Today I carried out a 22-mile sentence on the treadmill. This was my last hurrah before the Boston Marathon taper. The big Kahuna. The whole enchilada. The mack daddy of my Boston training schedule. And of course it just HAD to snow. Not just a piddly, early spring dusting mind you. This was 8″ of the really wet stuff, accompanied by galeforce wind.
I’m certainly not proud of my carbon footprint today barreling over unplowed roads to the gym where I churned on the deadmill for over 3 hours. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
I made it a dress rehearsal of sorts. I wore one of my potential Boston outfits, the warmest weather option. Sadly all the options except for the cool weather one are meh, mediocre at best. But honestly, would I be satisfied with any option at all in my current maniacal state?
So I lined up my lotions and potions and got to work. I did my Boston simulator course with the downhill then the hill intervals while trying to read lips of the Meet the Press guests. When I tired of seeing Tim Geithner’s ugly mug I moved over to the food channel where Sandra Lee was making some overly colorful cupcakes. Finally I zoned out completely and ended up fixing my unfocused gaze on the EXIT sign. I am truly amazed at what the body can/will do IF the mind stops the unproductive chatter and allows it to.
I am grateful and elated to say, the angry hamstring cooperated beautifully today, although now, just to be on the safe side, I have my overworked bootie safely on ice.
Today’s workout:
6 miles MP 0% incline (couldn’t snag a decline treadmill for a bit)
10 miles MP -2 to -3% decline
4 miles 400m hill intervals, 400m flat
2 miles cooldown!
I am officially in the TAPER!!
