Well, we are down to the wire now, baby! Just the last month of training to survive, then it is all about surviving the race. It is exciting and scary all at the same time. I'm sure it will be overwhelming as well to be in the midst of so many people!
Last week was a scheduled down week before the final push to the finish! I'm not completely sure that I understand the purpose of these down weeks, but they seem to occur once a month. That's what I get for just downloading these training schedules from Runner's World without any kind of explanation. Well, so far they've worked for me!
The first run for the week occurred on Monday as scheduled. It was an easy 4 mile run during lunch. These 4 mile runs are more than routine for me, but it is always nice to get out during the work day. It was a sunny 42 degrees out with an 8 MPH wind from the WNW.
Distance: 4.19 mi; Time: 36:10; Pace: 8:38
The second run for the week has a story attached to it. It starts off weeks and maybe months ago when our drier started making funny noises. Obviously something was wearing out, and I determined that I could open it up and replace the dying part. Well, the weeks and months went by and the funny noises became louder and much more serious. Finally over the previous weekend, my wife and I looked around at new driers. I felt bad because I didn't do the husbandly duty of fixing the appliance, but to my defense there was hardly any time to get in there and take the thing out of commission to try to repair it. We seem to go through laundry non-stop at our house, so that cramped the schedule. Also, the tiny area containing the washer and drier necessitated that I disconnect and move the washer to have any room to work on the drier. Not a fun then. And as we talked I came to the realization that the drier was at least 13 years old. So what does all this have to do with running on Tuesday? Well, Monday evening I purchased the new drier we were satisfied with. I arranged for delivery on Tuesday. To prepare for the delivery, I had to disconnect and move the washer. I planned on returning during lunch to reconnect the washer so that my wife could work through the ever growing pile of clothes. So that meant no run for me that day.
Well, I ended up running during lunch on Thursday for a belated second 4 mile run of the week. This day I started out with Travis, and it made for a fast yet conversational 1st mile. The weather was quite warm with plenty of sun and temperatures at 61 degrees, winds from the east at 19 MPH. It was a sweaty run even with shorts and a t-shirt on.
Distance: 4.14 mi; Time: 36:13; Pace: 8:44
The only way to get all four of my four mile runs in this week was to run on Friday. This day, I needed the time at lunch to prepare a birthday present for my wife. However, she pointed out that we could go to the gym after dropping our daughted off for an overnighter. This was good, because the winds were blowing at over 20 MPH that evening. My biggest mistake was estimating that I would be running around 30 minutes. My wife complained later that I made her ride the stationary bike longer than I originally estimated. But besides running 4 miles (which at a 9 minute pace turns out to be at least 36 minutes), I was also interrupted by a call from our son ("When are you coming back? What are we going to eat?") Add in a half mile cool down walk at the end, and it ended up lasting at least 45 minutes. But hey, she got to do 6.25 miles! That's good for her goals, right?
By the way, I don't exactly like running on a treadmill, but it works when it needs to. The pace is incredibly constant, and there is no weather to endure. And I got to watch the first period of the Cleveland Cavaliers v. the Orlando Magic. Definitely a difference for me!
Distance: 4.03 mi; Time: 37:30; Pace: 9:18
Finally, I ran on Saturday. This week is full of stories. Saturday turned out to be the first practice for the "Dads Dance" portion of this year's recital. All I can say is that is a funny thing to see those guys out there. I don't get to see it any more since I am one of those guys! This year will be interesting. Anyway, I needed to run, and I needed to get to dance practice, so I ran to dance practice. It turns out that 4 miles isn't too hard to get with my different "trails" through town. It was a little cool, but I definitely warmed up enough. The starting temperature was 35 degrees with WNW winds at 9 MPH and plenty of sun.
Distance: 4.10 mi; Time: 35:37; Pace: 8:40
This week will be harder with a 5 mile tempo and a 10 mile long run. 10 miles will be a new distance for me. Maybe that's why this week was supposed to be easier. And I was entertaining thoughts toward the possibility of the Air Force Marathon this year. My original plan was to see how I do in Indy before deciding something the my first marathon. I think I need to stick with that and quit overthinking the whole thing. I need to work on plodding on with the miles that are planned.
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