April Recap

Average Temp: 54F/12C, Spring seems to have arrived.  The flowers are out and the buds are on the trees but we did see snow this April.

Miles run: 126.7 mi

Rest days taken: 10 days

Highest mileage week: 37 miles - beating out my highest ever that I ran in March

Average pace: 8:19 min/mile

Races: Spring Forward 15k and Better life 5k

Current Obsessions: The royal wedding - I didn't wake up super early to watch the wedding but I did DVR it!

Current Blessings: As always, great friends and Brian.

Current Excitement: It's a secret, but I'll be sharing soon!

Current Read: Something Borrowed By Emily Griffin in preparation for the movie coming out next week!

Current Guilty Pleasure: Trying not to eat all my Easter candy before the race tomorrow!


How was your April?  I am so ready for May!

I think its time..

To put away the long spandex and bring out the shorts!

First official run of 2011 with SHORTS!  And my last "hard" run before the half!

20 mins easy + 15 mins HMP + 10 mins easy

The sun was out, the wind was mostly at our backs and everything felt good.  Sunday I'll be running with a few members of my running group and having them there will definitely be a confidence booster!

I have...
picked up my race packet.

I need to...
pick out a race outfit.

I will...
respect the distance and enjoy the race!

See you on the other side of 13.1 miles!

Confessions of a First Time Taperer

This is my first REAL taper!  Although I have read so many blog posts about what to expect, I honestly was completely unprepared!  Three weeks before the race, I started to cut back my mileage, 10% each week until the race and I still did a few workouts with high intensity.

My mileage:
Week 9 = 37 mi
Week 10 = 32.97 mi
Week 11 = 28.87 mi
Week 12 = Estimated at 27 mi

The best part about this taper was that I didn't make any drastic cuts in mileage or intensity.  I have slowly cutback on the workouts and mileage but continued to run tempo and half marathon paces in most of my workouts (except for easy runs).  Here is how things have been going -


First week -

Who needs taper - not me! I feel great.  Ok so my legs are a little tired from that super long run this past weekend but I am doing fine.

I thought this was taper - that meant no more hard workouts!  3x 2mi at Tempo is not supposed to be a taper workout!

Where are my recovery socks and sleeves? I should wear them all the time now to help my legs recover even faster...

Second week - 

I am RAVENOUS! I just want to eat all the time! I just had my mid morning snack which turned into a second breakfast! I cannot stop thinking about food!

And my knee hurts.  For real.  Ok maybe not, its fine now.  My hip hurts - I am serious this time.  Just kidding I am fine!

Third week - 

Ok 10 day forecast stop playing games with me! Yesterday you said 60% chance of rain and now today you say it supposed to be sunny and 70F!  If you are going to keep this up I am not going to continue to check you until the day before the race!

I am sorry high heels but I can't wear you this week.  I promise we will get back together in another week or two.  It has been pretty rainy out and you wouldn't want to be out in that weather anyway!

Only a few days left and only a few more workouts...am I ready? I hope so!

Half Marathon - Week 11

**For those who guessed - The after run picture was Picture A or the one that I am smiling in!  You guys are good - most of you guessed correctly!**

Monday - Off

Tuesday - Tempo
7.3 miles/57:51/7:56 pace

The last real tough workout before the half marathon.

1x3mi at Tempo - 7:27 pace
1x2mi at Tempo - 7:23 pace

We had a bit of rain during the run and it was windy and cold.  Definitely didn't feel like spring but I ran with the running group which helped this run go by quick.  I really thought I had put away my winter running clothes for good, but apparently not.  My best deer caught in headlights look -

 

Wednesday - Easy Lunch Run
3.2 miles/28:40/8:55 pace

Despite a few sprinkles I headed out for a run at lunch.  After a quick jaunt around the block, I snuck back into work and changed back into my work clothes without anyone being any wiser of my run!

Thursday - Windy Tempo
7.6 miles/1:04:07/8:27 pace

This was a horrible run.  I had to run at 5am because I had plans after work, so at 5am I headed out for an easy warm up and then some miles at half marathon pace.  As I turned the corner to start my HMP run I was smacked with the wind that didn't stop until I got back home.  It was frustrating to be running an extremely hilly route that also was windy.  Check out this fun elevation profile from my run -

Friday - Off

Best part of the day was waking up to a beautiful sunrise.

Saturday - Longish Run  Easy
3.3 miles/30:00/9:05 pace

I woke up to pouring sideways rain and so I quickly changed plans and headed to the gym, for the second Saturday in a row.  This workout was originally planned for Sunday morning, but I did a switcharoo and ran it today and moved my longer run to Sunday when the weather would be better!

Sunday - 30 mins Easy Long Run
7.45 miles/1:00:04/8:04 pace

I was up at sunrise and headed out on the road for this run.  The plan was to run to Easter breakfast with my family.  I did a short 2 mile warm up and then did 20 mins at tempo pace (7:24 pace) and then ran the rest of the way easy.  It was a great reward to sit down and have a nice cup of hot coffee and breakfast after a quiet morning longish run.


Total week 11 mileage: 28.9 mi

Three Things Thursday

1. Wednesday I did another lunch run because it is really hard to get up at 5am and run after a hard workout Tuesday night.  I took a "before run" and "after run" picture - Can you tell which one is which??

Picture A or Picture B???

2. The half marathon is getting close - Just 10 more days! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone.  This week I had my final tough run on Tuesday and now all that remains are a few easy runs with some half marathon pace thrown in which I did this morning.

20 min at easy + 20 min at HMP + 20ish min at easy

I just happened to pick the most hilly and windy route possible which made the run even tougher.  Running paced workouts in the morning when the temperature is 37F is not easy.  I was cursing the hills and wind the whole 7.6 miles!

3. Congrats to everyone who ran Boston on Monday!!  I was finally able to watch some coverage of the race last night - did anyone see Kim Smith's form?? 

Happy almost Friday and Happy Easter!