Feb 5, 2010

Marathon Week

We are getting socked in by a bunch of snow once again but I'm not going to let it get me down. No, even though I'll be heading out to shovel the driveway for the third time in about 18 hours I'm excited that it's marathon week. What is there to be excited about? Well, that I get to taper this week. For this marathon, tapering means only 3 runs and about 50 miles this week and I'll probably skip my Friday weight session. Also, I'm excited that my family will accompany me to Birmingham this weekend to cheer me on. Hmm, what activities will Birmingham have to offer? I'm also excited that my long run for next week will be filled with gels, water stops and fans instead of the treadmill, staring at a bank of TV's and trying to find something to listen to.

All of those things I had to do today on my 20 mile run. I did my 15 miler last Saturday on the treadmill too but since my son had a basketball tournament I had to start at shortly after 5 AM. Also, since I haven't used the arm warmers that I got for Christmas I had to use them in case I need them in Birmingham. So, in summary I was on a treadmill at 5 AM with arm warmers for 15 miles. Bleah!

Okay, just when I thought it was safe to stretch I read this article. Now what do I think?

Finally I have a friend who I have done 3 marathons with who, after a couple year layoff, is getting back into our sport. Hopefully we'll be able to do a Fall marathon together. Please give him some love here.

All in: Saturday 15 at 8:21
Monday (today) 20 at 8:27

10 comments:

Jen said...

More power to you... I cannot go more than 4 or 5 on the treadmill... but with 3 feet of snow, I wish I had a treadmill now.

TokyoRacer said...

15 miles on a treadmill - unbelievable! You are truly dedicated.
The comments after the article on stretching varied greatly, but I agree with it. I have stopped stretching. It was always painful and never seemed to be helpful at all (except for light stretching after warming up before running fast). I think it stresses tired muscles - and my muscles are usually tired. In other words, I think it is more likely to cause rather than prevent injury - certainly for me and probably for most runners.

San said...

huh, interesting article. And it means I was never meant for gymnastics. Yeah, I was feeling bad for nothing as a kid.

210 donuts in one month, you are nuts. Even I wouldn't do that.

Good luck on your marathon and with the tapering. Cheers.

Lindsay said...

you're tapering! you need to pass the snow shoveling to someone else ;) i hope the snow doesn't keep you from getting down to alabama later this week. i like that "50 miles, 3 runs" is no big deal. i hope the marathon is included in that, sheesh! that'd be crazy mileage if it wasn't.

i took spanish in high school (3 classes) and italian (2 classes) in college... the italian i have NO grasp of but spanish i know a little. so, i don't feel very confident in taking a class to get fluent, but i don't necessarily think a cd would be magical either. i know i just need to put my head down and do the work, just like running. maybe i'll start w/ the cd and try to take a class later in the year if my work sched lightens up. thanks for your thoughts on that.

Jill said...

I wanted to read the article on stretching before I commented, which took a few days to actually get read. One good thing about being home sick is that I can get caught up reading. Ha. Anyway, I don't like to stretch a lot before my runs because I have done that a few times and find that it doesn't do anything for me. And from other articles I've read, you can actually pull something this way. I do do some dynamic stretching before to loosen up the muscles some and on really tough days, I do static stretching after. I also like to static stretch the days after hard runs when my muscles are achy. Seems to help some. Hope your taper is going well and you're ready to roll!!!

Bill G said...

AZ, did the arm warmers really keep your arms warm? Were you running at home or at the gym? If at home, you could shut the door and open the window to really test those things!

AZ said...

Thanks for all the comments.

All, yeah, I think I'm pretty much done with the stretching. Also, all my running these days is on the treadmill. 20, 15, 10, whatever the distance.

Lindsay, actually the 50 miles doesn't include the marathon. It is on Sunday and I track my mileage weeks Sun-Sat. So, it will be part of my mileage for next week, hopefully 60+.

Bill G, I was at the health club and yes, I think my arms were much sweatier. The warmers were kind of soaked when I got done. I did use them to wipe my forehead though.

Glenn Jones said...

Woo hoo! Can't wait to hear more about the race.

Nice that your family can join you too. Even if there isn't a whole lot to do in B'Ham, sometimes just being together with the family is great.

Thanks for all your kind words and support. It means a lot t me coming from a runner like you! And you were ight - I didn't make it through the whole playlist...

Beth said...

I'm excited for you- sounds like everything is all set for your upcoming race. I'll head over and read the stretching article and the other blog. Enjoy your "taper" week, although I've never run 50 miles in a single week, so I'm amazed that it counts as a taper AND it excludes the marathon. You are amazing!

Unknown said...

Don't wear yourself out shoveling snow, it's taper week, remember?
I've had to re-think my whole stretching regimen, it's kind of scary!