Taper Training Logs

Hey friends!

It’s RACE WEEK! Like whoa. Also, I just realized that I forgot to actually post my training log here last week. Today will be a two-for-one and I must admit, it might be the two most boring weeks of running that I’ve done in quite some time.

In an attempt to make a long story short, I came down with the flu, bronchitis and laryngitis the week of Christmas. I missed my last three key workouts over the course of about 10 days. Really, if I look at the bigger picture, my training really hasn’t gone *as I expected it to* since the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon in early December. At this point, we’re just gonna go with the idea that I got a head start on my taper.

Since getting sick clearly wasn’t planned (it was just an unexpected thing that popped up that I couldn’t control), it disrupted my typical routine and shook my confidence a bit. Deep down, I know that it didn’t actually negatively impact my fitness as much as I am inclined think it did. Even though the last month hasn’t gone as planned, I still put in a lot of work over the course of the training cycle and I know that I am still strong and fit.

I went back and forth and back and forth some more as to whether or not I wanted to even do the marathon. If I still felt sick that would’ve been one thing, but at this point I feel confident that I am healthy. My reason for not wanting to run was that I don’t feel confident that I will hit my A goal (of < 3:00). What I really don’t want to do is give up and not go for something due to fear of “failure,” and let’s be real, not meeting my A goal does not mean automatic failure. I can’t predict how I will do on Sunday, but one thing is for sure, I will do my very best that day and that alone will be a success.

Here is what my training looked like the week of 12.25.17 – 12.31.17:

Monday – Easy: 6.25 miles (8:54 pace)
Tuesday – Off
Wednesday – Easy: 8 miles (9:03 pace)
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles (8:45 pace)
Friday – Easy: 7.5 miles (8:15 pace)
Saturday – Off
Sunday – Off

Here is what my training looked like the week of 01.01.18 – 01.07.18:

Monday – Easy: 6 miles (9:14 pace)
Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles (8:01 pace)
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – 10 miles (8:27 pace)
Friday – Tempo: 11 miles (7:16 pace)
Saturday – Easy: 6 miles (8:07 pace)
Sunday – Easy: 5 miles (8:38 pace)

Basically the last two weeks were filled with lots of treadmill miles (except for two runs) and purely easy miles (except for one tempo). I haven’t done a workout on the treadmill in ages and I actually really enjoyed it. I busted out my trusty old iPod and had a good ‘lil time. I did a 2 mile warm up, 8 tempo miles (6:56, 6:49, 6:43, 6:43, 6:43, 6:42, 6:42, 6:34) and a 1 mile cool down. I was thrilled with how that went, although my legs have been incredibly sore ever since. I registered for the marathon before I did my workout Friday morning and nailing that run was a HUGE boost for my confidence going into the race.

All that is left to do now is take it easy and relax! I am embracing the taper MUCH more this time around than I typically have in the past.