I am easing myself into taper mode this week and so far so good. I had a nice and easy 10K run on Monday over my lunch hour and followed it up with a running break yesterday. We had volleyball last night so I wasn't completely off from all physical activity, but I was careful while we played not to try and do too much. We play in an indoor beach volleyball league every Tuesday night and we even won the league when we played in the spring. I've decided that this would be my last week before Chicago and I'll have somebody fill in next week…how much would it suck to hurt myself playing beach volleyball 5 days before my marathon??
I was able to get up to the cottage on the weekend for the first time in almost a month…Michelle was away in Chicago for work so I packed up the kids once Kennedy got home from school on Friday and off we went. The weather was great and we were able to enjoy campfires both Friday and Saturday night.
Nothing relaxes you after a long week like a campfire, and these were no exception.
My Mum offered to watch the kids for me on Saturday and Sunday so that I could get my runs in. This past weekend was my last chance for a hard run, and I did Yasso 800's on Saturday for the first time ever. I've never even run intervals before! There obviously isn't a track up at the cottage, but there are long, straight roads that worked well enough, and I figured out how to set my watch up to do intervals. The stretch of road I chose was flat, but the temperatures were a little warmer than I would like for that kind of workout…it was sunny and high 70's. Not really knowing how to go about it, I did a short warmup and then jumped right into it. 800m hard then 400m for a recovery jog. Repeat 10 times and drag my ass home. I knew that I felt good out there, but unfortunately there was no way to get my interval results off my watch without uploading to the Nike website and I don't have a computer up at the cottage. I had to wait until Sunday night to get my results, but it was worth the wait.
I was thrilled to see 3:02 as my average…that would equate to a 3 hour 2 minute marathon, which blows away what I was hoping to do. It still may not be realistic, but it does give me confidence. I had tweeted out my results and even got a reply from the man himself…
I was able to get out again on Sunday and get in 10 miles on some of my favourite country roads…just me, my music and the pavement/dirt. Kept the pace easy after the Yasso's, held it around 7:40 per mile, and my legs were still feeling good afterwards…a great way to enter taper mode.
While out running the Yasso's on Saturday I sprinted by a couple of my neighbours out for a walk. The next day one of them came over to the cottage with an amazing looking pie for me…she said she needed to fatten me up! We were having a birthday party for my dad that night so I brought the pie as an option to birthday cake. I snapped a pic…it was delicious! Leona's Lemon Pineapple pie -- yum! I had two slices, so I think Leona may have fattened me up a bit.
While at my Mum's she also dug out some of our old Hallowe'en costumes from when we were kids. She is quite the seamstress and made them all herself. Well, Jackson may have found his costume for this year…a recycle from when I was 2 or 3.
Yup, that seems about right!
Anyone have their Hallowe'en costume picked out yet?
Yup, will be wearing it at the Disney race on Saturday…Captain Thunderbolt
Cake or Pie??
Pie and it isn't even close…Pecan, Apple, Lemon, Key Lime, Pumpkin……..
WooHoo - I wondered which option you went with - impressive on those Yasso 800s!!! Looking good for next weekend!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't really like cake or pie very much - but give me a bag of potato chips and I'm happy!!!
Thanks Kim, I took your advice. I LOVE chips too...more than pie even :)
ReplyDeleteFlipping awesome Yassos!!! Mine that I did last week were faster than I expected (3:05) and I don't expect that for the marathon but it was still a HUGE boost!!! You are going to do so awesome at Chicago! Glad you were able to get some time away at the cottage, sounds relaxing!
ReplyDeletetold ya you'd be able to BQ...so proud of you - you are going to rock it!
ReplyDeleteI saw your Yassos last week and that's when I thought I should give it a try too...such a great boost, I agree! Say hi to Bart for me at Wineglass this weekend!
ReplyDeleteYa you did...I'm still not sure about it, but I see it as possible at least now. I'll officially call that my stretch goal now!
ReplyDeleteI'm probably going to reuse my hippie costume this year, and maybe mix it with a mask, just so i don't scare the kiddo.
ReplyDeleteMichelle was in Chicago? I hope she went to Lickity Split! They are serving apple frozen custard now!!
Great job with the Yasso's! you'll be going sub 3 for sure!
i saw tie-dyed calf sleeves this morning on Running Warehouse...just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteShe was in Chicago for work at the Merch Mart so no chance to get up north for frozen custard. One year when I tag along with her I'll make the trip there for sure.
Thanks for the confidence in my speed, but I don't see a sub-3 any time soon...I'll be happy to hang around you, Pete and the 3:10 pace group!