Today was my second to last training session before the 2012 edition of the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama this Saturday, and before I took to the streets for my workout I made a tough decision. My sub 3:15 hour BQ attempt that I had trained for so diligently (until my ankle injury at Dizzy Fifties) was off the table. Instead, I decided to set myself three different goals. First, I would shoot for a 3:25 hour finish. If I felt good after 20 miles, I would try to pick up my pace. If I felt bad, which was much more likely considering I hadn't been able to do a long run in almost 4 weeks, I would just try to PR (which meant any time under 3:36 would suffice).
With that decision finally made and off my mind for now, I was able to focus on my training. Today's session called for a 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down and 8x 400m at my 5K pace followed by 200m recovery jogs. Luckily, I was able to convince Rich to join in the fun and even though Rich was hurtin' after, he and I both enjoyed the workout. The weather wasn't particularly nice, it had been raining on and off. When we headed out, temps were in the low low 50s at best and we were lucky to avoid any real rain while we were out there.
Our mileage totaled just about 4.5 miles for the day and I now had only one last training run left before race day, an easy 2 miler on Friday to keep the legs loose. Hopefully, my new goal of a sub 3:25 is attainable at this point. Either way, I'm just lucky to still be running with that peroneal tendon tear/strain in my right ankle. Hopefully, my "active recovery" works and I'll be back on the trails in no time. I think I might be using that ankle brace form months to come. I might have a hard time getting used to the brace over long distances, but it sure seems to keep the ankle straight and stabilized.
With that decision finally made and off my mind for now, I was able to focus on my training. Today's session called for a 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down and 8x 400m at my 5K pace followed by 200m recovery jogs. Luckily, I was able to convince Rich to join in the fun and even though Rich was hurtin' after, he and I both enjoyed the workout. The weather wasn't particularly nice, it had been raining on and off. When we headed out, temps were in the low low 50s at best and we were lucky to avoid any real rain while we were out there.
Our mileage totaled just about 4.5 miles for the day and I now had only one last training run left before race day, an easy 2 miler on Friday to keep the legs loose. Hopefully, my new goal of a sub 3:25 is attainable at this point. Either way, I'm just lucky to still be running with that peroneal tendon tear/strain in my right ankle. Hopefully, my "active recovery" works and I'll be back on the trails in no time. I think I might be using that ankle brace form months to come. I might have a hard time getting used to the brace over long distances, but it sure seems to keep the ankle straight and stabilized.
0 $type={blogger}:
Post a Comment