Marathon Training: Week 4
How are we at week four already? I'm not sure, but the weeks seem to be over before I know which one I'm in. After a crap week or two of sleep, last week was finally a good one again. Most nights, I got 7-8 hours of sleep, which was much needed.
Monday - 6 miles @ 9:14 avg // I ran 3.5 miles with a friend and then added a few more on to hit 6. It's so nice to finally see daylight on these morning runs after being so used to being in the pitch dark for all of my 6:30 a.m. runs.
Tuesday - 6.5 miles, speed workout: 1.5 mile warm up, 2 mile tempo, 3 x 800m intervals, 1 mile cool down // It had been so rainy all day, but we lucked out with a cool, but dry evening. I was able to make it to the group workout, so got to run with others my speed for the tempo and a few of the 800's. We ran a bit fast for our assigned pace, but that was in part because my watch was telling me I was going slower than I actually was.
Wednesday - 5.3 mile stroller run + 30 min strength work (weights at home, body weight work after the run) // This is supposed to be an easy run day, but the day after speed work + pushing 50+ extra pounds makes it feel nothing close to easy.
Thursday - 4.3 miles @ 8:43 avg // At first, I couldn't remember this run. But once I pulled up a few pictures from the week, I remembered this was the morning H woke us up at 5:00 a.m. My run was then delayed until the manfriend was up and caffeinated enough to watch the little guy. I was cranky from being woken up early and having my run pushed back, but 5 minutes from my front door I was feeling exponentially better.
Friday - crosstrain, 25 min Jasyoga hamstring recovery, 15 min core & upper body // On Fridays, I naturally want to run a few miles, but I've been holding back and just trying to take it easy so I feel strong and not wasted during my long run.
Saturday - long run, 11.3 miles @ 9:45 avg // My tendency is to want to push harder on these runs, but we're supposed to keep these slower (for now) and our heart rate down, so I really focused on that this time. Pete and I got to run together because my mom was kind enough to come down to watch Henry for us. We ended up running about 2.5 miles of trail in the middle, but the rest was road. The manfriend and I are not the same pace, but he did wait up for me a few times and we got to run probably ~5 miles of it together.
We ran in the afternoon because I had worked that morning at the store, so my nutrition was sort of off (I had to scarf down a small lunch an hour before our run). And then after, I probably didn't fuel enough, so as we were waiting to be seated for dinner with friends I was getting HANGRY (hungry/angry). Nutrition is a hard balance because I often end up gaining a few pounds during marathon training because I'm always so damn hungry.
My fuel for this run was water with 1/2 a nuun tablet in it and half a package of Honey Stinger chews in the last few miles. The run took about 1hr 50min in total, so it's borderline for me to warrant mid run fuel, but by the end I could tell I should have had something earlier.
Sunday - REST + foam rolling & mobility class // I work on Sundays, so am on my feet, which is good, but I was also happy to be able to make it to the morning mobility class to try and work out some of the kinks from the long run. I wasn't feeling especially sore, but this class is included in our training program, so I want to try and make it to a few of them. I need to remember to do some of these at home, especially as the mileage ramps up.
Anything noteworthy?
I felt really strong during the Tuesday workout, which was nice. My morning runs leave me feeling sort of slow, sore and tired, so it's good to feel powerful.
My stomach felt blah this week. I think it's my nutrition, so I want to really dial that back in. Eating unnecessary sweets here and there, eating some meat that didn't agree with me, and forgetting to drink much water some days were probably the culprits. Trying not to have body negative thoughts around how it looks too, so I've been journaling about that.
It might just be me, but those tenths of a mile are important. The extra .1 or .3 has to be recorded. I don't care if anyone else cares, but they matter to me. #runnerprobs
Also, I really started getting worried about getting some longer trail runs in, so I'm planning to do a 13 mile trail only run this weekend. We'll see how it goes!
How is your week going? Is anyone else getting hints of spring yet? We had a tiny bit of snow on Sunday, but now it's sunny and in the 40s. It gets me so excited for sunny, warm(ish) days.
Monday - 6 miles @ 9:14 avg // I ran 3.5 miles with a friend and then added a few more on to hit 6. It's so nice to finally see daylight on these morning runs after being so used to being in the pitch dark for all of my 6:30 a.m. runs.
