I have never really understood the talk about not looking forward to the taper, & ‘taper madness’. I don’t particularly enjoy feeling you are somehow losing some of your fitness, but after doing it a couple of times you soon remember how it feels! I’m totally ready for the easing down & very much looking forward to one run a day, plenty of sleep & being able to walk up the stairs without it being an effort!
Mon 13/4 pm 6.2M Easy. Easy/recovery day after the weekend, nursing a tight hamstring.
Tues 14/4 pm 8M E.
Weds 15/4 am 4.6M E, pm 6.4M Relaxed. Feeling a little better today, still cautious of the hamstring.
Thurs 16/4 am 11.5M inc short session of 6 x 800 relaxed off 90 seconds. Averaging just outside 2:20 which at first glances seemed pretty awful, but given the relaxed effort & that they all felt comfortable without them getting harder through the session it wasn’t so bad. Still feeling a bit tired. Followed with a couple of hours in the gym & then 1 1/4 hours on the turbo in the evening.
Fri 17/4 am 6.5M R. Felt much better this morning. A couple of minor niggles to get on top of!
Sat 18/4 am 10.9M inc short session of 10 x 200m off 1min. More like cruise intervals than a proper session so pleased to alternate 30/31 seconds for each.
Sun 19/4 am 15.3M inc last 5M at ~15secs off marathon pace, covered in 27:17 & felt nice & controlled at that pace/effort.
Total 70M, average 6:08
I was definitely tired early in the week. Poor sleep & another heavy weekend meant it wasn’t until Friday I started to feel at all refreshed. Happy with how the week went though & I was starting to feel refreshed by Sunday with the pick-up feeling quite comfortable. A very easy week lies ahead, with just a handful of 1K reps on Tuesday & a day off on Wednesday (just my second of the year). It looks like there will be at least a few looking to go through halfway around 69 minutes so we should get a decent group working together on the day. Last carbs on Sunday night before starting the depletion through until Friday so Thursday’s run will be fun!