[catweazle]

You would beat him easily Dory, he would be begging for your Jelly Beans after a mile or two! I don't think there are many animals that can match a humans endurance over the long distances

[Dory Dory]

Field Run

It was such a gorgeous evening that I couldn't resist a short spin around the field. Headed out the door without much of a plan, but hit "start" on the Garmin and just let things unfold. My first obstacle was the bunny rabbit who was stretched out in my path relaxing in the sunshine. He saw me coming and had no desire to move out of my way, so around him I went. I did get close enough to Mr. Rabbit to know there was nothing wrong with him other than brazen path ownership. Next up was Mr. Smith's kitty who also was stretched out in my path lazily hunting small vermin, and upon seeing me heading his way rolled onto his side and back for me to fuss over him a bit. Naturally, I complied.

It took about a mile for my legs to feel free of niggles and for me to find my field grove, but after three times around the field, and after three times having to make a wide swath around the path-hogging rabbit, and after three times having to stop to fuss over Mr. Smith's cat, I decided this session was a bust and headed indoors and hopped on the trainer.

2.04 miles in 19:46.40 for an average pace of 9:40 min/mile.

Trainer

15 miles in approximately 50 minutes spinning while watching the Caps go head to head on ice with the Philadelphia Flyers. Highlight thus far (game still on...tied 1-1 in 3rd period) was Ovie's slapper into the net right off the bat. You gotta love a guy who can score 26 seconds into the game, high five his teammates, then blow snot rockets on national tv while sitting on the bench.

Tomorrow was supposed to be a rest day, but my yoga instructor is having a class tomorrow morning that I may try to make. My body is feeling kinda yucky and I think a session of stretching and core work is what I need. I also may do a short spin on the trainer tomorrow night, but I'll play that by ear. Saturday is a 13 mile run - was supposed to be at PMP, but both beepbeep and Krusty have suggested a bit of a revision in the pace which I will comply with. With two weeks to go, all the normal doubts are starting to surface....and I'm wondering why at my age I'm even putting myself through this....but it's a goal I've set, plus I've already purchased the "26.2" car sticker, so there's no backing out now.

[Dory Dory]

90 Minutes of Much Needed Yoga

That's right, 90 minutes of much needed yoga. Two key phrases today: find your triangle....and....find your boat. I'm happy to announce, both were found.

[Dory Dory]

Trainer

20 minutes of spinning while getting psyched for Friday night hockey - Caps vs. Jets. I always feel better after a nice spin on the bike....in fact, if I think about it, each discipline - running, cycling, swimming - results in a different feeling when completed.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 13 miles at PMP, but I will follow BeepBeep and Krusty's wisdom and do 11 miles easy and 4 miles at PMP. Not sure what order to do the easy and PMP in (do I do 11 easy then 4 PMP....or 6 easy, 4 PMP, 5 easy.....?), so if anyone out there has a suggestion for me, let it rip!

[jackyback]

Originally Posted by Dory Dory

Trainer

20 minutes of spinning while getting psyched for Friday night hockey - Caps vs. Jets. I always feel better after a nice spin on the bike....in fact, if I think about it, each discipline - running, cycling, swimming - results in a different feeling when completed.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 13 miles at PMP, but I will follow BeepBeep and Krusty's wisdom and do 11 miles easy and 4 miles at PMP. Not sure what order to do the easy and PMP in (do I do 11 easy then 4 PMP....or 6 easy, 4 PMP, 5 easy.....?), so if anyone out there has a suggestion for me, let it rip!

Finish strong and leave PMP towards end of run, perhaps leave a mile or two warm down, my 2c's. Enjoy the taper,you have done Trojan work.

[RayCun]

Originally Posted by jackyback

Finish strong and leave PMP towards end of run, perhaps leave a mile or two warm down, my 2c's. Enjoy the taper,you have done Trojan work.

+1
You really need to practice holding yourself to a slower pace, so you should do the slow miles first. Starting at PMP and slowing as you tire is easy. Running slowly at the start and speeding up as you tire is more of a test.

[Dory Dory]

Originally Posted by jackyback

Finish strong and leave PMP towards end of run, perhaps leave a mile or two warm down, my 2c's. Enjoy the taper,you have done Trojan work.

Originally Posted by RayCun

+1
You really need to practice holding yourself to a slower pace, so you should do the slow miles first. Starting at PMP and slowing as you tire is easy. Running slowly at the start and speeding up as you tire is more of a test.

Great advice from the both of you - thanks. It's raining here today, which is perfect to help force me to slow down. I'm thinking I'll stay at an 8:20-8:30ish easy pace, then go 7:45ish for the PMP. I know my official PMP is 8:00, but the course is flat today, so I think I can buy an extra 15 seconds because of that advantage.

