Once again, here I am on a Friday night attempting to catch up on the week as it comes to a close. Tuesday was track night with our workout focused on preparing us mentally. After our warm-up we did 1x800 at threshold pace, then 1x3200 at race pace, then finally another 1x800. The 3200m was supposed to help us practice our mental state for the marathon. It was horrendously windy which made for an extra resistance workout, but also made things kind of miserable! The workout was kind of dull just going in circles for so long but it went by pretty fast being surrounded by the Team. I rounded out the workout with a few easy cool-down laps to get an even 6 miles in.
Round and round we go!
You may not be able to see the wind, but we could sure feel it!
Wednesday I forced myself to do my scheduled tempo run, which I've skipped the fast few weeks for one reason or another. It was tough, I was tired and would've much rather stayed home and relaxed, but it was one of those times where I knew I had to suck it up and get out there. I know the benefits of tempo runs, and I knew I'd feel better after, so I finally headed out just as it was starting to cool off. I did my mile warm-up then 3 tempo miles at 8:36, 8:23 (my fastest tempo interval yet!), and 8:50. The first two were much faster than my last ones, and although they were challenging, I didn't feel like I was dying. The last mile included the crazy hill coming up from Goleta Beach which totally kicked my ass. I took quick breathers after each tempo mile which I think really helped me mentally and physically. The last two cool-down miles I ended up running pretty consistently and at a good pace, and even ran a sub-10 minute pace on the last one! I hope that all this is a sign of improvement...
After two long workouts in a row, I was a little pooped and wasn't really looking forward to running on Thursday. I also had dinner plans with a friend (making sushi again!) and I didn't have a lot of time to try and squeeze in a run, even though I knew needed to. In the end I managed a quick 3 miles around the west campus lagoon, but it was pretty lackluster. Maybe I was just tired, maybe I wasn't in the mood, or maybe I just felt rushed, but it wasn't one of my better runs. Oh well, you can't win them all, and 2/3 good runs isn't too bad, right?
Tomorrow morning is the BIG 20 miler for the Team! I'm a little apprehensive since my longest run for this training cycle has been 15 miles, and that was 3 weeks ago. I know I can do it and I know I will, but I think 20 is always a little scary : ) I'm really excited to get this done though and then it's just 2 short weeks of taper before marathon #4, the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon! And I'm excited for all my girls to conquer their last long training run before their first marathon : ) Should be lots of fun! Unfortunately I have to work right after which means 4 straight hours on my feet after running 20 miles....hmmm.....should be interesting.....
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