Carlsbad Marathon Week 7

Really need to come up with more interesting titles for these!

11/23/15 - 8 easy

Calves still sore from last Saturday's nonsense.  Somehow it got warm again so it was touch warmer out than I dreamed it could be.  Also for the same stupid reasons just ran too fast.  After a creaky first mile just sort of fell into a rhythm and that was it.  Already pre-looking forward to a Wednesday rest day this week.  Just gotta tackle tomorrow's carnage 6x1 mile with 400m RI which sounds dumb since I can run the whole 6 miles at pace so not sure what I'm going to do - maybe 3x2 or something.

With the HRM the question is now what should my heart rate zone be for the marathon.  Curious to maybe figure that out.  That would probably also help me pick a pace that's reasonable.

11/24/15 - 6 strength

Ok on the 'plan' this was supposed to be 6x1 mile with 400m RI at 10 seconds below marathon pace.  Since I'm still not sure what marathon pace actually is I just ran this slightly more than comfortably hard and just kept going for the whole 6 miles.  

I was under control (mostly!) and felt ok so just let it fly.  Weather was perfect AND I have my very first Wednesday rest day tomorrow.  Plus I really didn't want to stop every mile and jog for a quarter of a mile when I knew I could just get it done at the semi-proper pace.  Even though this did end up a bit too fast pace-wise it really felt ok.

The Big Challenge will be the tempo 8 on Thursday (Thanksgiving of all days!) to keep THAT at a reasonable pace - aka marathon pace.  Meanwhile rest day tomorrow, which is sort of too bad as I'd rather do an easy run tomorrow and rest on Friday...  Oh well this weekend will be tough enough with the 16 miler.

11/25/15 - REST

First Wednesday rest day - just lazed around Palm Desert eating.  Fun.

11/26/15 - 9 tempo

This was supposed to be 8 tempo, and slower.  Didn't really feel comfortable until around mile 6 - once I got to 8 I was in the groove and just wanted to hit 1 hour even - by then I was over 8.5 miles so thought I'd just hit 9 and be done.  Worked out well other than going too fast.  Was pretty flat and the temp was perfect.  Also it was Thanksgiving and some of my friends were crushing their Turkey Trots so wanted to get into the action too!

11/27/15 - 7 easy

Tried to take this easy - was pretty creaky the first several miles.  Very flat and very rectangle-y.

11/28/15 - 8 comfortable

Woke up and my lower back was SUPER SORE and STIFF.  Holy crap I could barely move.  My wife literally had to put on and tie my shoes and I could not.  Felt ok to stand up straight but any sort of bending over was WAY out of the question.  Was NOT sure if this run was even going to happen.  Had got give it a shot - was hoping if I could get moving my back would loosen up.  The first 200 yards or so were VERY creaky and stiff - kept going and very slowly my back loosened up.  Starting feeling decent around mile 5 maybe and was able to finish with a strong mile.  Very concerned about getting through the rest of the day let alone 16 tomorrow.

11/29/15 - 16 long

Back was stiff and sore all day yesterday but fortunately it was a bit better this morning so just went for it.  Super crazy flat - temps were perfect.  Brought 2 gu's - took one at 7 and the other at 13 - had no water unfortunately.  Gu's really helped I think.  Got into a rhythm miles 2-12 and then a slightly faster rhythm the last 4 miles.  Felt a little tired but pretty good overall the whole run.  Was ready to be done at the end!

Happy to have this week in the books - around 55 miles for the week.  Next week shapes up to be pretty much the same except for 10-10 on the weekend.  Have a feeling will have a lot more elevation.  The highlights will be 6 fast on Tuesday and 9 tempo on Thursday.  Fun!!