Last long run before marathon #3

I am really loving this haircut right now.

So I subscribe to this service Timehop Abe (I think I’ve only mentioned it about 100 times …) which sends me an email every day with what I did a year ago from that day. And that’s been particularly cool during the training cycle for this marathon, where I’m using the same training plan (Novice II) for the same race (Maine Marathon).

Everything has gotten easier. Everything. I think my form has improved tremendously in the past 1500 miles of running since my first marathon. Last year, maintaining my easiest pace but still “running,” I could not keep my heart rate under 130 or so. Now I can keep it in the low 100s and still run.

A few weeks ago it was so low during a long run I worried that my heart rate monitor was broken. But then I did some speedwork and got it up into the 180s. No, not broken.

My last run was 8 and a half miles, 11:15 pace, and my average heart rate was below 120.

As a 27-year-old woman with a resting heart rate of 55, here are my approximate ‘zones’:

  • Easy(60-75%): 136-156
  • Athletic Training: 169-176
  • Anerobic: 176-190

My marathon PR is at an 11:43/mile pace. I figure I can run this whole thing with my heart rate below 136 and I’ll still get a PR. Then I can figure out how I want to race the MDI marathon in two weeks. 🙂

The 10-day forecast is looking good:

It’s a little warm, but nothing that wouldn’t feel great in a tank-top. And no rain! Zero-percent chance.

Then again, last year I had this kind of day:

And this was the extended forecast:

Whatever. I feel adequately emotionally and physically prepared for whatever may come.

I’m glad that this race is coinciding with one of those times where I feel really, really good about running. I love every moment I spend doing it, every run is easy, and silent solitary runs fly by like nothing.

Running hasn’t always been super easy and I felt really unmotivated around the time of the Sugarloaf Marathon. My attitude is 180 degrees in the other direction now. It’s like the pull of the seasons and the memories of where I was last year and the perspective all these miles have put on my running.

Bring it on, race season.

 

 

Pattie Reaves

About Pattie Reaves

I'm a new mom and renegade fitness blogger at After the Couch. I live in Brewer with my husband, Tony, our daughter Felicity, and our two pugs, Georgia and Scoop.