4 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: 5 hilly miles on the tread.
1/2 mile at an easy pace. Then I bumped up the pace to 8:00 and ran a 1.5 mile hill: quarter mile at 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 incline. 1/2 mile at no incline, same pace. Next, a 1 mile hill: quarter mile at 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5. First 3/4 at 8:00, last quarter mile at an 8:13 pace. 1/2 mile at 8:00 and no incline. Last hill was a 1/2 mile: 4.0, 4.5. First 1/4 at 8:00 second at 8:20. 1/2 mile cool down.

This was a great workout that seriously kicked my butt. I kept the whole workout at faster than marathon pace. I was sucking wind hard by the end, but it felt great and hopefully it will help me through the Newton hills.

Tuesday: Hour of spin at the gym.

Wednesday: Laziness. I was supposed to run at the track, but only one other person showed up, then I got a side ache and I was never into it mentally, so I went home and watched Idol.

Thursday: I had to do my speed on the tread because it was super windy outside. 1 mile warm up followed by 4 X 1-mile with 400m recovery. (6:55, 6:53, 6:53, 6:50) It was a good workout, hard to do on the tread but easier because I was forced to keep my legs moving at the same pace. I am curious if I could keep the paces on the track.

Friday: Rest. I should have gone to the gym since I rested on Wednesday, but I was lazy.

Saturday: 20 miles!!! 8:42 pace.
I ran through Angel Heights, up the Sand Hollow hill, down it and back up it and home on 200 west.
I was very happy with this run. I wanted to do it at least under 9:20 (PMP plus 1 minute), but I was hoping for under 9:00. I had a few slow miles, but a number under marathon pace including the final mile (8:21), even though I was exhausted. Allergies kicked in bad after the run, though. I took too much medicine and couldn't function the rest of the day. Luckily, I have the greatest husband in the world and even though he was exhausted from his 20, he let me sleep and took care of the kids.

On to the taper weeks. Although, Tom mentioned an article about how a two-week taper is all you need for a marathon. I better check it out. As of now, I plan to keep the speed up and intensity up, just cut out some distance in my long runs.