Training Log - Week Ending October 27 - 20 Days Till Richmond!

Hello Runners.



I'm back putting together weekly training blogs....



Okay, as of today, 20 days till Richmond Marathon.  My weekly mileage the last 5 weeks has been over 60.  Last week was my highest mileage week at 64, with a 23 miler on Saturday to cap it off.

That 23 miler took a little extra something out of my legs.  Monday's run was shorter than normal and I turned Tuesday's workout into an Easy run with some extended strides.

By Wednesday I was pretty much back on track, running 11 miles for my MLR.  Thursday and Friday were Easy days, then Saturday was my Long Run with 12 miles at MP.



Saturday's long run felt pretty good and manageable.  It was also my first run in Nike Next %, which I will wear for the race.  I'm not going to do a 'shoe review' - but I can say they seem to 'work'.  Not sure how much faster I am, but my calves (in particular) feel less beat up wearing them.  We'll see what this means for miles 22 - 26.2 in Richmond.


Looking back at my training log, I've run at least 18 miles the last 9 Saturday's.  Three of three of those runs were over 20 miles (longest 23) and most had MP miles in them.


The last two LR's were the hardest.  23 miles at 7:22 pace last weekend, and 12 MP miles yesterday.  Both of these runs have also been 'race replication'.  Clothes I plan to wear, hand held water bottle, fueling, etc.  Last week I wore different shoes, but yesterday also included my planned race shoes.



Summary

• Workout:  None.
• Long Run:  18 miles with 12 @ MP.  MP average was 6:45.  I had planned 17 miles with 10 @ MP, but I extended the MP miles since I was feeling so good.  My breathing was completely under control until the last mile or so, and never felt under 'stress'.  The route I take has quite a bit of 'rolling hills', I think that will help plan for the Richmond course.  As of now (Sunday afternoon), I can still 'feel' yesterday LR in my legs, but it's not too bad.
• Mileage Total: 57

Daily Detail: 

• Monday:  6 miles Easy / Recovery.  Legs TIRED
• Tuesday: 8 miles Easy - Extended strides. (Normally "Workout Day")  Legs coming around.
• Wednesday:  11 miles Easy - "Medium Long Run"
• Thursday: 4 miles Recovery.
• Friday: 8 miles Easy / Strides.
• Saturday: 18 miles with 12 @ MP.
• Sunday:  2 mile walk to shake out some of yesterday's LR.

Starting to taper next week (although you could say this week is the start since my mileage dipped below 60).  Mileage will come down some. I'll put a Tuesday workout back in, but lower mileage than prior weeks.  The LR will be about 15 miles.



Onward....