5 Weeks Until Race Day!!!
Friday September 1st was a rest day. Most Fridays are because that's often a day I have to work late and this was no exception.
Saturday September 2nd started with morning tennis lessons for the big kiddo and the cadets tennis clinic for the little kiddo. We finished the evening with a 4 mile long run. T+D=157. Maddy did not hang with me on this run. Her average pace was 11:02 and mine was 12:39. Both of us had pretty consistent miles that I'm not bothering listing out.
Sunday September 3rd was a planned rest day.
Monday September 4th, Labor Day, was supposed to be another 4 mile run, but we spent the afternoon at the pool instead.
Tuesday September 5th was a planned rest day, but we did run 2 of the 4 miles we didn't run the day before. T+D=152. I ran 60/30 run/walk intervals for an average pace of 13:05. Maddy did not run intervals and had an average pace of 11:35 with fairly consistent mile splits.
Wednesday September 6th was 3 easy miles with strides. T+D=159. My average pace was 13:40 with near perfect splits. I did do some walking in the stride portion. Maddy's average pace was 10:45 with some definite fade in the second and third miles.
Thursday September 7th was 2 easy miles. T+D=156. My pace was 12:59 with pretty even splits and Maddy was 10:52 again with definite fading. This was the first time either of us has ever run three days in a row.
I did actually snap a picture during this run. This is on the road we live on in what is basically a flat swampy bottom.
Friday September 8th was a planned rest day and I had to work late again.
Saturday September 9th started with a morning of tennis and grocery shopping and concluded with my husband and I attending a wedding.
Which brings us to the absolute ****-show of a run today. We were supposed to run a 10K and give the SIS gels we are considering using on race day a trial run. The only good things I can say about this run is that we did complete the distance and the gels seem to agree with us and aren't completely gross tasting.
T+D=151 which is a bit better than what we have been running in, but it was a very bright sunny day unlike all week which has been overcast. We started off okay with a first mile at 12:59 and a second at 12:25. We walked a bit during the third mile and ended up with a pace of 14:11. By the fourth mile we were walking more than running. That mile ended up taking 15:31. And for me, it went downhill from there with me walking the final 2.2 miles. Maddy went on ahead and ran most of this.
I can't put my finger on what was wrong. My legs didn't hurt and my breathing wasn't labored. I just had no energy and even felt a bit lightheaded. I also had downed all of the water in my 16oz bottle by the end of mile 3 and still felt very thirsty. Was I fatigued from the three consecutive days of running earlier in the week? Dehydrated? I'm just not sure.
I do feel that non of my recent paces are where they need to be for this to be a PR race. Is the heat the cause? I just don't know.