This was a big week for me. I was tired physically. I was tired mentally. Just what a good training plan will do to you. Any sort of endurance running is tough and part of what makes you tough come race day are these high mileage, high stress weeks. I dread and look forward to them. So, here is a look back at the past week’s training and some lessons I learned.
The numbers
Miles Run: 61.2
Strength sessions: 1 (I wanted 2 for the week, but by Thursday my body felt pretty hammered so I eliminated that workout)
Yoga classes: 2 classes plus 1 15-minute home session
Cupcakes eaten: Too many to count this week. I did refrain from eating one the morning of the race – man, that was tough.
So, here is the breakdown of last week’s training.
Monday- 6 miles in 47:54 (7:59 pace). I took Stella Nutella out and it was a warm one. Phew. But I will take it for as much as I have complained on here about Colorado snow.
Tuesday-10 miles in 1:21:48 (8:10 pace) + Strength Workout. This was a late afternoon/early evening run -not my favorite time of day to run, but it was when I could do it. I didn’t really have it in me to incorporate any strides or any sort of speed work. After Noah went to bed, I hit the gym for a puny workout, but at least it was something. I eliminated a lot of my exercises that had to do with my hamstrings (they hurt and are sore so I didn’t want to wake that bear) which then eliminated a lot of my routine. So, like I said, the workout was puny, but it was something.
Wednesday- 5 easy miles in 42:54 (8:34 pace) + Hot Vinyasa Flow class. My legs felt heavy on this run, but I was really happy I went for the run. By the end, my legs felt much better. Stella went with me, so she was happy too. I took a Yoga class from a new-to-me teacher and it was really great. I will try to make his classes again when I can. It was a tough workout and I knew I would be sore. I liked it!
Thursday- 10 miles broken into 2 5-mile runs. I woke up sore from Yoga. I grabbed Stella and we went out for an early morning run of 5 miles. I could not quite make my body fathom 10 miles all at once so I opted to break my 10 miles for the day into part one and part two. Nothing spectacular, but that evening 5 miler was slower than my morning 5 miler. Oh and no strength session for me today. My body hates me!
Friday- 4 miles in 32:40 (8:09 pace). I think my watch was wrong for this pace because my legs did NOT feel like they were moving at this pace… more like a 12:09. It wasn’t a tough run or anything, my legs just felt really heavy.
Saturday- 0 miles plus C2 Yoga at Core Power Yoga. I took Barbara’s class at Core Power Yoga. It was perfect. Just what I needed. Went to the Rockies game Saturday night with the fam and some friends. Big fun! It was Lil Megan’s birthday! We talked some more about marathon strategy and she said that she really wanted to go sub 4:00 (and was briefly considering trying to push for a BQ – which I quickly tried to discourage because she has a crazy tough 50 miler soon and there is no need to push it so hard in a marathon right now. She WILL get her BQ this Fall, no doubt). So, we compromised on a strategy of 3:50 pacing.
Sunday- 26.2 at Colorado Colfax Marathon in 3:46 and some change.
I am pleased with the race. Megan and I started super conservatively (like waaayyy behind the 4:00 pace group in the back of our Corral C) and gradually picked up the pace when we felt good. My main focus was getting Megan to a sub 3:50. I knew what time we needed to be at Mile 5, Mile 10, Half Marathon and Mile 20, but I did not check the time other than that. We just ran based on feel. The only thing I was a little disappointed in was my nutrition. I don’t feel that I ate enough during the race, but I did drink enough and never felt bad so that’s good. Megan finished under 3:50 like a champ!
For you runnerds who love their numbers:
Finish time: 3:46:50 (8:39 pace)
Overall place: 244 out of 1206 and 44th out of 510 female finishers
Division place 30-39: 16 out of 164
After the race, I hung out with my work peeps (Erika busted out a huge PR of 1:42 in her Half Marathon and Tony was a nut, running a 3:09 for the marathon). So fun! Once back home, it was typical Sunday afternoon stuff of groceries, house cleaning and hanging out around the house and playing with Noah.
Looking ahead at this week.
Other than typical creakiness after a long run, I feel good. I was just telling Jim that it is crazy to think that I ran a marathon yesterday because I really feel good. And that makes me feel awesome because I know that I will be ready for this 50K. I will be strong! But, I’m not gonna lie, I’m looking forward to this drop back week.
Monday- rest day.
Tuesday- am easy run + Strength Workout + pm run (hopefully some speed work)
Wednesday- 8 miles. + Yoga
Thursday- 10-12 mile run (hill work) + Strength Workout
Friday- Yoga
Saturday- 16 miles + Strength Workout.
Sunday-6-8 miles
So, what are my lessons from this week?
- That I am a run by feel kind of gal. Sure I enjoy looking back at the numbers, but I truly enjoy running and I don’t want my watch to dictate if my run is considered “good” or “not good”.
- Yoga and Strength Training have added so much to my running. I know they get compromised a lot when I run out of time in my day, but they need to be just as much of a priority for me in this last home stretch of training.
- Speaking of stretch, simple stretching is not relieving my hamstring soreness and tightness. I hope to get into a massage therapist a few times between now and June 29th. Thanks to Christmas gift cards, this is a possibility (Thanks Laura and Steve)!
- I need to sharpen up my diet. Food is fuel and I need to fuel my body right if I expect it to perform at it’s best. Will you still see me eating a bacon cheeseburger? You betchya. How about cupcakes? Duh, yes. Just maybe not every other night now.
You would think that this was after the marathon, but no, it was like a Tuesday night or something. And it was after my 3 fish tacos. See? I soooo need to sharpen up my diet.
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