Tuesday - 6.5 miles, speed workout: 1.5 mile warm up, 2 mile tempo, 3 x 800m intervals, 1 mile cool down // It had been so rainy all day, but we lucked out with a cool, but dry evening. I was able to make it to the group workout, so got to run with others my speed for the tempo and a few of the 800's. We ran a bit fast for our assigned pace, but that was in part because my watch was telling me I was going slower than I actually was.
Wednesday - 5.3 mile stroller run + 30 min strength work (weights at home, body weight work after the run) // This is supposed to be an easy run day, but the day after speed work + pushing 50+ extra pounds makes it feel nothing close to easy.
Thursday - 4.3 miles @ 8:43 avg // At first, I couldn't remember this run. But once I pulled up a few pictures from the week, I remembered this was the morning H woke us up at 5:00 a.m. My run was then delayed until the manfriend was up and caffeinated enough to watch the little guy. I was cranky from being woken up early and having my run pushed back, but 5 minutes from my front door I was feeling exponentially better.
And of course views like this don't hurt either.
Friday - crosstrain, 25 min Jasyoga hamstring recovery, 15 min core & upper body // On Fridays, I naturally want to run a few miles, but I've been holding back and just trying to take it easy so I feel strong and not wasted during my long run.
Saturday - long run, 11.3 miles @ 9:45 avg // My tendency is to want to push harder on these runs, but we're supposed to keep these slower (for now) and our heart rate down, so I really focused on that this time. Pete and I got to run together because my mom was kind enough to come down to watch Henry for us. We ended up running about 2.5 miles of trail in the middle, but the rest was road. The manfriend and I are not the same pace, but he did wait up for me a few times and we got to run probably ~5 miles of it together.
This guy. Run date.
Tall trees.
We ran in the afternoon because I had worked that morning at the store, so my nutrition was sort of off (I had to scarf down a small lunch an hour before our run). And then after, I probably didn't fuel enough, so as we were waiting to be seated for dinner with friends I was getting HANGRY (hungry/angry). Nutrition is a hard balance because I often end up gaining a few pounds during marathon training because I'm always so damn hungry.
My fuel for this run was water with 1/2 a nuun tablet in it and half a package of Honey Stinger chews in the last few miles. The run took about 1hr 50min in total, so it's borderline for me to warrant mid run fuel, but by the end I could tell I should have had something earlier.
Sunday - REST + foam rolling & mobility class // I work on Sundays, so am on my feet, which is good, but I was also happy to be able to make it to the morning mobility class to try and work out some of the kinks from the long run. I wasn't feeling especially sore, but this class is included in our training program, so I want to try and make it to a few of them. I need to remember to do some of these at home, especially as the mileage ramps up.
Anything noteworthy?
I felt really strong during the Tuesday workout, which was nice. My morning runs leave me feeling sort of slow, sore and tired, so it's good to feel powerful.
My stomach felt blah this week. I think it's my nutrition, so I want to really dial that back in. Eating unnecessary sweets here and there, eating some meat that didn't agree with me, and forgetting to drink much water some days were probably the culprits. Trying not to have body negative thoughts around how it looks too, so I've been journaling about that.
It might just be me, but those tenths of a mile are important. The extra .1 or .3 has to be recorded. I don't care if anyone else cares, but they matter to me. #runnerprobs
Also, I really started getting worried about getting some longer trail runs in, so I'm planning to do a 13 mile trail only run this weekend. We'll see how it goes!
How is your week going? Is anyone else getting hints of spring yet? We had a tiny bit of snow on Sunday, but now it's sunny and in the 40s. It gets me so excited for sunny, warm(ish) days.
Comments
Figuring out nutrition during training is so hard. I usually ended up putting on some extra pounds, too, because of the hunger monster! We are always way more hard on ourselves than others are, though, so I try to keep that in mind when I don't love what I see in the mirror. I'm at the upper end of my ideal weight range right now and am having a hard time getting those extra pounds off.... When the weather is warmer, I'll run outside more and hopefully those pesky pounds will come off! I've been working out a lot and feel like I've been good about my eating (for the most part) but the scale won't budge. :/
We are having hints of spring here, though. I ran outside last night but it was pretty chilly - 39 degrees. This morning we woke up to a blanket of snow which I was NOT expecting (we haven't had snow on the ground for weeks!) so I am glad I ran last night as I won't run outside until the sidewalks are clear again. I'm definitely at the point where I'm ready for spring. We didn't have a bad winter, but I feel so much better when we have longer days of sunlight!