I won’t say last week was “the worst” because had I did have both quality runs and races. However, not everything went as planned and I did have to miss a workout. Last week, I found myself burning the candle at too many ends. On Wednesday, I was too exhausted and my legs hurt to do very much. Running would have been dumb, and it would have been the time I got injured.
| Monday: | Easy 30 minutes/ 4-mile hike |
| Tuesday: | Easy 60 minutes |
| Wednesday: | Rest |
| Thursday: | Easy 20 minutes |
| Friday: | Easy 60 minutes |
| Saturday: | Dragon Run (19:28) Total miles: 9 |
| Sunday: | 20 miles with 10 at 6:57 pace |
| Total: | 48 |
Thoughts:
My easy runs were all easy. I went hiking on Monday and had a short run. I felt good on Monday, but Tuesday felt incredibly hard. I didn’t sleep well into Wednesday, and when I woke up, I knew a workout was not happening. I also knew if I wanted to run the Dragon Run and a long run over the weekend, it wouldn’t be wise to “make it up.” So I took off. I usually take Thursdays entirely off because they are a hectic day fbut I squeezed in about 20 minutes of running.
Am I completely satisfied with the week? No but I got what I could in. It felt as though I “announced” I’m running a marathon and my body fell apart. I am nervous that maybe I’m not cut out for the distance, but once I get a few more weeks of training in, I know I’ll feel more confident.
The Dragon Run: 19:28
For my fitness level, I executed the race perfectly. I ran a 6:20, 6:17, 6:05, race and passed three females in the last .5 to win. This is my third year running, and also my slowest. It is, however, my first year winning. You never know who will show up. It was a good confidence booster for my fitness.
Sunday Long Run:
The 20 miler felt good. I’ve been slowly increasing my long runs, and the 10 miles in between felt solid.
I did feel extremely fatigued at the end. I know one component I’ve missed in any marathon training cycle is speed work so I’ve been working hard to get it in.
The 10 miles was slightly faster (1 second per mile) than the Air Force half I did a few weeks ago. That gives me confidence that I am in better shape than the 1:31. Mentally I know that, but it’s a confidence booster after this week.
Another thing I do need to do is sort out nutrition more for the marathon. For both marathons, I ate a full breakfast then took 4 gels during the race. I didn’t feel as though I bonked and went from 7 minute to 9-minute pace. I also have never felt like I could just “keep running” or on top of the world. I’ve felt tired and like running 26.3 miles is out of the question.
Next week, I’ll be running the Crawlin Crab in Hampton, VA. Last year, it was one of the hottest and most humid races I’ve ever done. The goal will be to see where I’m at fitness-wise. I’m not going to taper for the race but use it more as an extended workout.
Posts from the Week:
Questions for you:
How do you get over training hiccups?
What was your best workout last week?
To be able to say the 20 miler felt good is a huge confidence boost- not to mention the strong ten miles in there and the 5k! Your training is solid!