A hard week ends well
Last week was a difficult week of training. Speedwork on Tuesday was 5 – 1 mile repeats at 10k pace. Perhaps the worst workout I have ever done. An “easy” 6 mile run on Wednesday was followed by a hill repeat ladder, starting at 30 seconds and going up to 3 minutes and back down again, all at 5.5% incline. Then my Saturday long run was 20 miles. This is probably the farthest I will run before the race and is a real milestone for new marathoners. My previous longest run was 16 miles so going an extra 4 miles was a significant challenge. But I was able to complete the run, while visiting my daughter at Elon University. I enjoyed the North Carolina hills and country roads, and while there were some rough spots, at the end I actually felt pretty good. It was 3 1/2 hours of running which seems unimaginable, but now it’s behind me. And with it, my confidence that I can complete the 26.2 miles grew significantly.
This week is a “recovery” week, lower mileage and only 11 mile long run. My legs are looking forward to the rest. I’m pretty sure there are going to be a couple more hard weeks before I start to taper toward race day.
