April is in full swing now, and that means only a few weeks until the Glass City Marathon! I ran 45 miles this week. Just a bit of a taper, with the real taper happening now. My training plan had 14 miles for my long run this week, but I was more comfortable with running 16 after my 21 miler the previous week. I did that last year and it worked out well.
Mon – 5 miles, treadmill. I did earn a badge for my 100th recorded Garmin run on the treadmill. I’ve run about a billion treadmill runs, but just recently started using my watch to record my distance.
Tues – 5.8 miles, track workout, treadmill version. This workout was 8 x 600m, which roughly translated to .3 miles on my watch. The pace was “repetition”, which I interpreted as “sprinty”. I think I got up to 7:49 for a couple of the intervals. With the warm up, cool down, and 2 min rest intervals, this workout took longer than I expected! Good thing it was a WFH day.
Lunch workout – 30 min weights with Caroline Girvan.
Weds – 4 miles, treadmill. Only two more episodes of Inventing Anna! Oh no!
Thurs – 10.7 miles, pace miles. This run was pretty much all 10 miles of “race pace”. I busted out my Endorphin Pros which felt wonderful! The early miles felt great, but those last miles made me question my race pace! Phew! I was going to run a mile for cool down, but I said “screw it, I’m done” instead. After this run I had sore legs too. Not ideal!
Funny story – I had to have a routine blood work test done, so that meant 12 hours of fasting. We finished pizza at 8:15pm at by 9:30 my stomach was grumbling like I’d never eaten before! Oh the misery!! It’s funny how our minds can play tricks on our stomachs like that.
Fri – 4 miles, with Alan! It’s been a very long time since I’ve run with my husband. It was a bit of a gloomy day so I thought it would be fun to get out on the GCM race course (the part that goes through a metropark). I told him it was “4 easy miles”, but of course the pace turned out to be way easier for him than me! Still, it was a nice outing and we were wearing our GCM gear 🙂
Good news, before the run I survived my fasting and had my blood drawn. My daughter ended up spending the night and we indulged in a late trip for ice cream. Yum!
Sat – 16 miles, long run. I helped out with the Dave’s Running MIT group. I’ve only sub coached 3 times this training cycle! I’m never sure who I’ll have in my group (I mean, I do pick the group, but in terms of the members, you just never know who will show up for that run!), and this time I ran with a few really nice, but not very chatty guys! The social part of being a coach is always a work in progress for me, but even with my best efforts I can’t make small talk all alone for 2 ½ hours. Even so, we all enjoyed each other’s company in silence for quite a while on this one. Target pace for the run was 9:45-10:00, and we finished around 9:50 avg. yay!
Along our route we saw a turkey who was a bit territorial!
Sun – Rest, rest, rest. I am feeling a bit beat up this week, so rest is on the plan. And maybe a bubble bath!
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: Do you a fan of baths?
I think they are often too much work, and take too long! But when I’m in taper mode, they are ok 🙂
Q: Do you like boba (bubble tea) drinks?
My daughter loves them! The ice cream shop now makes slushies with boba in it! It was different.
Ugh on the fasting. I’m glad you made it.
I am not a fan of baths. I used to do ice baths after long runs, but honestly haven’t been training hard enough to need one!
I have never tried boba! I don’t like sweet drinks and think they usually are pretty sweet?
I don’t know about the original origin of boba, but now it’s all mix and match. You can pick the flavor of drink and of the boba. They typically are in sweet drinks but I did get a coffee/milk based drink with boba in it when I went to Ann Arbor. I wouldn’t go out of my way to order it, but it’s fun to drink. My daughter is obsessed with it but my husband doesn’t like the texture of them!
Insult to injury, the lab was busy by the time I got there an I had to wait another hour. Ugh! But at least the lady who drew the blood was amazing and I didn’t even feel the needle prick!
ha, it sounds like running with your husband is like me running with mine 🙂 I think its good for me though to push a little more and I like that we can do it together.
