Tonight, as GB and I shared a cab downtown from the lovely (if by lovely, you mean nearly vomit-inducing hill repeats) workout we did with Jess in the park, I said about my training: “well, I just have another 6 weeks of hard training before taper.”
WHOA, WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?
To be honest, I’m so ready to just run this damn thing. Because I switched races, I’ll end up training for a total of 20 weeks instead of the usual 16 weeks I’ve done for my first three marathons.
But I’ve finally settled into a good groove and my paces are starting to drop to more pleasing ones, so I am feeling much better about training. Thank god.
Last week, I traveled back from Dallas and to Maine, and frankly couldn’t get my act together for any cross-training or strength training. I can feel the difference, and I feel a bit achier and rougher (uh, and also softer) around the edges from not strength training. So this week, I made sure to book an Uplift class as I looked at this week’s training schedule (and I currently have a window open to book a yoga class.)
This week’s training recap will be fairly short because of the lack of non-running things. I remember a time when I thought that running or workout out four times a week was something only crazy people did, so every once in a while when I end up having a “light” week, it’s funny to think about how far I’ve come.
Monday: nope, nothing
Tuesday: I was really good at rest days…
Wednesday: 5 mile recovery run (although at this point it was three days after my race, so i should have been recovered.) I was slow as all hell.
Thursday: Tempo day!
I was happy with my effort level but frustrated with my actual paces – I had a really hard time zeroing in on my target tempo pace of 8:24. Warmup: 2 miles; 4 miles @ tempo (8:13, 9:03, 8:08, 8:24.) Somewhere in there, I guess I averaged out around target tempo pace?? Also, I saw Shannon while out running. And my high school prom date. New York is the smallest town in the world, you guys.
Friday: travel day, planned rest day
Saturday: I went on a really ugly run. Most of my first miles were around 9:45, which is slower than I’d like for a 10-mile run, but whatever. I picked it up to MGP (ish?) for the last 3 (9:02, 8:58, 8:49.) I am aiming for anywhere between 3:55 – 3:59:59 for my marathon, so my goal pace is somewhere between 8:58 – 9:08.
Sunday: My stomach was really upset the entire weekend, so I didn’t have any high hopes for Sunday’s 6-miler. It was really humid, and my stomach was really upset and I didn’t really know what the bathroom situation was, so I cut it short at 5.
This week’s goals: do all workouts in order (not this weird two rest day in a row business), strength + yoga. Also, less wine, more veggies. The marathon is two months from today. It’s time to turn this up.
Edited to add: i forgot to mention that I have gotten better at daily planks and push-ups. Mostly because I’m feeling mushy.
Et toi? How was your week of training? Did you run + travel? Run anywhere fun?? Gia has a great post on running while traveling.
Good for you getting in those runs on vacation even when you weren’t feeling well! I ran the dumbo double dare in Disneyland this weekend. I planned on a recovery run today, but the humidity was just to much. Hopefully I’ll get one in tomorrow!
I really struggle with getting BOTH running and strength done. It’s just like eating spinach, I know it’s good for me but that doesn’t mean that it always happens;-) Right now I’m all about running. At least I’ve gotten in the habit of always doing a set of pushups after my runs.
No travel for me last week, and I hit my longest long run to date (10 miles) and also officially signed up for the half marathon that I’ve been secretly training for. It will be my first and I’m freaked out. This weekend i am traveling for a last beach weekend and I flipped two weeks so it would be my drop back week of a 3 miler instead of a long run. I figure I can squeeze that in. My weekday runs start creeping up though and I have 5 miles schedule for tomorrow…Did I mention I am completely freaked about the half??? I’m doing strength at least once/week but need to be better about core!
Last week was a lame training week for me. I was giving the leg some rest early in the week because I had an overly sore muscle that was affecting my gait. Once that felt better I fell down the stairs which then had me out even longer because of a sore back and bruised buns. My back is still a little tweaky. Hopefully I’ll be able to rally here and pick it up. I’m not training for anything specific right now so it’s not a huge deal.
“Less wine, more veggies” Perfect goals! xo
I had a great week of training…until Friday when by the end of the work day I knew I was sick. I tortured myself through 13 miles on Saturday and then was down for the count – and still am. Running has been awful this week and it scares me as my goal marathon is 10/12. I don’t have time for sickness and missing workouts at this point!
I was in New York last weekend, and have my own wedding coming up this weekend, so my training week was all over the place. The longest run I had was a 10K, the rest were between 3.2 and 5.5, but I hope to squeeze in a long run tomorrow before the craziness. Fingers crossed! haha
My week was good. I decided to register for a 10k at the end of Sept. so I’m sort of preparing for that. I met my mileage goal, even though I paced my long run poorly and ended up run/walking the last two miles. Character building!
NYCM is getting close!
I really feel like we are on the same wave length as far as our training is going (#kindredspirits?). My mid week runs are also starting to feel less sucky (enjoyable even) AND my long run this last weekend was a huge mess. I was struggling to keep my pace under 10. WAH. I’m looking for redemption at the Chicago Half Marathon this weekend.
Oh and I always say I’m going to run when I travel… but I never do. Unless I’m traveling with a runner, then I will run.