Well, the first week of taper wasn’t pretty, at least the runs weren’t. That’s a sign to me that my body was more than ready for the taper because after two days of rest (Saturday and Sunday) I feel great.
Monday: 6 miles tempo intervals
I was going to switch today’s speedwork with Wednesday to give my legs a break after Saturday. I felt fine though, and since the combo of chill and dark is not my favorite I stuck with the plan as is. I thought the tempo intervals would be super hard after Saturday but it wasn’t, just plain old hard. 🙂 Plus, I got to watch “Christmas Invasion” aka when David Tennant took over as The Doctor.
Tuesday: spin class stationary bike
My legs definitely needed an easy day, thus no spin class again. I’m not sure why the pace was so much slower than last week. I had to add a couple minutes to get to 10 miles.
Wednesday: 6 miles regular run
My knee took even longer to “warm up” today. I’m pretty sure it’s an IT band thing so I made sure to foam roll that specifically when I got back. During the first 3 or 4 miles I was so mentally over this run. When I picked up speed in the last two miles everything felt wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Maybe I should try running faster.
Thursday: 5 miles regular run
I decided to run faster to start with which probably helped my knee “warm up” faster. I finished strong and wanted to run more. (It was so hard to talk myself out of tacking on “just a little bit more” before I turned around and headed back.) Must stick to the taper!
Friday: stationary bike 8 miles long run
My legs were not happy with me for running 3 days in a row. (It had to be done though. There’s no way I was getting up and trying to squeeze it in before getting down to Flour Field to volunteer by 7am, Saturday) My head was a mess during the run too. I made sure to keep it slow though. I’m supposed to be tapering after all. Here’s the funny thing, once I finished and was walking to my car I experienced runner’s amnesia aka thinking that the run was amazing and wanting to start again.
Saturday: volunteering at Spinx
Best non-long run Saturday, ever.
Sunday: 8 miles long run rest
After volunteering yesterday, watching Ironman World Championships 2012 coverage and two days rest I feel fantastic. I’m counting on that to last until Saturday. 🙂
Stepping Out 