Week 15 - Let The Taper Begin!

I'm trying to remember if I did all the runs last week or not. I think I missed a day. It was the second short run. That's right.

Okay...so highlights...first short run was fine.

Medium-long run was okay, but I did it way late. I think I started at about 11:30 pm and ran 7.6 miles. I covered in just over an hour. It was up to the temple, but not up and around the temple.

The long run. This was the long week. I decided that I was going to run an hour and a half out, and then just come back on the same route. Regardless of how far it ended up being. I assumed that would be put somewhere around 21 miles, given that I ran the 18.8 miles in 2:40. I wasn't sure how I was really feeling for the week, and I miss another run again, even if it was only a short one.

The forecast for Saturday was supposed to be rainy. And it rained lightly for about 10 minutes during the run. When it started to happen I was already at mile 15 or so. At that point I really didn't care if it would have rained hard the whole way back because I knew that I had less than an hour of running left.

Running for time almost made it easier on me. I didn't have to worry at all about my route, or the length. It sounds dumb, but in trying to figure out routes, it can sometimes take me more than an hour to plan everything out and make sure that I'm covering the distance, that I know where I can drop of my gatorades, etc. This time I just planted two in the same spot as I did last time, and I just decided that I would keep running up the canyon trail until I reached that time goal.

I got up to Nun's Glen Park, which is where we used to start longboarding when we'd go down the Canyon. Greg and Dave know where that is, but probably didn't know the name of that place until now. It was about 11.1 miles to get out there in exactly 1:30. I was feeling okay, but didn't know how much longer the run back would take me.

I didn't have any problems with anything. I was mentally there for the run. I got a sufficient amount of rest. Pretty crazy, but for the hardest run besides the marathon, I think I was in the best place I could be mentally, better than any of the other long runs I had ever done. So that felt pretty nice. I didn't forget this time to put on Body Glide on my armpits and nipples. On that 19-miler two weeks ago, I had totally forgotten to do that. The result? Chafed and bloodied right nipple. Poor little guy.

What's kind of strange is the bursts of energy that seemingly come out of nowhere. From mile 13-17 I was feeling great. I felt like my pace was strong, and I felt like I had all the energy I would need to finish the run strong. That happened at a couple of different points. From about 18 on, I was kind of dragging.

The hard part with this route is that the two toughest hills are on the way back. Going from University Ave. up to the temple is actually pretty steep, even if you're not going up and around the temple. And then finishing at my house is hard. It's on an even level with the top of the temple.

I got passed up by a couple of people on my run this time around, but that happened after only mile 18. I had never been passed up on my runs by anyone, so that was a little disheartening, but at the same time...I had already run 18 miles!

On the last hill coming up to my place, another guy had passed me. That last hill was really killing me. About halfway I couldn't stand listening to my music anymore. I had never hated it more. So I pulled out my earphones, and shut off my shuffle, but the climb up the hill felt so long, and each step felt so arduous. I ended up counting my steps just to occupy my mind until I reached the peak. 160 exactly from whereever it was that I started counting.

I finished it all. I was a little surprised at how far I had gone when I had mapped it out. I was even more surprised by the time of the run. I ran the whole 22.2 miles in 3:05, meaning the second half only took my 5 more minutes than the first half. Again, I have no idea how my pacing can be so consistent because I don't do anything to keep monitor it.

With about 2 miles to go I could start to feel the beginnings of cramps in my calves. The annoying part was that I was actually really attentive to making sure I was loaded up with all my nutrients. I had multiple multivitamins, plenty of calcium, and had a couple of bananas. I was reading elsewhere that sodium depletion can be a problem too. I think that might have been the case because I could actually see grains of salt all over my skin.

I was able to finish fine, but my calves seized up worse than they ever had. I tried to do my normal post-run walk around the block, but couldn't make it more than a couple hundred feet before I had to lay on my back and pull my knees up. I sat in that position for about 30 minutes on the grass on the side of the street. I couldn't stand, much less walk at that point. I had never hurt that much following a run.

All in all, I'm feeling really pumped about everything. The pace on that long run is about 8:20 miles, which I think is better than I had ever done for any of the long runs, at least the ones 15+ miles. If I can maintain that pace, that puts me at about 3:40 for the full marathon. Again, I need to not get ahead of myself and worry too much about time. Just completing is the goal for now (although if I'm being honest...I'll probably be at least a little disappointed if I don't finish under 4 hours).

So...now the best part besides actually being done with the marathon - the taper. I ran 8 last night. I'm gonna run 4 tonight. I missed a run earlier this week. I've had a muscle in my quad that has been experiencing a ton of tightness, so I thought it might be better to take another day off. I think the problem is associated with when I hit my knee into the turf in a soccer game a couple of weeks ago. Incidentally, I had another game earlier this week. The soreness in the knee/quad isn't any consideration when I'm running, only when I'm done and stretching afterward. I think I'm going to be bump up the long run of 12 miles this week from the normal Saturday, to tomorrow, Friday, so that I can play in a soccer tournament this weekend. Woo!

But I've got my plane ticket. I've got my hotel reservation. And I'm not missing anything significant for that weekend. I'm so looking forward to Chi-town and getting to hang with Dave and Caitlin and finally get this thing over with.

Woo!