Sunday, March 15, 2009

Longest Run This Year

I had my longest training run of the year today, 32 km, and it went well.  Just 1 second off my goal pace so that was pretty good.

Joining me for 1/3 of the run was Hiking Man which made that hour fly by.  We talked about upcoming races and unless something intercedes we will be running the two 5 Peaks Trail races coming up in September and October.  There are 5 races over the summer/fall in our region but only one is in the spring, the rest are late August, September and October.  The two races we will do are near by (45 min drive at most), while the other 3 are 2-3 hours away which is more than I can work into a busy family schedule.

Today's run went well, but I did develop a pretty big blister (larger than a toonie) on my right foot behind the big toe.  This was disappointing since it slowed down my last about 5 km.  My big hope right now is that this blister will toughen up that section of my foot and be ready for the extra 10.2 km that race day will bring.

3 weeks to race day and I am getting excited.

I've probably said it here before but a Marathon has 2 halves, the first 32 km and the last 10.2 km.  The first half (32 km) is really about training, your training gets you here and you know you can do it.  The last half (10.2 km) is about the mental game, especially if you develop something like a blister on the first half.

So, with 3 weeks to go, I am now into taper mode.  Which means lower distance running but with higher speed to simulate race day.  Looking at the next 3 weeks I have a 13km, 8km, 21.1km, 13km, 10km, 16km, 10km, 5km, and Race Day (42.195 km).  So another 96.2 km until race day with 390 completed so far this year.

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