Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Twelve Days

...until the big day! I'm revved up, I'm ready to go. I just finished a really great workout with the 5:30am group. My hip is solid again. I can tell I lost some fitness, but not much. It could all be in my head. During the two mile hilly part of the run where we run quick, I was averaging about 6:15/mile and my heart rate was about 184 bpm on average. At the very end of the run one of the guys, Duane, who is about 20 years older than me, decided to give me a run for my money. Lets just say he was surprised to find out about the last few gears I had waiting for him!

It was really great to be back out and running with the group, especially since I hadn't seen them for about two weeks. A lot of people were asking about where I'd been, and seem glad that I recovered and am back on my feet.

My original plan, before my hip injury, was to start my taper after this workout. I'm sticking to this plan, because today definitely wasn't a workout that would be part of a taper; far from it. The taper begins now. Be ready to hear about my taper madness. Backing off because of an injury is one thing. But when I know I'm perfectly capable of running, and can't, things can get messy. This is a warning. Take heed!

The plan from here on out is to go easy on Tuesday and Thursday. Saturday I'm planning 8-10 miles at marathon race pace (6:52/mile) just to confirm what it feels like and burn off a little bit of anxiety I have building up before the final week of my taper. Next week I want to run 15 miles during the week. This will probably be 6, 5, and 4 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday respectively. On Saturday I may run a mile or two at a very easy pace just to burn off some nervous energy. If you are going to be in Chicago for the race that weekend, let me know if you'd be up for joining me for a mile or two on Saturday!

After that, well. We get to see what I'm made of. We get to see what my sister is made of. And Susan. And Nic. And Jess. And Tom. And the other 44,994 runners I didn't mention.

Happy running,

-Doug

4 comments:

Jess said...

Ack! 12 days!? It's getting so close!

Marcy said...

I love how you casual say "Saturday I'm planning 8-10 miles at marathon race pace (6:52/mile)" Ooookayyyyyyy. I could hold that for 1 mile. Maybe LMAO!

That's great that the hip is in check though :-) Sweet!

Jes said...

Grrr I commented to you and my computer went all crazy... I think it ate my comment.

I'm so glad that your hip is better! And good luck on tapering. lol. In response to Marcy's comment... I couldn't even run a 6:52 mile if I wanted to! Man, you are crazy fast!

And in response to your comment on my blog... I will try to use my legs more when I go back for rock climbing, but with some of those walls it required more upper body strength to get my leg to the next point. LOL. oh well. I'll learn.

Nancy said...

8 - 10 miles at marathon race pace is part of your taper?? Geez, I'm glad you are not my coach! HA HA :D

Hope you don't get too carried away. Your body will thank you on race day. Listen to me, giving motherly advice to the pro...

I can't wait to hear all the race reports. Going to be so fun to hear everyone's story.