Week-beginning Thoughts:
Feeling good. I'm kind of just in "coast" mode on this whole marathon thing.
Monday
Scheduled: rest
Did: rest
Tuesday
Scheduled: 8mi
Did: 8.04 @ 9:46/mi avg, Big 5
I'm really getting used to this 31 degree weather for my runs, and kind of wish the entire marathon were going to be this cold. I'm terrified of what 50 degrees might feel like in a a month an a half!
I'm really getting used to this 31 degree weather for my runs, and kind of wish the entire marathon were going to be this cold. I'm terrified of what 50 degrees might feel like in a a month an a half!
Wednesday
Scheduled: 5mi easy
Did: 5.29 mi @ 9:26/mi avg
Upping the midweek mileage means I'm now running a solo mile before and after the three with my teammates on Wednesdays. It's a nice way to break up the mileage.
Upping the midweek mileage means I'm now running a solo mile before and after the three with my teammates on Wednesdays. It's a nice way to break up the mileage.
Thursday
Scheduled 1mi WU,2x2mi/800, 1mi CD
Did: as scheduled, 7.1mi total @ 8:39/mi avg, Big 5
I didn't think the 8:00/mi "speedwork pace" was going to hold today. After all, holding that for a full 2mi in 24 degrees with high winds is tough enough without everything I've got going on. These longer "intervals" have always been a bit of a "bug-a-boo" for me, but today's felt different somehow. I approached them the same as a mile repeat, thinking of them in quarters, as if I had four laps to do, but each lap was actually two laps around the track. This subdivision really helped.
As far as pace goes, I am locked in to the 8:00/mi pace. Every 100m took 30s, even without looking at my watch or really thinking about pace. I just ran, and I nailed every interval. Since my watch's 1.0mi autolap tends to work poorly on the track (it'll usually hit a mile with about 50m to go due to GPS inaccuracies), I opted to manually lap every 800m.
1st 2mi: 3:59, 3:59, 3:58, 3:58 = 7:57/mi pace
2nd 2mi: 4:00, 3:59, 3:59, 3:52 = 7:55/mi pace
BOO. YAH.
I didn't think the 8:00/mi "speedwork pace" was going to hold today. After all, holding that for a full 2mi in 24 degrees with high winds is tough enough without everything I've got going on. These longer "intervals" have always been a bit of a "bug-a-boo" for me, but today's felt different somehow. I approached them the same as a mile repeat, thinking of them in quarters, as if I had four laps to do, but each lap was actually two laps around the track. This subdivision really helped.
As far as pace goes, I am locked in to the 8:00/mi pace. Every 100m took 30s, even without looking at my watch or really thinking about pace. I just ran, and I nailed every interval. Since my watch's 1.0mi autolap tends to work poorly on the track (it'll usually hit a mile with about 50m to go due to GPS inaccuracies), I opted to manually lap every 800m.
1st 2mi: 3:59, 3:59, 3:58, 3:58 = 7:57/mi pace
2nd 2mi: 4:00, 3:59, 3:59, 3:52 = 7:55/mi pace
BOO. YAH.
Friday
Scheduled: strength + yoga
Did: nada
Other life stuff happening this week. Needed a meditative morning instead.
Other life stuff happening this week. Needed a meditative morning instead.
Saturday
Scheduled: 18mi easy
Did: 18.5, maybe 18.6mi, around a 9:55/mi average, Big 5
Things that happened on this run:
- I almost tripped four times, but caught myself, despite thinking I was being careful. The last time, we stopped and tried to locate what had tripped me up. The sidewalk was completely smooth, except for a small bump of extra concrete. Figures that I'd be the one to find that. :P
- I've fallen in love with high-20s as a running temperature. If you told me that my marathon could have the exact same weather as today (26 degrees, 74% humidity, and 2mph winds), I would be ecstatic. I'm definitely getting worried about the weather warming up by mid-March and impacting my ability to hit these paces and distances so comfortably.
