5/17/12 (Thursday) Run

Today I just ran 2 miles in 16:14.  Just my last run before the marathon.

So am I ready?  Well, my training has gone well...my taper seems to have gone well...I have been amazingly good at limiting my refined sugar this week (supposedly, according to some elite runners, this is very helpful- of course, they talk about it being helpful overall, not just the week of a race, but it will be flushed out of my system by then), while still maintaining close to 60% carbs in my diet (gylcogen replacement). 

Not sure I feel as rested as I would like to be, but don't know what else I would do differently.  Race day will tell.

5/16/12 (Wednesday) Run

Today I ran 5 miles in 36:48.  The first 1.5 miles I warmed up at 7.5 mph then increased at the one mile mark to 7.6 mph.  I did run the last quarter mile of the first mile at 8.1 mph.  I then ran two miles at marathon pace, which is (a hoped for) 8.8 mph or 6:48 mile.  I also increased the incline to 1% to compensate for it not being on the road.  I then finished out the last 1.5 miles at 7.7 mph though I ran the final .15 miles at 10.3 mph.

Though I felt good, I felt a little more tired because yesterday's run was in the later afternoon.  I was supposed to have a fitness test, but the person who was supposed to do it cancelled.  But I still had to get my run in.  So that was only 14 hours before this.  Not too bad : )

This evening I do have some soreness in my lower calf, upper achilles tendon area.  I will have to watch it closely as that could have a great affect on Saturday.

5/15/12 (Tuesday) Run

Today I ran 5 miles in ~38:45.  The first four miles was just another easy run.  Then for last mile I once again ran the last 100 yards of each quarter mile at 11.1 mph and ran the last .15 miles at 11.1 mph.  I increased it from the usual 10.3 mph just because I was pretty sure my body could handle it.  That last .15 miles felt pretty good and I could have gone a bit longer, so that is encouraging.

5/14/12 (Monday) Run

Today I ran 4 miles in 30:28.  This was another easy run mostly at 7.6 mph but during the last mile, at the end of each quarter mile, I ran 100 yard strides at 10.3 mph, though I ran the last .15 miles at 10.3 mph.

5/12/12 (Saturday ) Activities

Today I ran 4 miles in 30:18.  This was an easy run, no inclines, though I ran strides of 100 yards at the end of each quarter mile of the last mile of 11.0 mph, 11.5 mph and 12.0 mph, respectively, with the last .15 miles at 10.3 mph.
Total running miles for week = 36
Total cycling minutes for week = 2 hours 36 minutes

5/11/12 (Friday) Run

Today I ran 10 miles in 1:12:18.  I ran the first two miles at 7.6 mph, then increased it by .1 mph for each of the next three miles.  At this point the assignment was to run 3 miles at 3k-5k pace, so I figured I might as well run 3.1 miles (5k distance) just to see how my time is overall, gauging my fitness and recovery level.  So I ran the 5k distance with the first two miles at 9.2 mph and the next 1.10 miles at 9.3 mph and the last .10 miles at 10.3 mph for a total time of 20:06 for the 5k distance, then finished out the ninth mile at 7.8 mph and ran the last mile at 8.8 mph (marathon pace) running the last .15 miles 10.3 mph.  I felt really strong during this run and the only thing working against me was the psychological aspects, the doubts.  I felt like I could have run another 10 miles the same as these 10.  It was a really great feeling and boosted my confidence a lot.  Looks like the recovery is doing what it is supposed to : D

5/10/12 (Thursday) Activities

Today I ran 2 miles in 16:18.  This was just an easy run to keep the legs loose.

In the evening I cycled for 30 minutes.