4.42 miles, 35:48
This was my last run of any distance before Sunday’s race. Thr is a rest day, Friday a soccer day, and Saturday a feet up on the couch day. Actually, I might go cycling Saturday in order to get downtown to pick up my race packet. Felt a little creaky but I managed to have fun with fartleks (Swedish for speed play). Now that I’ve achieved a base to work off of I actually prefer fewer, longer runs rather than running every day. I find that more rest days help to get rid of the nagging injuries that can sometime make the shorter distances just as painful as the longer ones.
The August issue of Runner’s World features an article entitled, “Train Less, Run Faster”. The gist is to run Tue, Thr, Sat at around 10-K pace. Tue is a speed day, Thr a tempo run, and Sat a long run never less than 10 miles. According to the plan developed at Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (FIRST) and tested by real runners (not unlike you and me), you can be ready to run a marathon in 16 weeks using this 3 day-a-week training schedule.
It’s an interesting program that I might try in order to get from a half to an entire marathon.