Week 1 of official marathon marathon training is complete! This week was also my highest mileage week ever. Last fall for my first marathon I peaked at 31 miles and in the spring training for the Nike Women's Half Marathon I peaked at 36.35 miles. This week I ran 38.2 miles. Not all of the were great but all of them were certainly important.
Monday
After a weekend that consisted of both a race and a long run my legs were pretty shot on Monday. I wanted to do the run on the trails for the extra softness of the dirt and less pressure about pace. Pretty much from start to finish this run was a struggle. It ended up being a mix of running and hiking because of how steep some of the trails were. Luckily the gorgeous views made up for how tired my legs felt.
6.25 miles
Tuesday
Tuesday's are really long days for me, with class from 10:00-7:00. I know this is not even equivalent to a full work day for most people but Tuesday's are just really stressful for me. There's only so much paying attention & note taking I can do in one day and this is pushing that limit. While I didn't have anything on the schedule for Tuesday I decided to get in a quick swim with the new swim club. The workout was super easy and was more about relaxing after a long day. There's something about swimming under the stars that is so calming.
2000 yards
Tuesday's are really long days for me, with class from 10:00-7:00. I know this is not even equivalent to a full work day for most people but Tuesday's are just really stressful for me. There's only so much paying attention & note taking I can do in one day and this is pushing that limit. While I didn't have anything on the schedule for Tuesday I decided to get in a quick swim with the new swim club. The workout was super easy and was more about relaxing after a long day. There's something about swimming under the stars that is so calming.
2000 yards
Wednesday
My longest weekday run to date. This was also one of the strongest runs I've had in awhile. After the run I headed over to the gym to get in a little strength work. This was first time going to the gym at UMBC and hopefully not my last. However, I could only do about half of what I normally do because of a lack of equipment. This short but sweet workout sure left me sore though
10 miles
20 minutes strength
My longest weekday run to date. This was also one of the strongest runs I've had in awhile. After the run I headed over to the gym to get in a little strength work. This was first time going to the gym at UMBC and hopefully not my last. However, I could only do about half of what I normally do because of a lack of equipment. This short but sweet workout sure left me sore though
10 miles
20 minutes strength
Thursday
After a hard track workout on Wednesday my legs loved Thursday's recovery run with the Lululemon run club, Crossing Paths. This was a rainy and humid run but so great. I have trouble slowing down when running by myself so this was the perfect way to ensure that I got in a true recovery run. The beautiful scenery of this run coupled with the stormy weather made it feel like we were in another country too.
3 miles
After a hard track workout on Wednesday my legs loved Thursday's recovery run with the Lululemon run club, Crossing Paths. This was a rainy and humid run but so great. I have trouble slowing down when running by myself so this was the perfect way to ensure that I got in a true recovery run. The beautiful scenery of this run coupled with the stormy weather made it feel like we were in another country too.
3 miles
Friday
I spent the entire day dreading this run, coming up with every excuse as to why I should just skip it. In the end I knew I would get mad at myself if I skipped it and figured I could always cut it short if I really needed to. As soon as I started running I knew this was going to be a great run. I wasn't moving particularly fast but I just felt amazing. It was the kind of run where you just want to keep running forever. The kind where you are in awe of how much beauty surrounds you.
5.7 miles
I spent the entire day dreading this run, coming up with every excuse as to why I should just skip it. In the end I knew I would get mad at myself if I skipped it and figured I could always cut it short if I really needed to. As soon as I started running I knew this was going to be a great run. I wasn't moving particularly fast but I just felt amazing. It was the kind of run where you just want to keep running forever. The kind where you are in awe of how much beauty surrounds you.
5.7 miles
Saturday
13.2 miles
Finally a good long run! After a few weeks of pretty crappy long runs I was starting to doubt my ability to cover the distance in a respectable time. In order to beat solo long run boredom I did 8 miles worth of tempo work in the middle. I did a run very similar to this right before racing the Nike Women's Half Marathon and averaged 8:34. Although it's nice to see my paces dropping it would be really nice to be running even faster than I did in the spring. End rant.
Pace comparison aside, this was a really great one that truly did boost my confidence. The cooler temps were perfect and my legs felt recovered from Wednesday's track workout. Compared to what I've been doing this season I can tell I'm getting stronger and making progress, and that is all that matters.
13.2 miles
Sunday
Even though triathlon season is over I want to keep biking some for two reasons. One, so I don't lose all the progress I made over the summer, and two because I really like riding. I don't live in a very cyclist friendly area so I joined up with the Princeton Sports Sunday ride. There were three options for pace and two options for distance. I didn't want to do a hard ride and trash my legs for my runs next week so I went with the shortest ride at the slowest pace.
Group C (the slowest group) ended up being a bit too slow so I ended up riding with two other girls and two guys. We ended up riding the Columbia Triathlon route, and after hearing how hilly it is I was pleasantly surprised that compared to the hills I ride in PA it is actually small rollers. It was a really beautiful day for a ride, although a bit cool.
26.47 miles
38.2 miles (running)
8:35 hours total
Even though triathlon season is over I want to keep biking some for two reasons. One, so I don't lose all the progress I made over the summer, and two because I really like riding. I don't live in a very cyclist friendly area so I joined up with the Princeton Sports Sunday ride. There were three options for pace and two options for distance. I didn't want to do a hard ride and trash my legs for my runs next week so I went with the shortest ride at the slowest pace.
Group C (the slowest group) ended up being a bit too slow so I ended up riding with two other girls and two guys. We ended up riding the Columbia Triathlon route, and after hearing how hilly it is I was pleasantly surprised that compared to the hills I ride in PA it is actually small rollers. It was a really beautiful day for a ride, although a bit cool.
26.47 miles
38.2 miles (running)
8:35 hours total
Holy crap, great workouts! And that bridge is amazing! Love it!
ReplyDeleteWow you are one speed demon! Congrats!!!!! I love it. You are going to crush NYCM
ReplyDeleteNice week of training, definitely some solid workouts. Love that photo of the bridge, I have a serious thing for bridges...they amaze me.
ReplyDelete