Sunday, November 26, 2006

The hard work is done

I really didn't think the long run was going to happen with the way my body was feeling yesterday. My cold got worse and the body felt like crap. I spent my Saturday watching college football while taking drugs every 4-6 hours. The doses of pseudoephedrine and Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) throughout the day didn't seem to make me feel any better. I hit the sack around midnight, after watching the Fighting Irish take a painful beating by the Trojans. When the alarm sounded at 7am I was amazed that my congestion wasn't as bad and that I could actually breathe through both nostrils. Still had a runny nose, but that would just mean a hundred snot blowing throughout the run.

This morning's long run was my last 20+ miler. The run served as a confidence booster heading into the actual tapering phase. The legs felt light as I took off in my 2+ hour journey of Pope Air Force Base and Fort Bragg. After hitting the first couple miles in 6:53 and 6:43, the legs and body seemed to fall into a steady rhythm and pace. I cruised along my long run route at a 6:28 - 6:36 pace. The legs began to feel fatigue and heavy between the 19th and 20th mile mark. I wanted to finish the long run strong, so I picked up the pace and ended up running mile 21 in 5:54.

The hard work is done and now it's a matter of getting to the race healthy and eager. I will do a tune-up and marathon pace workout this coming week to lock in goal pace. This should wrap things up before I head to Huntsville.

Today's run: 2:20:30 (21.4M - 6:34 pace)
Weekly Mileage: 69 miles (6 sessions)

1 comment:

Phil said...

Great finish to a 20 miler. It appears that you are over your cold. Best of luck on your taper.

Your Saturday night could have been more stressfull. I watched the SC - Irish game with two USC graduates (and two UCLA graduates). Needless to say, it was a very load group.