Elements of Erin 337

After my minor breakdown at work on Friday, I set off on Saturday for Sechelt.  I have run the April Fool's Half Marathon two times and this was my third time.  It never fails to be hilly and hard.   Sunday morning I started off at in Gibsons ready to run to Mission Point Park.  I took it very conservatively knowing that I would be adding another 15kms on at the end of the 'race'.   I crossed the finish line, collected my medal, filled my water bottles, ate a  piece of bagel and a bite of banana and kept running west.   I do not recommend running your longest run before a marathon in Sechelt if you are not used to hills.  That place is full of 12-15% grades both up and down. At the end of the day, I ran from 9:17am - 2pm with a few quick breaks to refill bottles, eat gels and take few rocks out of my shoes.   After a shower and some real food, I was back on the ferry to North Vancouver.  Reward:  Whit...

Proof that my marathon training is effective.  I cried at work today.  I am emotionally and physically worn down.  

With one week of high volume running before my marathon on April 28th, I am feeling fully cooked. After a rest day on Monday, I switched up my track workout day and my trainer ride day.  We secured tickets to the second to last Canucks home game on Tuesday night so I couldn't do my track workout.   I did my trainer ride in the morning on Tuesday and my track workout on Wednesday. Instead of going solo at the track last night I created a workout in Garmin and downloaded it to my Garmin 920XT.   10 min warm up 8 x 1 mile with 90 seconds rest 10 min cool down Let me tell you, this workout completely exhausted me.  I came home after the run, showered and ate but I felt so drained.  After a bit of rest on the sofa, I was able to feel better and went straight to bed.   Today I skipped my 6am swim in favour of an extra hour of sleep.   My mantra for the week is 'just one more week'.  Just one more week of heavy volume ...

With only two more long long runs before my marathon taper, I set out on a 34km adventure around Vancouver.  I had great company and I felt pretty good.  The hills in Vancouver won but I think it will be good training for next week's longest run and ultimately the marathon. Locarno Beach looking west Locarno Beach looking east