2019 Boston Marathon – Week 18
During my last training week before the 2019 Boston Marathon, all of my runs were easy. (I skipped the 2019 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler on Sunday.) I expected I’d feel better during the taper but I think I felt worse!
Training Schedule
April 7th – April 13th
Sunday: Easy Run. 8 miles or 2019 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
Monday: Easy Run. 8 miles
Tuesday: Easy Run. 6 miles
Wednesday: Easy Run. 5 miles
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Easy Run. 6 miles
Saturday: Easy Run. 6 miles
Total: ~34 Miles
Notes. I trusted in the plan and followed the schedule even though I thought about either a) taking another off day or b) adding some light speedwork.
Workouts
Easy Run. 10 miles [Log Details].
I woke up at 6:30am and looked up the start time for the 2019 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. I could still make it but decided there really wasn’t a point to dealing with traffic to run in a race I wasn’t supposed to run hard. Plus, I already got a great view of the cherry blossoms last week. With that, I went back to bed.
An hour later, I ran my favorite 10 mile route that went up through north Arlington to the Custis Trail.
I felt extremely sluggish during the early miles but the pace was supposed to be easy so I didn’t pay the fatigue much mind. I got down to 9:20 pace mid-way through the run on my way to the W&OD Trail. I expected it would naturally go down now that the terrain was down hill, but that didn’t happen. I was happy with my decision to pass on the race given how rough this easy run went.
Overall pace=9:30.
Easy Run. 6 miles [Log Details].
Last run on my home turf! My flight to Boston wasn’t until 1:30pm, so I didn’t get out of bed until 7:00am. The temperature was in the mid-60s and a little rainy. I realized this might be a good opportunity to practice what I wanted to run on Monday because the weather would be similar. For the route, I did an out-and-back on the W&OD Trail
I took a break at Bluemont Park and gathered my thoughts about the marathon. I had a great training cycle and I thought if the weather cooperates and I run smart, I could have a pretty good day.
Overall pace=9:22.
Health
Injuries. My knees hurt all week!
Sleep. I slept well except for Monday night when I stayed up past midnight watching the University of Virginia, my alma mater, win the NCAA college basketball championship!
Weight. For the past two weeks, I was under 130 pounds but that ended after Thursday’s rest day.
Weather
No complaints. The temperature was consistently around 50 degrees and winds were calm. Most days, it was overcast but the clouds never opened up with rain.
Clothing
On Saturday, I traveled to Boston and went to the marathon expo. In addition to the Boston Marathon Course Tee, I bought a Saucony Endophin Singlet, Adidas Superlite Prime 2 Hat, Saucony Brisk Skull Cap and Saucony Brisk Gloves.
Nutrition
Nutrition bars. Larabar. The appeal of this bar is that it has all natural ingredients. I opted to go with another bar before the race because I didn’t like the consistency. The bar I tried, Banana Chocolate Chip, had 190 calories, 36 grams of carbohydrate, 4 grams of protein, and 4.5 grams of fat.
(My Guide to Running Nutrition)
Media & Motivation
News. “Misplaced Cones Mar Cherry Blossom Course, AR Invalidated“, It was a lovely day to race and so imany runners must have been disappointed to learn the results will have an asterisk.
Music. “Unwritten” Natasha Bedingfield. This was a last minute addition to my 2019 Boston Marathon playlist, which may be why rain showed up in the forecast.
(My “Songs of the Week” on Spotify)
Motivation.
[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”raised” width=”800px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”4″ border_color=”#f4d83f” rounded_corners=”false” outside_shadow=”false” ] “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [/dropshadowbox]
On the eve of the 2019 Boston Marathon, I’ve been thinking about some positive changes I’ve made in my life since last year’s race. Sending work emails the morning of that race, when I should have been thinking about preparing for the elements, was the beginning of me recognizing I was giving too much of myself to my job.
Racing Schedule
Runner rankings. Regional Runner Rankings – Winter 2019. I made the age group rankings (45-49 years old) – 16th place. The races that counted were – Roosevelt Island Park Run 5K #7 on March 31.
Next race: 2019 Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15th!
(My Racing Schedule)
