Week 11: Double Down
Actually I more than doubled down. My total miles this week totaled 46 on the nose. Compared to 21.4 last week. The weather was quite a bit better but still has room for improvement. Don’t expect me to double down again for quite sometime.
As I said the weather was much better than the week before. Temps were a cool but not cold. The room for improvement is the wind. There has been better than 10 mph winds just about everyday this week. Today the wind was up near the 20 mph range on occasion. That being said I would certainly take the wind over the rain and snow.
My LSD run today was pretty much that. A long run at a slower pace than my short to mid distance runs. I cranked out 20.2 miles in 3:30. My pace for the miles that I ran straight through was around the 9:50 range. The miles that included a few extra seconds to drink 6 oz of Gatorade and maybe chew down a cliff shot blok averaged about 10:15. When I was done I pretty much had nothing left All in all I was happy with how it want.
I was concerned again about how the short mileage week before would effect me. I do believe that the short week and battling the wind today had a huge impact on me for the last three miles. I pretty much felt total spent just prior to 17. I was running up against a wall. I gave it everything I could to keep it going to reach 20. It becomes a mental game at that point. The mind needs to take over and let the body know it’s going to be okay. Basically saying I will survive. I did survive.
In comparison to my training for my other marathons I am feeling a whole lot better at this time than my training for the prior marathons. I had never ran 2 20 milers by this time. In 3 weeks I’ll most likely complete another 20+ mile run. I only ran 1 20+ miler in each of my training periods for prior marathons. To say the least I am excited and feeling a bit more confident.
At the moment my only concern is fighting the marathon training doldrums. At this point the amount of time spent training ant the amount left starts to wear you down a bit. I look to others for support during this time. I try to talk with other runners about it. Tell them how I am feeling. In return they give me tips and encouragement. It feels good to get a few strokes and it helps tremendously. Okay I’ll spell it out. A few comments to this post would help. Thanks.
On to week 12. I will not run 40+ but mid 30’s will do.
Especially for us here in Minnesota winter is not that too far off, So get out and enjoy spring!