- We broke the route into a 12mi segment (and dropped one runner off after this) and a 6mi segment. It's amazing how much has changed in the last ten years of running. I remember being so upset when we lived in Charleston that the bridge run was a 10K, because I thought that distance was absurd and beyond the reach of normal people. Now, I'm like, "oh, only six miles to go? sweet, that's nothing"... after running 12mi of hills.
- My training partner's watch clicked 18 when I wasn't even at 17.5. We'd run the exact same route, step for step, for the past three hours. WTF. I ended up running until my watch clicked over, but I'll trust the others' watches and mapmyrun over mine; I'm pretty sure I was closer to 19mi today.
- I had my first "alright, can training be over?" moment. Ah, yes, this is what marathon training feels like. I enjoy the runs, truly, but I'm starting to get to the point where all I'm thinking about is the next run. Looking forward to mid-February, when at least I'll be able to say I'm starting the taper and my long run mileage will start coming down. After this marathon, I think I'll try to keep long runs of maybe 10ish miles on the weekends (for funsies), and that'll feel like SUCH a cop-out after all of this. lol.
Sunday
Scheduled: 5mi easy
Did: 5.07mi with stroller @ 9:15/mi avg
Kid had a race in the morning, which meant this run got pushed until the afternoon. I am not an afternoon runner. Just getting out of the house after my day was halfway through was tough enough. How do people do this?!? Took the munchkin in the stroller for company, and "enjoyed" five easy miles along the river. I was reminded today of how much running with friends does for me, though, because I felt like this run was SUPER hard the entire time. Of course, that's probably more to do with my faster-than-usual pace than anything else (lack of adult conversation + warmer weather + afternoon running also contributed to the struggle though). My last mile as an 8:46... with the stroller... after yesterday's 18 miler. Oops?
Kid had a race in the morning, which meant this run got pushed until the afternoon. I am not an afternoon runner. Just getting out of the house after my day was halfway through was tough enough. How do people do this?!? Took the munchkin in the stroller for company, and "enjoyed" five easy miles along the river. I was reminded today of how much running with friends does for me, though, because I felt like this run was SUPER hard the entire time. Of course, that's probably more to do with my faster-than-usual pace than anything else (lack of adult conversation + warmer weather + afternoon running also contributed to the struggle though). My last mile as an 8:46... with the stroller... after yesterday's 18 miler. Oops?
Total Weekly Mileage: 44.10
Week-ending Thoughts:
Yep. I've reached that point in marathon training where I'm like "k... ready to be done". I think of the future in terms of runs. There are no more "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday..." only "rest day, 8mi day, short day, track day, yoga day, long run day, and stroller run day". There are no more "next week" or "next month"s, only "19 mile week" or "after my peak mileage week with the 22mi long run".
There are seven weeks left. That's just barely longer than I kind of want it to be. Six weeks sounds manageable. Seven just seems like one too long. It is what it is, though.
- "Hearts and Soles weekend", where I've got 19 to do and am hoping to crash the ATC marathon training group for their long run
- "long run on Thursday weekend", where I had 20 scheduled, but am planning to do 16mi max on a Thursday because I have to travel for some professional stuff over the weekend and don't want to run super long solo or at the hours I'd have to do it to be ready for things by 7:30am
- "20mi weekend"
- "22mi weekend"
- "USATF Masters Track and Field Nationals weekend", where I'll attempt to fit in a 20mi run on Saturday in between sprints
- "sweet, sweet taper weekend", where I'll do somewhere between 15 and 18 miles as my last long run before the actual marathon
- "MARATHONNNNNNNNNNN weekend"
I can't wait to get beyond the 22mi weekend. It's all downhill after that.
On the bright side, I'm doing a TON better on eating (hooray, MyFtinessPal tracking) and I haven't had any real injury trouble at all this cycle. My calves are sore after Saturday runs, and I've had some hints of PF in my right foot when I wake up on the occasional morning, but nothing during/after runs.
Compared to this time during Chicago training, things are dynamite.
Despite the hints of frustration in the above text, I still freaking love marathon training. It brings out something in me that nothing else does, challenging me and giving me a renewed sense of both purpose and confidence.
A friend of mine uses the mantra "I can do hard things" to get through some of life's challenging times. I'm totally feeling that for this training cycle, and it's awesome.
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