Sunday, April 26, 2015

Last Long Run Before the Long Awaited Taper!

I am actually very excited to start my taper next week after what feels like a very long marathon training plan.  I could not wait to get this run done today as I knew the next time I'd be running that long would be on marathon day!

Originally the training plan called for 23 miles.  After last week's successful yet very long 22 miler, I had no interest in running beyond 20 miles.  Absolutely none.  Thinking about it felt like torture, so I decided last Sunday after struggling through those 22 miles that this Sunday I would run 20 and be happy with that.  20 I can wrap my head around.

To account for the decreased mileage, I was hoping to do this run around race pace (8:20-8:30ish).  Well race pace never happened, but in a good way because it was faster than race pace.  Once I hit a few 8 minute miles, I decided to go for it.

20 miles
2:38:22
7:55/mile average

Now I don't want to jinx anything, because you certainly never know what will happen on race day, but I have a feeling my sub-4 hour dream will come true with lots of room to spare.  But like I said, we'll see what happens on May 17.

Today was a beautiful day for a run.  We might not have mountains in Chicago, but we have lots of forest preserves with the prairie plants starting to come in.  These limestone trails are my absolute favorite.


 


I apparently lose a lot of salt when I run.


Nasty.

After my long run we indulged in one of our favorite breakfasts:




Absolutely incredible.

I alter the recipe to decrease the amount of pecans to 3/4 cup and maple syrup to 1/4 cup.  I don't add any extra maple syrup once it's done baking and I also don't add powdered sugar as it is very sweet already.   I usually have to cook it about 25 minutes.  Once it has set and doesn't jiggle too much when you give it a shake, you know it's done.


Tell me about your run today!

What did you have for breakfast?


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4 comments:

  1. My run was SUPER windy today! I felt like I was running in place! It was tough, but I pushed through :) Nice mileage on your run today!

    Breakfast was homemade apple and cinnamon oats with eggs and coffee! It was a delicious post run meal!

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    1. Yum that breakfast sounds good! Way to go pushing through on your run!

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  2. You're not serious, are you? You ran a 7:58 pace for 20 miles in a training run and you're worried abut breaking 4 hours in a marathon? You can have 13 minute miles for the last 6 miles and still break 4 hours! I would guess that a 3:30 is not out of the question. Aim high! You got this!

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    1. I'm a chronic self-doubter. It's a problem. I'm mostly doubting myself because I've been out of the marathon game for 2 years. Thanks for the encouragement! I need it!

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