The road to 13.1: Gearing up for the race

The last week of my taper shouldn’t be too difficult, right?  I certainly sought to keep it that way.

Run #52:  3.11 miles, 30:42, 9:52.4/mile

Sunday’s was a really fun run.  There was a gentle rain, and the temperature was just right.  I cruised along comfortably for the first 2.8 miles, and then hustled a bit through the last little bit.  I felt good at the end of the run, and celebrated by having dinner with my friends in Three Rivers.

Really.  If I spend any more time in Three Rivers, I’m going to lose my residency in Schoolcraft.

Monday was an off day (from running, not from work), which I celebrated by having dinner with my friends in Three Rivers.

Really.  If I spend any more time in Three Rivers, I’m going to lose my residency in Schoolcraft.

I ran on Tuesday after a really great — but very long — day at work.  I put around 200 miles on my state-assigned vehicle during the work day, and spent part of that work day tromping around in a wetland.

Dear Elizabeth and Marcy,

Every work day should involve tromping around in a wetland.  That’s fun stuff!

Sincerely,

Darrell

After work, I headed out to meet up with Christina and company.  We ran the course for the 5K on Saturday, and I then tacked on a couple extra miles to make my distance.  Result:

Run #53:  5 miles, 53:35, 10:43.1/mile

It was a good, relaxing run.  I enjoyed running with the crew getting ready for their 5K, and then had fun cruising out and back for another couple of miles.  When I was done, I went to Gazelle Sports and registered for the Summer Safari marathon training program.

No, you didn’ t read that wrong.  I have decided that I want to train for a marathon this summer.  Is there a better way to spend the summer than baking in the sun while running lots of miles?

While I was there, I saw Suzann, Pam, and some other folks I know, and found out that the Gazoom training program was just about to hit the road.  I thought it would be a nice cooldown, so I headed out with a few of the runners, keeping time for them and offering what encouragement I could.

I had a quick turnaround to Wednesday’s run; I wanted to switch to mornings so that I could get in the swing of things for Saturday.  I had taken the morning off for a dentist appointment, so I had time to get out there and take a nice, easy run:

Run #54:  3.12 miles, 37:35, 12:02.6/mile

The highlight of Wednesday’s run was getting to see Bill.  When I ran in the morning last summer, I saw him nearly every day.  I hadn’t seen him since I moved to afternoons, so I thought it’d be fun to catch up with him.  As a result, I spent about half a mile jogging along really slowly while he walked, and we caught up a bit.  I then went to the dentist for a cleaning.

Look, Mom — no cavities!

Thursday was an off day from the pavement, but I got to enjoy the pre-race pasta party at Sheila’s place.  We had so much fun!  There was plenty of pasta, plus lots of other sweets and delicious carb-loaded goodies.  I had more of the latter category than I should have, but it was worth it.  I also stayed way too late, and that was worth it, too.

Friday was my off day (supposedly, anyway), and I got up fairly early for someone who was out way too late the previous evening.

Run #55:  2 miles, 20:43, 10:21.5/mile

This was my last training run before the Borgess Run for the Health of It.  I had hoped to go out on a nice, steady pace and keep it there for the duration of the run.  I went out and kept a steady pace, but it was a little faster than my target pace.  That’s something that needs to not happen on Saturday.