1 week to Philly Rundown!

My foot was a bit angry after the half last weekend and I wanted to make sure I was recharging while getting in a few more quality days this week, so I was targeting 50-60 miles with a short but faster tempo and hill repeats. Wanted to recharge but keep "sharp." I got in 53 miles but was feeling pretty rundown by the weekend.

I have actually felt really good energy wise on almost every run since a week after the Akron relay so I wasn't ecstatic that I felt pretty run down Saturday and Sunday despite taking Monday and Friday off running this week. I think I can safely blame it on a socially packed Friday which ended with a few hours of dancing and a restless night's sleep, but trust me I am sucking down airborne, OJ, and chicken noodle soup just in case as I know too many people with colds right now! I took a nap Saturday and Sunday and went to bed early Sunday to get in an extra dose of sleep. Feeling human again today! Taking today off and keeping with my typical pre marathon week to try and be at the start line 100% Sunday morning! I had ART twice last week and one last time this morning and the foot is as good as it is going to be without some time off (which I have promised I will take post Philly, and the doc is hopeful once I give it a week or two off it will actually fully heal!) I've got clearance from the doc to run the life out of myself at Philly as he doesn't think I am doing any damage to the foot, just preventing it from healing completely until I rest it.

So I ended up with 2 days off running and 6 runs (one double) totaling 53 miles. One swim and one yoga class. No bike.

In addition to my training I have started doing 3 small 30 minute workouts with David each week in the hopes of getting him onto the fitness bandwagon, starting small with the couch to 5k plan and we'll see from there! 2 weeks down and so far so good! (Meaning he hasn't fired his coach/spouse from the job yet! And he isn't injured or overly run down.)

Still tossing around time goals for Sunday. If I was a betting woman and I took a look at my past 8 weeks training I think I'd bet on 2:52-2:53. But you know me, I'm most likely going for better! I'd be happy if I could get under 2:52, but I am hopeful some race day magic will have me closer to sub 2:50 and possibly a PR. I've looked at the races profile and talked to a few of my friends who have run it and I am heavily leaning towards ignoring the watch through the half (other than to ensure I am not going out too fast the first 5k), going by effort, and then seeing where I am at at 13.1 and deciding on how ballsy I want to be the back half. The profile looks rolling through about 13.5 then it seems to flatten out, so I am hopeful if I run smart I could try for a negative or even split. Simple math tells you 2:46 is likely off the plate. A 1:23:29 half last weekend doesn't bode well for going sub 1:23 for two halfs in a row. I'm bummed I can't make a serious go at the B standard, but I'm excited that in 5 short weeks I have gone from someone who was pretty confident she couldn't go under 3:03 with a serious effort to someone who is looking to try and legitimately snag a sub 2:52!