Week 11: Heartland 50. Welcome to the Taper!

Ah, the glorious taper.  I am so glad we are finally here!  This is an odd training cycle, because my marathon is April 1st and my 50K isn't until April 29th.  We had talked about me doing another 20 miler before my marathon, but for whatever reason, coach decided I had had enough fun for now.  I guess when you have been running as long as I have been, you can taper a little earlier, and still be okay.

Sometimes I can't believe I have stuck with this crazy sport all of these years!  I am for sure addicted!  This picture was from my very first 5K 6 years ago.  Look at all the wrongs in this pic:) . Cotton T shirt, yoga pants, and a hat that did not breath, but a HUGE smile at finishing and of course, winning something at the raffle.  Oh well, I certainly have learned so much!!

Monday:  Rest day.  Thank you tart cherry juice for helping me recover a little bit better.  My wonky hip felt one thousand times better since I sat and foam rolled and cried because if felt like certain torture.

Tuesday:  Speed work.  This one was fun but hard.  10 minute warm up, 6 minutes (9-9:20) and 2 minute recovery x 5 with a 10 minute cool down.  Since the time change had both Melly and I exhausted, we decided to run post work.  Something came up for Melly, so Deuce and I headed out solo.  Even though I entered the paces in my garmin, I honestly didn't pay attention to the fact that coach had slightly slid the pace down below what we had been targeting.  When I settled into my first interval, my watch started screaming at me to speed up.  WHAT?  Dang it, I had to get it under 9:20.  I fought and fought and got each one under and somehow averaged 9:14 on all 5.  5.56 miles traveled.  I did walk one minute of the two minute recoveries just to catch my breath.

Smiling the whole time

Wednesday:  Strength or cross train.  I wasn't feeling strength and it was too cold to bike yet, so Stella and I headed out on a nice long walk.  We got 30 minutes in and lots of pokemon caught :) . Unfortunately, I was feeling hugely guilty that i had NO reason to skip Strength, so I ended up doing 2 rounds while andrew was taking his bath.  I got in everything but leg raises, only because my mat was downstairs and I didn't want to leave him alone in the bath tub.


Thursday:  6 miles.  Day light savings time is kicking my butt. I am not even joking.  That and my hubby was up late coughing and snotting, as he and the kiddo have a little cold.  Either way, when the alarm clock went off at 4:20, I was like big nope.  The good news was, it is suppose to be low 70s later, so Mel and I got to enjoy some warm temps and some sunshine, versus the cold temps when we wake up.  Silver lining right?  Sometimes seeing a sunset is nice for a change.

Friday:  Strength and or cross training.  Chasing little red around the park is cross training right?  Ended up taking stella for a nice long walk post sunset.  Downtown Wamego was bustling with life, with even a live band playing in one of the bars.  Stella got lots of love from bar patrons out smoking, and we got to hear some good music!

Saturday:  6 miles.  Had planned on doing my long run, but hubby had to work, so had to switch things around.  Decided since the weather was going to be so nice, that we had to go on an adventure.  Since we had been watching the giraffe on youtube, waiting on April to give birth, I wanted andrew to see a real baby giraffe and BONUS, they had a new baby at the Rolling Hill's Zoo.  Off to Salina we went!

You forget how big these animals are till you are right up next to them!  We got to see them eat their breakfast and then we got to see them play in their paddock.  The baby was SO cute!  Got 6 miles in after hubby got done working.  It was windy and hot, but it was overall a nice run, minus the acid reflux from the coffee I had on our way back from the zoo.  

Sunday:  Okay I felt really off when I got up, not because it was early but because, well I am not sure why.  I really had to convince myself I needed to long run today.  My tummy was not right, I had a  headache, and I just was not feeling it.  I managed to scrape myself out of the chair and head out post watching the elite finishers at the NYC half marathon.  I decided to take some pics, since it wasn't 0 degrees out and my phone wouldn't die.  I ended up taking a photo a mile and it was so much fun!  I think I will make a separate post with all the pics in.  Great long run, only walked to fuel and felt like I wasn't working near as hard as I have been during the long run.  

Post running, we headed out for another adventure in Topeka.  We visited our first comic book shop, rode a train, rode a real wooden carousel, and played in a new park.  I think being super active keeps me from getting too sore, but drank some tart cherry juice and drank some protein before heading out just in case.  

I love taper weeks and am SO glad my coach is giving me one before my marathon, especially since the marathon is really just part of my training for my next ultra.  33.56 miles total.  

Have a great weekend and week!  I am looking forward to less miles and nice weather!