Some days it just felt almost too easy out there. This is the best I've ever felt running as much mileage as I did-130 miles-and my highest ever. Over the summer, I ran two 120 mile weeks and I was quite sluggish. This week, on one day I could run 9 miles in the morning and then another 16 miles in the afternoon-and feel great clicking off 6 min miles. I would lie if I didn't say I am the strongest and fittest I have ever been in my entire life. I did 5 doubles, with a total of 12 runs. On Saturday, I ventured out to Poolesville with myself to the famous Duel Ferries Run...I found myself completely alone out there and loved every second of it. I loved the solitude. I thought a lot about my goals, my development as a runner, and what I saw truly capable of me doing in the years to come. The total distance of Duel Ferries is 20 miles(2 loops). I wanted to get in 22 so I decided to do a mile first out and back before doing Duel Ferries at a decent effort and then a 1 mile cooldown. I averaged 5:50 pace the entire way, and it was a solid moderate-hard effort. I finished both loops in 1:58:00, which made me think the last time I did both of these loops my fastest time was around 2:07:00. The BIG difference here is that this effort used to feel hard for me....now it's just a run. Doing this on top of the high miles has made me very confident as far as my endurance goes. Once I take the mileage down, my speed will latch onto the endurance and I will be a killer. All I need to do now is some fine tuning. The 20+ milers are over. The hay is in the barn. My mileage will now drop each week during the taper. The rest is really set in place. I just need to do a few shorter tune-up runs at goal pace and I will be set.
I was also running Edwards Ferry loops Saturday morning but must have missed you out there. It really is a great run.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the taper. I look forward to seeing how all of your hard work pays off at MCM!