17 Weeks Down; 1 to Go

Today's run completes Week 17 of the marathon training plan. I can't believe it. Just 7 days and a wake up left until I finally face the challenge of 26.2.

I did a pair of laps around Lake Miramar, starting off in the cool of 7AM. Quin came with me and caddied my phone for me while riding his cruiser.

My plan was to rehearse the first 10 miles of the marathon itself, seeing how an 8:45/mile pace for the first 5 miles and 8:00 for the second 5 would feel. I'm not speedy, but it's really hard to run 8:45 unless I'm with someone else. I shuffled around lap #1 at a pretty average 8:20 pace, each mile vowing to slow it down and save my energy for the 2nd lap.

I kept a mental record of my splits:
1.00) 8:23
2.00) 8:18
3.00) 8:21
4.00) 8:18
4.92) 7:50 (~8:30 pace)
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41:10 total

The 5th mile when going counter-clockwise is about .08 short of a mile, so I have to figure that into the pace calculation.

After a short (less than a minute) stop for water, I began the 2nd loop with a spring in my stride. After the 1st quarter mile went by in 1:50 and I felt the enjoyment of the extra exertion, I decided to "tempo" it up. I held that pace for the first 3 miles before settling back to an 8:00 pace for the final two.

Splits:
5.92) 7:20
6.92) 7:28
7.92) 7:21
8.92) 8:01
9.84) 7:20 (~8:00 pace)
---------------------
37:30

The 8-minute mile pace at the end allowed for some recovery, but not enough that I think I would be able to run that profile in the marathon and still have enough to go for another 16 miles. I knew from prior experience that once I push closer to the redline like that, it's not a simple matter of just throttling back and recovering. I'm not going to be able to do that next weekend, so this wasn't really a good rehearsal.

But it was a good workout and I enjoyed getting a little lactate threshold training in for one last time. Those fershluggin' quads/hip flexors still get tight and it takes a force of will to continue to run through the discomfort. With the coming severe cutback in running intensity this week, they'll get 7 days to recuperate and (I hope) adapt a little more strength for next Sunday.

So, it's halfway through Memorial Day weekend. Joan's on her way home. The kitchen is clean and I'm getting ready to take care of the rest of the downstairs. I'm hoping to get to the backyard as the evening cools off so that we'll have a nice setting for tomorrow.

The work week coming up is going to be busy, but at least it's only, in effect, 3 days long since Monday's a holiday and Friday I'm going to spend time down at the RnR Expo downtown.

What a fun trip these past 17 weeks have been.