Hamstring Treatment -- Week 21 - 12 Mile Long Run...

Gotta love the taper! Today, any of us running Boston in a week only had to do 12 miles, while the rest of the marathon training group was doing 20 miles. I ram with Dave Ladoucer for pretty much the entire rum. We kept it loose the whole way, but averaged 8:10 per mile. Here are our splits:

8:40
8:28
8:13
7:59
8:09
8:24
8:11
7:53
8:01
7:58
8:01
8:05

My hamstring was barely noticable, except on the very steep hills. But even then I was able to bound up them better than in previous weeks.

I'm now narrowing in on a strategy for Boston - targeting a 3:30 finish time if every thing goes perfectly, but expecting a 3:40 to 3:50. And if I am sub:3:40, I will be very pleased! 7 more sleeps!

Hamstring Treatment - Week 21 - Tempo Run - 8 Miles

Jenny and I were in Hamilton for most of the day, to watch Karen's thesis presentation (which went very well -- she was voted top presenter in her division!). So by the time we got back, it was about 6 pm and I really didn't want to run. It was a nice enough day (sunny and 9 degrees C.), but I was tired already and there was a brisk wind (17 km/h) from the northwest, which I knew would make parts of the run challenging. But I sucked it up and went out -- and I'm glad I did. Here are my splits:

Out (target 8:31)
8:18
8:18
8:26
8:15
Back (target 7:35)
7:29
7:24
7:28
7:56 (directly into the heavy wind)

For that last mile, I didn't look at my watch. I just kept pushing away into the wind at an exertion level at least that of my previous 3 miles. Overall, my pace was 7:57, so I was pretty pleased with it overall. The legs are feeling strong -- although the leg with the injured hamstring is still a long way from being 100%.

This was the last "tempo run" before Boston, so I'm quite happy to be facing full "taper mode" after the 12 mile "long" run on Sunday.

Hamstring Treatment - Week 20 - Easy Run - 4 miles total

Brian and I went out for our weekly "easy" run. Of course, as I get more and more fit, "easy" gets faster and faster. My view of "easy" is that I could chat in short sentences with Brian during the run. Here are our splits:

9:22
8:21
8:16
8:29

We celebrated our easy pace with a couple of beers afterwards!

Hamstring Treatment - Week 20 - Speed Work - 4 x 1 mile repeats (6 miles total)

We did 4 x 1 mile repeats (plus 1 mile warm-up and cool-down) this week for speed work -- but this time, they were outside in Gibbons Park in London. Here are my splits:

7:07
7:15
7:15
7:10

Could I have gone faster? Probably. But with less than 2 weeks before Boston, I'm now getting nervous about injuring myself. So I kept the pace to something that I knew would work me, but which I should be able to do without stressing my leg too much.

Hamstring Treatment - Week 20 - Long Run - 18 Miles

Today was the second-last long run before Boston. Most of the runners were going to do 16 miles, but Brian, Jed and I tacked on another 2 miles beforehand to bring the total mileage up to 18. Johnny's chart called for a pace of between 8:31 and 9:31 per mile. Here are the splits:

9:05
8:50
8:43
8:36
8:28
8:23
8:28
8:45
8:56
8:16
8:55
8:10
8:25
8:18
8:09
8:12
8:35
8:59
9:20 (.36 mile)

So, it was a total of 18.36 miles. The average pace was 8:35. The temperature was between 3 and 6 degrees celcius, so I didn't overheat. I had a very large breakfast before the run. I had GU Chomps on the run, which worked well to keep hunger at bay. I felt really good the whole run.

At various parts of the run, I ran with Christine, Gordon, Graham, and Jed, Jenn, John H. and we all had good runs. It makes a huge difference having great people to run with and to help make the time go by quickly.

No question that this was the best long run of the training session. Everything went right!