Weekly recap: 3/9 - 3/15

Taper Week #1. This was a nice week of training with a significant drop in total volume. This was the lowest weekly volume going back to November. With only four runs and three days off - I had a number of moments where I didn't know what to do with myself. I was full of energy and wanted to get on with the race. The taper anxiety was beginning.

The key workout this week was my track session on Wednesday. I was supposed to run on the HHS track but the varsity soccer game forced me into the parking lot. I ran around the front of the high school which created a .3 mile loop. Not ideal, but given it was flat and had no traffic, it was the best option. The wind was bad and I honestly lacked the focus while executing the three 1 mile repeats. I ran 6:20, 6:15, and 6:16 which was about 10 to 15 seconds below my goal going into the workout. While I didn't kill the workout, I told myself that this was OK given the proximity to race day.

Sunday was my last 'medium distance' run. I did the 12 miler with Karolina running out on the W&OD. The run went well and I felt solid wearing my race shorts and compression calve guards. I did have one quick scare around mile 8 when I felt a sudden sharp pain in my right foot. I don't know what it was, but for a moment I thought I cracked something in my metatarsal. The pain went away after a few seconds and it left me wondering if I'd just given myself a stress fracture. Ahh the irony... a stress fracture on my last real run one week before the marathon. The pain was gone and when I got home but my paranoia persisted. As of today there is nothing there but I keep convincing myself that my foot feels 'off'. The taper-gremlins are messing with my head...

Below is a recap of my second-to-last week of this marathon jounry. As always, thanks for reading.

Monday	03/09/09	Off	0:00:00	0.0
Tuesday	03/10/09	7 Miles w/ 8x100m Strides. Ran around old north Reston and the W&OD. Started to feel good after 3 miles. Strides became more snappy and I felt more controlled.	0:59:30	7.4
Wednesday	03/11/09	8 Miles w/ 3x1600m @ 5k pace w/ 2 min recovery. Did this at the HHS parking lot b/c the track was taken. Not ideal location, very windy and I lacked my usual pop. Would have liked to have been 15 seconds faster on each interval. 1. 6:21 2. 6:15 3. 6:16	1:10:01	8.8
Thursday	03/12/09	Off	0:00:00	0.0
Friday	03/13/09	5 Miles w/ 6x100m Strides. Did this on the treadmill. Felt great and wanted to do more. Wore my flats to get used to them again.	0:40:48	5.0
Saturday	03/14/09	Off	0:00:00	0.0
Sunday	03/15/09	Medium Distance Run on W&OD. Ran the first three miles with Karolina for WU. Felt great and picked things up to 7:50 pace. Felt good but had some new foot pain after the uphill in Sterling. Kept the average HR at 141 but felt a little beat at the end.	1:37:24	12.1
Week 20 Totals			4:27:43	33.3