Last week I mentioned that my training plan was starting to taper for the Glass City Marathon. My long run was shorter this week, but I actually ended up running 1 mile more than last week! But now my taper will happen for real. I’m ready for it too! Miles run this past week = 41. It was a good week of workouts. Now my goal is to stay healthy!
Mon – 12 miles, pace run! I was a bit surprised this workout was on my training plan, but I do think I interpreted it correctly. It had 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down and the middle miles were at race pace. I was skeptical about hitting any paces after my 20 miler two days ago, but I surprised myself and hit my paces. Hooray! 🙂 Side note, nice tree hat. haha!
The recent rain caused a bit of flooding so I turned this part of my route into a cross country course (up and over that hill). The river was quite high too.
Later it was house project day… painting a little bit of our bathroom. A long overdue task. This was a pretty easy job. Not sure why I waited so many years to do this! [before and after pics] The bathroom could still use more updating, but at least it’s looking better for now.
Tues – 5 miles, treadmill. I decided it was time to bust out my race shoes and give them a try. They felt great!
Weds – Rest day! I did wake up early so I had time to use the elliptical and do some PT and core exercises. Go me!
Two of our foster kittens were able to go back to the Humane Society since they were big enough. We have the two orange kitties left! They are so cute and playful. They love interacting with Sam too!
Thurs – 6.5 miles, fartleks. Another track day, another day of substituting fartleks for a structured interval workout! It’s all good. Best of all, my heart rate isn’t maxing out on my intervals like they used to when I first started this training plan.
Fri – 3 easy miles. Just an easy run around the neighborhood to get some miles in with the race shoes outside!
Sat – 14 miles, long run. I joined my husband and his friend again (like last week) for this long run. They do push my pace a bit more than I would on my own! We ran along the river and we got to see deer in the park and lots of fisherman trying to catch walleye. The faster pace made this run feel a bit more tired than that 20 miler last week! It is time for the taper indeed.
Speaking of that 20 miler – here is a picture that was taken along the course last week. Our friend always grabs our hands when a camera is near as a joke. Fun fact about our friend… he ran the inaugural Glass City Marathon when he was 13 years old and won the marathon a few years later!
The rest of my day was spent doing some yard work – yay sunshine! – and relaxing, looking forward to when the pool will be open again. And of course, a trip to get some ice cream.
Sun – biking and walking are on the agenda for today. Hopefully it will be a little warmer again today! Last Sunday we went to the zoo in search of the new otter family. We didn’t get to see them, but we did see this cute guy.
Ok, this is interesting, and funny. For years Garmin has provided a race predictor function. Usually, it’s ridiculous. I’m not sure where it comes up with these predictions because I haven’t run a sub 4 hr marathon in almost 10 years, and certainly not close to 3:56! But now Strava also has a race predictor. The other race distances are pretty close so who knows, maybe this race will go better than my last ones have been! 4:18 sounds pretty good! [Garmin vs Strava]
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: Have you seen the Netflix show The Residence?
It’s so good! I highly recommend it.
Yay for taper time, Lisa, enjoy! Your run with your husband and his friend sounds fun. It’s always nice to be pushed just a little bit.
Awww, do the two kittens miss their siblings? Although I know they’d most likely be separated at adoption…
I think they might have looked for the missing siblings at first, but honestly, it was probably 2 minutes! Maybe someone will adopt the kittens in pairs because the shelter has a BOGO free deal for cats and kittens. 🙂
Hooray! You are so ready. Can’t wait to hear how the race goes.
Those kitties a re adorable. I would want to keep them.
The kitties really are cuties. I think they are more manageable as a pair vs the 4 we had. I bet the other two are already in their forever homes!
Looks like you are in a much better place with your running for your race this year. Take care of yourself and enjoy that taper
Fingers crossed I stay healthy!!
That’s great news on the heart rAte! (Not sure why the A is in caps…not able to fix it, LOL). Your training has had its ups and downs, but it looks like you’re ready for race day. I hope the taper goes well!
I’m not ready to bust out any super speedy race, but hopefully with my husband pacing me I can do better than Berlin and Chicago. That would be a nice comeback!
Enjoy the taper! That’s a lovely picture of you, Alan and your friend.
Garmin and Strava look like they’re in a bit of disagreement… I thought Strava had everything logged from Garmin? Or what else does it base the race prediction on?
Your race shoes are almost as pretty as my Altra hiking shoes… almost. 🙂 Hope the race goes well!
True – Garmin data does feed into Strava. I guess Strava is more realistic! Strava added several new AI features that I like, such as giving an evaluation of your workout. It’s fun to see what it says about the run although it’s always positive (never, “wow, that run really sucked!” haha).
Yep, it definitely sounds like you’re ready. Now don’t go doing anything crazy during your taper, Ms. Adventure! Easy runs and rest! I’m glad Alan is feeling good enough to run with you.
Oh those orange kitties… I love them so much! My next cat will be an orange tabby (my husband doesn’t know about this yet, but he’ll be o board, eventually.)
Teehee, love the cat plan! 😉 I was never the biggest fan of orange cats, but these little cuties are changing my mind. One is super friendly but the other still needs to warm up more. I think he’ll get there though.
Yes – super exciting that Alan is feeling better!
Enjoy your taper! It definitely sounds like you are ready!
Ready as I’m ever going to be!
So happy to hear your had a good training week. I hope you stay healthy and don’t have any issues for this marathon coming up!
The kittens are so cute. I love that you foster, but isn’t it hard to ‘give them back’?
My husband has a hard time giving the fosters back, but I don’t. They say the goal of fostering is “Goodbye” and I know they are heading on to a new family who will give them lots of love!
Good news on the heart rate! I’m so unfit I’m already seeing progress with that myself on my intervals on the bike in the gym. And love the hand holding photo but the ray beats them all (sorry orange kitty).
It sounds like this is going to be a great taper!
That ray is so precious! They always look so happy!
Love the ice cream and the Starbies rewards. They are my favorites!
I haven’t watched The Residence but I have watched The Pitt and working through White Lotus. I’m not usually into TV shows, but for some reason, these are hitting right.