I just finished my last week over 200km before the marathon and now it’s time to bring it down a notch. There is still work to be done and this week will have two key workouts but I’m hoping that I will start to feel fresh instead of consistently tired. It couldn’t come at a better time because the last two days I’ve felt beat up so I’m hoping an easy day tomorrow will rid me of the kinks.
The weather has been all over the place this past week. On Wednesday it was over 30C with the humidity by the end of the workout and this morning I was running in full-tights and a long sleeve. For Wednesday’s workout we didn’t quite hit the pace we wanted to for the last 30 minutes of the 90 minute tempo run. Given the heat I was quite pleased with the way the workout went because I felt in control the whole way. I also experimented with a higher intake of carbs/hour and I handled it quite well. That was the longest workout in terms of quality that I’ve ever done and was a great confidence booster 3.5 weeks out from race day. I followed that up on Saturday with a relatively easy workout. It’s funny to think that 40 minutes of work now seems like a short one.
Looking back on my 2009 running log I have been running about 30km more per week than last year before the Berlin World Champs marathon. I’m hoping that the increased mileage will pay dividends in the final 7km of the marathon.
The race organisers have lined up some pacers for Gillis and I in the hopes of pacing us through 30km. Having a pacer through 30km would be absolutely wonderful but I have to remember to be flexible and ready for anything. The leaders will likely be paced for 63:30 through the 1/2 marathon which will produce both fast times and casualties. There are a couple of good Japanese runners and a Mexican that might have similar pace goals as Gillis and myself. Having a small pack of runners would be very advantageous for us but also unlikely to still be intact when you really need it after 30km.
Now that I’m lowering my mileage it’s time to cut out the Tornados and Jumbo Dogs… I don’t even know what a Tornado is?
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