Week Ending Oct. 25

Mon - 6 miles easy on lower valley trails. Ran with the i-pod and found myself getting into a deep zone of thought again. Visualized all kinds of late-in-the-race scenarios for Dublin - mostly fantasy-land stuff, but also some good stuff on digging deep and getting the job done late. Legs much improved from Sunday, but still a bit sore.

Tues - 5 miles track. The lady who organizes the Tuesday night workouts at the CSU track, Jane Welzel (5 time OT qualifier (yes, 5 time) and 2:33:01 PR), was kind enough to put together a pre-marathon workout for tonight's session in preparation for Dublin. This was much appreciated and the workout turned out to be exactly the boost of confidence I needed. The workout as described in the group email:

This is a marathoners workout (this ones for you Nick!)
This has a mental preparation component as well as the physical training bit.

Think of the marathon in 3 parts

10 miles

10 miles

10K

The first 10 miles the pace should feel really comfortable

The second 10 miles in order to keep the pace you need to put out a little more effort

The last 10K takes a bit more effort to keep the pace.

So this workout we will do 5X1000 with a 200 jog in between intervals

Do the first 2 at marathon pace

next 2 at 1/2 marathon pace

last one at 10K pace this will simulate increasing the effort and the mental focus.

Goal pace for Dublin is 6:07, but went a little harder as all systems seemed to be firing nicely. Ended up hitting the first two kms in 3:38 (5:50) & 3:35 (5:45), both of which felt super smooth. Legs were still not 100% but felt the lightest they have in weeks, maybe months. Hit the next two in 3:25 (5:28) & 3:20 (5:21), still feeling strong, then cranked the last one in 3:14 (5:12) feeling like I was ready for more. Gonna' take it and run with it.

Weds - 6 miles easy on lower valley trails. No watch.

Thurs - Travel

Fri - 4 miles easy up and around the university in Canterbury.

Sat - Wedding

Sun - Travel

Total: 21 miles.

Pre-marathon week, so not much but easy stuff to get the legs good and rested.