[catweazle]

Originally Posted by jackyback

Finish strong and leave PMP towards end of run, perhaps leave a mile or two warm down, my 2c's. Enjoy the taper,you have done Trojan work.

5.18am Jacky - are we having a sleepless night before the big day

[Krusty_Clown]

Just remember that we include pmp miles in a workout so that both the mind and the body get used to running at that pace. On race day, 8 minute/mile should feel like the most natural thing in the world; like you were born to run at that pace. For the first 13-15 miles of the marathon, you should feel a little like Nick on a leash; chomping at the bit and ready to unleash hell once let loose.

By all means, do the last part of your run at 7:45, but don't think of it as PMP miles. Think of it as exactly what it is: an easy run, with some miles run faster than PMP. A perfectly good session in its own right, and will get you ready for picking up the pace once you hit the 20 mile mark on race day.

[Dory Dory]

15 Mile Run

It was a dark and dreary morning...perfect for the task at hand - 9 miles easy, 4 miles at a spiffy sub-PMP, 2 miles easy. I have not had to do much running in the rain, but I figured between the falling rain and having rain gear on, I would naturally slow down, thus make it easier to abide by the prescribed paces.

It was pretty quiet for the first half of the run - basically only me and the ducks out and about in the drizzle, and I loved it. The solitude (and easy pace) afforded me the luxury and bravery of singing out load with my iPod (the ducks didn't seem to mind) and busting a few moves while on the fly. Oh how this easy pace was easy to get used to. My goal was to stay between 8:20 and 8:30 for these slow miles, and I was pretty bang on target. Relaxed and rhythmic it was - similar to the zen-like state I can get into when swimming long distances.

I stopped at mile 8 for a quick drink and 3 Clif shot blocks...then back out again. I did make one more quickie stop somewhere around 2.5 miles into my fast set to strip off my rain jacket (I was smothering at this point) and toss it in the car. I looked down at my watch after I had gotten going again and was surprised at my pace 7:2x! Wow. Didn't really feel that fast, but okay. Then about 2/3s into my final fast mile I looked down and saw 6:57. Yikes! I've never done a sub 7 mile before, and I think this scared the bejeebers out of me and I decided I needed to slow down.

Stopped as soon as the 4th fast mile was completed to catch my breath, then started my two miles of cool down to the soothing sound of the Foo Fighters. After the first cool down mile was done, I decided to toss off my shoes and socks and run the last mile barefoot in the wet grass. I don't have a clue why some of you run barefoot from time to time, but I just felt inspired to do so....and, if you don't count the thorny weeds I had to avoid and dog pooh I had to hurdle, it was grand.

Easy splits, three miles at a time:
8:28, 8:19, 8:20
8:28, 8:19, 8:20 (exactly the same!)
8:20, 8:16, 8:07

Sub-PMP splits:
7:43, 7:37, 7:23, 7:06

Cool down:
9:11
9:59 (barefoot in the wet grass)

15 miles in 2:04:01 for an average pace of 8:16 min/mile

The course was relatively flat, thus contributing to some of the speed on the fast miles, but overall this was a great session. Thanks to the boardsies who helped me out with this session - both tri and running mates. It's this kind of interaction that I have immensely benefitted from and so very much appreciate.

[BeepBeep67]

Mighty - keep it between ditches now for the run in.

[donothoponpop]

Great run. You'll be full of doubt's about your ability from now till race day: look back on this post to reassure yourself. Two vital points:

1) You have the program discipline to hold yourself back initially when it feels slow.

2) Plenty of power there after the disciplined plod.

Perfect place to be, two weeks out. There will be doubt, tears, worries; from now until race day, but you've played a blinder so far.

[Dory Dory]

The point that was definitely driven home to me from this run is that I am a stronger runner if I do take it slow at the beginning. If I had started with that 7:06 pace at mile 1, I would have died by the third or fourth mile. Mathematically, the inequality of equal paces at different miles does not make sense, but they truly aren't equal...at least not for me!

[RayCun]

Originally Posted by Dory Dory

My goal was to stay between 8:20 and 8:30 for these slow miles, and I was pretty bang on target.

Brilliant. The first few miles in the marathon are going to feel that easy - or that hard to stop yourself from speeding up - so it's great that you can keep it controlled.

[Dory Dory]

Trainer

28.5 uneventful miles in an hour and a half on the bike in my climate controlled basement while watching Dirty Dancing (for the umpteenth time) on tv. Somehow my little pie session lacks the punch of Oryx's 3 hour pedal-mania. Oh well. This is how taper goes, I guess. And speaking of taper and how much it sucks, I'm trying to watch my weight for the next two weeks....had picked up a little bit last week, but was back down this morning after the run yesterday and behaving myself in the snack department (for 24 hours).....so, after I hopped off the bike, I celebrated with two chocolate cupcakes. They weren't very big, but I am a happy camper right now.