Let the Taper Crazies Begin!

The last 2 weeks of marathon training and I'm so excited for lower mileage! But with that the taper crazies begin, I feel like everything in my body hurts or kind of starts to hurt. I'm paranoid about getting sick and pretty much avoid contact with any human being. This time Zoe goes to preschool and pretty much everyone is sick right now. Let's keep fingers cross I make it injury-free and healthy to the start!

I started taper a lot more relaxed this time, maybe because I feel super confident with my training, I did ALL my workouts and hit all the paces. But also, I just want to enjoy the marathon and try to stay away from any time goals. I would be lying if there isn't any time goal. I did my 20 miler with a sub 9 min pace and secretly my dream of a sub 4 hour marathon is in my mind. But I don't want to suffer and truly the best race result would be a feel good sub 4:10 marathon, that would be amazing!! I do hope to PR (sub 4:23), I'm feeling so much faster than 6 years ago, but also know the course is tougher. Let's just run and have fun!

I was surprised to see my first week of taper still had 30+ miles and speed workout! I thought from now on it's easy peasy pace!

 

Tuesay's workout was actually really good and I hit the paces. I thought after my 20 miler my leg would be more dead, but just like the rest of the training cycle I never really had tired legs or felt super tired. That's kind of crazy seeing all the miles I did! 

1M WU: 9:26

1M@8:20-> 8:14 and 8:05 pace
1200@8:15M -> 8:21 and 8:07 pace
1K@8:10M -> 8:03 and 7:58 pace
1M CD: 9:04
-> Total workout 8 miles @ 8:36

Friday's workout was the first time I decided to cut a workout short. I think 33.5 miles are too much and decided to only run 5 miles instead of 8.5. Both of my calves are really tight (still adjusting to the Altra's) and I think my left ankle is a little off. There is a tingling feeling around the inner ankle bone. Definitely not worth pushing it! So I did a mile WU 9:33, then 3 miles fast 8:44,8:31,8:22 and a mile cool down 9:11 for a total of 5 miles with an 8:36 avg.

Saturday's long run was done with Janice and Sarah and time just flew by! We did 9 miles with an 9:09 avg. Interesting though my heart rate was a lot higher than usual, I didn't really feel it during the run though.

Of course Friday evening Zoe started with a runny nose and a cough, which turned into a full blown cold by Saturday morning. So far no fever, but let's just hope I won't get it!!

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I decided to do a #ThankfulTaper this time around. Every day I'm posting about something/someone that made it possible for me to run the NYC marathon!

I would like to thank STRAVA for making all this possible! I won a free entry to the NYC marathon plus coaching by Allie Kieffer just by using a hash tag!! This is such a once in a lifetime opportunity and I want to enjoy every single moment of it! 

Correcttoes

What a lifesaver! I started to have pain in my right big toe earlier this year and by May I realized it's a bunion. I saw a podiatrist at Lucky Road (my go to running store) one day, who confirmed it and recommended correctoes. He said those are different than any other piece you put between your toes. Those are actually worn when you're active, that's when your muscles actually adjust to the new form. I ordered them and started wearing them by end of June and I was almost immediately pain-free! I'm only wearing them while running and it keeps me pain-free all day! I'm 100% sure without them I could not do any long runs. Before I got them I was in pain all day!

 

My coach Allie Kieffer

Included with a free entry to the NYC marathon was 8 weeks of free coaching by Allie Kieffer! She placed 5th last year at the NYC marathon! From the beginning I told myself I have nothing to loose since I never planned on running a marathon this year and everything to win! So I will follow everything she tells me and see how it goes. The first week of training already had me run 37 miles, a lot more than I was used to. I was a little worried about getting injured with increasing miles and add speed workouts, but it really worked! It's now a week before the race and I feel I'm in my best shape EVER! And that in only 8 weeks! Every Monday I was scared for the workouts, especially Track Tuesday, but every time I crushed it! I feel so much more confident than ever before! I PR'ed my half marathon in training by 2 min (1:54) I ran a 3 min 10k PR and in the same race I ran a 5k PR in 24:04! I hope to be able to use a coach for future races as well! I could have not asked for a better coach and training cycle! I really like the 3 workouts during the week and the 2 on the weekends, it fit perfectly into my schedule, which made it easier to stick with it.

Tailwind

Nutrition was a huge problem in the past, especially running long distance. When I found out I will be running the NYC marathon I asked several people what they use and interesting enough all of them recommended Tailwind. I never even heard about it! I checked it out online and really liked the idea of an all-in-one nutrition that is mixed into your water. I tried it and let me tell you, it's magic! I haven't had any GI issues while training and hopefully not during the race. Since I'm not allowed to bring my hydration vest, I will make a tailwind bomb in my handheld, take a sip at every mile and use water from the water station. I hope it works out that way! Besides not having GI issues, I also noticed I don't have any ups and downs in performance and after the run I don't have any crazy cravings! I usually drink their rebuild drink, which helps me to properly hydrate after a run (which I usually don't do and also, it feels it starts my digestion back up. If I drink the rebuild food doesn't bother me for the rest of the day. Before it took me hours until I was able to eat something.

Foam rolling and ART by Dr Cho was a big part of staying injury-free during this training cycle. Going into it, I was dealing with hip pain for several months, so I was nervous with the increased miles this will get worse, but it really didn't. Actually I feel better now than I did at the beginning. I think changing shoes also helped. 2 weeks ago at the half marathon in Idaho we saw an interesting tool, the myo tip. It attaches to any jig saw and it's like a foam roller on steroids. It really works! Mike bought it for me while I was running the race, so now every other night he works on my muscles. It feels good!

my running friends

I can't thank my running friends enough for running with me and listening me talking about NYC non stop! Dagmar was with me when I found out and that was so fun! She is running a marathon as well, so she understood my excitement! Sarah was running most of my long runs with me (or part of it) and always so motivating! Janice was also part of many miles during this training cycle. There are many more people a FARC who made my long runs fly by and I loved their excitement for me running the NYC marathon. I really hope I can make them proud!

My Treadmill

What a life saver! I could have not done it without my treadmill. Buying it last year from my friend was the best decision ever! It allowed me to run consistently 20 miles/week and therefore I was able to train for NYC on a short notice. I have not missed a workout this whole training cycle! I still can't believe it! But having the treadmill in the basement means NO EXCUSES!

The NYC marathon is in ONE WEEK... 7 days... let's see what happens!