Today I went out to the book store and picked up a couple items.

Thanks to Sarah for mentioning the book ‘Racing Weight’. I wanted to see what it is all about. I also found another book ‘Run Strong’ that seemed to have enough information to make it worth a read as well. I only got to the third chapter of ‘Racing Weight’ before heading out for my run. I can already tell it’s a book that I will re-read 100 times like I have with the book  ‘Advanced Marathoning’.

I decided to head outside for my 12 Miles Med-Long Run. It was around 28 degrees, sunny, light wind. The roads were still patchy with ice and slush. I got my feet quite wet a few times and had to watch my step on the icy parts. I had on my warmest socks on and got lucky that my feet seemed to dry out each time. It felt great to be outdoors. The air was crisp and stark like having an Altoids mint. Okay sounds corny now, but that was the thought I had. The only downside came at mile 10, my hands were freezing blocks of ice because I had worn my lightest Under Amour gloves. My hands are always the first thing to freeze up on me and I didn’t prepare by wearing warmer gear. My brain was shouting at how painful frozen they felt, but with two miles left to go I knew it was more annoying than serious and kept going. As soon as I was back indoors my hands were good as new in a matter of minutes. I need to get better at wearing warmer gloves since I know my hands get chilly first.

It was weird to have so much rest this week with the taper. I’ve been antsy and spent time cleaning around the house and getting work done.

This week of mileage is a little strange because I got in my 16 Mile run that I couldn’t last Sunday. I also didn’t do a 5 Mile Recovery on Saturday because my left knee didn’t feel quite right. Just a little tightness in my IT band and I didn’t want to aggravate it, even with a knee brace as an option. Turned out to be the right call cause I woke up with no issues and had a good med-long run today. 

Here is how the week ended up:

M: 16 Miles Long (Treadmill, 1% Incline, 2:06:20, 7:54 pace)

T: Rest

W: 7 Miles General Aerobic + Speed W/8 X 100M Strides (Treadmill, 1% Incline, 53:39, 7:40 pace), Abs and Upper Body

R: Rest

F: 8 Miles VO2 Max W/3 X 1600M @ 5KRP (Treadmill, 1% Incline, 59:32, 7:27 pace)

Sa: Rest

Su: 12 Miles Med-Long Run (‘Hood, 1:35:03, 7:56 pace)

Total: 43 Miles

Now less than a week to go I’ll be making lists, cleaning, packing, etc. I hope to read some more of these new books too!