to the grocery store. Total 3 miles. Stretching and foam rolling. (Avg. pace: 9:36/mile)
- Friday: Rest Day. Didn’t go to spinning; didn’t feel like it, but it was probably good for my tired legs.
- Saturday: Long Run – 13 miles. It was a great last long run. I’m looking forward to race day. Also, did stretching, foam rolling, and strength exercises. (Avg. pace: 9:50/mile)
Long run success!
- Sunday: Rest Day. Did some stretching and strength exercises. I started a the 30 day ab challenge. It’s not terribly extensive, but hopefully it’ll get me in the routine of doing some sort of strength exercise.
This is how I did on my goals last week:
Long Run: 13 milesCheck!Speed Work – 10x400m intervalsCheck!Easy Runs: (2) – 3 mile + 5 mileCheck!Pace Run: 3 mileCheck!Strength – OnceCheck!Stretch & Foam Roll – 3 timesCheck!- Spinning Twice Only Once
This week I’m starting to taper for the half. I don’t usually get the taper crazies, and I think I’ll probably be fine this time too. This week’s plan is to lower my mileage, while keeping some of the intensity:
- Long Run: 6 miles
- Speed Work – 30 min tempo
- Easy Runs: (2) – 3 mile + 4 mile
- Strength – 30-day Ab Challenge
- Stretch & Foam Roll – 4 times
You’ll notice that spinning isn’t on this list. I haven’t really enjoyed spinning lately, so that’s off the list for now. We’ll see what happens.
Let's Go Running 
Great job! Are you still aiming for sub-2? I was just chatting with another friend about altering goals. I went into this season wanting to PR everything, but my goals seem to have shifted. I am sort of okay with that – who knows what my half will be like in 2 weeks (where i REALLY wanted to PR), but it’s almost like I don’t care. I just want to have a strong race and whatever happens, happens!
Am I still aiming for a sub-2? Well, that’s a tough question. I’ve done really well with my training, and put in all the work, but I”m not confident that it will be enough. I’m hoping that if the day is nice and my legs feel strong, I can run hard, and the time will just kind of happen.
I think you can do it! Sometimes the mental aspect of running intimidates me. I think that is one aspect I need to work on…the second I doubt myself is the moment races start to go wrong! But then at the same time, sometimes reality is just that we aren’t prepared to hit all our goals…BUT I think this is a goal you can hit!
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I had a sub 2 goal earlier this year that I worked a long time for and got it! You can do it!!
P.S. I nominated you for the Liebster Award 🙂 Hope you accept it and pass it on! http://hellyontherun.com/2014/04/15/liebster-award-part-deux/