I have to say I am pretty stoked about my number. Not only is it a good number overall, but check out how low it is! Woo hoo!
With that high comes a bit of a low though. The first week of taper always smacks me hard both mentally and physically. Why? Because I finish the last brutal long run and high volume week and think - yay - now I get to start winding down! But that is simply not true.
The truth is, this week is almost identical to last week. The only difference is that my coach cut my long run from 3:15 to 1:45 on Sunday and he eliminated one 30 minute easy double. This means that my volume and quality during the week this week has been just as high as last week. But I am still feeling the fatigue of last week. And I won't start feeling more rested until after this weekend's easy long run (although it will not be easy as he has 1:45 with 45 minutes at 8:45 pace and an hour at 7:30 pace!).
So I need to remind myself that I am not yet really in rest mode and it is okay if I am really feeling the residual fatigue at this point. I was worried early in the week about my strength intervals scheduled for 2 days after my 22+ miler. But I nailed them and was thrilled. The days following, however, were a bit more draggish and today's 11.4 miles with 9 at goal marathon pace was brutal. Really brutal. It certainly did not feel like marathon pace.
But alas, I got it done and that is what matters.
I start to really rest next week. (And I am REALLY looking forward to that!)
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