Week 17: Marathon Taper

It's not good when the alligators are out in January. This guy better not be hanging out in the sun on Sunday the 13th.




The basic weather forecast for this week is abnormally warm today and tomorrow morning, followed by a return to more seasonal weather. A front will move through near midday tomorrow with a second front on Thursday bringing another chance of rain. Another weak front will move through on Saturday bringing a few showers and a thunderstorm or two followed by sunny skies and near normal temperatures on Sunday.


Marathon Day is on the NWS forecast:
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 62.


The 8-day model forecast now includes marathon morning. Conditions still look really good, with temperature in the low 40s and a light wind [the graph is in UTC, six hours ahead of Houston]. The NWS forecast discussion indicates there's quite a bit of uncertainty from Thursday on.



The Weather Channel tends to weight their long term predictions with seasonal averages. For Saturday night they show:
Overnight Low 42°F
Precip 10%
Wind: N 5 mph
Max. Humidity: 72%


For Sunday they show:
High 62°F
Precip 10%
Wind: N 10 mph
Max. Humidity: 60%
UV Index: 4 Moderate
Sunrise: 7:18 AM CT


AccuWeather has Saturday night and Sunday on their 6 to 10 day forecast. They predict:

Saturday Night, Jan 12
Low: 42 °F RealFeel®: 33 °F
Partly cloudy

Sunday, Jan 13
High: 60 °F RealFeel®: 58 °F
Mostly sunny


58½ miles for the week
This was a fairly high intensity, but reduced volume, marathon taper week.

M – 7½ miles recovery run, average pace 8:19 mpm, 71°F at 11AM Sunny, Vacation Day, [SeaC/NtrailMBtrail/SeaC]
Tu – 9 miles general aerobic fairly hard, average pace 6:40 mpm, 52°F at 1PM [SeaC/Ntrail-2M/SeaC]
W - 6¾ miles, 3x1600/400recoveries, average pace 7:05 mpm, 1600s in 5:48, 5:48, and 5:47, Cold! 44°F at 7PM [B'Wood Track]
Th – 5¾ miles recovery run, average pace 8:34 mpm, Cold! 36°F at 4AM [SB/Dow]
F - 9 miles general aerobic fairly hard, average pace 6:42 mpm, 61°F at 10AM [SeaC/Ntrail-2M/SeaC]
Sa – 7½ miles recovery run, average pace 8:43 mpm, 74°F at 1PM mostly cloudy, [SeaC/NtrailMBtrail/SeaC]
Su – 13 miles, average pace 7:02 mpm, 76°F from 11AM, Partly Cloudy, windy and humid [SeaC/Ntrail-3x2M/SeaC]

Not much training left:
M 7th: r6
Tu AM 8th: r5
Tu AM 8th: r4 [I will NOT run a stinking double that day!]
W 9th: g8 with 2@GMP
Th 10th: r6
F 11th: r5
Sa 12th: r4



Why does Rice play Texas?