Alright, so as I wrote back in February, I embarked on my 2nd round of Pfitz with the intentions of improving speed for this Saturday's half-marathon. My stated goals, while ambitious, were probably do-able had I stuck with the game plan:
'A' goal = 1:35 (7:15 pace)
'B' goal = 1:38 (7:30 pace)
Instead, I found myself running a couple of ultras which meant reduction in miles pre and post race, battling the onset of posterior tibial tendinitis on my OTHER ankle (after being fitted with orthotics), and just one BS excuse heaped on other BS excuses to forego several training runs. If I had to give myself a grade on how my training went, I'd give myself a 'C-'.
Disappointed with my last 16+ mile week (to put it mildly) and wanting to see how realistic hitting at least the 'B' goal this Saturday would be, I set out to do 3-4 at HMP this morning. Unfortunately, paces (which were run by effort) came hard and heavy and felt more like they were the tail-end of tempo runs than a pace I could sustain for a full 13.1 miles:
(2 mile warm-up)
Mile 3 - 7:34
Mile 4 - 7:35
Mile 5 - 7:36
I wanted to add in a fourth mile, but was too beat up to do it and talked myself out of it. Left leg (PTT + hip/buttock) were bothering me on the last mile.
So where does this leave me? For now, I'm attributing it to a late start and warmer/humid temps - but it's not likely that I'll hit my goal, or even PR. Serves me right. Still, I'm going to go BTTW and leave it all out on the course. May the cards fall where they may.
Following the race - training for San Francisco!
7 comments:
Good luck Billy! You'll rock it, and don't worry, sometimes life just gets in the way. I've been experiencing a lot of that lately!
You're do fine and enjoy the run, it should be cooler up there than down here. All your recent hill work will come into play on the hills on this race, also once you get into town the finish is really close so can really let fly!
Billy, hi
If running conditions are good, you may surprise yourself; the nice thing about a half marathon is that you can pretty much run your guts out and still be able to come back a week or so later and do it again... Not like the marathon which is killer. As you know.
Don't forget to do a mini-taper.
That's all pretty freakin fast to me bro...
Good luck, go get em cowboy! ;D ;D
hopefully the adrenaline from the race and crowds will help make the pace seem easier. i always think it's crazy how much 'easier' it is to hold a pace in a race than on my own. i almost always fail on my own/in a training run.
good luck this weekend, i'm sure you manage to pull a few surprise races out of your ass like i shock myself with every now and then. last week's 16-mile week was just tapering... right? :) go get 'em this weekend, give it all you got!
ps - yeah way to suggest sfm. freakin' expensive!
you will do great this weeekend, just go out there and have fun!!! and drink some wine after :) i wish i was going to be there!!!!
thanks for all your support this weekend too, really it means a lot.
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