Running Week in Review – 09/10/06

This was my final tough week of training before the Akron Marathon on September 30th. I started the week with some strength and stability ball training at the YMCA. Then a few easy runs and a tempo run. I finished the week with a long run of 22 miles. This long run was very critical. My last two (2) long runs of 20 miles were not too good. One of them was run in warm conditions and I struggled to finish and the other was run as I was catching a cold.

The long run today was excellent. My overall pace was 8:16/mile. I ran the last 6.6 miles at an 8:01/mile pace. To run the last miles of a long run faster than my overall pace is a confirmation I am ready for the marathon. The next three (3) weeks I will be tapering in preparation for the marathon.

I uploaded the long run from my Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS watch to the MotionBased site for analysis. Below are a few screenshots.

• Monday 9/4 – Strength and stability ball training at the YMCA
• Tuesday 9/5 – 5.1 miles – 46:57 – 9:05/mile pace
• Wednesday 9/6 – 5.2 miles – 41.22 – 7:52/mile pace – Included 3.02 miles at a tempo pace of 6:56/mile
• Thursday 9/7 – 4.6 miles – 41:03 – 8:53/mile pace
• Saturday 9/9 – 3.5 miles – 31:31 – 8:55/mile pace
• Sunday 9/10 – 22 miles – 3:02:33 – 8:16/mile pace

The weather for the long run was excellent. Temperatures in the 60’s with light winds. The sky was overcast so the sun was not an issue.

I was very pleased with my pace. My pace did not drop too much when going up hills.

This long run has a lot of elevation change. The marathon course will not have this much elevation change so I will be prepared for any hills I encounter.

Mileage for the week was 40.4

Year to date mileage is 948.8