Pittsburgh Marathon Training: Week 14

After a fairly decent high mileage week, part of me just wanted to keep going at that level of intensity.  Alas, this cycle was once again about cutting back to allow for the necessary healing and repair.  Maybe I'll just look at this week as a practice in patience.

Monday: 5 Miles - For some reason unbeknownst to me, I was just buzzing right through today's miles.  Where I normally follow more of a progression type of run, this workout seemed to be about hitting that peak pace right from the beginning.  After having spent the two previous days running a fairly speedy 30 miles, I was surprised by how strong my legs felt.

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: 6 Miles - For how good Monday went, today was a polar opposite.  I just couldn't move with any sort of rhythm.  Instead of getting discouraged, I accepted that this pace was just what my body needed.  I also took the chance to explore the progress of a nearby closed road hoping that the construction on it was ahead of schedule.  No such luck....

Thursday: 5 Miles - With a day full of torrential downpours, I was anxious if "Shoes and Brews" would be cancelled.  As was hoped for, everything cleared up by the time the evening run rolled around.  And unlike yesterday, my speed seemed to have returned.  Maybe it's just some mini-taper crazies kicking in?

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 12 Miles - I was informed at the beginning of the group run today that my job was to keep us going at a gentle pace.  Totally failed at that one!  While we weren't necessarily going full throttle, the pace was edging outside of the recommendations for long runs (30-90 seconds slower than race pace).  I blame it all on the good conversation that distracted me from my watch data.

Sunday: 6 Miles - Yeah...so about that pace.  I think my legs were itching for some speed after a week of lower mileage and less intensity.  There was a little voice in the back of my head reminding me that next week would be another hard cycle.  I promptly ignored it, for better or worse.

This week proved to be a mixed bag of ups and down, with the former way outweighing the latter.  With only four weeks to go, I'm thinking that that is a good sign.  To affirm this race readiness, I'll get a better feel by participating in the course preview next weekend.  Anything I can do to build confidence can only help.

Happy running!
Sean