It’s taper week part deux, which compared to all prior weeks this year is liiiiight! The plan was…
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 mi + 7 strides | 4 miles | 4 mi + 7 strides | 3 miles | 8 miles |
Monday: Form drills, 4 miles, and 7 strides. It was warm, I woke up and checked the weather, and it was 53 with a little blue blotch over Cincinnati. I didn’t get rained on while running up the hill into the park and it was pretty warm. The strides sneaked up on me, I hadn’t even made it into the park. I also intended to round it off at 5.0 miles, but I overran for 5.13 in 44:14 (8:37 pace).
Tuesday: This was a 5 mile loop around the bridges. Across the Purple People Bridge, into Covington, and back across the Clay Wade Bailey bridge. It was wet out, but not raining. 5 miles in 42:22 (8:28 pace).
Wednesday: Form drills, 4 miles, and 7 strides. The mornings have been getting chillier. I did the opposite direction of Tuesday’s route, with an adjustment because one area of the park was closed (to setup for the Flying Pig, I think). Rounded off to 5 miles, in 41:27 (8:17 pace).
Thursday: This was a short 3 mile run and I had a conference to go to in the morning. I kept it on the Cincinnati side, and security was letting people run through the path along the river in Smale Park, which was great except that we were all basically stuck going the entire way instead of cutting it off like I intended. 3.77 miles in 30:16 (8:02 pace).
Friday: The long run of the week was 8 miles. Ran across the Purple People Bridge, the long loop into the parking lot where LA Fitness and Burger King are, back along the Newport Levee, into Covington and along their riverfront until I saw flood debris (that is *still there*), ran back into Cincinnati and around Paul Brown Stadium and the Bengals Practice Field, and back along Mehring Way into Yeatman’s Cove and finishing right where I wanted to in Sawyer Point. I took no fuel and was running on no breakfast, but I did fill my water bottle with Nuun Lemon-Lime Electrolyte mix. Ran 8.01 miles in 1:02:27 (8:25 pace).
The week was about 27 fast miles. I spent 3:46 running in the mornings. And enjoyed springtime.
Pig Week Preview
The plan for pig week is this:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 mi + 7 strides | 4 miles | 2 mi + 7 strides | Rest | Little Kings Mile | Rest | Flying Pig Marathon |
My mileage is reducing more, as expected by the plan. Friday, I’ll be spending a long lunch at the P&G Health and Wellness Expo (the Flying Pig Expo). I doubt I’m going to buy much (I never do), but of course I’ll leave with two or three shirts and a bunch of other stuff. Then, I’ll likely be working a little late (or a lot late, weather dependent) for the Little King’s Mile on Friday night. I’ll get the chance to meet up with some Twitter friends and meet them in person. Then, of course, the marathon on Sunday.
The weather right now is looking okay for Friday night, and possibly a little chilly on Sunday morning (that’s code for “perfect”!). I’m hoping for no rain on either race.
Cheers!