This was my only full week of “training” for the GW Parkway Classic on April 22, since part of last week was spent recovering from the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, and the end of next week will involve several light days before the race.
To get ready for the rolling hills on the first few miles of the course, I did three different routes on my neighborhood hills and tackled the Wilson Bridge on Sunday.
Monday (Hilly Route 1)
Running: 4.5 miles, 42 min (9:21 avg pace)
Tuesday (Weights)
Elliptical: 15 min random program
Weights: 45 min full body routine
Wednesday (Hilly Route 2)
Running: 5.5 miles, 51 min (9:11 avg pace)
Thursday (Weights)
Walking: 1 mile morning dog walk
Weights: 25 min arms + abs
Walking: 1 mile afternoon dog walk
Friday (Yoga)
Elliptical: 20 min forward/reverse intervals
Yoga: Rodney Yee “Standing Poses”
Saturday (Hilly Route 3)
My friend came over to join me on my neighborhood hills. Neither of us were in the mood to run, but we just chatted the whole way to keep our minds off of the effort our bodies were making. The weather was lovely (mid 40s) and we ended up keeping a decent pace.
Total Distance: 7.3 miles
Total Time: 1:09
Avg. Pace: 9.30 min/mile
Splits: 9:29, 9:21, 9:31, 9:37, 9:27, 9:48, 9:25
It’s interesting to see such even splits when last weekend’s were all over the place.
Sunday (Wilson Bridge)
I felt pretty good after Saturday’s run (not to mention my Saturday afternoon massage) so I decided to do my Wilson Bridge run after church. It was warm (upper 60s!) and sunny but I figured that would be good conditioning in case it’s warm next weekend.
Total Distance: 6.3 miles
Total Time: 57:28
Avg. Pace: 9:06
Splits: 9:01, 9:19, 8:57, 9:07, 9:14, 9:01
The first mile felt hard, but I thought I was going slow, not fast. Once I saw my mile 1 split time I tried to relax. The other variations in the split times reflect whether I was running mostly uphill or mostly downhill during that mile.
I think my friend and I both are gearing up to enjoy the race without killing ourselves for a PR. We’ll see if we can hold back our usual type-A, competitive spirit and just enjoy a nice run on the parkway! 😉
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
Hello! I recently started reading your blog and I'm also running the GW Pwy Classic on Sunday. I checked the weather today and it looks like there's a good chance for lots of rain on Sunday :/ Since I have never ran the race/course before, I was wondering if you have any pointers dress-wise or mental-wise for Sunday? Okay, I'll admit that I'm having some pre-race anxieties here…this is my first race!
First, if you are from this area, you should know that they can't get the weather right this far in advance! Still, it's good to be prepared for the worst. I don't mind racing in drizzle, but a downpour is hard for me since I wear glasses!
If it's rainy, you probably will want to wear a light jacket and a hat. I always get warm when I run, so I have to underdress rather than overdress, but everyone is different.
As for the course, have you run in that area or driven along the parkway? The start is downhill, but then there is a short hill at mile 1. The next few miles have a few rolling hills, but then it is mostly flat until you get into Old Town. There is one more hill after you turn to head towards Union Street – usually right around mile 9. Then you have that last long mile to the finish line, but there is usually good crowd support.
This has always been my favorite race. It is well organized but not too big and the course is lovely, so my best advice is to try to relax and enjoy!
Let me know how you do. 🙂
Thank you! Good luck to you too!