My allergies are still KILLING me, but today kind of rocked anyway.
First of all, the lovely ladies at Well + Good NYC included me in a round-up of fall fitness fashion picks.
Image courtesy of Logitech
Then I found out that I won a Logitech sweepstakes I’d entered at BlogHer. I won a keyboard, mouse and $500 Visa gift card!! Since I use a laptop at home, I’m just going to have to pimp my desk at work.
But if it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press Monday, it’s time for me to recap the previous week of marathon training.
How is it Week 7 already?
I’m pretty happy with my training for last week. I only got in 4 out of 5 runs, but I had a terrible blister under my toe that made it nearly impossible to walk Friday night and Saturday morning, much less run, so I bagged that run. Those other 4 runs were pretty solid, though.
Monday: beautiful, glorious, sweet rest day
Tuesday: six miles at night
Wednesday: seven miles of hills in the morning. It figures I’m finally getting a little better about hill training now that my plan will start switching to speed work next week. I asked the lovely Meghan (who is an editor at Runner’s World) why the plan started that way. She said that the hills helped build strength without too much impact while you were still building up your mileage. Either way, I’m really excited to switch to speedwork next week. It’s just logistically easier than trying to figure out a route that includes hills.
Thursday: yay rest day
Friday: 16 miles before work. Still can’t believe I did that. I just uploaded my data from my Garmin, and I rocked an average pace of 9:38. Not the 9:09 I’ll need to break 4, but then, you’re not supposed to race your long runs anyway.
Saturday: Massive Blister From Hell/Cramps from Hell/Allergies from Hell.
Sunday: Beach run on the boardwalk in Margate with my friend Shannon. Still had terrible cramps, was congested and we left late, but 5 miles is 5 miles. And running somewhere new is always fun.
Bagging Saturday’s run means that I ended up 5 miles short of my plan’s 39 miles for last week. I’m bummed about that, but there’s no way I could have run on that aggressive blister, so it has to be okay. I’m just glad that I got a good long run in. This week’s goal: stick to plan. That’s all.
How’s your training going, and what circumstances do you feel necessitate skipping a run?
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Way to go!
If it's too hot and humid I skip the run or (begrudgingly) take it on the treadmill.
34 miles is great! I am currently training for two half marathons in October- and this week I only ran 23 miles. I'm having a tough time with blisters as I am breaking in a new pair of Asics kayanos. :( I feel your pain!
We are on practically the same training schedule (I found mine in an RW issue this summer). Today I did my last of the hill workouts and start speedwork next week. Oddly enough, I've actually gotten kind of attached to my hill routine (I use the streets around Meridian Hill Park in DC) and I'm a little sad to see this part of the training cycle end. But yay for being halfway through!
The circumstances for my planned 7-miler on Friday necessitated a skipped run. And NO guilt over it. I literally had NOTHING left in me on Friday to do anything run-wise. I tried, I did. But I took three steps (maybe four) and knew it just wasn't gonna happen. So we turned around and went home. And rested. A LOT.
I'm still in awe of your pre-work 16 mile run too!
I will adjust my schedule if I feel pain that could turn into injury. Only in the case of potential injury would I eliminate a run from my week completely. Running through fatigue or lack of motivation is a big part of training since the mental game is more challenging than the physical for me.
Theresa...
I have been following you since before I started blogging a year ago and you inspire me! I'm curious..and this is probably a dumb question.. but did you start to run sub 10 minute miles once the weight came off? I can't seem to get below 11:30 and I think it's cause I'm holding onto excess weight. I've signed up for the Miami marathon and I want to be faster than my last race (5:14)!
Thanks.. and LOVE your blog!
No--getting faster didn't have too much to do with losing the rest of the weight, as I ran my first marathon after I'd hit my goal weight. I think it had a lot to do with consistency and speedwork. Here's something I wrote last year after my marathon that may help? http://losingweightinthecity.com/2011/11/how-did-you-shave-40-minutes-off-your-marathon-time-and-whats-next/
If I really don't feel like a run (really sore, really tired, ect.) I'll sub it out for a walk or a jaunt on the elliptical. Or sleep.
Gotta listen to that body!
16 miles! That's amazing!