Feeling the Same Way All Over Again...

... ok, so maybe not exactly the same way all over again, but it is a great Norah Jones tune, and sort of indicative of how I feel the week before a fall 1/2 marathon.

Running: had been going very well! After spending July, August, and September getting my hip stronger and so it doesn't hurt with each step (seriously), I FINALLY feel like my old (running) self again. I am not sure if it was the strength training, the stretching, sports massage or chiropractor adjustments, but whatever it was, it worked!

I actually have two fall 1/2 marathons: one on 11/1, and the Philly 1/2 on 11/22. My plan was to try and run a 1:42 or better this coming weekend, and shoot for 1:40 at Philly. I have been running my LR faster, and feeling good doing so, but have only been running 3x a week.

BUT, I have been doing 8-10M/week on the elliptical with another 4-8 miles a week walking hills at a decent pace. That combined with the upper body/core work I have been doing is leaving me cautiously optimistic that I can achieve both of these goals.

I went back to look at the training the 5 weeks prior to the half marathons I did last year and in 2007: both of which I ran in under 1:41.

# weeks out 2 3 4 5
2009
LR/pace 9/8:59 14/9:10 10.5/8:56 10/8:48
mpw 19 26 20 15
speedwork 2M@7:30 2M@7:30 2M@7:32 2M@7:48
elliptical elliptical

2008-result 1:40:12
LR/pace 14@9:25 7 @ 8:48 12@9:06 12@9:03
*tempo
mpw 26 10 31 30
speed 4M@7:28 800s at 6:58 4M@7:28

note: hurt quad in week 4-- did a lot of XT the weeks before the race

2007- result 1:40:45
LR/pace 10@8:30 14@9:15 12@9:30 12@9:30
*7M@hmp
mpw 22 17 28 26
speed 7M@7:49 10K@ 7:31 3 x 1M @ 7:19


so-- I'm not really sure what this tells me. In 2008 I was dealing with a sore quad muscle the 2-3 weeks before the race, and did a lot of XT the two weeks prior to the race. Race day everything went great, and due to a tactical error (thinking I needed 7:40 pace instead of 7:38) I did not go sub 1:40.

2007: just trained for this fall 1/2 marathon. Obviously did more speedwork, but LR were at slower paces. More of a Pfitz-style approach.

THIS YEAR???

Digging up these #s actually has me feeling better about my two goals. If I run well this upcoming week, and have a good recovery, I can still get in two more solid LR before Philly. As always, race-day weather will also affect how hard I push it this coming week. As they always say, it IS only a number, right?

TTFN!