(not my) Marathon Training: Week 3/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:
Umm, well, it's Friday and I'm just writing this, so.... 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: rest

Considered a workout in the evening, but opted for sleep. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 2mi WU,8x300m @ 10K pace up, 30s rest, 300m @ MP down, 90s rest, 2mi CD

Did: as scheduled = 7.61mi @ 8:32/mi avg

These went much better this week. I was right on my goal 7:20ish pace for the uphills, and around 8:15 for the downhills. Eight was a LOT, though.... 

Wednesday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.05mi @ 9:31/mi avg

It's always weird to run our typical Thursday route on a non-Thursday... 

Thursday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.03mi @ 9:30/mi avg

Today was a struggle of a day, but I was able to fit a lunch run in with my husband. So humid. So gross. 

Friday

Scheduled: 2mi WU, 5x1mi @ HMP/2min rest, 2mi CD

Did: as scheduled = 10.00mi @ 9:00/mi avg

I was excited about mile repeats today, especailly since they were "only" at HMP. I opted to make these an 8min/mi pace (which is actually about my HM PR pace), even though I thought I could probably do them faster. Today's workout was "mechanical". I locked into the 8:00 pace, hit 30s per 100m eight times, and then, after a 2min jog, did it again... and just repeated until I was done. It was kind of boring, but also felt good to just "execute". 

Bonus: it took me until the second mile of the cool-down to realize that this was a 10mi workout. I ran 10mi before 6am on a workday. That feels really BA. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 13-15mi @ solid pace (MP+30s/mi)

Did: 15.17mi @ 9:18/mi avg, 1mi walk, .67mi walk

I had a hard time getting ready for this run. Sleep didn't come easily last night, and I woke up a bunch once I finally got to sleep. I also made the route for today, and the hills for the first few miles were a bit more than I'd thought. It was 74 degrees with 100% humidity. Gross. 

We were trying for 8:45-9:15/mi for the bulk of the run, after we warmed-up/settled-in. Not bad, especially considering this was after yesterday's tough double-digit workout and all the moistness. 

Splits:

1) 10:17 (started with a huge hill)

2) 9:18

3) 9:15

4) 9:11

5) 8:43

6) 9:01

7) 9:07

8) 9:06

9) 9:23

10) 9:05

11) 8:55

12) 9:19

13) 9:05

Decided to cool-down

14) 9:48

15) 9:34 

I struggled a bit for the first bit, but, oddly enough, once my training partner started slowing a bit, I found myself more energized to keep her going. After all, we're training for her marathon. It's a weird mental thing to realize that when I have the "choice" of doing the workout or not, and don't "have to" do it for MY goal, it becomes a lot easier because I'm really choosing to opt in and go for it. 

I felt great for the duration of today's run, and also felt like I could've kept going (maybe not at pace, but definitely for more distance), which is AMAZING. I'm pretty sure I haven't run this far since my pregnant marathon training back in 2019. 

We took a detour onto the greenway instead of staying on the main roads (which had more hills) towards the end of the run, and ended up with a longer route... so we stopped when the last watch clicked 15, and then walked a mile of cool-down together. 

Feel pretty great that I've run 53.1 mi in the last seven days... even though my back is absolutely destroyed thanks to sports bra chafe. Uggggh, humid long runs are the worst. 

Sunday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.72mi @ 10:00/mi avg (1mi of this was alongside my munchkin)

Today was great. Two years ago, one of our best running friends moved out of state. He's moving back to ATL, and joined us for today's run. :D 

Ran about 4 3/4, and then let the oldest out to run himself. 

Taped my back up, and that worked well... though I forgot about a spot on my inner thigh that got suuuuuper bad during the last mile. Ugh, humidty. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 48.6

Week-ending Thoughts:

This Hansons-y plan is pretty empowering. I have zero time for strength training or much of anything else, but I definitely feel like a total BA. 

It's really cool to be able to share running with my family. :)

Oddly enough, on the days where I'm running long, I'm less hungry than the days I'm not?