I’m excited for your race! I know I’ve mentioned my running friend Christie is doing it as well. The weather looks great (though I know its too early to tell.) She rented a whole huge house on Air BnB to herself! She’s flying into Detroit, which I did not realize was that close to Toleda. I so wish I would have done Glass City instead of Flying Pig, it sounds like an awesome marathon. Best of luck!
We have Air BnB’s in Toledo? I’ve never looked! (Note to myself when I go on vacation, extra income. Haha!) I did peek at the early forecast too. For sure too soon, but looks good!
Do you think Christie will be running with a pace group at all?
I’ve never heard of boba….it probably hasn’t made its way to Iowa yet, LOL I can relate to making small talk with a few guys, especially while running. AWKWARD! Men just don’t seem to be a chatty as women. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s tough always being the one initiating the chatter. I’m excited for you with your upcoming race!
Oh yes, when I’m in groups with women they talk a lot. Even if I don’t have a clue what they are talking about it’s good to hear interaction. But with guys, it’s a struggle. We did find some common ground on playing Wordle and camping!
Interesting you haven’t seen boba around your town. Keep on the lookout you might have missed it!
You’re getting close to that marathon — I don’t think it’s shocking to have a challenging week.
I forgot to mention that I saw a turkey at Olana for the first time when I was last there. I’ve been there so many times over the last couple of years, but I’d never seen turkeys there before.
I was in a residential area, so it was quite surprising to see a turkey there! I was told they were being quite territorial the previous week. Maybe it was mating season? This turkey did chirp at me and start to walk towards me, but I just kept on running!
I hate the fasting bloodwork thing. I am not a fan of the boba tea at all- too sweet. I do always love it when I make time for baths with epsom salts. I need to do it more often.
Ah, I used to love baths but haven’t taken one in a long time. A rest day and a bath after a really tiring week sounds amazing- I hope you’re enjoying it.
I’m laughing a little at you and your silent running partners- but it’s awesome you got a 16 miler done. Enjoy your taper!
A lady was running with me for a bit and we chatted a lot, then she left for a bathroom break. Later I randomly asked “I wonder where Janet went?” and one of the guys replied “yeah, we’re not a chatty bunch.” LOL! That wasn’t really what I was wondering, but yes, it would have been nice for her to return for the conversation!
I may need a bath. I’m fighting a cold and I ran 10 today, so I’m feeling a little beat up myself! Good idea.
Curious–in that picture of you and your husband, is that someone’s house in the background? It’s huge!
Nice week of running!
That picture is of the metropark “Manor House” which is where the owners of the land used to live until they donated it. It’s also around mile 21 of the marathon where you have to run up that “hill” (they are all hills after 15 miles or so, right?). I used to think that was a huge historic house until we toured the Biltmore!!
Congrats on your trip to Taper Town! Race day is coming right up.
Are you still using the foot pod on the treadmill? Is it still working well for you?
I can’t remember the last time that I had a bath but I’m all about a long hot shower after my run. I haven’t had boba tea – for all I know I might love it but I kind of get the impression that my best case would be describing it as different;-)
I do still use the foot pod. It’s close enough for me! It usually gets to 4 miles and my treadmill says it’s not quite there yet, but I’m not a stickler for details these days!
The little boba are interesting in cool drinks, but just a bit unexpected when mixed into a slushie! Still, there are hot days I wouldn’t really care what was in a slushie – it’s a winner no matter what.
Whenever I have to fast for bloodwork I swear my stomach thinks it needs to go into “survival mode” – it always makes me laugh.
I’m surprised that you saw a turkey out this time of year – I wonder if he was lost? lol
Great work!
I hate baths. I can never get the water hot enough (I like to BOIL), and then I have to shower anyway to rinse off all the bath ick.
I have never had Boba tea!
That’s funny – baths start out way too hot for me, then cool down too fast!