It's tough to back way off when you've gotten used to training hard, but it's time to rest for the Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon is Sunday. I had a good performance in my last XC race - 6th place was my best finish ever in a Pacific Association race, and the time of 16:19 was actually pretty good given the course (apparently high school kids routinely run 50 seconds faster on their state meet course). After that it was 13 miles Sunday, and then the taper started.
Tuesday's workout could have gotten me a little discouraged. I ran 2 x 2400 meters (roughly 1.5 miles) on the track just a little faster than the half marathon race pace. I felt fine on the first interval, but quickly got tired on the 2nd one. I took a short cool down, ate a burrito, then went to bed early. Wednesday I ran 7 miles at an easy pace & still felt tired. Then yesterday I finally got my legs back under me. I ran 5 miles easy in Golden Gate Park, then 8x200 in 32 seconds on the track (a quick pace, but short enough to knock the rust out of your legs without making you tired). After yesterday's run, I got home really excited about my chances to run well this weekend. I'll run short easy runs the next two days, and be ready to kill it on Sunday!
In a lot of ways it doesn't feel right to have such a light week of training. But I've been busting my ass since mid summer, and I think it's the perfect time to give my body a little break. After all the work I've done, I certainly won't lose any fitness - especially given the race I'm about to run. Then hopefully a week after the half marathon I'll be ready to gear up for the final phase of training for the season where we shorten the workouts but increase the intensity.
Dana is also running the race on Sunday. Would cool if the Giffords combined for a sub 3 hour total time :)
You're on it, man.
ReplyDeleteLet 'er rip on Sunday!