Monday, January 31, 2011

Taper... what IS that??

I'm now looking squarely at around 12 days until toeing the line in Birmingham for the 2011 Mercedes Marathon, and my degree of "stoked-ness" really can't get much higher. I'm psyched about going out and dropping the hammer on this favorite marathon course of mine, PLUS I will be in Birmingham on Valentine's weekend with my loving wife of 16 years...

SWEET.

Training has been going pretty darn well the past week. I've hit all my workouts and continue to feel great, and no injuries to speak of. Getting to the starting line uninjured is an accomplishment in itself, and I've been very blessed in that regard. 

Last week saw me hit a little over 42 miles, which is fine for me with 2 weeks out. I just tonight finished a 12x1 min @ sub 5k pace w/ 1 min recovery @ 8:22 pace, sandwiched in between 15 mins of warmup and 20 mins of cooldown. Overall, a workout that would have hurt 12 weeks ago. Tonight, it felt like I could have done 30 intervals of it...

So, after a killer workout tonight, I get a call from my wife and 9 year old son. Apparently, our minivan just flat out died as they were returning from the grocery store tonight. Fortunately, the van died as they made the turn into our neighborhood, so they were less than 300 yards from our home. I was able to run down there and push the van down the street to our house. I had forgotten how difficult a push can be... my quads definitely felt ALL of the van's weight. Just glad they didn't break down on the open road somewhere.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I have now been "donut-sober" for 5 consecutive days. This could be a watershed moment for me, and I want to thank my sponsor (myself) for all the encouragement that has helped me realize how badly I need to kick the donut habit. It's one day at a time...




2 comments:

  1. That is a tough workout and add pushing a van around. I really need to kick the Mountain Dew habit.

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  2. Goodness - a killer workout, a van push and donut sobriety. What a day. Congrats on all you've accomplished - be careful as you near race day!

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