Apr 4-10 (Rotterdam Marathon Race Week)

Mon: AM - 2.5M very easy;  PM - 7.5M easy  (10M tot)
Tue: 7M easy
Wed: 10M including 4 x 1000 cruise intervals (3:10, 3:09, 3:07, 3:05) + 3 x 200 (30, 30, 30)
Thu: 8M easy
Fri: 5M easy
Sat: 4M very easy
Sun: Rotterdam Marathon - 2:35:26

Weekly Total: 44 miles pre-race
The main goal for the 2nd and final peaking week was to freshen up the legs for raceday.  It wasn't a good start as the body and legs just didn't feel like running and I had almost no motivation to run on Tuesday.  I think the cold, rainy and windy conditions had to do with the miserable feeling.  Luckily, Wednesday was a complete turnaround.  I did my last tune-up workout, cruise intervals of 4 x 1000 plus 3 x 200. My legs felt amazingly good and light.  Each 1K (3:10, 3:09, 3:07, 3:05) was faster than the previous.  The feeling and result of the workout is exactly what I needed to boost my confidence for Sunday. The rest of the week was all very easy running until raceday.
Update: Ran 2:35:26 for 67th place overall.  I'm really bummed about my run, because I was feeling great and running well until about 25K when I encountered a side-stitch.  The stitch stayed with me for the rest of the race. My next post will be the Rotterdam Race Report (my apology for taking my time).

Mar 28 - Apr 3

Mon: 8.7M easy run
Tue: AM - 5M easy run;  PM - 10M including 10 x 1' @ ~5k effort w/ 1' easy @ brisk pace  (15M tot)
Wed: 13.2M easy run
Thu: AM - 4.5M easy run;  PM - 10M easy run  (14.5M tot)
Fri: 12.2M including 4 x 2000 tempo intervals (6:38, 6:36, 6:32, 6:28) w/ 400m rec + 3 x 200m (30, 30, 30)
Sat: 8.8M easy run
Sun: 12M fast-finish long run; first 6 miles easy then 10K (Parelloop) in 34:50

Weekly Total: 84 miles on 9 runs/7 days
This week was the start of the peaking period for Rotterdam.  I decreased the total weekly mileage, but kept the quality workouts intense to keep the engine revving.  The fartlek workout of 10 x 1' on Tuesday felt shorter than what I'm used to, which is a very good sign. On Friday I did 2K tempo intervals on the track, each 2K faster than the previous one.  Sunday was my last fast-finish long run and dress rehearsal for the marathon.  Because my girlfriend was running a race in Parelloop Brunssum, I decided to enter the 10K and run my fast-finish long run as part of the race.  I ran the first 6 miles easy before the race started, and then jumped into the 10K (don't worry, I registered) to run the marathon pace portion of the workout.  I actually ended up exceeding my marathon pace speed limit.  However, I still ran controlled and practically kept the same pace throughout the race.  My 10K time in the Parelloop recreation run was 34:50 with 5K splits at 17:30 and 17:20.